Stoichiometry!- Intro and Beginning Problems

I took Chemistry in tenth grade and I remember that at the beginning of the semester, he said "Eventually, stoichiometry will become a cuss word and haunt you in your dreams."  How right he was.  By the middle of the semester, just about every problem we had to solve had something to do with stoichiometry.  Eventually, stoichiometry was everywhere.  It was in my Algebra II class, my English II class, and even in Theater II.  Any word that ended in "-ometry" made me want to run in the opposite direction and just keep on running.  I finally was able to suck up some courage to fight the beast.  I walked into that classroom, sword in hand, and slayed it.  I got a few scratches while I was at it, but I made it out alive.  I started to see the lighter side of stoichiometry and no longer feared Chemistry.  I started to get braver and braver to the point that I chose Chemistry as my major in college.  To help those from getting those scratches that I had to get, I decided to be the shield and not only major in Chemistry, but to teach the subject.  I'm still working on my degree, but it doesn't mean that I still can't teach a few things here and there.  After all, it is a known fact that if you struggle with something, try teaching it to someone.  By walking them through it, it helps you to understand it a little better (especially if it's something that you're good at and just need to enhance it a bit more.)

So.  Stoichiometry.  Yeah.  What is it?  By definition, stoichiometry (stoy-key-om-eh-tree) is the calculation of quantities of chemical elements or compounds involved in a chemical reaction (dictionary.com).  In simpler terms, how much of something in a reaction.  An example of stoichiometry is:  A cup contains 30.2 grams of water.  How many moles of water is that? and How many grams of sodium chloride are needed to make  200 mL of a 0.5 M solution?  Problems can be more complicated that these two, but for now, I'll just start with easier ones.

Now, how exactly are these solved?  The same way how you eat an elephant: one bite at a time.  So let's begin by separating the two problems to where it is easier on the eyes.

a) A cup contains 30.2 g of water.  How many moles of water is that?

b) How many grams of sodium chloride are needed to make a 200 mL of a 0.5 M solution?

Good.  Since the spare words in the paragraph are gone, it's much easier on the eyes to find the problem and aren't anywhere near as intimidating as they looked with the long paragraph.  So...now what?  Let's take these one problem at a time.  We can easily make problem a more friendly by just taking out of it what we need.  By doing this, it becomes:

a) 30.2g H2O  moles of H2O = ?

That's friendlier now that all the useless other words are out of the problem.  But now what?  Well, to finish this, the periodic table is needed.  (Yes, we're doing chemistry that involves using the periodic table.  Imagine that!)  Using the periodic table, you need to find the molecular mass of water (grams per mole of water).  Don't let that sentence intimidate you.  It's easier than you think.  On the periodic table, find Hydrogen and Oxygen (atomic numbers 1 and 8 and symbols H and O).  (Hydrogen should be the easiest to find as it is the first element on the periodic table.)  Here's a picture of where they are on the periodic table (I'm using a picture from chemistry.about.com periodic tables differ slightly but all have the elemental symbol.)

Now that you have located Hydrogen and Oxygen on the periodic table, look for the atomic mass for each.  Here is a picture showing you where that is at (as previously stated, periodic tables differ slightly.  Some have the atomic mass while others don't and some have the atomic mass above the elemental symbol while others may have it below.  In the one I am using, the atomic mass is below.)

As you can see, the atomic mass for Hydrogen is 1.0079 (we'll round up to 1.008) and Oxygen is 15.9994 (we'll round to 15.999 to give up three places after the decimal).  Now for water, the formula is H2O.  That means there are two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom.  To find the molecular mass, think of this as a math problem.  Hydrogen is H and Oxygen is O.

(H)*2 + (O)*1 = Molecular Mass

Plug in the atomic masses for the corresponding element.

(1.008)*2 + (15.999)*1 = Molecular Mass

Now solve.

2.016 + 15.999 = 18.015

Yay!  Now we have the molecular mass!  So what to do with this.  Notice that the answer doesn't have any units.  I didn't put them there to make it simpler to calculate the molecular mass without worrying about units just yet.  So were you paying attention?  I actually already said the units for molecular mass.  In case you weren't paying attention, go on ahead and look back.  I'll wait.

Find it?  If you were too lazy to look back, I'll just go on and spoil it for you.  The units for molecular mass are grams per mole.  That means our answer for the molecular mass is actually 18.015 g/mol.  It's now time to put it to some use.

No matter what you're trying to find through stoichiometry, there is a flow that it goes in:

Moles A <=> Grams A <=> Grams B <=> Moles B

Since we are only dealing with water, we only need to worry about Moles A <=> Grams A.  In the problem, we were given the grams of water and we are looking for the moles.  So this is what we are doing:

Grams H2O -> Moles H2O

We know the grams so it now looks like this:

30.2 g H2O -> Moles H2O

Time to use your brain.  What do we know that has moles in it?  Need a hint?  Try the molecular mass!  Remember (grams per MOLE.)  But it also has grams.  That means we need to cancel out grams.  How do we do that?  If a grams is divided by a gram, isn't it one?  (Yes.)  So we have it as moles over grams.

