Okay, so perhaps 'angry feminist' is a slight exaggeration, but one of the main issues with the feminist quest for sexual parity is that it often conflates "equality" and "sameness". Men and women are different: I, for example, wear floral dresses; my boyfriend (at least to the best of my knowledge) does not. The differences should be recognised and accepted, not changed or eradicated. Of course, there are those who do support "difference feminism", but I would still question one's need to subscribe to feminism at all. Surely anyone with an ounce of common sense can appreciate the fact that men and women are both different and equal and treat them accordingly? Melissa BondIn chemistry, the notion of equivalency exists apart from sameness equality. For example, acid-base chemistry involves matching equivalents of H+ with equivalents of OH-. A fair and balanced equation is:
HCl + NaOH = H2O + NaCl
Equivalency factors out sameness. No one pretends that H+ and OH- are qualitatively the same, and yet they are quantitatively equal. In real life, chemical equivalents are often out of balance and this introduces natural forces to bring them back to equilibrium. In a sense, inequality drives the world.
"Yes but," comes the sly retort from elsewhere. "Can’t you see it’s all about power imbalance? The world is perpetually out of balance and always against me."
The etymology of the word "valence" traces back to the Latin valentia "strength, capacity," and the chemical meaning refers to the "combining power of an element."
If you feel disempowered, maybe it's time to fully assert your equivalency rather than your sameness with others. If you're not part of the solution, maybe you're the insoluble precipitate -- crashed out, clinging to yourselves, lying there at the bottom (to double down on entendre).
38 comments:
So table salt and I are like siblings, but I'm the bed wetter?
@bagoh20: I think you are more ionic than doric or fine corinthian.
Chickie, Are you familiar with an industrial metal cleaning process known as "electropolishing"?
@bagoh20: Not particularly, though I am familiar with electrochemistry, even did some, and understand the principles. I am also sort of an expert on metal oxides.
Did you know that pertechnetate ion (TcO4-) is an excellent corrosion inhibitor? It's one reason why tanks of radioactive waste have lasted so long.
out of balance and this introduces natural forces to bring them back to equilibrium
That part made me think of brining.
We do a lot of it here at work in a 1000 gallon tank of acid (45% H2SO4 + 45% H3PO4 + 10% H20). We run it 16 hours a day brightening stainless steel by putting parts in it and running DC current through.
It has a lot of chemistry issues related to keeping the acid clean and handling the rinse water and waste produced. I've been working with it for decades, trying all kind of experimental stuff and I always thought that if I hadn't fallen in lust with that girl the year I took most of my inorganic chemistry that maybe I would be much better at it. I just don't remember anything, at least about the chemistry. I remember her just fine. Probably because she would give surprise pop quizzes every day, and the the Chem. professor was much less demanding.
I saw some Porsche parts that had be blasted using dry ice rather than more common media such as beads or sand. Cleanup was simple - it evaporated.
What about the evil CO2 released "polluting" our planet and turning it into a raging inferno,... maybe.
Dry Ice = murder.
One can only hope.
Dry Ice = murder.
Yes but you're not creating it by driving an SUV loaded with 6 kids to church on Sunday -- you're just sort of borrowing it.
I love vats of acid. I used to work with oleum - a step up from vitriol. But there was no electrochemistry involved.
That part made me think of brining.
Chip, it should have gotten you to thinking about cats - Le Chatelier's Principle
It has a lot of chemistry issues related to keeping the acid clean
How does the acid get dirty other then from dirty things you put in like bodies to dispose of?
@bagoh20 & Sixty: It seems from a cursory reading that CO2 treating would be a fine pre-treatment for the electrochemical dip but couldn't replace it. The electrochemical brightening is redox chemistry while the CO2 process is mechanical. Still, it might make bagoh20's tanks of "dip" stay clean longer.
The acid doesn't get dirty from contaminants so much as from the actual chemical process itself.
What it does is the electricity and acid work to chemically etch or dissolve away the metal and at widely different rates. The stainless steel which is roughly 70% Fe 20% Cr and 10% Ni is dissolved off the surface hitting the high spots hardest which smooths it out. It also dissolves the iron at a much faster rate leaving behind a surface that is mostly Cr and Ni. This all works together to give the metal piece much higher luster and corrosion resistance. Under the right conditions it can make a dull matte finish into a near mirror in about 5-10 minutes in the acid.
The acid though is now full of dissolved Fe, Cr, and Ni ions. That's what I mean by dirty.
Much of this precipitates out as metal salts when it gets too concentrated but it degrades the performance of the process as concentrations get high.
Forty years ago I worked in a printed wiring board shop. One of the etchers decided to pour a carboy of some acid into a vat of water. The bottle heated up, he dropped it, it shattered, the shop filled with fumes - might have been sulfuric acid, I don't recall - then someone hosed the acid that remained on the floor out into the parking lot and then into the storm drains.
Silicon valley, 1973.
Oh yeah, that same guy had open sores on his arms from working in the gold plating tank - I think the gold was in solution with arsenic and he was slowly getting killed by exposure to the chemicals.
And there was an old guy who liked to huff the carbon tetracloride fumes - nothing he loved more than doing the degreasing for anyone who didn't want to go anywhere near that tank.
And there was an old guy who liked to huff the carbon tetracloride fumes -
Just like we used to love the smell of the mimographed papers that were passed out in elementary school and even junior high. It was a cool thing to be the mimeo operator, you REALLY got to get the full smell effect. Probably toxic, but we didn't care.
