The Tutor.com Blog

Contributed by Frank Feeley.
Frank is an archaeologist who works on excavations in the North Atlantic, retracing the steps of Erik the Red from Iceland to Greenland. He has also worked at Tutor.com as part of the Customer Service team.

Learning about isotopes was a relatively small part of my high school chemistry studies. Even though the lesson was short, I distinctly remember wondering why I was learning about this. After all, why would a future world-famous rock star ever need to know about isotopes? Well, after realizing that rock-n-roll makes a better hobby than steady career and that my anthropology courses in college were quite interesting I found out just how powerful isotopes could be in tracing our species’ past and figuring out where our ancestors traveled from. Who would have thought that a tiny isotope could do all that?

The bedrock in each area of our world has a particular isotopic signature. These isotopes are leached into the ground water that we all drink. When we’re young and we’re growing our adult teeth the enamel takes on the same isotopic signature of our area’s water. This signature stays with us until death. Further, our bones also take on this isotopic signature but since the cells in our bones are constantly changing we take on the isotopic signature of the place that we’re living now. For archaeologists who uncover a skeleton this can tell us where someone was born and where they spent most of their life.

One of the biggest questions of prehistoric European archaeology is how exactly people are moving around the landscape. We find that certain artifacts are found in areas that are very distant from one another. Do we find these similar art styles because people moved and brought these styles with them? Or were they result of massive trade networks of elite goods?

Isotopic analysis was able to shed some more light in this question after the discovery of the skeletal remains of the Amesbury Archer. Excavated near Stonehenge, he dates from about 2300BC and represents the most artifact-rich burial ever found dating from Bronze Age England. If he was from the area this would suggest that there was simply an extensive trade network. While if he was from elsewhere it might suggest that there had been a migration of people. It ends up that the Archer’s isotopic signature matched the ground water in an area of the Alps in Mainland Europe!

While this information doesn’t close the book on how people and goods moved through the prehistoric European landscape it does give archaeologists more data to decode this mystery. Without isotopes this wouldn’t be possible!

I may not remember every lecture that Mr. Lieber ever gave, but I don’t think anything could ever erase the memory of my 10th grade chemistry teacher dancing around the front of the classroom in a frenetic “Mole Day Dance.”

What’s Mole Day? Every October 23rd, we celebrate the “mole.” Not the furry creature, but the term an Italian scientist named Amedeo Avogadro coined in 1811. The mole, sometimes called Avogadro’s Number, is a unit of measurement used in chemistry.

We hope you enjoy this selection of mole jokes. It’s brightened our day, and kept (most of us) from breaking out in embarassing dances.

Q: What did Avogadro teach his students in math class?
A: Moletiplication

Q: What kind of fruit did Avogadro eat in the summer?
A: Watermolens

Q: Why was there only one Avogadro?
A: When they made him, they broke the Moled

Q: What kept Avogadro in bed for two months?
A: Moleonucleosis

Q: What line from Shakespeare do high school moles have to memorize?
A: “To mole or not to mole, this is the question.”

Q: What did Avogadro invent for his wife to use as a night cream?
A: Oil of Molay

Q: How much does Avogadro exaggerate?
A: He makes mountains out of mole hills

Q: What element do moles love to study in chemistry?
A: Molybdenum

It’s National Chemistry Week! When you think about chemistry class, do you think of doing cool experiments, getting to play with expensive lab equipment and the joy of balancing an equation? Or do you conjure up thoughts of heavy textbooks, hours of studying and sheer frustration?

You don’t have to be a chemistry geek, but you do have to get your homework done. Here are some recent comments from students who had a Tutor.com session with our chemistry tutors.