30.2 g H2O -> 1 mol  H2O

               18.015 g

Change the arrow to a multiplication sign.

30.2 g H2O * 1 mol  H2O

             18.015 g

Time to solve!  The grams would cancel out.

30.2 g H2O * 1 mol  H2O

              18.015 g

The final step is to multiply and divide.

30.2 H2O * 1 mol  H2O

         18.015

30.2 mol = 1.676 mol H2O

18.015                            .

So now we know that a cup with 30.2 grams of water has 1.676 moles of water!

Congratulations!  You just completed and solved your first stoichiometry problem!  For right now, I'm just going to do question a.  Check back later for how to solve questions b.  In the mean time, get some practice in!  Solve this stoichiometry question:

There are 13.2 g of NaCl in a bowl.  How many moles are there of NaCl?

You can either comment or email the answer to me and I'll tell you if you're right.  Or if you just want to keep the answer to yourself, I'm going to give the solution when I do the walk through for question b.  (I made up the question myself, so don't think you can cheat and just find it online you sneakies!)

Have a great day!

Golden Eye Tutorial

Hello everyone!  Today, I'm going to be showing you how to do a golden eye.

Step 1:  Prime the eye.  ALWAYS prime the eye!  If you just so happen to not have prime (like in my case), you can just simply use a matte white eye shadow.  Granted, by using the white, you won't have long wear, but at least your colors will have a little bit more of a pop than using nothing.  Also, this would be a good time to pin back your hair to keep it out of the way.

Step 2:  Apply a bronze color to the center of your lid and spread to the rest of your lid.  You can choose what brush you like.  I used my large flat eye shadow brush.

Step 3:  Apply a copper color to the outside corner and a gold color to the inside corner.  You don't have to worry about blending just yet, but if you wish, then you can go on ahead and blend.  Once again, you can use any brush you prefer but I used my small flat eye shadow brush.

Step 4:  Apply a silver color (can be matte or shimmer) to the brow bone.  I repeat, you can use any brush you wish.

Step 5:  Apply a navy/dark blue color to the crease.  I suggest using a crease brush with your eye open to get a smooth, rounded crease.

Step 6:  If you haven't already, now's the time to blend using your blending brush.  Make sure to blend in small circle motions and not windshield wiper motions.  This is also the time to re-apply any colors that you wish to be stronger or have faded while blending.  When you do this, pat the color on.

Step 7:  Apply the same navy/dark blue color starting from the outside corner to the center of the lower lash line and from the inner corner, apply the same gold color to meet the navy/dark blue.  I suggest using an angled eyeliner brush to help make this step easier.  If you do use the brush, pat on the color, don't rub.

Step 8:  Apply navy or black eye liner to the top lash line  and water line and smudge if you would like.

Step 9:  Apply either navy or black mascara to the lashes.  As an extension to this step, you can fill in your eyebrows using a brow pencil or eye shadow matching your eyebrows.  Once you are done with this step, wipe off all fallout and apply concealer under the eye.

Voila!  Now you have yourself a golden eye that is good for everyday or even nightly wear!  I'm sorry for the bad lighting again.  Once I get back home, I'll redo this along with any others.  This will also give me a chance to show the difference between using primer and not.  While I am also redoing this, I will post pictures of what the look is instead of just letting you guess by looking at the final step picture.

Have a  great day!

Sunset Eye Tutorial

Yay!  First tutorial!  Whoo!

So today, I'm going to show you how to create a sunset eye.

First step is to prime your eye.  If you do not have a primer (like me), then just use a matte white eye shadow for the base.  During this time, if, like me, you have attention hoggers for hair, pin them back out of your face so they don't keep trying to steal the show.

Step 2:  Apply yellow to the entire lid area.  It doesn't have to be completely perfect, just make sure that it's on you lid.

Step 3:  Apply orange on the inner and outer thirds of your eye then connect at the top above the yellow.  You don't have to worry about blending just yet, but if you feel inclined to, then blend by patting the color.

Step 4:  Apply red to the inner and outer corners.  Once again, you don't have to blend just yet.

Step 5:  Apply black to the crease of your eye.  Mainly focus on the outer part of the crease and fade out.  Like I've already said, don't worry about blending.

Step 6:  On the brow bone, apply white.

Step 7:  Now you get to blend!  Use a blending brush for this.  Make small circular motion to blend the black in with the white and for the lid, blend by going up and down with the brush.  Don't go from side to side because then the colors will mix as one instead of fading into the other.  If the colors have faded or worn off during the blending, reapply them using a patting motion and blend the colors together while applying.

