Transcription
Chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change. Now, just think about this: electrons change their energy levels, molecules change their bonds, and elements combine and change into compounds. Well, that's all of life, right? I mean, it's just the constant cycle—it's solution, dissolution, just over and over and over. It is growth, then decay, then transformation. It is fascinating, really.
Chad, is there something wrong with your table? Okay, ionic bonds. Are you done with the ionic bonds chapter?
This is a volumetric flask. You wouldn't cook in one of these.
Uh, yeah, I do.
No, you don't. A volumetric flask is for general mixing and titration. You wouldn't apply heat to a volumetric flask; that's what a boiling flask is for. Did you learn nothing from my chemistry class?
No, you flunked me, remember? No wonder.
And let me tell you something else: this is chemistry, okay? This is art. Cooking is art, and I cook is the bomb. So don't be telling me you cook is. I saw your setup; it's ridiculous. You and I will not make garbage. We will produce a chemically pure and stable product that performs as advertised—no adulterant, no baby formula, no chili powder, no chili peas. My signature? Not anymore.
Yeah, well, we'll see about that.
What the hell is this lab safety equipment? We're also going to have an emergency eyewash station. These chemicals and their fumes are toxic, in case you didn't know that.
So, the term "chirality" derives from the Greek word for "hand." Now, the concept here being that just as your left hand and your right hand are mirror images of one another—right, identical and yet opposite—so too can organic compounds exist as mirror image forms of one another all the way down at the molecular level. But although they may look the same, they don't always behave the same.
For instance, um, I'm sorry, for instance, the right-handed isomer of the drug thalidomide is a perfectly fine medicine to give to a pregnant woman to prevent morning sickness. But make the mistake of giving that same pregnant woman the left-handed isomer of the drug thalidomide, and her child will be born with horrible birth defects, which is precisely what happened in the 1950s.
So, chirality: mirror images, right? Active, inactive, good, bad.
So yes, Ben, is this going to be on the midterm?
Uh, chirality on the midterm? No, no. Well, maybe. Maybe yes, yes. You know, but be prepared for it to be on the midterm. Can't hurt to know it, right? Knowledge is power.
So, uh, what's this stuff called again?
Thermite.
And that will cut through a lock?
Because this is supposed to be one big-ass lock. In World War II, the Germans had an artillery piece—it's the biggest in the world—called the Gustaf gun. It weighed tons. The Gustaf was capable of firing a 7-ton shell and hitting a target accurately 23 miles away. I mean, you could drop bombs on it every day for a month without ever disabling it. But drop a commando—one man with just a bag of this—and he could cut through 4 inches of solid steel and destroy that gun forever.
So yes, I think it will cut through any lock we're likely to find.
You need to cut out all your loser crybaby crap right now and think of something scientific.
Something scientific? Right, like come on, man, you're smart. You made poison out of beans.
Yo, look, we got an entire lab right here. All right, how about you take some of these chemicals and mix up some rocket fuel? That way you can just send up a signal flare, or you can make some kind of robot to get us help, or a homing device, or build a new battery.
Or we—
No, what if we just take some stuff off of the RV and build it into something completely different? You know, like a doom buggy. That way we can just doom buggy her.
What?
Hey, what is it? Do you have any money? Change? I mean coin.
Yeah, I got a bunch of—
Okay, yes, you gather them, and washers, and nuts, and bolts, and screws, and whatever little pieces of metal we can think of that is galvanized. It has to be galvanized or solid zinc.
Solid zinc, okay. And bring me brake pads. The front wheels should have discs. Take them off and bring them to me.
Brake pads?
Okay, brake pads. What are you building?
You said it yourself: a robot, a battery.
Yes!
[Applause]
[Music]
Move! This doesn't look like any battery I ever saw.
Trust me, it is a battery—or rather, one of a battery. Here, cut up the last two sponges. Remember the electrolytes?
Huh?
Well, think about it. A battery is a galvanic cell. It's no more than an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte, right?
Right.
Well, anyway, here on one side you have your cupric oxide and graphite from your brake pads. This is the cathode; it's the positive terminal. This is where the supply of current flows out from. See? Then here, I'll show you the opposite side. This is our anode—it's zinc, what we find in our coins and anything galvanized.
So the sponges?
The electrolyte?
Yeah, well, no, the potassium hydroxide is the electrolyte, but yes, that's what I'm soaking the sponges in.
Good, good. And now, what shall we use to conduct this beautiful current with? What one particular element comes to mind?
Uh, copper?
I mean, it's copper. The only question now is, will this supply enough current, and how many cells will we need?
We only got material enough for six nitrogen bonds to oxygen, which in—
[Music]
You do know what a bond is?
Um, a strong force of attraction, covalent bonds, ionic bonds—the coming together of atoms and molecules to form compounds.
Chemical bonds are what make matter matter. Bonds are what hold the physical world together, what hold us together.
Yeah, yeah, no, I got it.
Bonds? Your test score says otherwise. It tells me you don't get it at all.
Yeah, but I mean, 58? I was close.
What is close? There's no close in science, Barry. There are right answers and wrong answers. Close didn't put men on the moon.
Yeah, but I'm just saying, Mr. White, two points.
Look, if I don't pass chemistry, I have to go to summer school. And I mean, I really studied—like really, really studied—like all night, hard. And I mean, I'm so into chemistry for the concepts. I just think I might have, you know, the attention deficit. Couldn't you please just let this slide?
Don't bullshitter. The answer is no. Next time, apply yourself.
Four pounds? Two pounds? Wasn't bad enough? We're talking two, three hundred boxes of sinus pills. There ain't that many Smurfs in the world.
We're not going to need pseudoephedrine. We're going to make phenylacetone in a tube furnace. Then we're going to use reductive amination to yield methamphetamine.
Four pounds?
So no pseudo?
No pseudo.
So you do have a plan?
Yeah, Mr. White. Yes, science!