Year in Summary

This has been a fun year with a lot of different subjects I've been learning about.

I started learning a lot about the Normans and their history. I've always thought William the Conqueror was pretty cool!

Then I got into Chemistry starting with a Khan Academy class and then Coursera and finally a BYU Independent Study Course and AP chemistry.

Chemistry also got me to learn a lot of Algebra which I needed to solve most of the problems so now I know algebra pretty well.

After studying chemistry which is now I think one of my very favorite subjects along with history and art, I also studied AP Biology and took both AP tests. I was the youngest kid taking the tests, but I felt good about them.

For my Birthday this year I got a Lego Mindstorms set and this fall I am going to do Lego League with some friends which should be fun as well.

Other than that I've done a lot of reading and have started reading classics. I really liked Sherlock Holmes and the way he uses science and observation to figure out mysteries. I just started Don Quixote and we'll see how that goes.

I'm taking an drawing class too, but mostly I like to draw portraits and cartoons.

For music I did a lot of piano songs and played in church.

And of course I am still playing soccer which has been a lot of fun. Our team went to Pingree this year and while we didn't win it was still a great year.

Some History

Early medieval Japan , Korea and Australia a bit of 8 , most of 9 and a bit of 10

Around the 500's Japan was divided into many different clans. One of these Clans , the Yamato Clan, was stronger than the others. The Yamato clan wanted to conquer the other clans and rule Japan. After many many long years of fighting , they did conquer Japan. It was hard keeping control of so many clans , so the Yamato emperors said they were descended  from ( this Is not true. It is just Japanese mythology ) the sun goddess, Amaterasu.  This helped the Yamato leaders ( the Yamato dynasty had to parts : the Kofun period and the Asuka period  ), but they also borrowed ideas (for good ruling ) from China and Korea. Way back in med-late ancient times, the Chinese had invaded Korea and conquered some of it. Later the Koreans took most of their land back.  Korea got divided into 3 parts  : Paekche, Silla and Goguryeo. The Koreans use Chinese ways a lot after they got free. Paekche wanted to take the other two kingdoms , so they asked Japan to form a pact with them( that says: if you go to war we will help you. If we go to war you will help us) .  When the Japanese saw the gifts that came with the letter they were amazed by one: a book in Chinese. The Japanese asked the Koreans to teach them Chinese, and the Koreans did. The Koreans taught them many of their ways. The Koreans were influenced by the Chinese , and the Japanese were influenced by the Koreans. So it is safe to say that Korea and Japan were influenced by China. During the Tang Dynasty ( of china. The Tang Dynasty was a golden age of china. Before China was divided in to parts (North China and south China). Yang Chien was a general in the northern Army. He attacked south china and became Emperor of united china in 581. Yang Chien founded the Sui dynasty of China. The Yangtze River had divided earlier china. It Also threatened to divide china Again. So the Next Sui emperor , Yangdi  , ordered a grand man made canal connecting south and north. It connected south and north china but it made people poor and mad at the emperor. They had paid extra taxes for it, and had spent a lot of time digging it. The Chinese revolted and ended the Sui dynasty. The next dynasty was the Tang. During the Tang Dynasty printing and gunpowder were invented) the Chinese invaded Korea and conquered Paekche. After much fighting the rest of the Koreans drove China out. Japan did not want to be attacked at all. Even though the Japanese copied the  Chinese a lot, they still thought themselves as equals to China. So 400 years later the Japanese stopped copying the Chinese.  In Australia the people were nomads. There was no king or emperor like in Japan and china. Instead they walked around moving where there was food and water, never settling , picking berries, fishing and hunting animals. These people were like the very first people they still did not know how to farm!  These people were called the Aborigines.

The Kingdom of the Franks 11

Starting in New Zealand. Paddle your canoe to the Australian coast. There are Aborigine canoes and sea cows , as you paddle by. After a long time you will see the coast of Japan. You land in Japan and wander through the country. There are many Chinese things , like buildings, books and clothes. This was during the time Japanese still used Chinese customs and stuff. You cross the yellow sea and land in China. During this time the Tang Dynasty ruled during this time. It was a golden age. You get on a strong horse or pony and start west. You go into India you will see that the Gupta kings ruled. Then you get on a boat and sail to Arabia. The Islamic empire started here. You get out of the boat and get on a camel ( The ship of the Desert ) , with the Camel you travel north through the Arabian desert. You come to the Byzantine empire  , where Justinian once ruled, the former eastern roman empire. Then you get on a boat that takes you through the Mediterranean sea and lands you in Italy ( This used to be the Center of the great Roman empire until Barbarians invaded it at conquered it. Know they live here getting more civilized). You travel north to the Alps ( a great mountain range )  and cross them. You are know in Gaul.                                                                

 Barbarians invaded Rome and conquered the western Roman Empire. When the barbarians won they settled down and became civilized. The barbarians that invaded Gaul ( modern day France ) were called the Franks. The Franks were made up of many different tribes, they were not ruled by one king. The Franks did not think they were Barbarians. They thought they were the descendants of the people of Troy. When the Roman empire was conquered there were still Romans but they did not have an empire. The Franks settled down in Gaul next to Romans and other Barbarian tribes: Allemani and the Burgundians. These people constantly fought among themselves and bickered. They did not like each other, but when the Huns ( you can read more about them in the Huns part below ) came to invade Gaul , they joined together just long enough to fight the Huns. The army that fought the Huns was lead by a Frank called Merovius. The combined army beat the Huns, but after the threat of the Huns passed they divided again and went on fighting. Merovius's grandson, Clovis, always remembered when his Grandpa united the tribes. He wanted to unite them, so in 481 ( he was 20 ) he became leader of his tribe. He started to make Gaul a empire. He married ( Clotilda a Burgundian princess ) and fought the other tribes and Romans until he beat them all. He became king of Gaul in 509, 28 years after he became leader of his tribe. His kingdom became known as the Frankish Empire and his people - the Franks. If an Allemani or Burundian had united them the name of modern day France might be very different. Clovis became a Christian after he won a battle. Clovis united the Tribes ans people of Gaul but could he keep them united ? Clovis thought that 3 things would help him. A capital , a religion ( Clovis believed that you should have one religion so people do not fight over religion  ) and Laws. He made Lutetia Parisiorium his capital and called it Paris. He made the Religion Christianity, and Last he made the Laws ( these laws were called the Salic laws ) that everyone in his kingdom would follow. Before the different tribes listened to different laws, but know they would listen to one law. His laws were not always fair, tending to help Franks more than the other tribes and people. There was also a law that said very few people could move to villages. Even though the people were united, they still did not like each other.


Islamic Invasion and Golden Age ( this is not part of 12 but I chose to insert it ) 12

South west of Gaul ,the land of Spain, had a barbarian tribe ( called the Visigoths ) settling in it. The Visigoths had once been savage barbarians ( you can read more about the Goths in the Goths section below ) but know that they had their own land, they were becoming civilized ( they became christian ,had a king and settled down ). They were becoming more " Roman "in a sense. The Franks had done the same in Gaul. But unfortunately for the Visigoths , their king died in 710. The Visigoths argued over who should be the next king, some wanted the sons of the dead King, while others wanted a warrior named Rodrigo should be king.  The powerful noblemen (who wanted the Rodrigo to be king) but Rodrigo on the throne and forced everyone to obey him. The heirs to the throne were mad about this ( they wanted the throne ) and asked the North Africans ( who were called Berbers ) and their leader ( Tariq bin Ziyad ) to help them get rid of Rodrigo. That was a huge mistake , because the Berbers and Tariq were Muslim and were part of the Islamic empire. Tariq used to be a slave , but when the Armies of Islam invaded and conquered his homeland , he joined them and became Muslim. He was a good brave soldier and he got promoted over and over again until he was General. With Tariq in command of a lot of the army, the Islamic empire conquered the rest of North Africa all the way to a city ( Tangier ) that was super close to Iberia ( Spain and Portugal ). Tariq wanted to conquer Visigoth Spain for the Islamic empire, so when the sons of the dead Visigoth king asked him to help him, he used it as an excuse and Invaded Spain ( this is a summary but this part is not. Tariq got thousands of soldiers in small groups and but the groups in ships. In 711 he led the ships across the small body of water between Spain and Africa, he was in the First ship. He walked up and went onto a big rocky place, watching his men get out of their ships. When all his men were on dry land, he ordered the ships to be burned. When his men questioned it, he told them that they were not going back, they were going to conquer or lose an led his Army into Spain   ). The divided Visigoths did not expect an invasion, and they were divided so it was a win for the Muslims. The Muslims beat the Visigoths and forced them into submission, and after that Iberia stayed under Islamic rule for a long time. The Muslims built mosques and many other buildings. These Spanish Muslims became known as Moors, Muslim-Spanish cites became great cities for learning. We use the same numbers the Moors did: Arabic Numerals. The rock Tariq stood on was called Jabal Tariq ( mountain of Tariq ) after a long time it was pronounced Gibraltar, and today the rocky Spanish ( the United Kingdom actually owns it ) ridge so close to modern day Morocco is called Gibraltar.



