White hydrogen enters the debate - 🧪 #chemsky #chemistry

There is but one element that displays an absolute genius for building. Its size and bonding posture are the key to the structures it builds. Introducing… Carbon! Written for the general reader. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

This doesn’t happen without that band of free spirits called metalloids. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry Image by COPhotog, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

One man, two legacies… and the 1918 Nobel prize #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

A metalloid explains semiconduction... #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

The metalloids sit in a thin diagonal line that divides the Periodic Table into metals and nonmetals. Their number is small. But for better or worse, our lifestyles now revolve around their unique behavior. Written for the chemistry novice. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

#iamwriting #haiku The battle is lost let go the ticks of the clock we grow old

Geometry in nature. Elemental sulfur. S. Irregular octagon. Known to the ancients as ‘brimstone’. ‘And the Lord rained down brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.’ #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

‘a sign of barbarity, corrupting the very discipline which ought to bring new insights into life’ – Clara Immerwahr #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

Geometry in nature. White phosphorus. P4. Tetrahedron. Pyrophoric. Used to make incendiary bombs since late 19th century. Guilt spread far and wide. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemisty Israel is using these in Lebanon as we speak

For molecules, geometry is everything. When their angles get uptight, all hell can break loose. #CHEMSKY #CHEMISTRY #ITEACHCHEMISTRY

#IAMREADING #BOOKSKY From E.O.Wilson, The Anthill, paraphrased. Humans send their young men to war; ants send their old ladies. A simple truth that separates our two species.

Beware a change in the prevailing winds: Day 1, the 2nd Battle of Ypres. #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

#iamwriting #haiku !?! The shiny black trickster Eats earth toned flutterer on dark bark

Looks harmless enough. Don’t be fooled. That’s fluorine. F2. AKA chemist killer. Extreme oxidizing agent. Splits water (H2O) with ease, setting oxygen (O2) free. Leaves hydrofluoric acid (HF) behind to wreak its own kind of insidious havoc. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchem

A story about molecules in which familiarity devolves into something more sinister. Featuring the homonuclear diatomic molecules. Written for the general reader #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

Xenon is less aloof than helium. It forms true covalent bonds in several compounds. XeF2 is one. Xenon is a huge atom, 54 electrons to helium’s 2, and its far-flung electrons are not as tightly held. Especially when electron hungry fluorine (F) comes calling. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

A potent weapon is introduced to the battlefield - 5:00 PM, Day 1, the 2nd Battle of Ypres #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

Symmetry in nature, built atom by atom. #chemsky #chemistry #dogs

The first molecule made by the universe was HeH⁺- 13.8 billion years ago. The helium atom and hydrogen ion are held together by an ordinary covalent bond. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchem Image by CCoil, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Symmetry is a fundamental pattern in nature. Most atoms must work for this. Only the noble gases come by it naturally. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

Chloride ions are best known for helping cells maintain fluid balance & electrical stability. Now, scientists have learned they do more than help neurons fire—they may also help control how genes are expressed. By Delthia Ricks medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04...

Atoms yearn for symmetrical electron clouds. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

Fritz Haber was a widely respected chemist. He threw that all away in the service of Germany during WWI. #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

Just a typical nonmetal... #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchem

Nonmetals are naturally diverse. What one characteristic do they share? Written for the general reader and chem novice. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchem

As night fell on the last day of 1879, Thomas Edison demonstrated incandescent lighting for the first time. Thousands of people had converged on Menlo Park, NJ just to witness this singular event. #chemsky #chemistry #science

#booksky #iamwriting #Haiku in spirit I claw my way out of the deep dark pit Only to be knocked back down as the bogeyman laughs He dogs our every step.

'She also loved her microscope which felt like a magical extension of her right eye, enabling her to peer straight down the throat of the creator himself.' From The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert #booksky #iamreading #science

In 1869, one-sixth of a teaspoon of gold was drawn into a fine wire that stretched 50 miles. Roughly the distance from the Golden Gate in San Francisco to the beaches of Santa Cruz. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry By Kryston - based upon Image:California Bay Area county map.svg Public Domain

I began reading Darwin's 'On the Origin of the Species' today. This is going to take a while. #booksky #iamreading

Metals are conductive and lustrous. But I say that flexibility is their hidden superpower. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

‘Nature works because it has order, and from order, it has beauty.’ E.O. Wilson, The Anthill #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

'We'll muddle through our differences of opinion and I'll mount up. He'll become a most excellent horse.' #booksky #iamwriting a poem?!?

One thing about electrons… When illumined with a beam of light, they want to move in the opposite direction of its electric field. Metal electrons are mobile – they respond with alacrity! This is what makes a metal sparkle! #iteachchemistry #chemchat

A metal meets the extraordinary light beam and takes on a warm glow. Blame it on those mobile electrons. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

I left academia. Here's what happened next #chemsky #booksky #iamwriting a poem?!?

Marie Curie and her daughter Irene were destined to be partners in the laboratory. But they first partnered in a war zone. #chemsky #chemistry #womenshistorymonth

Another particle with two faces. This one has zero mass but packs a punch. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

In a series of notes. - So much more than a romantic comedy To bring my story to an end – Marie’s hours were consumed by her work and her two daughters. #chemsky #chemistry #booksky Benjamin Couprie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

AC/DC from the metal’s point of view. It’s easier to treat the electron as a particle to depict DC current, but more fun to wrestle with its wavy side. AC oscillates and thus propagates. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

The aging process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over, and runs off laughing.” (John Mortimer). Anybody else feeling this in your bones today? #booksky

In a series of notes- not your typical romantic comedy -This will not end well… Marie and Pierre Curie were overworked and exhausted and beginning to develop health problems. Both had severe, inflamed fingertips from handling radium. Marie’s vision was deteriorating. #Chemsky #Chemistry #booksky

Some light has been shed on the electrolysis side of the H2 fuel debate. Water molecules must flip toward the electrode before oxygen is generated! 🧪 #chemsky #chemistry

Hydrogen gas may not be the panacea I’ve been hoping for, yet it can figure in the overall game plan to fight climate change. 🧪 #chemsky #chemistry

Scientists often talk about the electron as a particle. I wrote this for the novice to emphasize that we know it is much more than that. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

Another short post about metals. Written for the nonscientist. Metals are conductive, shiny and resilient. The common denominator is metallic bonding. Atomic level detail about each attribute to follow. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry

‘Zeus has given us the fate of winding down our lives in painful wars, from youth, until we perish, all of us.’ These lines appear in the Iliad, a poem which is nearly 2,800 years old. Can we find a way to break this cycle? Or is this madness encoded in our genes? #booksky Brigitte Werner, Pixabay

Find out what workplace hazard lurks behind the Mad Hatter's madness. But how well does Lewis Carroll's character fit the stereotype? #chemsky #chemistry #booksky

Up Close and Personal with Metals, Part I. Written for chemnovice. Includes another look at metallic bonding. Showcases gold, silver and metals of physiological significance. Mercury caution given. #chemsky #chemistry #iteachchemistry