Jack777

Excellent explanation! Thanks. Ok, so what is a reactant? And they weighed them? Were their scales that precise back then? And I still need to learn what atomic weight is. Phosphoric acid, how did he know it was phosphoric acid? Sorry for so many questions, I'm trying to learn and remember this stuff. Do you know of any good YT videos that explain this? And what is an ion? How do they know it's an ion? Anyway, these explanations are much appreciated.

That was terrific! Many thanks. Gosh, I read this, light years over my head. I had no idea what they were talking about. All those letters with lines between them and all the names of other chemicals. I'm sure I'll understand this someday but for now it might as well be ancient Mesopotamian. Back in 1875 as they mentioned how did they identify what all the separate chemicals actually were? I find this stuff interesting though.

Thanks. I need something on the 1st grade level.

Thank you and much appreciated. Ok, I've been reading all the Apollo astronaut autobiographies and they mention the different fuels, for instance, hydrazine. Then it got me thinking about chemistry, I mean, how do they actually know it's hydrazine. I'm not really interested in the chemical composition of hydrazine, it just got me thinking. I'm a complete and total neophyte to chemistry. I bought a periodic table of the elements clear plastic display from Amazon and it's fascinating. Anyway, how do chemists actually know what a chemical really is? How can they look at a rock and say, ok, this rock has sulfur in it, or that rock has silver in it or whatever. How do they know a pill has aspirin in it for example. How does anyone measure or test for these elements? Who first discovered them? And I have read some articles but they assume a body of knowledge I don't have. I need something like a kindergarten level book. And the elements have a number like mg, 12. How do they actually know for certain it has what, 12 electrons? This is the very basic stuff I'm talking about and I have even more dopey questions. I spent my career in aviation but was never taught chemistry. Take care. Jack.

Hello, my name is Jack. I'm 65, live near Atlanta, and have never studied chemistry. I've been curious about chemistry but was never taught it in school as I went to a trade school. I have a ton of the most basic chemistry questions. Thanks.