Sunday, July 12, 2020

How to Start an Essay Sample

How to Start an Essay SampleYou can find many easy how to start an essay samples sites on the internet. However, some of these sites may not be providing you the material you need to start writing your essay.If you want to know how to start an essay samples then you need to take your time in choosing the right website for you. These essays are very important and you should not put it off. Here are some tips on how to start an essay samples.One of the best ways to start your essay is to take a comprehensive course in the subject. There are lots of free courses you can take online that will help you learn how to write an essay. This will give you an overview of the subject and what is needed to start writing your own essays.Once you are familiar with the different types of essay styles, you can look for a lesson you think you can master and move on to the next step. Take some time to learn the different things about essay styles you can do. Once you are able to do this, you can use you r mastery to move forward. With each essay style, you can do a more challenging one and once you are able to do that, you will know which one you are comfortable with.Make sure you look at some of the various essay styles so you will be able to do a deeper study on what works best for you. This will make it easier for you when you finally decide to write an essay. The writing skills you learn from this book will be helpful as you move forward with the assignment.When you are looking for easy how to start an essay, then you need to look for the right software. It will make it easier for you to go through the process of learning how to write an essay. You can download some free or paid software to help you do the work easier.When you want to look for the software, you need to look for a program that is easy to use and the most important part is that it is fun to use. This will help you get the needed information you need to begin the writing process. You need to find the one that is e asy to read and easy to understand.Remember, there are plenty of places to look for help and learning how to start an essay will help you improve your writing skills. Look for the site that will work best for you and take the time to study. Once you have the right advice, you will be writing your own essays and soon you will know how to start them.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Battle of Chattanooga in American Civil War

