Expert: Kevin - 10/26/2009

Question
Hey in am eighth grader and I have been asked to interveiw an expert so I was wandering if I could ask you three questions?
Have you ever worked with any pure substances?
Have you ever worked with elements?
Have you ever worked with atoms?
Thanks! Please regard us kindly in the future!


Answer
Hi Carley,

Q1. Yes at one point in my career I was responsible for making a range of phenol derivatives as pure as we could get them. (better than 99.999%). Highly pure samples are often needed to calibrate analytical processes. Purification is an important step in chemical manufacture so we often work hard as development chemists on purity.

Q2. I used to tick off on my Periodic Table of the Elements all the elements I had worked with and all the ones I had handled as compounds. At the last count it was 40 elements worked with (C and S being the first* ... to make my own gun-powder!) and 80 handled as compounds. (The missing 38 odd elements are highly radioactive or very rare.)

Q3 The only atoms I have worked with are He, Ne and Ar as these do not form, easily or at all, compounds. When I worked briefly on an atomic absorption spectrophotometer I was working with atoms a lot.

I hope this helps
Best wishes
Kevin

* other than N2 and O2 in air of course.