Bleach

Lurking in my laundry cupboard is an opaque, plastic bottle containing bleach. I use it to whiten white clothes when they start to look a bit grey, but I also use it to clean blood stains, to remove mildew from walls and ceilings, and to remove the mould from bathroom tiles. The active ingredient in laundry bleach is sodium hypochlorite, NaOCl, and you will find a similar substance present in the "liquid chlorine" you add to swimming pools as a disinfectant.

Sodium hypochlorite is a very useful chemical, but it can also be dangerous if used incorrectly. 

The September 2018 issue of AUS-e-NEWS, AUS-e-TUTE's free quarterly newsletter for chemistry students and teachers, looks at the chemistry of bleach.

If you would like to subscribe to AUS-e-NEWS please go to https://www.ausetute.com.au/ausenews.html

Name and Formula of Inorganic Acids

There are systematic ways to name inorganic acids, however, for many acids no-one uses these systematic names because the "acid name" for these particular acids has been in use for a very long time. So, IUPAC recognises the "acid name" for a number of acids.
AUS-e-TUTE has just added a new tutorial, game, test, quiz and worksheet wizard, as well as a card game, to help you give the name and molecular formula of these acids. AUS-e-TUTE members should log-in to use these new resources.

If you are not an AUS-e-TUTE member, there is a "free-to-view" tutorial currently available at
https://www.ausetute.com.au/acidnames.html

Don't forgot to download our free "Inorganic Acid Names Card Games" when you visit!
(includes instructions for 3 games and a set of game cards).

Name and Formula of Inorganic Molecules

Non-metallic elements combine to produce covalent compounds, that is, molecules in which the atoms are held together by covalent bonds.
But do you know how to name these molecules using IUPAC recommendations?
Can you write the formula for these molecules using IUPAC recommendations?

AUS-e-TUTE has just added new resources on these topics.
AUS-e-TUTE members should log-in to access the tutorials, games, tests, exams, drills.
AUS-e-TUTE class and school group members also have access to the online quizzes.
Teachers registered with a class or school group can also access the worksheet wizards (instant worksheets, with answers, at the click of button!).

If you are not an AUS-e-TUTE member, there are two "free-to-view" tutorials currently available:

Naming Binary Inorganic Non-metallic Compounds

Molecular Formula of Binary Inorganic Non-metallic Compounds

Explosive Medicine

You’ve probably heard of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and gelignite. The commercialisation of these explosives enabled him to accumulate great wealth during his lifetime which, by the terms of his will signed in 1895, was used to establish the Nobel Prize. In later life he was prescribed Trinitrin, a medication used to relieve a heart condition known as angina.

What do dynamite, gelignite and Trinitrin all have in common?

They all contain nitroglycerin!

This is not a story about the life of Alfred Nobel.

It is a story about the fascinating chemistry of nitroglycerin…

Read more in the June 2018 issue of AUS-e-NEWS, AUS-e-TUTE's free quarterly newsletter for chemistry students and teachers.

Subscribe to AUS-e-NEWS at https://www.ausetute.com.au/ausenews.html

Writing the Formula of an Inorganic Salt

Organic chemistry deals with compounds of carbon.
Inorganic chemistry deals with compounds of any other element.
One of the earliest known classes of inorganic compounds were salts.
Salts are binary, ionic compounds, that is, salts are made up of two ions:

• a positively charged ion called a cation
• a negatively charged ion called an anion 

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is establishing rules to help us name, and write the formula, for compounds.
In an earlier tutorial we looked at how we name inorganic salts, in this tutorial we look at how to write the formula of an inorganic salt.

Naming Salts

How do you name a salt?
There are several different ways to name salts (binary inorganic ionic compounds).
The most common method used in school as an introduction to naming inorganic compounds is based on compositional nomenclature.
AUS-e-TUTE has a step-by-step guide to how to name a salt if you know the formula of the salt:
https://www.ausetute.com.au/namiform.html

IUPAC Name and Formula of Anions

How do you write the formula of an anion?
How do you use IUPAC nomenclature to name an anion?
AUS-e-TUTE has new resources to help you understand this and to help you apply these rules to writing formula and names of anions.
AUS-e-TUTE Members should log-in to use the interactive resources.
If you are not a member then you can access a "free-to-view" tutorial at
https://www.ausetute.com.au/anions.html