NSCI 1322 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Soot, Bromine, Hydrogenation
12 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The nonmetals are elements that do not exhibit the characteristics of a metal. Nearly half of them are colorless gases; and until the eighteenth century, gases were referred to as (cid:862)airs(cid:863) a(cid:374)d (cid:449)ere (cid:374)ot (cid:449)ell differe(cid:374)tiated. In contrast, the special characteristics of metals held special fascination for early humans only fire was more fascinating. And both of the two nonmetals known to the ancients, carbon and sulfur, are associated with fire. Carbon was known in the form of charcoal and lampblack, or soot, which are products of fire. Charcoal may have been so common that it was hardly noticed at first, until its role in the reduction of metal ores was discovered. Egyptians to produce ink for writing on papyrus. Free sulfur was less widely available than carbon, although it was probably well known because of its ready occurrence in volcanic areas. No doubt its yellow color made it stand out among other rocks.