• My tutor was awesome…Best one so far. She really made sure I understood everything before moving on and if I didnt she clearly explained it in a way that made perfect sense! – College student, Navarro College
• Chris G was an excellent tutor who not only helped me work through the problems, but also double checked my work and made sure that I understood certain concepts and steps before moving on. This is a great service. Thanks a lot. – 12^th grade student, County of Los Angeles Public Library
• I love this website, it’s the most helpful thing. Whether I’m just checking over my work or trying to get something really complicated done, I recommend this website. I’ve been using it for years now and I don’t plan on stopping soon. In other words, the tutors here are awesome! – 10^th grade student, Houston Public Library
• I really enjoy using this website. I am taking some very difficult classes at my high school, so only few people can help me with most problems, and I can only ask my teacher so many questions. Each tutor that I have had has been very helpful to me and I have learned a lot. The tutors are very patient and go through difficult problems very slowly for me. We have very limited class time at school, so my teacher has to zip through problems, so I grateful to have somebody thouroughly explain material for me…However, I think that the teachers on this website are excellant, and I am very grateful for this resource. I have definitely learned a lot from this website. – 11^th grade student, Alabama Public Library Service
• thank you so so much tutor for helping me =]! these ap chem problems can get very difficult and i dont stress over them anymore bc these tutors always help me and give me confidence in my work..i cant wait to major in biochemistry next yr bc chem is so much clearer to me now thanks to this!! =] thanks so much again! =] love thisss tutoring program guys! – 12^th grade student, Nassau Library System
• This website is so awesome and helpful. I could not survive without it–my grades couldn’t either!!  - 10^th grade student, Houston Public Library
• Things move so fast in AP Chemistry that sometimes you don’t understand what is going on.  It’s nice to be able to go online and have things explained to you one on one.  You then have the time you need to understand what is going on.  This is the first time I have used this and I have a feeling that I will be using it often. – 11^th grader, Suffolk Public Libraries

Need help with your homework? Connect to a tutor, or check out our chemistry resources.

It’s National Chemistry Week. We asked chemistry tutor and mentor Rosann W. to tell us why she became a chemistry tutor. Rosann has been tutoring with Tutor.com since 2006.

Ask any chemist or chemistry teacher why they got into that field and most of them will say “fire.”  You know, causing explosions, pyrotechnics, burning things up.  Not me. What hooked me wasn’t fire, but colors. Specifically the colors of the gemstones.  See, I was completely fascinated by the fact that if you take an amethyst (February’s birthstone) and heat it up you will get a citrine (November’s birthstone).  What’s the big difference you ask?  An electron.  One measly electron that takes an iron atom from Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺.  That’s it.  Oh, and one chemistry professor, Dr. Kenney who explained it all, in detail.  From then on, I had to know more!

So I studied chemistry in college and I knew I wanted to help other people understand it better (like Dr. Kenney did for me).  And the rest is history.  I became a high school chemistry teacher and now I tutor chemistry.

For a chemist it’s all about the “ah-ha” moment.  Whether it’s making a controlled explosion, creating the perfect firework, finding a new vaccine, solving a problem for a consumer application or helping a student understand how to write and balance an equation, they are all “ah-ha” moments.  And for me the best part is when a student says “Oh so it’s like this…” and she’s off and running because she “gets” it.  That’s why I am a chemistry teacher.  That’s why I’m a chemistry tutor.  That’s who I am … I am a chemist.

Rosann’s birthstone is an aquamarine and her new passion is knitting. Knitting isn’t chemistry based, but the patterns are based in mathematics and just like Professor Dumbledore, she can’t resist.

Do you want to tutor chemistry (or another science or math subject)? Apply at www.tutor.com/apply

Need help with your own chemistry homework? Connect to a chemistry tutor today!

Think chemistry and the World Series have nothing in common? Think again. If the ball the pitcher’s throwing is too cold, you can forget about watching a homerun—a cold ball won’t spring off the bat as fast as a warm one.

Chemistry is about more than memorizing the Periodic Table (or wondering if your date to the prom will work out.) National Chemistry Week is October 19-25, and this year’s theme is the chemistry of sports.

