TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Aaron Sams: How to speed up chemical reactions (and get a date)

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Meet our chemist, Harriet. She has a chemical reaction that needs to occur more qlkicuy. A chemist has some processes at her disposal that can help her speed up her reaction, and she knows of five ways. And to remember them, she thinks back to her days as a high school student, and the day she got a date for the dance. Harriet was in high school, studying between classes. She had lost track of time and was going to be late to class. Unbeknownst to her, Harold, who was just around the corner, was running late, too. They both sprinted to class and, as it happened, sprinted directly into one another. Now, this was no small collision. They ran sqlaeury into one another in such a way that he knocked the books right out of her hand. "I'm sorry," he said. "Let me help you with your books." He klindy helped her re-collect her belongings, and politely offered to walk her to class. And you'll never guess who went together to the dance later that year. Yup, those two. So as we can see from this example, the key to getting a date for the dance is to collide with someone and knock the books out of their hands. Now, you're probably already aware that not all collisions lead to dates for the dance, taulhflkny. The collisions must have two important characteristics: One, correct orientation that allows books to be knocked from one's hands; and two, enough energy to kocnk the books out. Shortly after this incident, Harriet diceded to tell me, her chemistry teacher, all about it. I nciteod some interesting parallels between her stroy and chemical reaction rates, which hneppaed to be what she was studying in the hallway the day of the collision. Together, we decided to set out on two missions. Harriet wanted to help all cimhrtesy students and chemists remember how to seped up the rate of chemical rtenaocis and I, being the nice guy that I am, decided to make it my missoin to help create educational environments in which more book-dropping collisions can take place to increase future chemists' chaecns of getting a date for the dance. In order to facilitate this improved dance-date-getting process, I propose five changes to all sohlcos that parallel Harriet's five ways to increase chemical reaction rates. First, I psopore that we shrink the size of the hallways. This will make it more difficult to safely navigate the hlawayls and will cause more collisions than in larger hallways. And by increasing the number of collisions, we isacrene the likelihood that some of those clinoloiss will have the correct alignment and enough energy to create a date to the dance. Now, cmhaeclliy speaking, this is equivalent to lowering the vlmoue of a rtoeaicn vessel or a reaction mixture. In doing so, the individual particles are closer together, and more collisions will occur. More collisions means a greater likelihood that collisions with the appropriate erengy and configuration will happen. Second, I propose increasing the overall population of the school. More students equals more collisions. By increasing the number of particles available for collision, we create an environment where more collisions can take place. Third, we must reduce the time allowed between classes — heck, let's just cut it in half. In doing so, sduttnes will need to move more quickly to get from one class to the next. This increase in votliecy will help make sure collisions have the appropriate amount of energy necessary to esurne book-dropping. This is analogous to increasing the temperature of the reaction mixture. Higher tautmrerpee means particles are mnvoig faster. Faster-moving particles means more energy, and a greater likelihood of the reaction-causing collision. Fourth, students must stop trvilaeng in packs. By traveling in packs, the students on the outside of the pack insulate those in the middle from undergoing any collisions. By splitting up, each student has more area exposed that is available for a collision from a passing student. When particles tvarel in pckas, the surface area is very small, and only the outside pcrealtis can cillode. However, by breaking up the clumps into individual particles, the total surface area is increased, and each particle has an exposed suacfre that can react. Fifth and finally, we hire a matchmaker. Is this colliding and book-dropping too violent? Is there an easier way to get a date that requires less initial energy? Then a mamathkcer will help with this. The matchmaker makes it eaiesr for a couple to get together, by coioditnrang the match. Our matchmaker is like a catalyst. Chemical catalysts function by lowering the activation energy — in other words, by lowering the energy riequerd to start a reaction. They do this by bringing two particles together and orienting them correctly in scape so that the two can meet at the cecrrot configuration and allow a reaction to take place. So, to sum up: if a future chemist wants a date for the dance, he must collide with another person and knock the books out of their hands. And if a chemist wants to make a chemical reaction ocucr, the particles must collide in the correct orientation with an appropriate auonmt of energy. And both of these prseosces can be accelerated, using the five mdeoths I've described.