Great Kings of the Franks  13

There were many Kings of the Franks but we are going to focus on only 2 here (  one that is not really talked about in the book: Pepin the Short , and 2 others not talked about in the book: Childeric III and Louis I  ) Charles Martel and Charlemagne . So before Pepin the Short ( and after Dagobert , 6 or 7 kings after Clovis , )the Kingdom of the Franks was ruled by 1 or 2 person/people: the Mayor of the Palace Austrasia or him and the Mayor of the Palace Neustria. The king did not really rule before Pepin ( and after Dagobert ), so Charles Martel ( who was Mayor of the palace Austrasia  ) technically ruled the kingdom ( even though he was not called king, I am going to act as if he is one ) , not the present king ( Childeric III ). Not much is know about Childeric , he is thought to be a member of the Merovingian family, but it is Uncertain. So lets talk about Charles: Charles was a great warrior and leader, he earned the nickname Martel which means hammer. Charles the Hammer helped a lot in creating Feudalism in France ( this system would later be passed on to Normandy, and through William the Conqueror to England  ). It was hard for Charles to become " king "/ Mayor of the palace Austrasia, He was put in prison, and later ( when he escaped prison ) he fought in a Civil war to establish his title. After he got his title he worked to take back the German land the Franks had lost to the Germanic tribes. The Moors attacked Aquitaine, a southwestern region/Duchy in Gaul. This duchy was officially under control of the Franks, but it was actually more Independent. The duchy's duke Odo had left to find help, when a siege started in one of his important cities ( Toulouse ). He asked Charles Martel for help, but Charles declined ( Charles and Odo were rivals and enemies, but they banded together to fight off the Muslims later. Charles was also busy fighting the Germanic Tribes ), so Odo went back to his land. Three months later he arrived, The Muslims had become overconfident and did not post any scouts to see if an army was coming, so when Odo arrived with his army he caught the Muslims totally unaware and crushed them. Interestingly he arrived right when the people of Toulouse were about to surrender. This win ( the Battle of Toulouse, 721 ) stopped the Umayyad advance in Gaul for a bit. After this the Muslims raided, but did not really attack until 731 and 732, they conquered some of Gaul and marched toward Tours. Odo got beat at the battle of in the battle of the river Garonne ( Odo could not beat the Muslims in a head on battle ) and ran to Charles warning him and asking him for help. Charles had finally beat the Germanic people, and came to defend Tours. He got an army, became an ally with Odo ( he only did this when Odo said that Charles was greater than him, and let Charles rule him and his Duchy. Odo and his forces greatly helped win the battle ) and went to meet them. They met at the battle of Tours in 732. The 11 years between the battle of Toulouse and the Battle of Tours helped Charles build up his army to fight, get ready to fight the Muslims and gave him more time to gain more power. At the battle of Tours ( sometimes called the battle of  Poitiers ) was a win for the Frank, Austrasia, Italian Lombard , Pagan mercenary ( this could have been a partly Viking force! ) force. The events of the actual battle are not exactly known, their are many accounts, here are some: #1 The soldiers of the Muslims were camped  outside the walls of Tours. They had taken so much plunder from their raids and wins before this that they were weighed down with it. The general of the army was worried that his men were worried more about their plunder than the battle that would come soon. He wanted to make them leave their plunder, but he worried this would make them revolt and kill him. So he let them have their stuff, and when they said they wanted to attack Tours (and get even more plunder) he let them. When the Muslims were besieging it , Charles and his army came, the Muslims and the Franks ( and others ) fought for a long time, but when the Franks got close to the tents (where the Muslims had put their plunder) the Muslims went to protect their plunder. Their general wanted them to come back, but he was surrounded and killed, after their leader died the Muslims fled. #2 The Muslims were caught of guard when the Frankish-mixed army appeared close to them, they were not expecting a mass force to come and resist ( in the other account the Muslim army was expecting Charles, see how it is not known for sure ? ). The armies fought each other in skirmishes, while the Muslims waited for the rest of their army to come ( Abd al Rahman, the leader of the forces, did not know how big the other army was , because they were hiding in a Forest. So he wanted to make sure he had a lot, thus waiting for the rest of his army ), this waiting also gave Charles time for his Veterans ( someone who has fought a long time ) to come and help him. His Veterans were great fighters, Charles was between the Muslims and Tours, so if the Muslims wanted to attack Tours they would have to go through Charles and his army. When the Veterans and the rest of the Islamic army came, Charles waited for the Muslim army to come attack him. This was a smart move because Charles was on a hill that was covered by a forest, this made it very hard for the Muslims to come and slowed down any charge. The Muslims were forced to charge uphill ( they probably did this because winter was coming near. Before the charge it was technically just waiting. The Franks waited the Muslims to attack their highly defensive position, while the Muslims waited for the Franks to come where they could see them all. The Franks were dressed and used to the climate of Tours, while the Muslims were not, so they did not want to wait till winter. ) into the forest and a square Phalanx formation of Franks ( and others ). The Muslim army did not really know how good the Franks were at fighting ,( while Charles did know how good the Muslims were ) and they did not know how many Franks their were. It turned out that the Franks were real good fighters and they had a pretty big army ( no one knows how many exactly. Some sources say they Frank-mixed army had more than the Muslims, while others say the Muslims had more than the Franks )  Surprise, Odo, Charles, Season , Terrain, The Veterans and formation helped them win the day. Anyway the Muslims charged with their Calvary, this tactic had worked before versus non-similar odds, this time though it failed. The strong Veterans held before the charges, the terrain helped , but it still required great skill from the Franks. The Umayyad Calvary charge had been vanquished , something thought impossible ( kinda like Italy vs Costa Rica 0-1! ) back then. The were a few ( though very little ) breaks , these Muslims tried to kill Charles , but his soldiers stopped them. ( here is where it get more like the other Account  ) Rumors spread through the Umayyad soldiers that the Franks were trying to take their plunder. This made some Muslims leave to protect it, later Charles made some scouts actually raid the plunder, this made more Muslims leave until it started to look like a full scale retreat. The Muslim soldiers started to run away, but Abd al Rahman told them to come back, then he was surrounded and killed. The Muslim soldiers then did a full scale retreat. The Franks thought the battle would go on later, but it did not. Odo's son Hunald resisted being ruled by the Franks, but soon he had no choice, so he submitted. 3 years later the Muslims invaded again, they captured some land but were forced out again by Charles the Hammer. This other Invasion was probably more dangerous than the last , but after it there was not really much attack from the Moors. Charles died in 741 and he left his sons Pepin and Carloman to be Mayors of the palace. Charles had started off with a civil war and prison, while he ended with the fame of winning Tours and conquering the Germanic tribes. Pepin was Charles's younger son while Carloman was Charles older son. Pepin became Mayor of the palace Neustria , while Carloman got Austrasia. The brother joint ruled the Franks for a while, they helped Christianity spread and be taught more in their empire. They also put down revolts of many former barbarian tribes like the Alemanni and Saxons ( the Saxons and the Angles , who were Germanic tribes  , later went to England and established rule there ). Pepin set out to gain more power, so in 747 when Carloman went to work in a monastery , He became the only ruler of the Franks and became king around 751. He became friends with the Pope, ( who made him king ) and attacked some places in Italy , he took them and then gave them to the Pope. This set the foundation for the papal states ( states ruled by the pope ) and Vatican city (the smallest country in the world  ). When Pepin became king he fought against the Muslims and took back some land; like I already said he took some land in Italy; he also fought against the Germanic tribes in the north and the beat the Aquitanians ( people who lived in modern day south-eastern France  ). Pepin was the first official Carolingian king of the Franks. Charles was Carolingian , but he was not an officail king ( even though he ruled the land ). Pepin died in 768, at age 54. He , like many other Frankish rulers fought and conquered a lot. Even though his father and his son seem more important than him, he still accomplished great things. He kept on building his army , like his father had, He kept spreading Christianity and his title given to him by the pope in 745 (  Patrician of Rome ) set the base for his sons title ( Roman Emperor ). After he died his sons ( Charles and Carloman , not to be confused with Carloman Pepin's brother ) co-ruled the empire. They did not like each other very much and both wanted to be the only ruler of the Franks, around 769 the Aquitanians revolted and both brothers came with armies to stop it. This happened because they both ruled Aquitaine ( each had ruled half of the Frankish kingdom and  Aquitaine ), they argued and Carloman left, Charles beat the rebels and earned respect from the Franks. Carloman did not like that , and the brothers dislike grew until in 771 civil war was about to break out. But before it could start Carloman died, it was most likley a natural cause , but it could have been an assassination. Anyway it was and is considered a natural death , and Charles became the only ruler of the Franks! He was the greatest king of all the medieval Frankish king. He became known as Charles the Great , in Latin this is Charles Magnus or Charlemagne. Charlemagne kept fighting in Italy and conquered the Lombard kingdom. He ruled Northern Italy ( besides the states his father had given to the Pope ) and he was protector of the Pope. 

