GROUP EXERCISE NUMBER ONE                   CHM 1045 -- Dr. Light

Chemistry on the Internet.  

     This problem is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday,
January 31.  

     You have all read about the "Information Superhighway".  Some
of you may have already experimented with "surfing" on it.  The
intent of this exercise is to make you aware of the resources out
there, and get you started on learning enough to allow you to
explore this resource on your own.  At the same time, it will serve
to introduce you to the periodic table, and the trends in
properties of elements reflected in the table.

     The suggested starting point is learning how to browse the
"World Wide Web".  Garnet has a Web Browser known as Lynx, which
you can use for this assignment.  Some of you may have access to a
computer with other browsers such as Mosaic and Netscape, and you
can use those just as well.  (The latter two will retrieve and
display images, while Lynx will not).  The LUIS terminals in the
library also have access to a Lynx program through Northeast
Regional Data Center.  It is a bit clunkier to operate, however.
The computer lab in the union has a few computers with Netscape.

Part 1.   Familiarization with Lynx and the Web.

     Select services on the first Garnet menu, then lynx.  The home
page of the Seminole Information System will appear on the screen. 
Then hit the help key (H), and you get a menu showing various types
of information about lynx.  Spend some time exploring these items,
which explain the overall structure of the "Web", and the way
documents are linked to each other with "pointers" located within
the document.  (Such documents are said to be written in "hypertext
mark-up language" or HTML).  Make a note of the various keystrokes
to use in Lynx.  When you find a document or reference you want to
visit again, type "a" (without the quotes) to add it to your
"bookmark" file.  When you want to look up something in your
bookmark file, type "v".  The arrow keys are the main ones involved
in "browsing";  the down arrow jumps from reference to reference in
the document, the up arrow moves backwards through the document,
the right key calls up the highlighted document, the left key
returns you to the previous document.  The space bar pages you
through the document, "b" or "-" pages backwards.  Control-G, or
"z" will stop a query if you get stuck waiting on a connection to
a machine that is not responding.  (Keystrokes on LUIS will be
different).

Part 2.   Searching for data on the elements.

     Once you are familiar with using Lynx, your assignment is to
look for some information on the elements.  Type the letter "g",
followed by the URL (uniform resource locator) for one of the
periodic tables residing on the Web: 

     http://www.cs.ubc.ca/elements/periodic-table 

     By browsing through the table with the down arrow key, you can
select a particular highlighted element with the right arrow key. 
Then a page of some data on the element are presented on the
screen.  The object of this exercise is to compare some trends in
properties as one goes across a period or down a column in the
chart.  

     For elements 19 to 36 (K to Kr, the period 4 elements) and for
elements in column 4a, record the density, melting point, and
boiling point.  Then prepare two tables, one recording each of
these three properties versus atomic number (Z) for the period 4
elements, a second recording each of these three properties versus
atomic number (Z) for members of the carbon family.

     Using the data in your tables, prepare six graphs: plotting Z
on the x axis (the independent variable), then plot each of the
above quantities (density, melting point, boiling point) on the y
axis (the dependent variable).   Be sure to design your graphs
properly, picking axes that spread the data over most of the graph
area and labeling the axes correctly, including proper units. 
There should be a different y axis for each property.  Each group
member should draw one or more of the graphs, but submit only six
graphs for the group.

     This information is available in Chemical Handbooks in the
Library, but I want you to retrieve it from the Web. 

Part 3.   Other chemical information.

     As an introduction to searching for information on the Web,
pick "Information Sources on the Internet" from the SIS home page,
then pick "Yahoo", and search through appropriate subjects to find
additional periodic tables posted on the internet.  Report the
URL's of any that you find.  Spot check one of them to see if the
element data is the same.


Your report should contain two tables, six graphs, other periodic
table URL's, and a cover page with the signatures and social
security numbers of everyone participating in the group exercise. 
Please staple the pages together.

Note:  I will not accept problems done by only one person!