The Battle of Chattanooga was fought November 23-25, 1864, during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and saw Union forces relieve the city and drive away the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Following its defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga (Sept. 18-20, 1863), the Union Army of the Cumberland, led by Major General William S. Rosecrans, retreated back to its base at Chattanooga. Reaching the safety of the town, they quickly erected defenses before General Braxton Braggs pursuing Army of Tennessee arrived. Moving towards Chattanooga, Bragg assessed his options for dealing with the beaten enemy. Unwilling to incur the heavy losses associated with assaulting a well-fortified enemy, he considered moving across the Tennessee River. This move would force Rosecrans to abandon the city or risk being cut off from his lines of retreat north. Though ideal, Bragg was forced to dismiss this option as his army was short on ammunition and lacked sufficient pontoons to mount a major river crossing. As a result of these issues, and upon learning that Rosecrans troops were short on rations, he instead elected to lay siege to the city and moved his men into commanding positions atop Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.   Opening the Cracker Line Across the lines, a psychologically shattered Rosecrans struggled with the day-to-day issues of his command and showed no willingness to take decisive action. With the situation deteriorating, President Abraham Lincoln created the Military Division of the Mississippi and placed Major General Ulysses S. Grant in command of all Union armies in the West. Moving quickly, Grant relieved Rosecrans, replacing him with Major General George H. Thomas. While en route to Chattanooga, Grant received word that Rosecrans was preparing to abandon the city. Sending word ahead that it was to be held at call costs, he received a reply from Thomas stating, We will hold the town till we starve. Arriving, Grant endorsed a plan by the Army of the Cumberlands chief engineer, Major General William F. Baldy Smith, to open a supply line to Chattanooga. After launching a successful amphibious landing at Browns Landing on October 27, west of the city, Smith was able open a supply route known as the Cracker Line. This ran from Kelleys Ferry to Wauhatchie Station, then turned north up the Lookout Valley to Browns Ferry. Supplies could then be moved across Moccasin Point to Chattanooga. Wauhatchie On the night of October 28/29, Bragg ordered Lieutenant General James Longstreet to sever the Cracker Line. Attacking at Wauhatchie, the Confederate general engaged Brigadier General John W. Gearys division. In one of the few Civil War battles fought entirely at night, Longstreets men were repulsed. With a way into Chattanooga open, Grant began reinforcing the Union position by sending Major General Joseph Hooker with the XI and XII Corps and then an additional four divisions under Major General William T. Sherman. While Union forces were growing, Bragg reduced his army by sending Longstreets corps to Knoxville to attack a Union force under Major General Ambrose Burnside. Armies Commanders: Union Major General Ulysses S. GrantMajor General George H. Thomas56,359 effectives Confederacy General Braxton BraggLieutenant General William Hardee44,010 men The Battle Above the Clouds Having consolidated his position, Grant began offensive operations on November 23, by ordering Thomas to advance from the city and take a string of hills near the foot of Missionary Ridge. The next day, Hooker was ordered to take Lookout Mountain. Crossing the Tennessee River, Hookers men found that the Confederates had failed to defend a defile between the river and mountain. Attacking through this opening, Hookers men succeeded in pushing the Confederates off the mountain. As the fighting ended around 3:00 PM, a fog descended on the mountain, earning the battle the name The Battle Above the Clouds (Map). To the north of the city, Grant ordered Sherman to attack the north end of Missionary Ridge. Moving across the river, Sherman took what he believed was the north end of the ridge, but was actually Billy Goat Hill. His advance was stopped by Confederates under Major General Patrick Cleburne at Tunnel Hill. Believing a frontal assault on Missionary Ridge to be suicidal, Grant planned to envelop Braggs line with Hooker attacking the south and Sherman from the north. To defend his position, Bragg had ordered three lines of rifle pits dug on the face of Missionary Ridge, with artillery on the crest. Missionary Ridge Moving out the next day, both attacks met with little success as Shermans men were unable to break Cleburnes line and Hooker was delayed by burned bridges over Chattanooga Creek. As reports of slow progress arrived, Grant began to believe that Bragg was weakening his center to reinforce his flanks. To test this, he ordered Thomas to have his men advance and take the first line of Confederate rifle pits on Missionary Ridge. Attacking, the Army of the Cumberland, which for weeks had endured taunts about the defeat at Chickamauga, succeeded in driving the Confederates from their position. Halting as ordered, the Army of the Cumberland soon found itself taking heavy fire from the other two lines of rifle pits above. Without orders, the men began advancing up the hill to continue the battle. Though initially furious at what he perceived to be a disregard for his orders, Grant moved to have the attack supported. On the ridge, Thomas men advanced steadily, aided by the fact that Braggs engineers had mistakenly placed the artillery on the actual crest of the ridge, rather than the military crest. This error prevented the guns from being brought to bear on the attackers. In one of the wars most dramatic events, the Union soldiers surged up the hill, broke Braggs center, and put the Army of Tennessee to rout. Aftermath The victory at Chattanooga cost Grant 753 killed, 4,722 wounded, and 349 missing. Braggs casualties were listed as 361 killed, 2,160 wounded, and 4,146 captured and missing. The Battle of Chattanooga opened the door for the invasion of the Deep South and the capture of Atlanta in 1864. In addition, the battle decimated the Army of Tennessee and forced Confederate President Jefferson Davis to relieve Bragg and replace him General Joseph E. Johnston. Following the battle, Braggs men retreated south to Dalton, GA. Hooker was dispatched to pursue the broken army, but was defeated by Cleburne at the Battle of Ringgold Gap on November 27, 1863. The Battle of Chattanooga was the last time Grant fought in the West as he moved East to deal with Confederate General Robert E. Lee the following spring. The Battle of Chattanooga is sometimes known as the Third Battle of Chattanooga in reference to the engagements fought in the area June 1862 and August 1863.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

