The Narrative
Imagine this. The road to Abdera has proved to be much longer than you expected, and you are relieved when you finally pass through the city gates.
“I hope we get to sit down soon,” Dustin whines. “My feet are killing me.”
“You’re fine,” you snap at him.
He doesn’t seem to notice. “It is so hot out here. And I am really thirsty.”
You just grunt at him. You feel the same way, but you are certainly not going to let him know.
“You know what?” he continues. “Sometimes I would like to just reach into my pantry and pull out a candy bar. A normal pantry. Why do I have to keep falling in? I am really hungry!”
Inside the walls, the quiet road gives way to narrow streets crowded with people. Merchants call from beneath cloth awnings, offering baskets of onions, figs, olives, and grain. A potter has arranged bowls and jars outside his workshop in careful rows. Somewhere nearby, a hammer rings against metal. Goats squeeze between pedestrians, children dart around loaded carts, and the smell of fresh bread drifts from an open doorway.
You stay close to Democritus as he moves through the crowd. Several people greet him by name. After several turns, the streets become quieter. The shops disappear, the houses grow farther apart, and the noise of the marketplace fades behind you. Democritus stops before a low wall with a simple wooden gate.
“We have arrived,” he says.
“Arrived where?” Dustin asks.
“At my house.”
Democritus opens the gate and leads you into a small garden. A fig tree spreads its branches across one corner, shading a wooden bench beneath it. Herbs grow in tidy patches beside the wall, and a few flowers rise among them. Nearby there is a small, plain house. It is smaller than most of the houses you passed in the city, with only a few narrow windows and a simple wooden door. Democritus walks up to the door and pushes it open.
“Welcome to my house,” he says, smiling.
You and Dustin follow him in, looking around you. A low table stands near the center of the main room, surrounded by a few wooden stools. Clay jars and cups rest on open shelves. A plain sleeping couch sits against one wall with a folded wool blanket upon it. It is simple, but clean and pleasant.
“This is it?” Dustin asks.
“This is it.”
Dustin looks shocked. “The whole thing? I would be bummed if I had to live here!”
“Would you?” Democritus asks.
“Yes. Didn’t the people give you a bunch of money for reading that book to them? You should have bought a bigger house.”
“How much larger should it be?”
Dustin spreads his arms. “A lot larger. I would want more rooms.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know. More than this.”
Democritus nods thoughtfully. “And when you had those rooms, what would you put in them?”
“Things.”
“What things?”
Dustin looks around. “Better things than these. This doesn’t look very comfortable.”
Democritus listens as though Dustin is answering a very serious question. “What if you received all the comfortable things you have in mind? Would you then be satisfied?”
“I think so.”
“I have traveled much, met many wise people, and lived many years,” Democritus began. “Through these things, I have learned that I can live with less than people expected. I also learned that a person who is not satisfied with a little will not be satisfied with much. I have seen many rich people become slaves to their wealth, and many people become slaves to their desires. Pleasure is a poor master. If you cannot be happy until every desire has been satisfied, each new pleasure will only teach you to desire something more.” He taps his fingers lightly against his chest. “Happiness does not live among our possessions. Happiness lives in the soul.”
Dustin looks again at the hard, narrow sleeping couch. “Still, I think a softer bed would help at least.”
On a nearby shelf, you see some jars. “What’s in those jars?” you ask.
“Oh, just some basic ingredients,” Democritus says. “Flour, salt, things like that.”
Dustin perks up. “Sounds like food,” he says.
Democritus takes a bowl and a couple of the jars and begins to pour the contents of the jars into the bowl. Some salt spills on the table, and Dustin quickly picks some up and drops it on his tongue.
“Ah,” he says dramatically, “I needed that.” He takes another pinch, and then looks at you and muses, “You know, salt tastes the same here as it does at home.”
You think this is an odd comment, but it sparks a question for you. “Democritus, you drew out three shapes of atoms, but surely there are more than just three kinds of atoms, right? There are so many different kinds of things in the world.”
“I think that is right,” Democritus says, as he pours a little oil into the bowl and begins to mix it around. “I am sure there are many more types of atoms. But I also think that the stuff that we experience around us is made from partnerships between atoms, as well.”
“Partnerships?” you ask. “What do you mean?”
“I mean multiple atoms joining together and forming into something new and different. Take the things I have mixed into this bowl as an example. I have put oil, salt, flour, and some other things in here, and mixed them together. Then I will bake it, and something new and different will result.”
“What is that?” Dustin asks eagerly.
