A/N: Okay, another study session simply because I have acid base equilibrium in my head when I should be finishing my final law assignments...Ahh...the downside to taking multiple courses that has nothing to do with one another... But I wouldn't be scatterbrain otherwise! ;)
catgirl505: Thanks for the virtual cookies! *eating them and dancing along with you* ;) Trish1573: LOL. I hope you have the sweetest dream each time. And if turning your manager into Papa Smurf will help make your day, let's hope you get that, in your dreams at least! ;) bunny88rosemagic: Oh! You're so sweet! Thank you! I'll try my very best! :) CherrySerenity-sama: Oh no! Did I just paint D to be a bad father? Erk! In his defence, he was thrust into fatherhood in a really unconventional method and he really had no prior experience with children. I think he is trying his best though...but I agree with you, S definitely would make a good mother. I think they both would make wonderful parents who will always put their children first. But like all parents, they will stumble along the way as they learn the best way to navigate parenthood. :) I love writing the children scenes and I'm really glad you like them and your reviews on them are some of my favourites. Thank you! :) Moonprincess998: Thank you! I'm really glad! Here's your update. ;) kbtjmandy: Thanks! Glad you're doing great in school and ecstatic to hear my writing have the calming effect. TOBITF was updated a couple of days ago and will be again soon and here's your update for S + D = ss + dd! Probably not as calming but hoping you'll like it all the same! ;) Rose: Hey! You're back! I'm glad! LOL. I hope they don't get sick either! But chocolate milkshakes even in the morning is, as you or the Smurfs would say: Smurfilicious! ;) SerenityShields: I'm glad you found these drabbles! Thanks for your kind words. I think S and S makes wonderful parents too, at least that's what I'm trying to convey. I'm glad you approved of their parental role and the children I created for them. Extra glad that my writing made you smile! :) Emily: I'm glad! Welcome to (S + D = ss + dd)! LOL. All the children are really smart! Number 2, huh? Maybe it's because you're a princess! ;)
TOBITF ALERT: Chapter 21: Breakfast In Bed & Baseball Game was uploaded about 3 days ago. Do R&R as it's one of my most carefully thought-out chapters.
Thoughts are in Italics.
(Standard disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters. All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.)
S plus D equals little s squared plus little d squared (S + D = ss + dd)
7. Simple Demonstration
Timeline: takes place in between Chapters 19 & 20 of TOBITF
Rating: K+
No. Of words: 1044 words
"I just don't get it! You're saying that an acid base indicator changes colour in different medium because they have different forms under different condition," Serena asked slowly, trying very hard not to show her frustration.
I have absolutely no idea why chemistry is both Darien's and Amy's favourite subject! She thought but kept her opinion to herself.
"That's right Rena. An acid base indicator is either a weak acid or a weak base and we already covered that these only partially dissociate in water. The two forms, dissociated and undissociated, have different colours and both forms will be present in a particular pH or medium. The ratio of each form present in each medium determines the colour of the indicator in that medium," Amy explained as simply as she could without introducing more new terms that would confuse her friend.
"You lost me at ratio..." Serena said helplessly.
"Really Meatball Head!" Raye groaned, dangerously close to losing her patience.
Darien cleared his throat as he walked by and overheard the discussion. "May I, Amy?" he asked the bluenette.
At Amy's nod of assent, he turned to Serena, "Well, say you have two watercolour paints, white and red. Add a drop of red to a glass of white, it becomes slightly pink but closer to white, add more red and it becomes more pink, and when you add a lot of red, the colour becomes closer to red. The amount of white and red determines the resulting colour," he explained making use of his new found knowledge of her love for painting, sure that she'd understand what he was saying now.
Amy looked up at him with what could only be described as admiration and relief as Serena nodded her understanding, "You're saying that my final colour will depend on the amount of initial colours I add together."
"I hadn't thought to explain it that way, but Darien is exactly right Rena. The two forms of the indicator have two different colours. If you have more dissociated form in a medium, the colour of the dissociated form would be more dominant and likewise otherwise," Amy said with a silent thank you glance at Darien.