College Student Retention And Success - 1423 Words

Amber Caplan 01/28/16 College Student Retention and Success Part 1: Identify the student retention and success initiative The Achieving The Dream Initiative Many institutions face challenges retaining and graduating community college students. Students, faculty, staff, and administrators need work together to find ways to help these students succeed. Through the use of the Achieving the Dream initiative, the organization can help community colleges and their students to stay with their school and become successful academically and professionally. The Achieving The Dream initiative was founded by the Lumina Foundation in 2004 and other organizations such as, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC); Community College Leadership†¦show more content†¦and George A. Davis Foundation, the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation and TERI (non-profit organization) (Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, 2016). According to the Achieving The Dream website, http://achievingthedream.org/, they focus on â€Å"College Readiness, Community Engagement, Culture of Evidence Inquiry, Equity, Faculty Staff Engagement, Financial Literacy, Institutional Change, Knowledge Sharing, Scaling Change, State Policy Reform, Student-Centered Supports, Technology in Education, Visionary Leadership, and Workforce Preparation.† Within community colleges, many students are of low income status and/or students of color who face challenges staying in school due to struggles they may encounter at home financially, academically, and more. They have various resources such as their Knowledge Center with a database of studies and reports on what the organization has done. There are also many initiatives they run to help students receive scholarships for colleges to having institutions and staff teach students valuable retail skills. They have a Technology Resource Research Center with a database of many resources institutions can review such as surveys and articles on increasing retention. Also lastly, they have an Achieving The Dream Interventions Showcase featuring initiatives and programs done by community colleges such as First Year Seminar Courses that promote student success and show the results of many interventions

Discuss the issues that Huxley raises in his novel Brave New World Essay Example For Students

