Jack777

Epistemology, I like this, thanks. I'm going to take the time now to read over all the posts in chronological order, well, just your posts. That other guy doesn't understand, I get the impression he thinks I'm a student or something, I'm not, I'm just a 65 year old guy who's actually trying to learn and understand this stuff.

Thanks.

Ok, this is great, thanks but sorry to repeat myself, how did he know the bottle he grabbed was chlorine? I wish I had a time machine to go back and ask him this. Edit, sorry. I see how you mentioned he called it chlorine.

Thanks, mist? I've always called it mist.

Dang. I’m not. I’m sorry.

Read it but sorry, I don’t understand it. I’m still stuck on just exactly how back in Dalton’s day he identified all of these materials he was working with. They had to be dug up and identified somehow right?

This is good. But I still have to somehow wrap my head around how they knew there atoms. Sorry, I've never heard of this but to be honest this is too much too soon. I actually bought a cartoon book for children but even here they assume a body of knowledge about atoms. I'm going to have to take a break as I just can't seem to grasp this.

Thanks. I've been listening to podcasts and reading so I'm slowly learning some stuff. Here's my notes I've made so far while listening: ractical chemistry. Fire Fermenting. Learning how the ancients created copper from ore. Natron. Bronze. Gold. Mercury might have been discovered with silver mining. Cinnabar. 1st century CE, indicator paper. Thales. Khemeia Ascetic acid from vinegar Lemon juice Mineral acid. How is this made? Used for assaying metals. Distillation & filters. Alcohol is a good solvent. Nitric and hydrochloric acid can dissolve gold? Ammonia from distilled urine. Metallurgy When lead was melted its weight increased. Double displacement Torricelli & Boyle Brandt phosphorus Phlogiston and calx Conservation of mass Specific heat. Electrons? 1800’s, organic chemistry Avogadro’s constant. How in the world did he come up that?

I apologize in advance, this too is still over my head. Honestly, way over my head. I'm still trying to grasp how they knew something was a molecule. I just started listening to a podcast today called The History of Chemistry by Steve Cohen. So far this is easy for me to follow and understand. I like what he said how it was described, "A chemical process is invisible with no obvious explanation." If you need to quit I'll understand as this is a slow process for me but I will eventually get it. Thanks.

Sorry, it is hard for me to understand. I'm going to read the books I bought and hopefully I will be able to grasp it.

A principle I don't yet grasp because how do they measure atoms? I guess I have to learn about atomic weights.

Sorry. I meant the people back back then who used the terms hooks. How did they determine if something was bonded? This set of formulas above is quite complicated to me. It's difficult to visualize. I'm sure in time I'll get there. Thanks again.

Thank you, this is a great explanation. But what are these hooks? How do they know they have hooks?

Thank you, that was very interesting. Absolutely fantastic! This was exactly what I was looking for, you have no idea how much I appreciate this. I bought some kids chemistry books as well as the two mentioned in this post. Now I can understand how things were done and can start to move on, I just needed a historical deep dive for a reference for me. Thanks.

Hi, yes, a good description. Ok, sorry for the delay as I've been busy. I watched the video and it looks easy to make and no problem, I have no desire to make it. However, and here's my question, how in the world did they know it was actually acid back then? And when they found newer ways of making acid how are they sure it's really acid? I know these may seem like stupid questions, sorry. I've been watching a lot of YT's on the history of this but no one has ever showed the most basic things like how they knew it was acid. All the books and videos I have assume that people just know. Yes, weight is how much something weighs and mass is the density of something. On the moon the astronauts may have weighed 300 pounds with all the gear but the gravity made them feel lighter yet they still had the mass, the momentum of that mass.

Hi KJW, this is an absolutely fantastic explanation, it's very much appreciated! I need to research what these low and high resolution spectrums are though, like what they look like and how they work. The links you sent me with the symbols are so far over my head as to be gibberish. I know you mean well but I get the feeling you assume I have a body of knowledge I simply do not have. When I say kindergarten level I mean just that, idiot level is more accurate. And you baffle me with your bafflement. What is it you don't understand about the question I ask? Let's approach it differently. Say it's 1500 years ago and I was an alchemist and I wanted to make whatever. If someone told me I needed to use silver, or copper, or any other periodic element, how would I be sure those are actually silver or copper?