"But is that even possible? I get it with paints. But you can't put something into different mediums and have them change colour. Our skin has a pH of below 5. It doesn't change colour when we bathe using soap and rinsing with water. I thought pH 5 means weakly acidic? And surely soap and water have different pH from one another?" Mina asked in confusion. She hates chemistry every bit as much as her cousin.
"You actually know the pH of our skin?" Lita asked in disbelieve.
"Of course!" Mina huffed indignantly, "It says so on my moisturiser bottle," she added righteously.
"Of course," Raye responded with a chuckle.
"Well, not all weak acid and weak bases are acid base indicators. It's the other way around," Amy answered with a smile. She loved it when her friends got interested in learning instead of just studying for the sake of exams. To her, knowledge is such a wonderful thing not to get excited over.
"But it's possible? In real life? Darien?" Serena asked and looked up at him with wide eyes that made his heart fluttered in his chest.
She looks so much like the girls do when they're asking me for confirmation on something. So much faith that I'd know everything. But since when did I become a figure of authority to her? He wondered and decided he was pleased that she would put her trust in him.
Smiling, he conjured up a red rose and quickly inserted a petal into Lita's cappuccino, one into Mina's health drink and a petal each into Raye's Coke, Serena's milkshake and Amy's water.
The girls gasped in surprise at his action.
"What on earth are you doing, Darien?" Raye asked, pulling her drink protectively to her.
"I was drinking that," Lita grumbled.
"A simple demonstration," he replied easily.
And then turning to the children who were watching the television nearby, he called out to Darren and Darryl. "If you could pull out the petals from each drink for me, please boys?" he requested, gesturing at the drinks on the table before adding sheepishly, "Preferably dry. I can't control the wind as well as you can," he said to Darren, "Or have telekinesis like you do," to Darryl.
"A red rose, you see, contains anthocyanin, which is a weak acid which acts as an acid base indicator. I just made sure the one I conjured had slightly more anthocyanin than usual so that you can see for yourself," he said with a quick grin to the girls as the little boys lifted the petals from each drink and each petal, dried, floated gently to the table surface in front of the respective glass they were pulled out from.
Amy smiled in delight as the others gasped. The dried petal in front of the coke remained red, The petal in front of Lita's cappuccino was slightly orange, the ones in front of Amy's water and Serena's milkshake were both slightly purple with the one in front of the milkshake slightly tinged with blue and finally, the petal in front of Mina's near colourless health drink had tinges of green on it.
"How did you do that?" This time the question came from Raye as she gazed at the petals in as much awe as her other friends.
"Well, your coke is the most acidic and would have a pH of about two, cappuccino contains caffeine with pH between four to five, water is neutral at pH 7, the milkshake contains milk which should be at pH six but since its chocolate milkshake, I'm guessing the pH is at 8 or so and Mina's drink is alkaline, probably at pH 9 to 10," Amy explained in her usual gentle ways. Turning to Darien, she beamed in gratitude. "What an excellent idea!"
Darien shrugged. "Like I said, just a simple demonstration," he replied easily with a grin. Dropping a light kiss on Serena's head, he quickly grabbed the two little boys in his arms to go join his two little princesses in front of the television.
Posted on fanfiction: 27 November 2013
A/N: Hmm...I guess this is a rather technical one especially to those not taking chemistry but like Amy, I believe that knowledge is something to get excited about and like Darien I totally believe that there are ways to explain everything in a simpler, easier to understand ways.
Technically to get the best result, anthocyanin in aqueous form (extracted from its source such as red cabbage, red roses and red carnation) can be added to colourless buffer solutions of pH 1-14. But this is fiction, Darien's red rose contains more anthocyanin than normal red roses and the boys pulled the petals out of the coloured drinks, dried to give my readers even better results!
Extra info: Anthocyanin is (usually) red/orange in acidic condition, purple/blue in neutral pH and green/yellow under alkaline medium.
P/S: NO flames! Even if I did, sort of, made you learn some chemistry!