Discuss the issues that Huxley raises in his novel Brave New World Essay In 1932, Aldous Huxley first published the novel, Brave New World. It is about the future and what life will be like then. The novel starts in the year 632 A. F. After Ford the god of the New World. Great War has destroyed all of the old civilization. This brings in the new civilization, which is stabilised through dictatorship. Most of it is set in future London. Huxley wants to express his feelings and his fears of what life will be like in the future. He uses characters to voice his concerns. John the savage is the protagonist of the novel and he represents Huxleys views. He strongly believes in religion and is opposed to nearly all that there is in the New World. He is born and brought up in a savage reservation. This is what some of the places where the new civilization hasnt taken over yet are called. He is brought up in the company of Indians who still believe in the old beliefs such as Christianity and god. So he is not conditioned like the other main characters. He stands up for the old believes and customs like marriage. Johns father is the director of the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning D. H. C and adheres the new system. He does everything by the book. Bernard Marx is an employee at the hatchery and works in the Psychology Bureau. He is an alpha plus but is somewhat opposed to the new system. He had an accident when he was just a baby in a test tube and that is why his behaviour is a bit different from the others. He is the one who brings John and his mother Linda back to civilization from the reservation. Mustapha Mond is the resident controller for Western Europe and is one of the Ten World Controllers. He has complete knowledge of the old world and its traditions and values but is a major spokesman for the New World. Helmholtz Watson is alpha plus and is a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering and in the intervals of his educational activities a working Emotional Engineer. He is also a writer and he feels that there is something missing in the new world. He is fascinated with the writings of Shakespeare, which John gives to him. He is friend of Bernards and later befriends the Savage. Lenina Crowne is a nurse in the hatchery and goes to the reservation with Bernard. She is a clone who has undergone all of the conditioning. Later on, she is attracted to John but he doesnt feel the same way about her. When Huxley wrote the novel, the ideas that he explored in his novel were not a reality, but merely science-fiction entertainment. Brave New World confronts ideas of totalitarianism, artificial reproduction, anti-individualism, and forever youth- ideas, which were not threatening in the 30s. In the 1930s, the high ethical standards people maintained and the limited amount of scientific knowledge did not allow for the acceptance of the types of ideas found in Brave New World. At the time when Huxley wrote the novel, the people were just recovering from World War I and they wanted a perfect world. Huxley takes this idea of a utopian world to its extremes in Brave New World. The novel starts in the London Hatchery where the director himself is giving some new students a tour. He shows them around the facilities and what happens at each point. The hatchery is where the babies are produced in thousands; all in test tubes. The first difference between the old world and the new one is this. All the people are cloned in test tubes. Even now this is not accepted as ethically right but in the New World it is the norm. There are no ethics in the New World because of the conditioning that everybody undergoes. .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 , .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .postImageUrl , .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 , .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:hover , .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:visited , .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:active { border:0!important; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:active , .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194 .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8c0e1bd00bd03010304e83d3e369a194:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Troubled World EssayThis is also done at the hatchery. This is the most important difference between the New World and our world. The people are conditioned to do things exactly as they are told. This means that they dont have any their own thoughts; they just do what they were conditioned to do. This is the main issue that Huxley puts emphasis on throughout the novel. Huxley makes the New World have a totalitarian regime. It is ruled by Ten World Controllers. This is another thing which is despised by many people in todays world. But the people of the New World never protest against this as they dont have anything to complain about. All of them are happy as they are. They have never seen anything better than this but they have seen or at least heard of what they are conditioned to think as worse in the savage reservations. Happiness controls the way of life in the New World. They take a drug called soma to fight any depression. There are other alternatives like feelies which are movies where you can the feelings the actor/ actress gets, like when the actors kiss each other. Also love has no emotional meaning in the New World. It is only shown in a sexual and physical manner. Sex has become a casual experience and is encouraged for childhood. It is encouraged as early as seven years. To some of us this is preposterous. Decades ago people got married at such early ages and it was looked down upon. Terms like marriage, parents, mother, father, born are considered smutty in the New World. There were no families as there are now. There are big families of the batch of the test tube babies. They are also conditioned to consider death as a norm. To them the body of the dead person is just more fuel to use in the Slough Crematorium. The children are brought to the Hospitals to see dying people so that they will get used to it. Another thing that glares back at us is the racial discrimination in the New World. There are 5 main races as it were: Alphas these are the brains of the New World. They are conditioned and educated to be the best. Then there are the Betas who are the average people of the New World. Then we have the Deltas then the Gammas and lastly the Epsilons who are of the lowest cast. The Epsilons do all the dirty work and are conditioned to do so. This is also considered outrageous by most of the people today, but in the New World they dont know that this is wrong because they are conditioned to accept whatever the Controllers tell them. The technical advances in the New World are what cause the civilization to be like it is. The conditioning, the artificial reproduction, the soma all is due to advances made by man. The real conflict comes up when Bernard brings John the Savage to London. Johns read some of the old writings of Shakespeare and he doesnt like the New World a bit. The climax is when he is called to Monds office because of the disruption he causes. Here john and Mustapha Mond discuss the Differences in the old world and the New World. John is so disturbed by the impurities of the New World that he commits suicide at the end. There are many similarities in the world that we live in now and Huxleys Brave New World. More and more people are leaving religion behind and going on with their own lives. There are of course the drugs that help us to relieve ourselves of the stress and pressures of our daily lives. Also now we are very close to the cloning of humans. We have already achieved cloning sheep and humans arent that far away. The motto of the New World is Community, Identity, Stability. All of these are what we need right now and what the world needed when Huxley wrote the novel but the methods of achieving are not what should be used.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

The Wild Duck Essays - Ibsen Family, The Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen

