Alkali Earth Metal of the Week: Barium

For my own reference, alkali earth metals make up the second family of the perodic table. Alkali earth metals usually give up two electrons in a chemical compound. They are too reactive to be found in their pure state in nature, and they are denser and not as soft as alkali metals.

The following site had lots of interesting trivia about alkali earth metals, and I got carried away reading about all of the earth metals, instead of focusing on barium, my alkali earth metal of the week: http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/056/index.s7.html#sample3

Barium caught my attention because I remember that in connection with radiation cancer treatments in the 1970s, my great grandmother had to have barium enemas. I thought that I remembered her drinking a barium concoction that she found revolting, but after doing some research, I'm not so sure that my recollection of 30 years ago is accurate. I did learn that a barium solution is injected into the colon for a lower gastrointestinal x-rays to "illuminate" the colon and reveal polyps or other abnormalities on the x-ray image.

I came across an interesting study in which the author suggested that there is a link between higher concentrations of barium in the the soil and increased incidence of multiple sclerosis and other deriorative neurlogical diseases. The article is at http://www.wnho.net/BariumPoisoningStudy.pdf.

Week 5 Assignments

What Colors Are in My Kitchen?

Red: lots of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, and canned tomatoes of all varieties, steak, ruby red grapefruit, raspberry jam, frozen rasperries, fuji apples, salsa, chicken, pork
Green: Romaine lettuce, celery, pickles, jalapenos, frozen peas, broccoli, cabbage
Yellow: Bananas, a lemon (does mustard count?)
Brown: Blue Moon and Amstel Light beer, steelcut oats, brown rice, bulgur, lentils, whole wheat pasta, peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, almonds
Purple: Red Wine, black beans, dried anti-oxidant fruit blend (cherries, plums, etc.), raisins
White: Garlic, onions, milk, coconut milk
Orange: mandarin orange-flavored chicken :) [a clear deficit in the orange category]
Beige: Lots of dairy products: nonfat milk, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, American cheese, processed cheese spreads; lots of white bread stuff (i.e., sandwich bread, hot dog buns, bagels); white rice, russet potatoes, ramen noodles, Kelloggs' frozen waffles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, Fruity Pebbles cereal, turkey jerky, Sun Chips, Doritos, Veggie Chips (carrot, tomato and spinach), Cheetos

Links to websites:

After reviewing the websites this week, the subject that intrigues me most is bioluminescence. I love to scuba dive and enjoy night diving because of the marine version of fireflies. There are all sorts of bioluminescent creatures in the ocean. I went on a night dive in Kona last June, and we created a zone of light which attracted plankton that manta rays like to eat. I need to go back and read about all of the types of luminescence to see if something other than bioluminescence was at play.

Catalyst of the Week - Vanadium

I have to admit that I'm a little lost on the catalysts. In my research, I kept finding transition elements as catalysts. I did not find references to other elements as catalysts. What am I missing?

Vanadium oxide is the transition element-compound [what is the difference between and element and an "element-compound?] that catalyses sulphur dioxide to sulphur trioxide in the contact process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid.

I found many references to "contact process" in my research. What is the "contact process" and how does it relate to catalysts?