Chemistry makes sports happen. Remember those snazzy, full body suits the swimmers wore at the Beijing Olympics this summer? They were designed by NASA scientists to increase speed and required chemistry to weave the special fibers for the suits. Those crazy-colored sports drinks everyone chugs at practice? Keep on chugging them because they are designed to restore the water and salts your body loses when you exercise heavily. Gatorade, for example, is packed with potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium, which are all electrolytes your body loses when you work out.

Chemistry extends beyond sports into other “everyday things” and chemists work in a variety of ways. They develop wine and beer, work in forensics, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and environmental research. Who would have thought that a chemist could improve the taste of buttermilk, instant coffee and mayonnaise. And George Washington Carver, an agricultural chemist, discovered hundreds of uses for peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes that gave small farmers new tools to be sustainable. His peanut discoveries helped farmers make dyes, paints, plastics, gasoline, nitroglycerin and cosmetics.

When do you use chemistry in your daily life?

Want to wow your chemistry teacher? Bring in a batch of chocolate chip cookies. No, it’s not about being the teacher’s pet. It’s about enjoying the tastier side of science. Baking is all about chemistry and if you’re looking for a way to experience it first-hand, chocolate chip cookies are the best way to go.

“When you’re baking you’re dealing with chemical reactions,” says Tutor.com chemistry tutor and former baker Darren L. “If you understand the chemistry, it gives you an edge.”

Here’s a recipe for chocolate chip cookies in chemistry speak.

*This recipe is from PopularCookieRecipes.com.

What are some other ways that chemistry happens in the kitchen?

It’s National Mole Day on October 23 (and no, we’re talking about beauty marks on your skin or those little furry creatures with funky paws.) National Mole Day celebrates the mole the Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro coined in 1811. The mole, sometimes called Avogadro’s Number, is a unit of measurement used in chemistry. And, since this is National Chemistry Month, it is a fitting time to celebrate the mole.

Don’t be intimidated by the mole. It’s just a unit of measurement. We use units of measurement every day. Ever measured a teaspoon of sugar? A pound of flour? Units of measurements represent quantities of things. Larger units of measurement represent bundles of smaller units. It’s easier to call a ton of bricks “a ton of bricks” than to call it “2,000 pounds of bricks.” Get the idea?

In chemistry, some things, like atoms and molecules, can’t be measured very well in grams, so Avogadro developed the mole, which is the same number of particles found in 12.000 grams of carbon-12 or about 6.02 x 10²³. A mole of carbon atoms is 6.02 x 10²³ carbon atoms. A mole of chemistry books is 6.02 x 10²³ chemistry books. And a mole of French fries is…well, you get the idea.

Moles make it easier for chemists—and chemistry students—to convert atoms and molecules into grams, which makes it easier to understand the wackier measurements of chemistry. So, next time you want to talk about 6.02 x 10²³ of something, just call it a mole instead.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has predicted that the U.S. will need more than 280,000 new math and science teachers by the year 2015. Tomorrow’s teachers are today’s students – many of them struggling to succeed in higher level math and science courses.

During the last academic year, students completed over 83,000 chemistry sessions with our expert tutors.  They needed help and we were here to provide it.

If you are a chemistry expert, consider teaching other students by becoming an online tutor with Tutor.com.  You set your own hours, work from home and you help students reach their academic goals – whether it’s preparing for tomorrow’s exam, finishing a lab assignment or understanding a difficult concept.

“I have a biochemistry test tomorrow and I didn’t feel so good about it, but now I feel a lot better! Thank you Gwinnett County Public Library for offering this service!” – Tutor.com Student

If you have what it takes to help students with Chemistry, Calculus, Physics or Statistics then go to www.tutor.com/apply.  What better way to celebrate National Chemistry Week than helping our future educators and scientists?

“America’s economic future lies with its next generation of workers and their ability to develop new technologies and products. This means we must strengthen math and science education in the U.S.” – Craig Barrett Chairman, Intel Corporation