Comic Chemistry: Why I Hated Chemistry in High School

It has been a while since a webcomic addressed chemistry in any direct way. there have been some XKCD and SMBC comics that used molecules and some people in lab coats in other comics but for the most part chemistry has been under the comic radar for while. That said, The Born Loser (of all things) had a chemistry related comic.

At one level it references the amount of memorization in Chemistry. I think we can all agree that in the university context, all the sciences are in fact opportunities to have a educated conversation. The issue however is that to have the educated conversation a person must have the language skills which means that in may ways introductory courses in science are often like introductory course in any language. You must have a working dictionary of nouns and an understanding of syntax.

The problem of course is that there is insufficient time to give sufficient background knowledge in chemistry and then get the students out to the edge of knowledge where all the interesting things happen. Our current pedagogy's all seem to want to enthuse the students with an illusion of understanding complex but interesting topics long before they have the appropriate understanding.

Which leads us back to Mr. Goodguy the high school chemistry teacher that has been given the idea that the best preparation for university chemistry is to memorize the periodic table. Now, to be fair, a couple of lifetimes ago I taught chemistry to engineers. I loved teaching engineers, they were so academically whipped by then engineering faculty that they considered chemistry to be a bit of a holiday. They had no curiosity or enthusiasm, for that had been ground out of them by their major, but man they loved to memorize useful information and they loved their mnemonics. They swallowed the periodic table whole and would share their mnemonics with me.

This blog is supposed to be family friendly so I cannot share the most memorable ones but for example: He Now Admits Kissing X-Ratedly gives the sequence and first letter of the chemical symbols for the noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe and Rn). The thing with the mnemonics is that once you hear them you cannot unhear them.

Memorization is the necessary first step to an educated conversation. Welcome to being two years old again.

Then there is this ...

Selling with Chemistry: Vancouver Island Tourism

Well this is a new one for me. Using the idea that the element symbol and the cell from a periodic table would tie into the word "element" in the minds of the regular population. The tourism society of Vancouver Island likes the idea of elements. elemental as fundamentals and created a website devoted to the idea. I think it looks well done and rather artsy / slick.

I have referenced the creation of periodic tables of non elements as an organizational trope before (here and here for example). This is new however and depends on a non-repulsive response to the linking of a clearly chemical metaphor to the natural environment. Risky and effective I think.

So this would appear to be their "periodic table" (I would note that their symbols uses two capital letters with the second letter smaller than the first).

Ma  Marine Activities
Wl  Wildlife
La  Land Activities
Ss  Sip and Savor
Sp  Spas
Gn  Gardens
Fn  First Nations
Fg  Fishing
Gf  Golfing
Ct  Culture

I also like a second component of their scheme. The tagline "Finding Your Element Takes the Right Formula" brings another chemical concept to the consumer. In this case clicking on the element cell takes you to a new pop-up page.





Their choice of molecule for all the graphics is the same and it is interesting as it is adrenaline, a surprisingly simple molecule for what it does physiologically and an apt choice for what they are trying to communicate. What I find interesting is that as far as I can see the website never tells the user that the molecule is adrenalin. Cool.

There is a final cute function in the website that allows you to combine elements and the website will do a "calculation". All in all it affirms chemistry and uses the similes and metaphors with some intelligence.