Huns,Vikings,Goths and Mongols
here is a link to the downfall of Rome, I wrote last year, it has some information on the Huns and Goths.
 Huns:
 In the late 300's the Huns attacked Europe from western Asia, east of Europe. Eastern Europeans/Romans were terrified of them. The Huns raided and destroyed settlements. To make themselves even scarier than they were they slashed their faces( ouch ), And wore weird ragged clothes. The Huns were nomads ( people who moved from place to place always setting and taking down tents. They had no home. ) and expert horsemen. Their horses could eat only grass and still live. They traveled in wagons. They ( like most nomads) were not farmers , so they hunted and foraged for food like the first people. Hun leaders had lots of wives ( which I think is stupid ). First wives had some power. The tents the families lived in were made of horsehair. So a small group of tents was a camp and a group of camps were a clan while a group of clans is a tribe. Hun warriors had extra horses , Sword and bows called reflex bows for weapons. These bows could shoot farther than regular bows. Hun warriors fired their bows on horse back, They did not need to hold onto reins because they had stirrups. They stood in their stirrups when they fired. Huns practiced fighting , Shooting and riding from an early age. They became expert horse archers. In 376 A.D Huns attacked Goths close to the Danube river a river that runs through Germany Austria Romania Bulgaria and many other countries. It starts in the black sea and ends in Germany. Anyway the Huns beat them . In 395 for the first time the Huns attacked the Roman empire . The Huns attacked and beat the Romans plenty of times. But the Romans still held their ground. The Huns and the Romans made deals with each other. The Romans gave the Huns gold for peace. This was smart because the Huns would probably bye roman things and give them back the gold. The Huns sometimes forced the Romans to make deals by keeping hostages. One of these hostages was Aetius ( he became a roman General later ). Around the start of the 400's Most Huns were living on the plains of Hungary. They had a pretty big empire. It started in the Russian Ural Mountians and ended in the Rhone river in Europe. Their leader was called Rugila , He had combined lots of the Hun tribes  and attacked the Romans. He also had helped them get Hungary to live in . Here is how it happened. Rugila and his army attacked Thrace ( modern day Bulgaria ) and Theoudosius II ( the Eastern Roman emperor. Rome had been divided by then and The Eastern roman empire stretched from A bit west of Thrace to East of turkey to Egypt, with Israel Greece and north Africa in between) proposed that he would give Rugila 50 pounds a year of gold if there would be peace. Rugila said yes. Years ( eleven to be exact) later the Huns helped Aetius ( who had become a Genaral  ) by giving him some soldiers. Think you just gave your own men to someone who used to be your prisoner! Aetius was grateful and gave the Huns Hungary. The nomads now had a permanent home. Hungary. Rugila died in 434. The Hun were then ruled by Attila and Bleda his Nephews. The Romans had stopped paying the Huns for peace this made them angry. But then the Romans and Huns singed the treaty of Margus. This gave the Huns gold , return of prisoners and more while it ave the Romans peace. Attila and his brother Bleda took over modern day Germany and the tribes who lived there. But alas Roman - Hun peace always lasts to short ( well most of the time) , so ( according to the Huns ) the bishop of Margus had helped some Romans rob Hun graves ( stupid idea (if it actually happened ) really considering that the weakened Romans stood a very low chance against the Huns ). The Huns said that if the Bishop would leave the gates of Margus open when he left then they would not kill him. He did so the Huns marched in and took the city. The Huns took most of the Balkans. Attila and Bleda rarely agreed on things and the tensions grew until Attila simply killed Bleda ( in 445 ) to become the only leader of the Huns ( times back then were crazy ) .

Fast facts!
#1 The Huns believed in seers in magic called scapulimancy, this was a way of fortune telling ( I do not believe in in though )

#2 Rich leaders of the Huns wore jewelry to show they were rich. One jewelry item was the fibula , The Fibula was like a pin , it was usually made out of gold and had gems in them.

Attila had been a Prisoner of the Romans once ( crazy how these prisoners become leaders ), He knew how the Romans lived and did things. He thought that for the Huns to become into a strong nation and power , They must learn how to do this from nations that had already did it. In 447 Attila and the Huns conquered all of the Balkans. He got power and wealth. Attila wanted more so he conquered more and more of Europe. When the Romans gave Attila gold for peace, It made him rich. He was about to conquer all of Europe when everything went went wrong. Honoria ( sister of the western roman emperor ) was forced to marry someone ( Herculanus. If you do not know who he is then I will tell you, Herculanus was a rich senator ) she did not want to marry. So she sent a messenger to Attila with a letter and a ring, she wanted Attila to rescue her. The actual thing the letter meant probably was: If you will marry me then you will have half of western roman empire. Attila actually thought that this was true and that the Emperor would give him half his empire. The thing is though he wouldn't . Attila ( think that he would ) told them he was going to marry Honoria and he should get half of the western roman empire. But the 2 emperors said no way! ( well they did not exactly say it like that but you get the feeling) While Attila had this business with the Emperors and Honoria, The Huns attacked Gaul ( modern day France ) and the Visigoths ( you can learn more about them in the Goths section of the History). The emperor of western Rome was mad ( because Attila said he was going to marry Honoria ) and told his army ( and their leader, who happens to be Aetius. That guy keeps popping up again and again, you start to wonder if he is related to the Roman historian who wrote this down : ) to go help the Visigoths and Gaul. The Visigoths did not like the Romans but they joined together to fight of the Huns. All the armies in the West of Europe ( besides a few like the savage native's of Britannia ) fought together to try to stop the Huns ( and a few other Germanic peoples that had bonded with them ) . June 14 451. On this date the Huns got pushed away from Orleans ( a city in Gaul ). Around 7 days later they got beat again at the Battle


Vikings: 
The Vikings started in 793 and ended in 1066 ( this period is called the viking age ). The vikings came from Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe that includes Norway,Denmark,Sweden and Finland ( not to many vikings in Finland though ). The Vikings were fearsome war crazy raiders. They were also explores( expert navigators) and amazing shipbuilders. The vikings traded,Explored,Raided,Conquered and Colonized many places: Greenland; Here they first Explored then colonized. ( you can read more below, in Peaceful life and exploration ) Iceland; here they did about the same thing as in Greenland. Iceland had good resources, like blueberries. Today's modern Icelandic language is based on medieval Norse (you can read more below, in Peaceful life and exploration) Newfoundland; This was and is in North America. The Vikings first explored then raided traded and tried to colonize. But they never really did  (you can read more below, in Peaceful life and exploration) Israel; Vikings sailed all the way here and traded. The Normans also went on pilgrimages and crusades to the holy land Constantinople and Byzantium;The vikings attacked Constantinople and failed. But the Byzantine emperor was impressed by their fighting skills. So he enlisted them in an elite force called the Varangian guard. Many viking and Normans became Mercenaries for the Byzantine empire. Italy; The vikings in Italy were Normans( if you want to know who the Normans were read below in the section Normans )  Spain; and here Morocco; and here Russia; and here France; and here England; and here Ireland; not here yet Greece; or here Iraq; or here or Iran and here Scandinavia had and has a cold climate and rocky land, It is not easy to farm in Scandinavia. Scandinavia also had many forests and it had lots of water around it. The Scandinavians learned how to make great ships called longships ( Viking longships had flat bottoms so they could get closer to shore without getting their ship wrecked. Their ships were fats and silent great for raiding. They carved a figure head of a dragon on these ships to scare the locals ). The Scandinavian life was hard, so some poor men who had little to eat ( and who wanted power , fame and glory. Which they did not have) went " i viking "( this was when they got on their longships and raided other places stealing gold ,food ,clothing and other things of value).


Raiding and wars
The first viking raid ( outside Scandinavia ) was against England. England was raided by Vikings from Denmark. They raided a monastery called  St. Cuthbert's monastery off the eastern coast of England. The day it happened was the start of the viking age 7/19/793 AD. During the Viking age everyone was scared of the vikings. The vikings usually did hit and run attacks, escaping before the full force of the defending army got there. But as time went on the Vikings did full scale attacks with whole armies. They attacked England and took over a lot of land there. They forced the English to pay them for peace. The Vikings raided the kingdom of Charlemagne ( Charlemange though was not afraid of them. The vikings could not break through Charlemanges trained organized army. But when he died and the kingdom of the franks ( modern day France ) was divided the Vikings had more success and in the mid 1800's the king of western France gave the vikings some land to stop them from raiding him. This land was called Normandy the place where ( towards the end of the viking age) William the conqueror came from. You can read more below ) ,England and other northern European countries. In these countries they raided villages and monasteries. The Vikings took some land in Italy, Russia and other places. They even tried to conquer Constantinople, But the Byzantine army defeated them. The Byzantine leader though was so impressed by the skill and strength of the vikings that he brought them in his army , under the name: Varangian guard. They also raided the middle east.
 They needed to sell their Spoils (the stuff they got from their raids) so they became traders. All their land helped make trade routes and connect early medieval Europe. But the vikings or Norsemen were not all fight and raid ( like I said they were traders ).

