ENE 480 Fall 2020

  The Ammonia Test Kit contains two reagents, the two reagents contain: https://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/API_LIQUID_AMMONIA_TEST_SOLUTION_1-2.pdf polyethylene glycol, sodium nitroprusside, sodium salicylate https://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/API_LIQUID_AMMONIA_TEST_SOLUTION_2-2.pdf sodium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite Ammonia compounds (total ammonia is the sum of ammonia (NH3) and the ammonium ion (NH4+)   combine with the sodium hypochlorite to form monochloramine. Monochloramine reacts with salicylate to form 5-aminosalicylate. The 5-aminosalicylate is oxidized in the presence of a sodium nitroprusside catalyst to form a blue-colored compound (salicylic acid analog of indophenol blue). The blue color is masked by the yellow color from the excess reagent present to give a final green-colored solution. The resulting color is directly proportional to the concentration of ammonia present. You are able to calculate the proportion of the unionized ammonia (toxic...

Happy Sunday, I hope you all have been having a great week and are remaining healthy. It's been a long one, but I was able to get in a few really nice walks (my way of decompressing and destressing; I hope you all have found productive ways to do the same). I thought you might like these photos from the Children's and Healing Gardens on campus.  There were a few last minute questions regarding the lab, which I answered by email on Saturday. I'm also providing the information here: You are to analyze the bottled water samples for pH, alkalinity, and total hardness. You are then to compare your results with the analytical results available on the company's website or on the label. Separate from that you are to: Use the data provided for Mountain Spring Water to determine the total hardness (using the concentrations of polyvalent cations), carbonate hardness, non-carbonate hardness. Compare the calculated total hardness to that reported. Is there a difference? If so, w...

In communicating with API technical support about the KH kits, I mentioned the other kits we are using.  One of their scientists graciously provided information about the phosphate and nitrate/ammonia/nitrite kits. I've provided that information below. I did a full.. generalized.. write up on the phosphate kit because the ingredients were not proprietary. So to answer your question on phosphate, it is going to read the ppm of the phosphate ion itself. But keep in mind that phosphate we are talking about is orthophosphate, also known as “reactive phosphorus” but is generally used synonymously with “phosphate” The write up is below, if you want to pull some nuance out of it that might be helpful for your usage. I might also have one like this for the ammonia test kit as well, if it would be useful. The Phosphate #1 bottle contains sulfuric acid and ammonium heptamolybdate (information found here: https://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/API_PHOSPHATE_TEST_SOLUTION_1-1.pdf ) The ...

All:  The results that some of you have gotten with the API KH test has had be baffled, but upon further inspection of the API website I found this: What is Carbonate Hardness (KH)?   Carbonate hardness, also known as alkalinity, is the measure of carbonate and bicarbonate concentrations dissolved in water. These minerals are present in municipal, well, and bottled water. The level of carbonate hardness in tap and bottled water depends on the source of the water and the treatment processes it has undergone. Carbonate hardness helps stabilize pH in the aquarium. An aquarium with a low KH level will tend to be acidic. Aquariums with very low KH are subject to rapid pH shifts if not monitored carefully. Water with a high KH level usually has a high pH [1]. This actually explains the results as the KH test does not measure carbonate hardness as the test name indicates, but measures alkalinity. Carbonate hardness is NOT also known as alkalinity, it is that portion of the h...

  Hi all, The most sacred right that we as Americans have is the ability to vote! It is an act that many actually died for; yes, died for. It is an act that wasn't freely given - but was fought long and hard for. It is an act that many still fight for and other yearn for.  Protest to support the women's suffrage movement in the US For those of you that are legally afforded the right to vote in the US, I urge you to do so. I will honor all requests for accommodations to vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as ENE 483 tutorial and ENE 480 Section 2 meets that afternoon. The lecture will be recorded in the morning and as will the afternoon lecture. Students can also attend Thursday's lab section.  In Michigan,these are important dates.  Please take note of them. The deadline to register online to vote is Monday, October 19, 2020. The deadline for registering by mail to vote is (postmarked by) Monday, October 19, 2020. The deadline to register in person to vote ...

 Happy Saturday, I hope all of you are doing well and even took the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful fall day.  Today's walk through Central Park South in Okemos   I received a few questions about Assignment 1 (due Sunday Sept. 20 at 11:59 pm) and I thought I would share my responses with all of you. Q1 and 2: Make sure to Interpret the statistical analysis for your reader (again, review the notes to see how in all cases, I present the null and alternate hypotheses and then interpret the analysis) Q3: Make sure you are following the approach used in the Statistics video for using the statistical test for outliers. Q4: Again, make sure to interpret the statistical analyses. Are the correlations strong, moderate, weak? Make sure to develop a correlation matrix as shown in the Statistics video. I also had a question about how long the first lab report (due Sept. 27 at 11:59 pm) should be. The introduction should be 2-3 paragraphs. The methods should be about the ...

  All There appears to be a problem with the link to the YouTube videos on Chrome. The links work when using Edge or Firefox. There are more details on the blog: https://ene480fall2020.blogspot.com/ All the videos are publicly available on my YouTube channel (Susan J Masten). Also, because of the Career Fair and the fact that many of you are graduating seniors, I have moved the Assignment 1 deadline to Sunday Sept 20, at 11:59 pm. I will go over the Lab 1 requirements in Lab today. The video from Tuesday is posted in LON-CAPA. I also recorded a video on Hardness and Alkalinity, which is posted on YouTube. Please let me know if you have any questions. Dr. Masten