“Bread.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Dustin exclaims.
“A bit hungry, I see,” Democritus chuckles.
“So you are saying that the things we see out in the world are made from atoms joining together and making partnerships?” you ask.
“That is my conclusion,” Democritus says. “Remember how atoms have different ways of behaving, different personalities? It is the same with the partnerships they form. Each partnership has its own way of behaving, its own personality. Flour can behave one way, and salt behave another way, and oil a third way, but when we combine them all, and mix them together, we can get something wholly different, with a wholly different personality from any of the ingredients by themselves.”
“Bread,” Dustin blurts out. Apparently he was listening a bit.
Democritus begins to prepare a fire in the corner. Dustin moves around the room, peeking into some of the ingredient jars. “I don’t really know what you are talking about, but whatever is in these jars doesn’t have much personality,” he states.
“Why do you say that?” Democritus asks.
“Because they all look the same. They are all like white powders. It seems like they have the same atoms.”
“They look the same,” Democritus says, “but would you say that simply looking at something is enough of an observation? What other ways might you observe the ‘personalities’ of these materials?”
“We could feel them,” you say.
“Sure.”
“And smell them,” you add.
“Yes,” Democritus says. “The personalities of the different atoms and partnerships they form are reflected in the matter around us. Even if two objects look the same, they will behave differently in other ways. The personalities of the different atoms and partnerships that form those objects will be reflected somehow in those objects.”
“What if two different objects look the same, taste the same, feel the same, sound the same, and smell the same?” Dustin interrupts.
You suddenly feel tired and wonder why you hang out with Dustin at all. You summon the energy to look at him and say, “Dustin, why are you asking that? Do you know of any two objects that are like that?”
“No, but maybe it could happen,” he says defensively.
“You know, I found another way to reveal the personalities of atoms,” Democritus says. “Sometimes, when you mix one kind of atom with another kind, they react with each other, and the personalities of the atoms become clearer. You can really produce something quite special sometimes.”
“Bread?” Dustin asks.
“That’s not what I was talking about,” Democritus responds. Then a smirk appears on his face. “But while we wait for the bread, why don’t I give you two a little challenge?”
“What kind of challenge?” Dustin asks.
Democritus takes a few cups from a shelf and begins to pour a bit of salt into one cup, a bit of flour into the other. You watch as he pours other ingredients into the other cups. Then he sets one of the cups aside and pushes the rest towards you and Dustin.
“Here is your challenge,” Democritus says. “You must find out the different personalities of the materials in each of these cups.”
Dustin leans forward and looks into the cups. “They are all the same,” he says.
“They aren’t the same,” Democritus counters. “Each cup has a different ingredient, composed of different atoms, with its own unique way of behaving.”
“But they all look the same,” Dustin says, stubbornly.
Frustrated, you glare at Dustin. “Have you not been listening to anything we have been talking about?”
“Mostly not. I just heard that there will be bread, but that is about it,” Dustin says. “The bread is true, though, right?”
Activity 1: Mystery Powder Investigation
Democritus was right again—atoms do join together and form partnerships, as he thought. Different atoms combine in different kinds of ways to make up the stuff of the world that we experience. Those ‘partnerships’ are called molecules. Here is a picture of six molecules. Can you see the individual atoms that have partnered together to make those molecules?
Well, Democritus left you with a challenge. It’s time you got to solving it. To restate the challenge: You are about to be handed four cups. In each is a different powder. There is a fifth cup—the mystery cup—that has one of the same four powders. You won’t be shown the mystery cup until you near the end of the challenge. You need to determine which of the four powders is in the mystery cup.
This may seem like an impossible task, but it is not. It is a difficult task, but not an impossible one. The personalities of different atoms and molecules are revealed not just by whether they are solids, liquids, or gases. The personalities are revealed in many other ways, as well. The color of a thing results from the personality of its atoms. The smell of a thing results from the personality of its atoms. The feel of a thing results from the personality of its atoms. Even if you can’t tell by looking or feeling, the personality of a material’s atoms may be revealed in other ways, such as how it reacts when it is mixed with a different material. So, to complete this challenge, you will need to take the five powders listed below (baking soda, corn starch, sugar, and salt), and observe them closely to learn the personalities of their atoms. Observe how each powder looks, how it smells, how it feels, and then mix the powders with other substances to see how they react. Once you have learned the personality of each of those powders, you can turn your attention to another powder—the mystery powder—and try to solve its identity.