The Wild Duck In the Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen begins his play by emphasizing the value of color and light. He uses the theme of light to contrast Old Werle, a stingy rich man, with Old Ekdal, a poor helpless man. Ibsen connects the color green with the loss of eyesight of Old Werle. A possible affair between Old Werle and Gina, Hedvig's mother, may suggest the cause of Hedvig's loss of sight. By using sun and moon, Ibsen establishes the atmosphere of the scene. The story line deteriorates from peaceful to tragic. Similarly, does the setting in the last four acts. In the Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen employs the image of light to portray certain characteristics in order to construct the plot and to adjust the mood of the scene. F.L. Lucas analyzes the opening arrangement and writes "In the outer room the lamps are dimmed, with green shades, in contrast to the brilliance of the room behind"(190). We understand that this meant that the outer room, lit with soft and shaded light, implies poverty, where as the inner room, illuminated with bright candles, expresses wealth. The darkened room, insinuating poverty, is the office in which the poor Old Ekdal 'does some extra copying,' and in return receives a small income. The inside room, representing wealth, is Old Werle's dining room where he was hosting a party. The distinctions of these two lit rooms contrast Old Ekdal and Old Werle. "In contrast to Werle's party, the lighting is of comparative poverty 'on the table a lighted lamp'"(190), explains critic, F.L. Lucas. Unlike Old Werle's expensive and exquisite illumination, a small inexpensive lamp lights the Ekdals home, displaying poverty. This dissimilarity shows another significant distinction between Old Werle and Old Ekdal. The distinctions of the light between Old Ekdal's and Old Werle's homes is illustrated in the following incident.It is brought to the reader's attention that in the following quotation Old Werle and Old Ekdal were partners in crime. "[Old Werle] escaped by the skin of his teeth," while they sentenced Old Ekdal to prison. This incident resulted in extreme hatred toward Old Werle for his poor aid to Old Ekdal. Being that Werle had a vast amount of money, Old Ekdal, Hjalmar, and Werle's son, Gregers felt tremendous feelings of animosity. Gregers recognized the miserable support his father has given to the Ekdals. As a result Gregers moves in with the Ekdals and attempts to enrich the marriage of Gina and Hjalmir, due to the fact that his parents didn't get along. Gregers takes the approach of truth to improve the marriage, which is another major theme of the Wild duck. "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak," was wisely stated by Ecclesiastes. Unfortunately, here it was 'a time to keep silence' and Gregers did not. F.L. Lucas examines the color green. "Why green shades? Because Old Werle is beginning to lose his sight. And that eye trouble links him significantly, by hereditary with little Hedvig, likewise threatened by blindness"(190). He also explains that green is known to be the most helpful colored shade to prevent blindness. This lighting early in the Wild Duck hints that '[Old Werle] is going blind' which relates him to Hedvig, where 'there is every probability that she will lose her eyesight.' "Further, green is the color of romantic unreality-the world of the Wild Duck caught in the seaweed below the waters of the fjord"(190), adds Lucas. The color green, a symbol of fantasy, is comparable to the world of the wild duck, which the characters use to "diverge themselves" from reality. The shade green is a link of two plots of the Wild Duck. One understanding of the color green hints to the loss of sight which suggests an affair between Old Werle and Hedvig's mother, Gina. Another explanation of the green display is to correlate fantasy with the wild duck. The latter understanding involves Old Ekdal who is an angry man living in the past on the hunting grounds of the duck. The first explanation of green results in Hedvig commiting suicide because of her anger. Hjalmir finding out that Hedvig is not his daughter, disregards Hedvig; this provokes her suicide. Green, symbolizing