Peaceful life and Exploration
 back at home in Scandinavia they led mostly non warlike lives ( but they did fight and raid each other ever so often ). They lived in houses with large central rooms made out of wood. They had a hole in the roof for the smoke from a fire, that burned inside the house (  to give light for these houses rarely had windows. It was probably also used for cooking) to go out. I wrote about Norse Mythology and Norse religion here Life in Scandinavia was not that good so sometimes these Norsemen went looking for new better lands to live in. One of these explores was called Eric the Red. Eric the red "discovered"( The Inuit were the actual discoverers ) Greenland. Here is how it happened. Eric and his family lived in Scandinavia. His father's name was Thorvald. One day Thorvald had a fight with a man and killed him. The Scandinavians banished him and his family. They left Scandinavia and came to Iceland ( Iceland had been discovered earlier by Naddodd another viking. ), a cold island close to the arctic ocean. Iceland also had wild blueberries, fish and other natural resources. So Thorvald and other Scandinavians settled in Iceland. When Eric grew up he was just like his father, Fearsome and angry. One day Eric was arguing with his neighbors , the argument turned into a big fight, ending with ( can you guess ) 2 dead neighbors and a banished Eric ( really if you want to travel don't just keep killing people and get banished to do it. On the other hand if you want to stay to kill people, you get yourself banished. If Eric's family keeps this up they would soon run out of places to go, they would be banished from .. everywhere ). Eric and his family explored and found the large island of Greenland. Greenland was and is a freezing ice and snow covered place with like 0.1% of green. So why is it called this. Well Eric thought that know one would want to come here if they heard what it was like so he gave it the name Greenland. Icelanders heard about Greenland and set sail. Of the 25 that started off only 14 made it because of storms. When the survivors reached Greenland they found ice and snow. The sad ,mad  and dispirited colonists tried to make a successful settlement in Greenland. The settlement survived, but the people did not have enough food, they were short and skinny. The settlers lived like Inuits, Hunting seals,whales, fish, Wearing warm clothing and defending from polar bears. but like I said they did not have enough to eat. Eric the red had a son in Greenland called Leif Ericsson ( son of Eric. Eric's son ). Leif wanted to find a place that was better for living. When he was in his teens Leif heard from a fisherman (called Bjarni Herjolfsson ) that he had once ( in 986 AD) seen a unknown shore when he had fished pretty far from the coast of Greenland. The shore was covered with trees and hills he had said. Leif wanted to find this land. So when he grew up he bought Bjarni's ship and assembled a crew. Leif wanted Eric to go with him but right before that set sail Eric broke his foot when he tumbled of his horse. Eric was an old man now, He told Leif to go without him. Leif set of close to the year 1000 AD with his crew of 35. They sailed and sailed until they reached the land that Bjarni had seen. This land had hills, trees , grass and streams. It defiantly seemed better then Greenland. The Norsemen explored, But they discovered one of their men were missing. Leif searched and found the man, Sitting in the middle of lots of grapes. He was devouring the grapes. Leif and the Norsemen took the grapes and sailed back to Greenland. Leif called the new land , Vineland the land of grapes. Vineland was actually Newfoundland a place in North America. The vikings reached north america around 500 year earlier then Columbus (But the vikings were not the first here, the Jaredites and Adam were). People from Greenland came to this new land, that sounded way better then Greenland. When they got their they set up settlements. Thorvald Ericsson ( who was Leif's brother. Not to be confused with Thorvald Eric's father, Thorvald Ericsfather :) set out with 30 men and landed in North america in 1004. The next year Thorvald and his followers attacked 9 Skraelings ( as the Vikings called the Native Americans. Hedre is one description of them " They were short in height with threatening features and tangled hair on their heads. Their eyes were large and their cheeks broad " ) who were sleeping under some canoes. One of them got away, alerted a large force and came and fought Thorvald and his team. Some meetings of the Norse and Native Americans were friendly trading meetings, Though many were skirmishes and fights. One man who really wanted to make a colony in Vinland was named Thorfinn Karlsefni. Thorfinn tried to make a settlement but he failed. Know one knows exactly why the Vikings did not just stay in Vinland and establish large longstanding colonies. It probably was , if a least partly, due to the frequent fights with the Skraelings. The Scandinavians did ( for some time ) go back and forth between North America and Greenland, Bringing back resources that were scarce in Greenland like Wood and furs. They either just took it or traded with some of the less hostile Native Americans. The Norse never did establish a longstanding colony in north America. There were other places that the Vikings settled , but this is the only one I included.

Some history of  Bulgaria


Bulgaria is the country where my mom is from. It has a long exciting history. Many of the oldest human remains and buildings have been found here. The oldest known town in Europe was located in Bulgaria. At first , like in most places, there were wandering nomads , but they gradually settled down and made societies after learning agriculture. The Varna culture happened during the late New Stone Age period ( around 50000 BC )in Bulgaria. There were many burials with gold in the Varna culture. This culture helps us learn how the societies of the first people in Europe worked. Its gold jewelry in its graves are the oldest golden artifacts found anywhere in the world. The Thracians left lasting cultures in Bulgaria. We don't know exactly where they came from, but we do know about their lives in Bulgaria.They came and conquered the locals around 1500 BC, they were great craftsmen in Gold and other materials. The Thracians were not really organized, but they had better culture and technology than other peoples. They were usually divided in many tribes, but when other peoples came to attack them they banded together and drove them away. They lived in villages defended by walls, the City did not come to Thrace until the Romans conquered them. Even when the city came to them they did not like it. The first Greek colonies there were made in 8th century BC . They stayed divided until around 500 BC , when king Teres untied most of the tribes into the Odrysian Kingdom. Teres was great at fighting, when he died his son ( Sitalces one of the best kings of the Odrysians ) succeeded him. Sitalces expanded his empire, and when the Peloponnesian war started , he went on the side of Athens. His successor though, went against Athens ( his attacks failed ). After him Amadocus I came to the throne, he lost a lot of land to a Thracian tribe, Interestingly a place in Antarctica is named after him. Another king came to power later , he did so by killing the previous king, this new king was called Cotys. Cotys I became a friend to the Athenians. Cotys had a rebellion during his reign and stopped it. Later in his reign he became enemies with Athens. In 359 BC he made an alliance with the king of Macedonia , Philip II the dad of Alexander the Great. A year later he died ,when some of Plato's ( Plato was a great Greek philosopher and one of his students was Aristotle   )students assassinated him. After Cotys the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace was divided into 3 parts, western Thrace, Central Thrace and Eastern Thrace. After a while though the Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace was united. Amazingly the Celts came form the British Isle and settled in Bulgaria ! They fought against the Macedonians, even though they lost the battle they stayed in Bulgaria. In 279 BC they invaded the Thracians under the command of Comontorius ,and conquered some of them. This Celtis-Thracian kingdom was called Tylis. It stayed around for little time though, interestingly one Celtic tribe the serdi ( this is where the name for the Bulgarian capital -Sofia comes from ! ) wandered around Bulgaria . The Macedonians ( at first Philp II and then Alexander the Great ) controlled the Thracians from around 341 to 331 BC. The Odrysians later gained independence. After the last Odrysian king died in 46 A.D. , Thrace became part of the Roman Empire. The Romans called it the province of Thracia. Constantine the Great was born pretty close to Bulgaria, but actually in Serbia. Temples of some fake-mythological Egyptian gods were found near the Black Sea. This is because many people from around the Roman Empire came to Thracia. Diocletian (the Emperor who divided the Roman Empire in 2  ) divided Thracia into smaller provinces. In the 4th century some barbarian Goths came and settled in Bulgaria. In Bulgaria one Gothic Christian translated the Greek bible to Gothic, making the first book written in Germanic ! The Roman control in Thracia was not very strong, and Attila the Hun actually attacked modern day Bulgaria, raiding many villages. After the western roman empire fell , the actual place where modern Bulgaria is , was still ruled by the eastern roman empire ( the Byzantine empire ) . But there were a peoples who were called Bulgars, they established a kingdom called old great Bulgaria. It was on the Northern shore of the Black in Thracia, which was being ruled by the Byzantine empire. Khan Kubrat untied two big Bulgar tribes and established old great Bulgaria. After Kubrat was Batbayan , under him the kingdom collapsed when the Khazars attacked in 668, The Khazars were a Turkish ,sort of nomadic tribe that established the Kingdom of Khazaria. When the kingdom was destroyed , some Bulgars came down to modern day Bulgaria and conquered some of it under Asparuh's leadership. 

Europe Adventure

We recently got back from an Adventure in Europe. We first packed, then we drove to a bus station. At the bus station we parked and got on the bus to Boston. We got off at the airport and discovered someone had taken our bag. We went to terminal E and took a Aer Lingus flight to Dublin that lasted about 5 hrs & 20 minutes. We did not have that one bag, but the bus company was searching for it. In Dublin we took a taxi to a fishing village , saw a castle there and ate at a cafe. We had about 4 hr layover so then we took another taxi back to Dublin airport. The currency in Ireland was Euro's but they drove on the left side of the road. So they had a bit of English culture left from the time Britain ruled Ireland. The taxi drivers did not really like England and one played a Irish rebel song when we asked him his favorite Irish music. We took another Aer Lingus flight from terminal 2 to Inverness Scotland. That flight was only an hour and a half. In Inverness we got a Mercedes rental car that turned off when you stopped ! We drove towards Skye after we got some food from a market. There were sheep and green hills everywhere!