To set up this challenge, you will need:
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- Your copy of The Laboratory: Apprentice Journal (available on Amazon here)
- Baking soda
- Corn starch
- Sugar
- Salt
- Vinegar
- Five small paper cups
- A roll of wax paper or aluminum foil
- Dropper or spoon for adding liquids to the powders
- Several toothpicks or other small stirring sticks
- Paper towels
- Magnifying glass
(You will need the help of a partner. Your partner should take the cups and label them ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, ‘M’. Then your partner should put a scoop of one of the powders—baking soda, corn starch, sugar, salt—in Cup A, a scoop of another powder in Cup B, and so on. Then your partner should choose one of the powders to be the mystery powder and put a scoop of that in Cup M. Your partner should not tell you what it is, and should set it aside so you cannot see it or smell it. Your partner can then give you the other cups (A through D).)
Once you have received the cups from your partner, you can begin making your observations. What do they look like? What do they smell like? What do they feel like? What do they sound like? (Just kidding, that probably won’t help you. Don’t taste them, by the way. It’s never a good idea to taste a mystery powder.)
Grab your Apprentice Journal and turn to the first page for this lesson. There you will find a chart where you can record your observations about each powder. Conduct your tests and observations and fill in the chart as you go.
There are some other tests you can do in addition to the simple tests of smelling, looking, and feeling the powders. Take one of the powders and put a small amount on a square of wax paper or aluminum foil and add some water to it. Observe what, if anything, happens when the powder and the water mix. Then mix the powder with vinegar and watch what happens. Continue this process by mixing each of the powders with each of the liquids. There is a chart in your journal to record these observations as well.
Each powder has its own personality that may cause it to feel, look, or smell different from the other powders, and may cause it to react differently to one liquid or the other. By conducting these tests and watching closely, you are getting to know the personality of each powder.
Once you know the personality of each of the four powders, perform the same tests on the mystery powder. Get to know its personality, just as you did the other powders. In your journal, there is a third page for this lesson, and there you will find a chart to record what you learn about the mystery powder.
Then compare the behavior of the mystery powder to the behaviors of the other powders.
Which ones does the mystery powder look like?
Which ones does it smell like?
Which ones does it feel like?
Does it react to water in a way that one or more of the others did?
What about its reaction to vinegar?
As you answer these questions, and make the connections, the identity of the mystery powder should be slowly revealed. When you think you have solved the mystery, write your conclusion in your journal and tell your partner. Explain to your partner the evidence that led you to this conclusion.
Then comes the moment of truth:
It is time for your partner to tell you whether you got it right.
From this challenge, you can see that the personalities of the atoms and molecules that make up an object cause that object to act and change in different ways. This may be the form that the matter takes—solid, liquid, gas—or it may be something else, such as the way a thing feels, tastes, looks, or how it reacts with other things.
Extension: The Mystery Liquid Investigation
You want another challenge? How about mystery liquids? What if you had three bottles of liquids. All three are liquids and all three are clear, yet they are different materials made from different sets of atoms. Could you find the differences in the three and find the mystery liquid? This may seem like an impossible task once again. But guess what? If you choose to accept this challenge, you can use a cabbage. And that makes all the difference.
Here’s the challenge. The atoms of one of the liquids have the kind of personality that people call ‘acid.’ Another of the liquids has a personality that people call ‘base.’ The third liquid is neutral—neither acid or base. Your challenge is to figure out which is which.
To complete this challenge, you will need:
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- Red cabbage
- A strainer
- A blender
- A jar
- Three cups
- Vinegar
- Baking soda
(Now, to play along, you are going to need someone else to secretly make the three mystery liquids. Your partner will need to put vinegar in one cup, water in a second cup, and a baking soda solution in the third. To make the baking soda solution, mix one tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of warm water. Then your partner should label the cups ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C.’ Your partner needs to remember which is which, but can’t tell you. Once the cups are labeled, they can be delivered to you for testing.)
While your partner is making the mystery liquids, you will need to make cabbage juice. You can follow the directions in this video, or follow the directions below.
Put three or four leaves of red cabbage in the blender with one to two cups of warm water. Blend the leaves for about a minute until they are finely chopped.
Pour the contents of the blender through a strainer into a jar.
Then pour some of the purple liquid into the three cups.
Here is the key. When you add acid material to the cabbage juice, the cabbage juice will change to a red color. When you add base material, the cabbage juice will change to a blue-ish green color. When you add neutral material, the color won’t change. With that, you should be able to complete the challenge.
Can you figure out which is acid, which is base, and which is neutral?