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

How Non-Native Business Writing Courses Help Global Employees Succeed

How Non-Native Business Writing Courses Help Global Employees Succeed Many companies have invested in a global workforce, drawing new strength and innovation from diverse international employees. However, for those who do not speak English as a first language, it can be difficult to meet the strict writing requirements of the modern English workplace. Non-native business writing courses tailored specifically for global professionals can help companies get the polished writing they need and help employees gain the confidence and skills to meet their individual business goals. Non-Native Writers are a Growing Part of Today's Workforce The Bureau of Labor Statisticsnotes that in 2012 foreign-born workers made up over 16% of the US workforce with that number steadily increasing since 1996. The largest non-native group was Hispanic men, making up close to 48% of foreign-born workers. While the weekly earnings of non-native employees were statistically less than their native-born counterparts, the survey also showed that educational attainment directly increased earning power.A recent study by Wharton management professor Laura Huang found "a widespread bias in the business community against non-native English speakers: Entrepreneurs with non-native accents, she notes, are significantly less likely to receive new-venture funding, and job candidates with non-native accents are also less likely to be recommended for management positions. Foreign-born workers need to invest in strong communication skills in both speaking and writing to overcome these prejudices in the modern workplace. What Problems do Non-Native Writers Face? While native writers develop an ear for their own language, for non-native writers it can be difficult to adapt to the unique structures and complexities of formal English. The most common struggle is in understanding the subtleties of English grammar. Many native speakers instinctively understand grammatical rules but are unable to communicate the reasons behind them to employees. Practice and study using real business documents as examples are necessarily to learn both basic and complex grammatical structures. One-on-one instruction can be especially helpful in identifying individual weaknesses. Other cultures often have different standards and techniques for handling logic and evidence in business writing, so explaining and understanding the expected standards of American business writing is essential. Do I Really Need to Improve My Writing to Succeed? For many, the talents of an employee are a stronger selling point than their writing skills. On the surface, who cares if an engineer can write a cohesive memo as long as they can design a functional product? However, businesses have quickly realized that communication skills, in any field, are essential to the success of both the employee and the company. Companies both in the US and around the world are increasingly conducting business in English. As theHarvard Business Review reported, the use of English can be a controversial decision, noting that employees "may feel at a disadvantage if their English isn’t as good as others’, team dynamics and performance can suffer, and national pride can get in the way. But to survive and thrive in a global economy, companies must overcome language barriers- and English will almost always be the common ground, at least for now." However through directed education and practice, all employees can learn to utilize English as another skill to add their already diverse talents to help themselves and their company succeed. How Can Personal Instruction Provide Targeted Improvement? Treating all non-native writers the same is neither helpful nor productive. Different cultures and languages face varied and unique challenges and a one-size-fits-all education can leave costly gaps in knowledge. Learning in the workplace can be a high-stakes endeavor with mistakes in a memo or proposal causing headaches for both employee and employer (and in the worst case scenario can lead to legal or financial problems for the company). Non-native writers can feel extreme pressure to perform when only writing for the business environment. Writing for an instructor, however, provides safety and supportthat focuses on improvement rather than simply results. Instructors can provide a detailed plan to follow in a structured writing course and can improve writing with targeted feedback tailored to the writer's specific needs. Please contact us for help finding a generalbusiness writing courseor non-native business writing course for yourself or your non-native employees. We're here to help.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Classic Chemical Volcano - Ammonium Dichromate

Classic Chemical Volcano - Ammonium Dichromate Vesuvius Fire Introduction The eruption of an ammonium dichromate [(NH4)2Cr2O7] volcano is a classic chemistry demonstration. The ammonium dichromate glows and emits sparks as it decomposes and produces copious amounts of green chromium (III) oxide ash. This demonstration is simple to prepare and perform. The decomposition of ammonium dichromate commences at 180Â °C, becoming self-sustaining at ~225Â °C. The oxidant (Cr6) and the reductant (N3-) are present in the same molecule. (NH4)2Cr2O7 → Cr2O3 4 H2O N2 The procedure works well in both a lighted or darkened room. Materials ~20 grams of ammonium dichromatesand tray or ceramic tile, for use in ventilation hood OR5-liter round bottom flask and porcelain filtering funnelgas burner (e.g., Bunsen) ORbutane lighter or match, for use with flammable liquid (e.g., ethanol, acetone) Procedure If you are using a hood: Make a pile (volcanic cone) or ammonium dichromate on a tile or tray of sand.Use a gas burner to heat the tip of the pile until the reaction begins or dampen the tip of the cone with a flammable liquid and light it with a lighter or match. If you are not using a ventilation hood: Pour the ammonium dichromate into a large flask.Cap the flask with a filtration funnel, which will prevent the majority of the chromium (III) oxide from escaping.Apply heat to the bottom of the flask until the reaction begins. Notes Chromium III and chromium VI, as well at its compounds, including ammonium dichromate, are known carcinogens. Chromium will irritate the mucous membranes. Therefore, take care to perform this demonstration in a well-ventilated area (preferably a ventilation hood) and avoid skin contact or inhalation of the materials. Wear gloves and safety goggles when handling ammonium dichromate. References B.Z. Shakhashiri, Chemical Demonstrations: A Handbook for Teachers of Chemistry, Vol. 1, University of Wisconsin Press, 1986, pp. 81-82. mistry.about.com/library/weekly/mpreviss.htmMore Chemistry Articles