We rinse the acid off the parts with water, which of course is then a hazardous waste stream, which years ago we would put through clarifiers and then release into the sewer system. This being CA and L.A. next to a beautiful coastline, this was all highly regulated and we had many hoops to jump through with the EPA and California's much stricter version of it. Being an environmentalist as well as an evil industrialist, I wanted to reduce our impact and also get free of the regulators as much as possible.
So, over the years, I developed a system to treat our waste water so that no discharge at all was required from us. We recycle the water, then evaporate it, and then recycle the solids. No discharge, no inspectors, and well worth the extra work.
One thing I have learned is that you don't want anybody from the government visiting your factory if you can avoid it. I appreciate the value of sensible regulations, but the people who do it are usually very difficult to deal with, and often just batshit crazy. The kind of people you would avoid in any circumstance, and the last people you want having power over you.
If anybody in here is in that line of work, I'm not talking about you, but rather that bitch down the hall. You know the one.
Butterfly Guy:
"...dissolved off the surface hitting the high spots hardest which smooths it out."
You mean the current hits the high spots like a tree on a hill?
Exactly. The metal workpiece is connected to the positive side of the current and the tank has cathode plates immersed in the acid connected to the negative side. The current flows through the acid and hits the closest points first until they are dissolved away, like a forest under assault from a continuous electrical storm until all the trees are leveled.
The parts have to be hung on racks made of Titanium which is unaffected by the acid.
I have no clue where the "racist line" is these days.
which is not saying much...
Since every human who ever existed was a unique mix of DNA, equality is one of those truly impossible dreams.
Dust Bunny Queen said...
And there was an old guy who liked to huff the carbon tetracloride fumes -
Just like we used to love the smell of the mimographed papers that were passed out in elementary school and even junior high
Another of those wildly enjoyable universal experiences that can't ever be explained to younger generations.
Today everything has the sterile sameness of technology.
" a step up from vitriol".
I'd like that on my tombstone.
Neat bago, thanks.
@bagoh20: What do you use to neuter acids? Do you titrate them?
boobs
I'd like that on my tombstone.
Oleum is wicked stuff.
Sulfur trioxide (SO3) will eat your tombstone.
And there was an old guy who liked to huff the carbon tetrachloride fumes
Carbon tet has an unforgettable odor.
" What do you use to neuter acids?"
We use a dull knife. Nobody likes the acids, so we enjoy watching them suffer.
We used to use NaOH, but we switched to Na2CO3 just because it's safer to handle, and reacts less violently.
We simply manually add it to our rinse water to maintain a pH of around 7. The water then goes through a large tank that settles out the precipitate and returns. The solids are then pumped out and dried in a machine I created just for that purpose. It's called the "Burro". because that what it looks like. It's a 10 ft long stainless steel trough with a 12" diameter auger running down the middle that periodically spins. It has four legs and a gas burner underneath that looks like a dong. Gallons of slurry go in one end and a small amount of dry powder comes out the other. It runs continuous unmanned with only simple switches, valves and motors. No digital components.
The Burro is a masterpiece of Jurassic engineering that reduces our waste stream volume by about 95% at very low cost.
I should put a bunch of useless lights on it that flash, add some stickers and paint and sell them to other waste water plagued companies.
The Burro - call now and get free shipping. Be among the first 100 callers and get a used Pocket Fisherman while supplies last.
The acid though is now full of dissolved Fe, Cr, and Ni ions. That's what I mean by dirty.
Do you collect and separate those metals?
Years ago I collected recipes for recycling precious metal waste: things like Rh, Ru, Pd, Pt, Os, Re, Ir.
We used to use NaOH, but we switched to Na2CO3 just because it's safer to handle, and reacts less violently.
Don't you feel a smidgen of guilt for pumping all that CO2 skywards?:
H2SO4 + Na2CO3--->CO2 + H2O+ Na2SO4
Sodium carbonate is made from NaCl and limestone, so you really are helping fuel tropical storms in the Pacific.
@bagoh20: You're OK by me, because I don't believe in CO2 induced warming. But I think Inga and Ritmo would unfriend you on Facebook over it.
"Do you collect and separate those metals?"
We don't in house, but the waste management company we pay to haul away the stuff does. Periodically we have to replace the acid as it gets overladen with metal, and they recycle it.
I'm agnostic on whether CO2 warming is real, but I want a warmer planet anyway.
The stainless steel which is roughly 70% Fe 20% Cr and 10% Ni is dissolved off the surface hitting the high spots hardest which smooths it out. It also dissolves the iron at a much faster rate leaving behind a surface that is mostly Cr and Ni.
What I visualize happening is that the iron is being eaten faster, leaving behind a surface enriched in Cr and Ni which atoms then collapse towards the surface making a highly enriched if not pure Cr/Ni layer. You don't want any exposed Fe at the surface.
What I don't understand is whether the passivating layer of Cr and Ni is pure metal or metal oxide. Normal stainless is passivated by Cr oxides -- it's shiny but not mirror shiny. That might be why the voltage is present in your case, to keep the passivating metal reduced.
After electropolishing the surface is passive - Cr and Ni oxides.
The acid has a deep green color which I think is due to the Ni. It's the same color as NiO, a rarely occurring mineral.
The green could also be Cr(III)oxide; link
Chromium is a real whore when it comes to oxidation states and its valence electrons; each one is a different color, whence its name.
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