 We stopped on our way and hiked up a hill and had a picnic on it. There were many small rivulets running through the hills too. We saw plenty of sheep on our way to Skye. We stopped at some castles like Eileen Donan and Urqhart

.  We also went to a town called Strontian, where strontium was discovered. In Skye we slept in a cottage, and explored many places, including Portree ( the capital ), and the fairy springs                  

next to the Cullens ( a mountain range ). Then we went down to Stirling, and saw Stirling Castle. After this we went down to Edinburgh and the surrounding towns. We saw Edinburgh Castle

and went to church in DalKeith. We also went through a flower field ( around North Berwick )                        

. We hiked up a The North Berwick Law ( or just the Berwick Law ), in North Berwick , it is a hill that has a whale's Jawbone ( now a replica , added in 2008, after one rotted away , and was removed in 2005 )  on the top. It also has ruins of an Iron age hill fort and military bases of many wars, including the Napoleonic and WWII. I got lost on it but, We found each other later. After this we had a Flight booked for London, but when we stopped on our way to the Airport , Our Sister's lip got slashed on the concrete. We went to the airport , and they told us that we should get it stitched, ( by the way the medical agent there was not very helpful ) But they couldn't do it, and there was a hospital 7 miles away or so. So we went to St Johns hospital and waited forever in the emergency room. Then after some more waiting in a patient's room, there came a facial surgeon and he stitched our sisters lip up. We had missed our flight from Edinburgh airport, and drove around, after getting some food at Tesco's, to find a hotel to sleep for the night. We went to hotel one hotel, they said no, then another ( that they recommended to us ), that said no , and another ( that they recommended to us ) , that said NO. But , finally we found one that said yes! and we slept there during the night. There was a deal if you book flights the day before them , before midnight, then they are cheaper. Our dad booked our flight to London , like 2 minutes before Midnight. We slept there that night, and then had a Breakfast there , for they had breakfast served there. That day we flew to London, we had lost some time, so we did not go to Oxford. But we took a bus tour of London, and saw Big Ben's tower              

, Parliament , and other buildings. We then flew to Bergerac, France, and then drove to Beynac.

There we slept in an old ( about medieval ) stone cottage of the hill that had the castle. The Cottage was refurbished on the inside for modern needs. We explored much of the Dordogne

, and some of the castles around it, I got my Sword in one of the Castles.

After this we drove to Paris in a rental car we had gotten in Bergerac airport. We lost a wallet at one of the tolls, but finally, after some 6 hours, we made it to Paris. In Paris we explored

, and saw Notre Dame

 ( there was a statue of Charlemagne near it, and many pigeons  ) , The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower

( I touched the base of this one ). From here we flew to Dublin, and after a 2 hour layover ( that was delayed some more ), we flew to Boston. It was great to be home, and we had a great time in Europe.

Atoms and Chemistry part 2

Organic Chemistry,Biochemistry and Plastic
Organic Chemistry is the chemistry of studying compounds and molecules with carbon in them. Carbon is in all living things. Carbon can bond with many other atoms. This type of Chemistry deals with the making of organic compounds through chemical reactions.  Organic chemistry studies hydrocarbons molecules with only hydrogen and carbon. Methane is an example of a hydrocarbon. Carbon forms long chains of molecules called polymers. Polymers are in plastics. Polymers are made of smaller molecules called monomers.


how did your
Carbon facts:
Atomic radius 67 pm
Atomic mass 12
Melting point 6422 F
boiling point 7281 F
Electronegativity 2.55
2 electron shells.
atomic number 6
forms diamond.



history
Jons Berzelius was a Swedish chemist who found the difference between Inorganic and Organic. Justus von Liebig also worked on organic chemistry.

Biochemistry
This is the study of chemical reactions and molecules in living things. Like proteins and reactions that keep things living. Biochemistry also deals with the molecules DNA is made out of.

History
The starting of Bio chemistry is sometimes considered the discovery of the first enzymes. ( These are large molecules that help you live in chemistry ) In 1833 Anselme Payen ( french) found it. They started using the name biochemistry in 1903. Carl Neuberg a German chemist coined it. The structure of DNA molecule was discovered in 1953. It is made out of four Compounds that are made with Carbon,Hydrogen,Nitrogen and Oxygen. They are: Cytosine,Quanine,Adenine and thymine. 

Proteins and other Biomolecules
Proteins are large molecules made out of amino acids. These are smaller organic compounds. Each Amino acid contains three groups. Carboxly,Amino and side-chain. These are just molecules.
Carbohydrates are Molecules made out of smaller molecules called Monosaccharides. The simplest form of sugars. Some of these are glucose and fructose. So some Carbohydrates are large sugar molecules. Carbohydrates are the most common Biomolecule. they store energy. Lipids are fats. Nucleic acids are molecules that make DNA.

Fast fact! 
Biochemistry may become obsolete with the invention of  STED microscopy and PALM which are improved optical microscopes. With them you can see actual molecules ! 3 chemists just got the noble prize in chemistry for these inventions !

Plastic
The word plastic means that is can be shaped. Anything that has plasticity. But if that was plastic then clay and dough would be plastic too. The kind that we think of when you say it is a name for Polymers.
Plastics are usually made out of organic polymers. Polymers are big long molecules. There are Biopolymers like in DNA and there are Plastic polymers. I already wrote about Biopolymers.  So I will write about plastic polymers. Plastics are made out of Polymers. Here are some types: Natural plastics: Tortoise shells and trees sap , Polystyrene: this is packaging foam. It is in plastic utensils and food containers. , Polyamide: Nylon used in toothbrush bristles. , Polyester&Polyethylene terephthalate: used in clothes and soft drink bottles, Polycarbonate: used in CD's and glasses , Arcrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene or ABS: This is used in keyboards and computers, Polypropylene: This is used in many things from clothes to loudspeakers. It has a number five, Polyethylene: most common plastic. Used in packaging, Polyvinly chloride: used in construction and Teflon a non stick plastic used in water slides.
Fast fact! 
Polyethylene is a long hydro-carbon. 

SPI Resin identification code
The SPI Resin identification code is a set of numbers in the recycle icon put on plastic things. The Society of the Plastics Industry made it in 1988. The main purpose of this was for recycling. They needed to separate different plastics/polymers for recycling.
here is a list:
1: Polyethylene terephthalate: Soft drinks: Usually recycled
2: High density Polyethylene: Bottles and grocery bags:Usually recycled
3: Polyvinly chloride: Pipes: Not very commonly recycled
4: Low density Polyethylene:Bags: Rarely recycled
5: Polypropylene: food containers: Rarely recycled
6: Polystyrene: packaging peanuts: Rarely recycled
7: Other plastics like Polycarbonate and nylon: Headlight lenses: Almost none recycled

Plastic changes from a liquid to a solid while it is being processed. So it is easy work with. You just pour it in a mold. Many things in the world are made out of plastic. The world would be different without it. Plastic is bad for the environment. Reasons: 90 % of plastic is made with petroleum a non-renewable resource. (this means that when the petroleum is gone we can't get it again)Another bad things about plastic is that it almost lasts forever ( it takes hundreds of years for plastic to decompose). Because it is made out of artificial molecules. Burning it gives of harmful chemicals so that's not good either. When you make plastic it creates pollution! Chemists are trying to make something better than plastic. One good way is with Nano-carbons. Molecules made by heating carbon with extremely high heat and  changing the carbon atoms into molecules that are like plastic. The can be shaped easily. Making them makes very little pollution. The Tech is not ready yet but they have been used to make bowling balls.
 
Fast fact! 
In china Plastic bags are called white pollution.

history
People have used natural plastics for a long time. Like during the medieval ages people used cow horns for drinking cups. Modern plastic came from things like rubber. Natural rubber comes from trees. The Mayans used the rubber to make balls to play games. Rubber is hard in cold temperatures and soft ans mushy in hot temperatures. In 1839 Charles Goodyear ( an american engineer: born 12/29/1800 Connecticut. died 7/1/1860 new York ) discovered how to treat rubber to make it withstand temperatures. It is called vulcanization. His rubbers was able to resist water, Chemical reactions, Electricity and other stuff. It could be molded in different shapes. The rubber tree became obsolete when people discovered how to make artificial plastics out of human made molecules. In 1856 Alexander Parkes patented Parkesine. Parkesine was the first man made plastic. It was made out of cellulose ( Organic compound with the formula C6H10O5 it is a polymer)  treated with nitric acid (HNO3) and a solvent ( something the dissolves something else ). The first man made plastic made with synthetic( man made ) polymers was Bakelite. In 1907 Leo Hendrik Baekeland ( a Belgian american ) invented Bakelite. Bakelite is considered the first true plastic because it is made out of man made polymers. Bakelite was cheap and strong, humans loved it.  

clay and dough like plastic
Clay can be shaped with your hands easily.


The Nuclear weapon, Radioactivity and Nuclear power
Nuclear weapon
The Nuclear weapon is a highly dangerous weapon.

