The freezing point of many solutions is below the freezing point of water. Many people think that if they keep their solutions at this temperature, it will actually improve their properties, but the fact is that as the solutions freeze, they tend to expand in volume. This expansion, if allowed to continue unchecked, will cause crystallization. The freezing point depression of solvents can be determined with the non-solvent freezing point and the molecular weight of the solution. At the freezing point, both the crystal and vapour pressure of an organic compound should be identical. When either component reaches this level, it is said to have reached the colligative property. The colligative property is the ability for the particles to interact with each other without leading to crystallization. In most cases, if the crystal structure of water drops below freezing point depression, crystallization will occur. To determine if your water has reached this point, pour a little bit of t...
As a child of the eighties, I remember my parents' excitement over the idea of testing for depression in adults. The thought of taking a pill every day to "make me feel good," was a far more attractive option than the prescription drugs my parents were taking. I grew up with parents who could never imagine themselves as adults. In my mind, their adult emotions had to be somehow "determined" by some mental process that could never be completely understood by the average person. So they put aside their qualms about the use of psychiatric medications, and enjoyed the benefits of their choice. Today, I am an adult who have had "the experience" of having "depressed feelings," but not necessarily experienced the debilitating episodes of depression that my parents' generation did. Today, I have learned how to "cope." Through a course of prescribed medication and therapy, I have discovered how to treat depression, and I no longer take...