Dr. Anand S. Burange

BORON FOR UNDERGRADUATES Dr. Anand S. Burange Department of Chemistry, Wilson College, Mumbai Introduction You believe it or not, but we consume boron containing compound almost every day. For the safety storage of rice, it is sprinkled with boric acid (H 3 BO 3 ). Therefore, I personally would suggest washing rice multiple times before its consumption. How boron exists in nature? In nature it exists as a 'Tincal' which is a crude form of borax. Various boron containing compounds can be obtained from the borax. Borax, its preparation and reactions are discussed below. Borax (Na 2 B 4 O 7 .10 H 2 O) Borax is known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate and disodium tetraborate. It is white, soft and easily soluble in water. Borax is generally obtained from the mineral Colemanite (Ca 2 B 6 O 11 ). Colemanite on boiling with sodium carbonate gives borax, calcium carbonate and sodium metaborate. Reaction: Reactions of Borax Boric acid can be prepare

Lead Pencils: Do they contain Lead ( Pb )? Anand S. Burange Department of Chemistry, Wilson College, Mumbai, India Motivation for writing this blog is an occurrence of one incident few months back in our Wilson College. In Mumbai University syllabus for second year undergraduates, we have chromatographic separation (paper chromatography) of metal ions where mixture of metal salts is spotted on paper and further run in mobile phase (acetone:HCl). Since different metal ions have different retention factors; they can be easily separated and then identified by using complexing agents to form coloured complexes on a paper. During the practical, when students were asked by my colleague Thomson (Asst. Professor) to put one spot and draw a line on a paper by pencil (to calculate Rf values later), one student raised query that lead pencil contains Pb (metal), and it should also show spot alike other metal. At that time, many students believed that lead pencil contains lead (Pb) a

SIR C. V. RAMAN: AN INSPIRATION FOR INDIAN YOUNG MINDS Anand S. Burange, Wilson College, Mumbai asgburange@gmail.com In 19 th century when India was ruled by Englishmen; that time for any Indian to do career in research was quite impossible because at all the research institutes in India were under British supervision and all the faculties appointed were British. Though, J. Tata established Research Institute in Bangalore, it took no time to British to take control over its management. In British-raj of India, there was one scientist who wanted India to grow in Science and who was keen to learn physics, known for his discovery of Raman Effect, none other than Sir C. V. Raman. Journey of small child Raman to Sir C. V. Raman is very inspiring and one must read his biography at least once in a life. Raman was born to R. Chandrasekar Iyer (Father) and Parvathi Ammal (mother) on 8 th November 1888 in village Tiruvanaikkaval near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Raman’s father