History
In 1898 Pierre and Marie Curie discovered that pitchblende had a radioactive element in it which they called Radium. Ernest Rutherford said that the Nucleus was giving way and changing into different elements. People believed that here was hidden energy waiting to be used in these atoms. In 1933 Adolf  Hitler became chancellor (leader) of Germany. It was dangerous for Jews to stay in Germany. Leo Szilard ran away to London. He patented the idea of a nuclear chain reaction ( this happens when a nuclear reaction ( This happens when two Nuclei hit each other and make different nuclei.) causes more nuclear reactions ). Szilard gave the patent to the British Leaders of the navy. Enrico Fermi said that when he shot neutrons at uranium he made artificial radioactivity. In 1938 Fritz Strassmann and Otto Hahn said they found the element Barium when they shot neutrons at uranium. This is because the Uranium Atom was decaying/splitting into other elements. Otto Frisch did a Experiment in 1939 and proved that the Uranium had decayed or split apart. He called it fission. When WWII began many Physicists new that the Fission bomb could be made. But they did not exactly know how to make it. Leo Szilard was worried that Germany was working on making a Nuclear bomb. He decided that he needed to write a letter to the President ( FDR ). Saying that america needs to make a Nuclear bomb before the Nazis. He wrote the letter and asked Albert Einstein to sign it. Albert did and it was given to the President. This led to the Uranium committee and then the Manhattan project. The Uranium Committee was paid low and it did not work out well. When an attack on pearl harbor happened The Manhattan project started. General groves was put in charge of it. It cost about 2 billion dollars in time it was made and 26 billion dollars now. A lot of time and money was spent in mining and extracting Uranium-235 and Plutonium 2 radioactive elements. These were needed to make the weapons. The scientist were put under command of  J. Oppeinhiemer. There was many great scientist working on the project. The base lab was in Los Alamos, New mexico. Oak ridge,Tennessee was also a big factory. The United states of America and the United Kingdom helped each other during WWII but they did not tell the soviets about it. The Manhattan project was super secret. U.S.A and U.K did not want the Nazis to make a bomb this terrible. They did not want the soviets to find out either. But the soviets found out and the cold war happened, But that and WWII are whole other blogs. The weapons thought of in 1942 were Little boy,Thin man and Fat man. Thin man did not really work out. The Germans were working on a weapon but they were not paid very much by the Government, so their project never reached its goal.  In July 16 1945 The trinity test happened. It tested the gadget an Implosion/Plutonium bomb. Implosion is the opposite of explosion. It happens when matter goes inward not outward. After that they made two bombs Little boy and Fat man. Little Bot test was in April 1945. It was not done with pure Uranium so it would not actually explode. They used the gun method here. They shot some Uranium at some other Uranium and made a chain reaction. Fat man was practically the same thing as the gadget. The implosion worked by surrounding the plutonium with regular bombs and then when the bombs exploded they would squash the plutonium and make a nuclear chain reaction. They dropped little boy on Hiroshima on august 6 1945. Then they dropped fat man on Nagasaki on August 9 1945. Then WWII ended. The cold war came and went. But that is an another blog.  

 Fast fact!
Albert Einstein did not work on the Manhattan project. He did not even know it existed! 

How it works
A Nuclear bomb explodes when a nuclear chain reaction happens. Like I wrote above a nuclear chain reaction is when many nuclear reactions happen.You can learn more about this in Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion part of Radioactivity.


Radioactivity 
An atom that is radioactive decays losing high energy particles or waves. Radioactivity is also called radioactive decay. The number of Protons Neutrons and electrons changes in a unstable atom. An atom is unstable when its number of protons neutrons and electrons changes. When an atom losses these particles it turns into another element. Radioactive atoms also give off beta,alpha and gamma rays.

Fast fact!
Uranium happens naturally in 2 isotopes: Uranium-235 and Uranium-238. Uranium-235 is a Fissile ( it can make a chain reaction) Uranium-238 is not.

Nuclear fission
Is either a Nuclear reaction or radioactive decay. It happens when an atom's nucleus splits into other smaller nucleus's. It is what happens in most Nuclear weapons.

Nuclear fusion
This happens when 2 nucleus's going at very high speeds collide and from a new nucleus/atom. It happens in the sun and other stars.

Nuclear power/Energy 
Nuclear power is the power or energy that comes from Nuclear fission and Fusion. When Fission or Fusion happens large amounts of energy are released. There is energy in the nucleus. It can be harnessed like this. you put Uranium in tubes ( Fuel rods ) that are in water inside a Nuclear reactor. Then nuclear Fission happens in the fuel rods. It makes a controlled chain reaction which releases energy as heat and warms up the water turning it into steam which turns turbines of generators that make electricity. It might be better than fossil fuels but it makes nuclear waste that is radioactive. Nuclear fusion would not make waste. Nuclear waste stays around for a long time and it is dangerous for living things like us.

Quantum Physics/Mechanics  


Quantum Physics tells us how sub-atomic particles work and move around. It is pretty complicated and not much is understood about it. There is also plenty about light in it. Calculus and algebra is used extensively in quantum mechanics.

Basics


History



Some cool Chemistry facts 

#1 Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element in the Universe

#2 When some snakes inject venom from their hollow fangs ( the venom is made in glands that are behind the mouth) the venom which is a protein attacks the blood circulation. The cool thing is that if you swallow the venom it isn't poisonous. Because when the venom goes in your digestive system the Digestive system breaks it down. 

#3 "Chemistry is the science of change. Chemistry is a physical science; it lies between biology and physics  " Eyewitness Chemistry pg 6 & 8

#4 Your mouth and throat burn when you eat chili peppers. This is because of a compound called capsaicin. Capsaicin helps digestion and helps get rid of waste.

#5 What compound is mostly responsible for changing colors and camouflage? Melanin. Melanin is a general name used to talk about many natural colors or pigments. Melanin also helps you tan and protects you from the suns UV radiation.

#6 Only red " Neon sings " actually contain Neon. Here is what Neon sings are: they are tubes that are filled with a noble gas and then run an electric current through them. With real neon signs it is like this. But with some other sings you fill the tube with a gas and some Mercury. When the tube gets electrified the mecury evaporates into gaseous mercury. This Mercury vapor makes ultraviolet light. This UV light makes the coatings in the tube energetic. When these coatings react they make different colors. 

#7 Argon 18 was discovered  in 1894 by Ramsay and Rayleigh.

#8 Francium 87 is so so so rare that at any moment the crust of the earth has around 30 grams. It is Radioactive so it keeps decaying into other elements. It also makes combines with many elements. It is one of the rarest elements.

#9 Uranium is the heaviest naturally occurring element. You can make many other heavier element in the lab and their might not be an end.

#10 The bitterest thing in the world is Denatonium benzoate C₂₈H₃₄N₂O₃. This thing saves many lives. An extremely small amount is added to many poisonous things like Gasoline and pesticides. It makes these things taste terrible and makes children and other people not eat or drink it.   

#11 A compound called Cyanoacrylate  ( usually know as super glue )  is useful for gluing and for crime cases. 


Some things from my Coursea class on chemistry
 Recently I took a Course on chemistry using coursea from duke university.
Week 1
In week 1 we learned about Scientific notation, the scientific method, significant figures, measuring,  matter, energy, Coulomb's law , basic stoichiometry, the mole, physical changes and chemical changes. So scientific notation is expressing really big or really small numbers, like 6*10^12. That ^ sign means you multiply the number before it times itself the number after it times. So it would be 10*10 12 times. This equals 10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10=1 with 12 zeros=1000,000,000,000 . then we multiply it by 6 , this equals 6000,000,000,000 = 6 trillion. The scientific method is a method to learn about the world a prove what is right. The first step is to have a hypothesis, an educated guess  about what would happen in an experiment. Like, if you had identical bottles and filled them all with the same amount of vinegar and baking soda. Then you put identical balloons on them. Say you have a hypothesis that if you add more vinegar to one , it will fill up the balloon faster. The amount of vinegar is called a variable, the amount of backing soda, the size of the bottles, the heat and the pressure they receive, these are all variables. For an accurate experiment you must keep all other variables the same for both bottles , except the variable you will change,  the amount of vinegar variable. The next step in the scientific method is to conduct the experiment, then the last step is to record the results. There are rules for which numbers in a number are significant, and which are not. They are; 1 any non-zero numbers are significant 2 zeros before non-zeros are not significant 3 zeros to the right of the decimal point and after non-zeros are significant 4 zeros between non-zeros are significant. We learned about measurement units, and conversion factors between imperial and the metric systems. We learned about prefixes like mega, kilo, deci, centi, milli,micro and nano. Mega is 1000,000 meters, Kilo is 100, deci is 0.1, centi is 0.01, milli is 0.001, micro is 0.0001 and nano is 0.00001 meters. We also learned about matter , the definition of matter is : anything that takes up space and has mass. The stuff of our world is matter, Mass is how much matter their is. Matter is made of Atoms, and Atoms are made of subatomic particles, the main ones being:  protons , neutrons and electrons.  The course also taught me about the periodic table, the elements, molecules and compounds which you can read about here. I learned about energy from the perspective of Chemists and Chemistry. There are 2 main things, things go to lower energy and energy changes when charged particles interacted with each other. Like when magnets of opposite charges come close together, the energy is lower, and when same charges come close the energy is higher. We also leaned about Coulombs law. It is the mathematical equation that describes the interaction between charged particles . Here it is:

                     F=k q1 q2
                             Ɛ  r2

The F stands for force, attraction or repulsion. K is a constant, always the same positive number. q1 and q2 are the charges. Ɛ is the dielectric constant, it is represented by a epsilon. The dielectric constants is the medium the attraction is happening in , like water or air. The r2 is the distance. By making the distance closer you make the force stronger. We learned about basic stoichiometry, namely writing and reading chemical formulas. I already knew how to do that :). Then we learned about the mole, 6.02*10^23. We learned that a mole of something ( like an atom or a molecule ) , equals that things atomic mass in grams. Like on mole of gold has a mass of 196.97 g. Because the atomic mass of gold is 196.97 u. The u stand for average atomic mass. After this we saw experiments , like ones on chemical change ( rearranging of atoms ) and physical change ( changing the shape and other things but keeping the same chemical ). I got 93 % on that weeks quiz

Week 2
On this week we were informed in more detail about atoms, elements and the periodic table. We learned about ions, isotopes and ionic bonds. I mostly cover all this in my first blog of Atoms and Chemistry. After this we learned about periodic trend like 1st Ionization energy and electronegativity,atomic radius, thermochemistry and density. Periodic trends are
trends of property that are on the periodic table, like 1st ionization energy. 1st Ionization energy is the energy that it takes to remove a single electron from a neutral atom. The 1st Ionization energy goes from lowest ( easiest to remove e- ) in the bottom left corner to high 1st ionization energy ( hard to remove ) in the upper right corner. This is because the elements in the upper right corner only need a few electron to get a full outer shell. The elements here also have less shells and the e-'s are more strongly attracted to the nucleus , harder to take away. The elements in the bottom left corner have very few electrons in their outer shell ( this means it would be easier to take away a few than add many to get a full shell ), and they have more shells, therefore the e-'s are less attracted to the nucleus through the shielding effect. The outer most electrons have so many e-'s shielding them from the full charge of the positive nucleus. Helium has the highest 1st ionization energy, it is the hardest to take an electron from a helium atom. It has only one shell, so technically there is no shielding effect felt. Also it is has a full outer ( valence ) shell. Electronegavity is the ability of an atom to attract bonding e-'s. This trend goes the same way, with fluorine being the most electronegative element. Fluorine has only 2 shells so the shielding effect is hardly felt, and all it needs is 1 more e- to get a full shell. The 2nd shell is relatively close to the nucleus and it has lower energy than most other atoms, since e- like to go to lower energy that is another reason they go. But if that was the only case Hydrogen would be the most electronegative element. you also have to need only one e-. Hydrogen only needs one more e-   for a shell also, but it has another option open to it: to get rid of its one e-. Fluorine only has one sensible option so it is more electronegative. Noble gases are generally considered not to need e-'s so they are blotted out of the picture. But noble gases do react, you can read more about it below. The scale used to measure electronegativity was made and named after Linus Pauling: the Pauling scale.   The atomic radius is how big the atom is. As you go along a period ( across the periodic table ) atomic radii get smaller. This is because each element in a period has the same number of shells, but different number of e-'s and p+'s. The growing number of protons attracts the outer shell more and shrinks the atom . The element that has the largest atomic radius is Cesium , 55. Every element at the start of their period are the largest in their period. Cesium is close to the bottom and had more shells than the other first period elements. Thermochemistry deals with heat and energy. Lets take a system with clearly defined boundaries. Energy could flow into the system or out of the system, everything that is not in the system is the surroundings. We can calculate the energy of the system if we take the systems final energy and subtract the systems initial energy. For energy flowing in to the system the energy is positive, for it going out it is negative. We also learned about density in week 2. The density of something is its mass divided by its volume.

ρ= Mass/Volume

Rho ρ is denisty, mass could be grams or it could be something else, volume could be mililiters, or something else


ρ= g/mL

so if you had 1 gram of water in 1 mililiter then its density is 1 g/l

ρ= 1 g/ 1 mL

ρ= 1 g/mL


things more dense than water sink, while thing less dense than water float. The tighter packed the molecules in substances are the more dense they are.

I got 90 % that week

Week 3
This week we learned basic chemical nomenclature. We were introduced to oxidation states. This is the charge of an atom if the bonds were parley ionic. We learned how to name ionic compounds and learned about covalenant bonds ( bonds where atoms share e- ). We also learned how to calculate formula mass. Below in Essay 1 I write how to do these things.

This week I got 90 %

Week 4
This week we learned about chemical composition, mole ratios, formulas and chemical reactions
A formula of a molecule is how many atoms their are in it. H2O 2 hydrogens and 1 oxygen.
Chemical reactions are what happen when different compounds interact and atoms change places. We learned how to balance chemical reactions. Here is one:

Fe + O2 ------>  Fe2O3

To balance it you add coefficients like this :

4Fe + 3O2 ----> 2Fe2O3

now the atoms of each element on the reactant side equal the ones on the product side.

this week I got 77 %

Essay 1

Here is a Compound:

TiI4[1] 

I chose this compound because it's my name backwards! Ian Timothy. 

Lets name it. First we need to decide which rules to use, for this one we will use the Ionic compound rules. First we name the ions in the compound. The Ions here are: Titanium cation and Iodide anion. The Cation is written first, then the Anion. Since Titanium's oxidation state can change , we need to write it. To write the oxidation state of Titanium, we use parentheses and roman numerals like this: (III) . We need to figure out the oxidation state of Titanium in this particular compound. To discover it we look at Iodide, it has a oxidation state of -1. There are 4 Iodide's and all the Iodides charges combined equal -4. The compound is neutral so the oxidation state of Ti is +4. We write the name like this: titanium(IV) iodide. The IV shows the oxidation state of Ti. 

Now lets calculate its mass. There is 1 Ti and Ti's average atomic mass is 47.88. There are 4 Is and I's average atomic mass is 126.90, you times this by 4, and get 507.6. You add 47.88 and 507.6 to get 555.48. 555.48 u ( u stand for average atomic mass ) is the mass of this compound 

Now let figure out how many protons, neutrons and electrons there are in it.  There are 234 protons, 234 electrons and 322 neutrons.

Nanotechnology is a fairly new field of science. It deals with things at the tiniest scale, like atoms and molecules. Nanotechnolgy  is a future technology. We can not do it with nanotechnology now, but here is how you would turn lead into gold: Lead or Pb has 82 protons, while gold or Au has 79 protons. The number of protons affects the type of element , so take Pb, and with a awesome tiny nanotechnology tool or machine ( which has not been invented yet, but hopefully it will be ! ), you take away 3 protons from the nucleus of the Pb atom. Also take away three electrons to make the atom have a neutral charge. Add those protons and electrons to other atoms , changing them into different elements. Once those three protons and electrons went away.... the lead turned into gold!!!! It went from Pb to Tl ( Thallium ) to Hg ( Mercury ) and finally to Au! Now if nanotechnology got this advanced, there would be so much gold on the earth , that it would be worth very little! Now for centuries people have been trying to change lead ( or some other inexpensive metal ) into gold. Alchemy was chemistry during the middle ages, but it had a more magical bases then modern chemistry. Alchemists main goals were to change lead into gold and make a eternal life giving potion. They never succeeded in either ( they would have succeeded with one if they had super advanced nanotechnology ), but the Chinese ( while trying to make eternal life potion ) instead made gunpowder ( this was around the 11th century )! The gunpowder was a mixture of Charcoal ( which has carbon ) , Sulfur and a Nitrate. Nitrate itself has the formula NO3 , but for gunpowder potassium is usually added to the molecule. Potassium Nitrate is a neutral atom , since Nitrate has a oxidation state of -1, and Potassium or K has a oxidation state of +1. The formula for potassium nitrate is KNO3, The charcoal ( mostly C , but not pure C ) and the S are fuel for the combustion of gunpowder. The KNO3 gives oxygen to the combustion helping it explode. The Chinese used gunpowder for fireworks , and also for primitive gunpowder weapons . When the Mongols conquered China ( in 1279, they conquered the song dynasty , during this dynasty gunpowder was invented  ), the technology of gunpowder spread along the Mongol empire ( the largest empire connected by land, and second only to the British empire, part of 32 modern countries ) and into Europe. This led to the end of traditional  European middle age ideas , Like knights in shining armor and castles. So chemistry contributed to ending knights in shining Armor !