Step 8:  Apply purple to the outer part of the lower lash line.  I suggest using an angled eyeliner brush to do this but you can use any brush you choose.

Step 9: Using black eyeliner, line the upper lash line as well as the lower water line and smudge.

Step 10:  Apply black mascara to the lashes and you're done!

And there you have it!  I'm sorry for the bad lighting, dull colors and the crazy eyebrows.  I'll redo this tutorial when I'm back home from my dad's.  The dull colors are due to not using primer (which is at home) and the lighting.  I was going to do a tutorial on plucking eyebrows, but my tweezers went MIA and I think my dad is holding them hostage in his bathroom.  Hopefully, once I can save them from the horrors of his bathroom, I'll be able to to the tutorial and you won't have to suffer looking at my little caterpillars.

Have a great day!

A Great Day and New Stuff!

So, yesterday was such a great day for me that I forgot to blog...and I didn't have time to blog.  What made it so good?  Well, I had finally received a package that I've been anxiously waiting for for almost a week.  I was mainly anxious because it wasn't until after the package had been sent that I realized the address was wrong.  Luckily, it still came without a hitch!  Another reason why yesterday was good was because it was my dad's birthday dinner.  Granted his birthday was on Tuesday, but he was just so busy that there wouldn't have been a way for him to eat before 8pm.  So just about a week of planning had finally paid off.  I cooked a honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, apple salad, and pineapple upside down cake.  There was nothing left of the potatoes and about a serving left of the apple salad (until I got ahold of it).  Aunts and Uncles came along with some munchkin cousins and everyone left stuffed. Mission accomplished.
Back to the package though.  I'm ooberly excited about this thing.  Currently, I'm in Utah with my dad and I have been here for a month and a half.  I traveled light so all the makeup I had with me was foundation, concealer, powder, three eye shadow colors, eyeliner, mascara, lip balm, and lip gloss.  Now, I normally have a slough of eye shadows in a bunch of colors so being stuck with black, gray, and white gets a little dull and boring.  To relieve me from this dullness, I ordered an eyeshadow palette with 168 colors for less than $20!  I was also suffering from separation anxiety with my brushes.  I only brought 5 brushes and one of them I didn't even plan on bringing and haven't used it since I've been here.  Along with the eye shadow, I also got a 24 piece brush set for $11.  I haven't used the brushes yet, but so far they seem alright.  Of course, with every brush, there's going to be some shedding and that's what happened.  It was mainly the face brushes though and especially the blush brush.  It was like a cat with the shedding!  At least the brush kept it's shape and looks to still be useable.  Unfortunately, one of the brushes broke while I was doing the pre-use cleaning.  I'm not going to make a big fuss about it because it's one that I already have a few of so no biggy.  I've already used three colors from the eye shadow and WOW!  Talk about bold, vibrant color!  So, hopefully with these new things, I'll be more motivated to do some eye shadow vlogs.  Fingers crossed!

And So It Begins

     So, I finally decided to start a blog in the hopes to stay dedicated to it.  It is also a good way to waist away the day while I look for a job.  Given the fact that the desolate wasteland of what used to be prosperous with job opportunities, this might take a little longer than what it should.  For the past three weeks, I've been waiting on a background check that was supposed to only take two weeks just to be a substitute teacher while I spend two months out in Utah with my dad.  How much longer do I have out in Utah?  Oh, just two more weeks.  So hopefully after quite a bit of harassing the person who is in charge of the background checks, it will finally be finished, but right now, I must wait.
     I couldn't really think of a good blog name, so I just went with one of the first names that I thought of.  Does it make sense?  Well, to me it does.  Faces:  hair, makeup, faces in general.  Pretty straight forward.  Flags: I'll admit that I am a band nerd and am obsessed with colorguard.  Florine: I'm an extreme nerd.  I love Chemistry.  In fact, I love it so much that I'm going to school to be a high school Chemistry teacher.  Fingers crossed that I can finish up school after a year off.  I'll probably change the name at some point to something that I like more.  Just a precautionary warning.
     Now, the blogging has commenced.  With luck, I plan on also having a "vlog".  It just all depends on the kind of mood that I'm in.  If all else fails, I can very easily just have a blog with some videos instead of being dedicated to blogging and vlogging at once.  "Oh, you're just so lazy and unmotivated!"  Eh, think of it how you will.  Personally, the way how I see it:  I'm just now beginning a blog.  If I was to just jump straight in to blogging and vlogging, I might lose all ambition and start to dread getting on the computer or phone.  An easy solution is to just ease myself into blogging and vlogging.  A blog here, a blog there, throw in a vlog, add another blog, blog again, blog again, vlog, maybe vlog again, and I'm sure you're getting the point.  Just throw in an extra vlog here and there and possibly with a blog.  Like I said, it just depends on the mood I'm in.
     So for now, enjoy this one post that I have.  Read it, re-read it, re-re-read it, all until I get the gumption to write another post.