Narrowing the scope

Upon further research I have narrowed my topic to Alkali metals and Phosphine gas and their reactions with water. I have learned that as you go down the periodic table the alkali metals become more reactive. Then, hypothetically, Fr (francium) should be the most reactive. And as Rb and Cs are both less reactive and both explode in water I was very curious to learn how Fr would react. Because of this I was upset when I could find very little information on Fr and almost nothing on its reaction with water. On site said that it is unlikely that it has ever been reacted with water but I am quite hesitant to believe this is true. On thing I did find about Fr that was interesting was that scientist have estimated that at any given time there is about an ounce of Fr on the world's surface. Because of this any time that scientists wish to work with Fr they must make it themselves. Anyway when I started researching alkali metals and water I found a video clip from a TV show over in England called Brainiac. It was a very cool clip showing the alkali reactions in water. However, later I found a site that said that reporters in England found out that the best reactions on the clip (Rb and Cs) were fake. I kept the video on my link list because it has other reactions in it as well which have not been proven fake. I also put other videos of Rb and Cs to compare (whether or not these are real I guess we'll never know). I also found that Phosphine gas (one of the chemicals that ignites flares underwater) is highly explosive in many situations and can even spontaneously combust in air. Because of this I thought further research into its uses was necessary.

(Mrs. V--I commented on Sandra, James, and Zach's pages)

Internet Credibility

I think it can be hard to distinguish between credible sites and something a high school chemistry student wrote... The primary way I check is to see if the information on one site can be found on multiple other sites. This can be a simple way if multiple other sites have completely contrasting information. Another way can be if the site is a college or university website. This can usually be trusted. Otherwise sites like encyclopedia brittanica are always good. Also depending on what you are looking for there are specific sites that can be trusted, like, for example if you need information on drugs or diseases the CDC is always a good site to check out. Other than that I try to use my instincts to decide if the information could be false.

Final Idea

Ok i have decided to do my blog on Chemicals and how they react with water. At the moment I am thinking about mostly underwater chemicals. Why some explode in water and others are extinguished, how thinks can harden underwater while others simply dissolve. I think there are a lot of interesting reactions that happen with water so I think it will be a good topic.

New Idea

I've been researching some more and I've been thinking about researching new drugs that help diseases that don't (or didn't) have a cure. Such as gardasil the new HPV shot. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find out about what chemicals are used in the drugs or how it cures the disease but I'm looking into it.

Blog Ideas

• Antibacterial soap
• creating bacteria that are immune
  
• Chemicals underwater
• Flares underwater
  
• Cement drying underwater

• Gunpowder
• sensitivity with age