( week 5 was a break ) Week 6 
This week we learned about dissolving, solutions and precipitates. Here is how you write a dissolution equation:
              Dissolution
NaCl(s) ------------>   Na(aq)+1 + Cl(aq)-1 
                    H2O

This is the dissolution of sodium chloride in dihydrogen monoxide ( Water ). Sodium chloride is ionic compound, with 2 Ions. When it gets dissolved in water the water molecules get between the Na and Cl ions, so they do not bond. Interestingly the partially negative ( because water is a polar covalent bond ) O faces the NA cation, while the partially positive H faces the anion Cl. Sometimes when two different compounds are dissolved in water a precipitate forms. This is when a solid forms. There are a list of rules called the solubility rules, these rules explain what is soluble and what is not.

here are the rules:

1.  most compounds of ammonium and alkali metals are soluble.  
2. most compounds that have many atoms and have a low charge are soluble, like acetate ( C2H3O2-1 ) and perchlorate ( ClO4-1 ) 
3. most compounds of the halogens are soluble , except those with silver (I), copper (1), Thallium (I) , mercury(I) and lead (II) cations
4. most compounds of sulfate ( SO4-2) are soluble , except ones with calcium, strontium, barium and lead (II) cations
5. most other ionic compounds are insoluble  

If you had two compounds that were soluble and when dissolved in water formed a precipitate, than the atoms rearrange and form a compound that is not soluble and a precipitate forms. Like if you had beryllium chloride ( BeCl2 ) and dissolved it in water. Then you take mercury (I) sulfate ( Hg2SO4 ) and dissolve it in water. A precipitate will form. This precipitate is mercury (I) dichloride (Hg2Cl2 ). If you look at the solubility rules you will see beryllium chloride and mercury (I) sulfate are soluble. Mercury (I) dichloride is NOT soluble though and forms a precipitate. The dissolution equation would look like this:  BeCl2(s) + Hg2SO4 (s)------> Be (aq) + SO4(aq) + Hg2Cl2(s)   . 

I got 8.83% this time

Week 7
This week was about Acids, bases, reduction,Oxidation and stoichiometry . First I learned about Acid-Base reactions. I learned about the definitions of acids and bases, from the Arrhenius definition to the Lewis definition. The Arrhenius definition says an acid is a substance the forms H+ cations when dissolved in water. While bases formed OH- , Hydroxide anions when dissolved in water. The Brownstead-Lowry definition says an acid is a proton giver, while bases are proton takers. The Lewis definition says an acid is a electron pair ( 2 electrons ) takers while bases are electron pair givers. There are two main types of electron transfer reactions. They are the acid-base reactions and the redox reactions. 

90 % this week 

Week 8 ( exam week )

Second part
I completed the first part with a grade and am now doing the second

Week 1

I got 100% this week

Week 2

I got 100% this week

Week 3


I got 90% this week


Week 4


I got 90% this week

My BYU course on chemistry
I am doing an online chemistry course by BYU. It is a high school honors course. It is a self study course with no deadlines.

Lesson 1
This lesson taught and tested me on basic chemical nomenclature. I learned about various polyatomic ions, like cyanide ( CN-1) , hexafluorosilicate ( SiF6-2 ), Iodate ( IO3-1 ) and dichromate ( Cr2O7-2). We used these polyatomic ions in naming compounds. I got a A- because I tapped the down arrow to go to the next problem, but instead it made my answer go down one. On essay 1 above I write how to name TiI4.

Lesson 2
This lesson taught and tested me on complex chemical nomenclature. I learned how to name complex inorganic ions. For cations ( positively charged ions ) you put the name of the metal ( usually the first element in the molecular formula ) at the end of the name and assign an oxidation state if needed. Then you take the anion ( or the second part of the molecular formula, like Ammonia ) in the compound ( chloride, fluoride, Iodide exc ) and change its name to a ligand. To do this you replace the -ide with an -o. So chloride would be chloro, fluoride fluoro and so on.... . Then you take the ligand and put it at the starting of the name, to the left of the metal. If there is more than 1 ligand add a prefix to the start like di- or tri-. Three chlorides would become trichloro. Finally at the word Ion to then of the word . Here is an example:

name SnCl2+2

so we put tin at the end:

             tin

Tin  needs an oxidation state. Cl has an Oxs of -1, and there are 2 of them. So for the overall charge to equal +2 you need to make Sn have an oxs of 4. You do this by writing roman numerals in parentheses:

             tin (IV)

OK lets change Cl2 into dichloro:

dichlorotin (IV)

and finally ad Ion to the end


dichlorotin (IV) ion

That's it for naming complex positive inorganic compounds. Now lets name complex negative inorganic compounds. This is a bit harder. First you take the metal and put it at the end of the name, just like the complex cations. But you have to change the metals name a bit ( or a lot ). You have to write it in Latin form , if possible. Gold : Aurum, Lead: plumbum and so on. Then you need to change the end of the name to -ate. Arumate, Plumbate and so on. Finally you add an oxs if necessary ( note : metals that do not have a Latin form just change the end of their name to -ate: Chromate and so on ). Then you change the end of the molecular formula ( almost always a non-metal ) into a ligand, add prefix if needed and put it to the left of the metal. Finally like the cations, you add the word ion to the end. Here is an example:


SnCl4-2

This is similar to the first example but the number of Chlorides has changed along with the overall charge. So lets change tin into it's right form for this compound. Tin is Stannum. We change the end to -ate and get stannate. I just love that word : Stannate , doesn't it sound so cool ? Anyway lets put stannate at the end:


                    stannate

Stannate needs it's oxs in parentheses, beacuse the over charge is -2, and each of the 4 Cl are -1, 

 Stannate has to be +2:

                    stannate (II)


Now lets take the 4 Cls. Well we change this into tetrachloro, tetra for four and we make it a ligand:

   tetarchlorostannate (II)

Finally we add the word Ion to the end:

   tetarchlorostannate (II) ion. 


Not all metals need their oxs in parentheses . For example all the alkali , alkali earth metals, Zinc

, Silver and aluminum. The Alkali metals are +1, alkali earth +2, Silver +1, Zinc +2 and Aluminum 

+3. 

I also learned how to name and draw structures for basic organic molecules called hydrocarbons. Hydrogen and carbon form very stable compounds. Each C typicality needs 4 bonds. It has 4 Valence Electrons ( VE ) and it needs 4 more to have a full shell. I learned that molecules with Carbon start with Meth-, 2 C Eth- and so on. I learned the molecules with all single bonds ended with -ane, at least one double end in -ene and at least 1 triple end in -yne. CH4 is Methane:

                               H
                      |
                      |
             H-------C-------H
                      |
                      |
                     H


One carbon starts with Meth- all single bonds ends with -ane. This is the simplest hydrocarbon. Other hydrocarbons have long chains of carbons connected to hydrogens and side chains. Side chains are a carbon connected to hydrogens that branch of from the main chain.

                        side chain
                                     \
                                       \       H
                                           \      |
                     H  H---C---H    H        H
                      |           |             |           |                                                
                      |           |             |           |
             H-------C-------C-------C-------C-------H
                      |           |            |           |
                      |           |            |           |
                     H         H          H        H
                     
                   
This hydrocarbon has 4 carbons in the main chain. The name of the main chain would start with but- , there are all single bonds so the main chains name would be butane. We need to name the side chain now. This side chain has 1 carbon, Meth-. all side chains end with -yl. So this side chain is called Methyl. You put the name of the side chain first: Methylbutane. The last thing we need to do is write the address of the methyl. This means if you count the carbons which one it is on. First count both ways. From left to right it is 2, from right to left it is 3. You choose the lowest number, 2. So the name of this hydrocarbon is 2-methylbutane. Ta da! This is only the basics of the basics of the basics. If there were more than 1 methyl you would add a prefix like di, tri, tetra, pent and so on. There are other types of side chains like Ethyl ( C2H5 ) and if you have both in one molecule you would list Ethyl first , because it comes first in the alphabet.

Anyway on lesson 2's quiz I got another A-.


Lesson 3

This lesson deals with the math in chemistry, scientific notation, significant figures, Density calculations and factor label problems . I got an A- on it



Lesson 4
This lesson deals with the mole, 6.0221415*10^23. It introduces it and tells you how to use it. We learned how to calculate the molecular weight, the percent of each element in a compound and how to convert between moles, grams, and atoms.  I got a A on it.

Lesson 5
This lesson went deeper with the mole and taught use about molarity (M=m/mw/L) , how to calculate empirical and molecular formulas, and how to calculate the formula for a hydrated crystal. I got an A on this.

Oxidation and Gas laws

Oxidation and Reduction

Gas laws


Therochemistry,Kinetics,Free energy and Entropy 


Chemical Nomenclature, Electrochemistry, Photochemistry and Geochemistry 

Chemical Nomenclature
Chemical nomenclature is the process of naming compounds and chemicals. There are many ways to name compounds,

Fast fact 

Biographies of Some chemists

Democritus


Carl Wilhelm Scheele


Antonie laurent de lavoisier 


John Dalton


Niels Bohr  

Otto Hahn 

Ernest Lawrencium

Albert Einstein


J. Robert Oppenheimer






Element country and Stoichiometry 
Sweden
This might seem like an unlikely country but it is a favorite of mine and of the elements

Stoichiometry

Noble Gas compounds 


link to the pH, Acids and Bases 

sources: Brainpop,Wikipedia, Ted-Ed , The elements app, www.eurekalert.org,www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/bread_science.html, http://www.ck12.org , What your Fifth grader needs to Know, a bit of  The atom bomb project, Eyewitness Chemistry, Coursea, Smithsonian enclyopedia and Khan academy