Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Big Creek Ecosystem essays

Big Creek Ecosystem essays In this report I will discuss the relationships and interactions between abiotic and biotic compounds found in big creek. Furthermore I will discuss the two main phenomena, which occur in big creek, this includes energy flow and nutrient cycling. First of all, as a class we found eight organisms that live and grow in the big creek habitat. These organisms are the biotic components that live in big creek. The abiotic components are comprised of the water, soil, and inorganic nutrients that are found in big creek. Within the biotic component there is a population, which would be a group of a single species. Many populations found together in the same area would be a community. In the community we are looking at we found two producers, green algae and diatoms. These producers are the beginning of the nutrient cycle in big creek. They take in sunlight and through photosynthesis they build proteins or sugars, which will be used by the next organisms in the nutrient cycle. The herbivores found were protozoans and water fleas. Both of these organisms feed on substances such as green algae and diatoms. The original sunlight has been made into sugars, which water fleas and protozoans can use to further the nutrient cycle in big creek. All of the organisms we will discuss have a particular niche in the big creek habitat. They all depend on each other to continue the cycle of growth in big creek. The two carnivores observed by the class were snails and fly larvae. Both of these organisms not only consume protozoans and water fleas, but they also consume diatoms and green algae. Once again cycling the nutrients further through the ecosystem. Also present in the ecosystem is the flow of energy through all of these organisms. All original energy came from the sun, which was then used by our producers, diatoms and green algae and converted into another form of energy that is used by herbivores and carnivores t ...

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Fun and Interesting Chemistry Facts and Trivia

Fun and Interesting Chemistry Facts and Trivia Chemistry is a fascinating science full of unusual trivia. A list of some of the  most fun and most  interesting chemistry facts: The only solid elements that assume liquid form ​at room temperature are bromine and mercury. However, you can melt gallium by holding a lump in the warmth of your hand.Unlike many substances, water expands as it freezes. An ice cube takes up about 9% more volume than the water used to make it.If you pour a handful of salt into a full glass of water, the water level will actually go down rather than overflowing the glass.Similarly, if you mix half a liter of alcohol and half a liter of water, the total volume of the liquid will be less than one liter.There is about 1/2 lb or 250 g of salt (NaCl) in the average adult human body.A pure element takes many forms. For example, diamond and graphite both are forms of pure carbon.Many radioactive elements actually glow in the dark.The chemical name for water (H2O) is dihydrogen monoxide.The only letter not appearing on the periodic table is J.Lightning strikes produce O3, which is ozone, and strengthen the ozone layer of the atmospher e.The only two non-silvery metals are gold and copper. Although oxygen gas is colorless, the liquid and solid forms of oxygen are blue.The human body contains enough carbon to provide lead (which is really graphite) for about 9,000 pencils.Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, while oxygen is the most abundant element in the earths atmosphere, crust, and oceans (about 49.5%).The rarest naturally-occurring element in the earths crust may be astatine. The entire crust appears to contain about 28 g of the element.Hydrofluoric acid is so corrosive that it will dissolve glass. Although it is corrosive, hydrofluoric acid is considered to be a weak acid.One bucket full of water contains more atoms than there are buckets of water in the Atlantic ocean.Approximately 20% of the oxygen in the atmosphere was produced by the Amazon rainforest.Helium balloons float because helium is lighter than air.Bee stings are acidic while wasp stings are alkaline.Hot peppers get their heat from a molecule called capsaicin. While the molecule acts as an irritant to mammals, including humans, birds lack the receptor responsible for the effect and are immune to the burning sensation from exposure. Its possible to die from drinking too much water.Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO2).Liquid air has a bluish tint, similar to water.You cant freeze helium simply by cooling it to absolute zero. It will freeze if you apply extremely intense pressure.By the time you feel thirsty, youve already lost about 1% of your bodys water.Mars is red because its surface contains a lot of iron oxide or rust.Sometimes hot water freezes more quickly than cold water. A high school student documented the effect, which bears his name (the Mpemba effect).