Outstanding! Thanks for these videos. In the first one I never knew most of the Earth's crust was oxygen and silicon. And when he mentions quartz and feldspar I imagine these two as well as most of the 4000 are not on the periodic table but the table of elements make up quartz and feldspar. Very interesting stuff here. And that second video about the negatives, also interesting. Right, when she said they coated it in silver nitrate, back then how did he know he actually had silver and also nitrate. This is what I think my most fundamental question is about chemistry. Did he burn it back then? How did they actually know? I watched three YT's about the history of chemistry that were dramatized, they were fantastic. So I've been binge watching more YT's. I learned a little about spectroscopy, it was pure genius to pass light through a prims. As someone on the video said each element has its own barcode. I thought this was a cool way of looking at it.

Ok, no problem. It's past. Now, on to my question. That video lost me at silver nitrate. Let's say someone gives me a bottle of silver nitrate, how in the world do I know it's silver nitrate and what's silver nitrate anyway? I imagine it involves getting some silver and some nitrate and combining them? But then down the rabbit hole it goes, how does he know it's actually silver and how does he actually know it's nitrate? Thanks. I will need a little time to read this and digest it and then I'll be back and reply.

Bona fides? What, do I have to pass an exam or something? Do I have to give you my life's history for YOU to be satisfied I'm just a person who's never been taught chemistry. And yes,I have never in life considered that chemicals can be bought from suppliers. It was never important to me. And I do not find it odd. I'm sorry I don't have the knowledge base you do. Maybe it would be better if you let the other guy answer my questions.

I am not messing about! I find that to be very insulting. Why would I register on a chemical forum just to mess about? I came here to learn about chemistry. I'm sorry I don't have the body of knowledge you think I ought to have. Good day sir.

Right. Protons, neutrons, electrons, I can understand that despite not seeing it but I take it on faith. Atomic number and atomic weight, and isotopes. I still need a lot of work here to learn this. Avogadro's Number and moles - This might take me centuries to understand. I like the study of combustion so far. I very much appreciate your help. And thanks for your kind words. Yes, I have so far copied all my questions and your posts and created a document which I think I need to read and reread constantly. It's very good stuff. I don't think I'm ready for an equation. About all I know is what most people know and that's H2O. One hydrogen and two oxygen. But my perennial questions are always like, ok, one hydrogen, how do they actually know it's hydrogen? Ditto for oxygen and how do they know you only need one hydrogen and two oxygen. We really need to back up and get even more basic. Like kindergarten basic How was hydrogen first discovered? How was oxygen first discovered? I mean, what process did they use to discover them? Was it weighing? Burning? Dunno. But I find this absolutely fascinating. I can tell you anything you'd want to know about aircraft, how they work, how to fix them, how to fly them, same for woodworking. But chemistry? Not so much. I love studying history so anything history related in regards to who and how and when would be very helpful. In the video you posted, he said silver nitrate. Where did he get it and how is he sure it's silver nitrate? Same for silver chloride. How does he know it's silver chloride? And what's silver chloride used for anyway? This is so interesting!

Gosh, this is a lot to take in. I like the flame test in the video, it produces some interesting colors. Do all elements of the periodic table have different colors so they can all be identified like this? I never knew this flame test stuff and it's marvelous!

"Metal ions in the form of chloride salt solution with platinum wire." Now, I know I'm thick, I really am. How in the world did he know it was chloride and how did he know it was platinum? These are what I'd like to know. For example, the periodic table of elements in clear plastic I bought from Amazon has 103 elements in it. Supposedly. What I'd really love to know is whoever put this together had to buy the elements. So the person who provided him with the elements how does he know exactly what each element is? Did he use the flame method? I'm getting there thanks to the video above and bought the books mentioned above. This. How? Say I was walking in an area where it had a lot of rocks or wherever phosphorus comes from. How would I recognize it? I could stumble over it and wouldn't recognize it. Cool. Now, how do they know it's acid? Sorry for so many newbie questions but this is what I've always wondered about. The simplest most fundamental questions. Much appreciated kind sir but this is way over my head for now. I'm looking forward to understanding things like electron jumps though.

Thanks, and sorry for taking so long to reply as my wife broke her foot. Ok, phosphorus, in order to actually know he had phosphorus he would have to burn it to look at the spectroscopic lines? How can they weigh these or even see them? But what I'd like to know is how are they sure about this? Is there a way to actually see this? Would I need to study physics for these answers? Are there any videos of this? They can actually see the ions move? Thanks for your help. I'm compiling a Pages document so I can read and reread to wrap my head around this stuff. Yes. Analytical Chemistry is my main line of thought. This is precisely what I had in mind when I originally posted. Much appreciated.

Thank you kindly!