Open Cloze

Meet our chemist, Harriet. She has a chemical reaction that needs to occur more _______. A chemist has some processes at her disposal that can help her speed up her reaction, and she knows of five ways. And to remember them, she thinks back to her days as a high school student, and the day she got a date for the dance. Harriet was in high school, studying between classes. She had lost track of time and was going to be late to class. Unbeknownst to her, Harold, who was just around the corner, was running late, too. They both sprinted to class and, as it happened, sprinted directly into one another. Now, this was no small collision. They ran ________ into one another in such a way that he knocked the books right out of her hand. "I'm sorry," he said. "Let me help you with your books." He ______ helped her re-collect her belongings, and politely offered to walk her to class. And you'll never guess who went together to the dance later that year. Yup, those two. So as we can see from this example, the key to getting a date for the dance is to collide with someone and knock the books out of their hands. Now, you're probably already aware that not all collisions lead to dates for the dance, __________. The collisions must have two important characteristics: One, correct orientation that allows books to be knocked from one's hands; and two, enough energy to _____ the books out. Shortly after this incident, Harriet _______ to tell me, her chemistry teacher, all about it. I _______ some interesting parallels between her _____ and chemical reaction rates, which ________ to be what she was studying in the hallway the day of the collision. Together, we decided to set out on two missions. Harriet wanted to help all _________ students and chemists remember how to _____ up the rate of chemical _________ and I, being the nice guy that I am, decided to make it my _______ to help create educational environments in which more book-dropping collisions can take place to increase future chemists' _______ of getting a date for the dance. In order to facilitate this improved dance-date-getting process, I propose five changes to all _______ that parallel Harriet's five ways to increase chemical reaction rates. First, I _______ that we shrink the size of the hallways. This will make it more difficult to safely navigate the ________ and will cause more collisions than in larger hallways. And by increasing the number of collisions, we ________ the likelihood that some of those __________ will have the correct alignment and enough energy to create a date to the dance. Now, __________ speaking, this is equivalent to lowering the ______ of a ________ vessel or a reaction mixture. In doing so, the individual particles are closer together, and more collisions will occur. More collisions means a greater likelihood that collisions with the appropriate ______ and configuration will happen. Second, I propose increasing the overall population of the school. More students equals more collisions. By increasing the number of particles available for collision, we create an environment where more collisions can take place. Third, we must reduce the time allowed between classes — heck, let's just cut it in half. In doing so, ________ will need to move more quickly to get from one class to the next. This increase in ________ will help make sure collisions have the appropriate amount of energy necessary to ______ book-dropping. This is analogous to increasing the temperature of the reaction mixture. Higher ___________ means particles are ______ faster. Faster-moving particles means more energy, and a greater likelihood of the reaction-causing collision. Fourth, students must stop _________ in packs. By traveling in packs, the students on the outside of the pack insulate those in the middle from undergoing any collisions. By splitting up, each student has more area exposed that is available for a collision from a passing student. When particles ______ in _____, the surface area is very small, and only the outside _________ can _______. However, by breaking up the clumps into individual particles, the total surface area is increased, and each particle has an exposed _______ that can react. Fifth and finally, we hire a matchmaker. Is this colliding and book-dropping too violent? Is there an easier way to get a date that requires less initial energy? Then a __________ will help with this. The matchmaker makes it ______ for a couple to get together, by ____________ the match. Our matchmaker is like a catalyst. Chemical catalysts function by lowering the activation energy — in other words, by lowering the energy ________ to start a reaction. They do this by bringing two particles together and orienting them correctly in _____ so that the two can meet at the _______ configuration and allow a reaction to take place. So, to sum up: if a future chemist wants a date for the dance, he must collide with another person and knock the books out of their hands. And if a chemist wants to make a chemical reaction _____, the particles must collide in the correct orientation with an appropriate ______ of energy. And both of these _________ can be accelerated, using the five _______ I've described.

Solution

traveling
mission
moving
happened
volume
quickly
processes
collisions
amount
reaction
story
thankfully
chemistry
collide
surface
hallways
increase
speed
occur
velocity
schools
coordinating
particles
chances
correct
propose
space
squarely
chemically
ensure
reactions
energy
temperature
kindly
travel
matchmaker
students
required
easier
methods
noticed
knock
decided
packs

Original Text

Meet our chemist, Harriet. She has a chemical reaction that needs to occur more quickly. A chemist has some processes at her disposal that can help her speed up her reaction, and she knows of five ways. And to remember them, she thinks back to her days as a high school student, and the day she got a date for the dance. Harriet was in high school, studying between classes. She had lost track of time and was going to be late to class. Unbeknownst to her, Harold, who was just around the corner, was running late, too. They both sprinted to class and, as it happened, sprinted directly into one another. Now, this was no small collision. They ran squarely into one another in such a way that he knocked the books right out of her hand. "I'm sorry," he said. "Let me help you with your books." He kindly helped her re-collect her belongings, and politely offered to walk her to class. And you'll never guess who went together to the dance later that year. Yup, those two. So as we can see from this example, the key to getting a date for the dance is to collide with someone and knock the books out of their hands. Now, you're probably already aware that not all collisions lead to dates for the dance, thankfully. The collisions must have two important characteristics: One, correct orientation that allows books to be knocked from one's hands; and two, enough energy to knock the books out. Shortly after this incident, Harriet decided to tell me, her chemistry teacher, all about it. I noticed some interesting parallels between her story and chemical reaction rates, which happened to be what she was studying in the hallway the day of the collision. Together, we decided to set out on two missions. Harriet wanted to help all chemistry students and chemists remember how to speed up the rate of chemical reactions and I, being the nice guy that I am, decided to make it my mission to help create educational environments in which more book-dropping collisions can take place to increase future chemists' chances of getting a date for the dance. In order to facilitate this improved dance-date-getting process, I propose five changes to all schools that parallel Harriet's five ways to increase chemical reaction rates. First, I propose that we shrink the size of the hallways. This will make it more difficult to safely navigate the hallways and will cause more collisions than in larger hallways. And by increasing the number of collisions, we increase the likelihood that some of those collisions will have the correct alignment and enough energy to create a date to the dance. Now, chemically speaking, this is equivalent to lowering the volume of a reaction vessel or a reaction mixture. In doing so, the individual particles are closer together, and more collisions will occur. More collisions means a greater likelihood that collisions with the appropriate energy and configuration will happen. Second, I propose increasing the overall population of the school. More students equals more collisions. By increasing the number of particles available for collision, we create an environment where more collisions can take place. Third, we must reduce the time allowed between classes — heck, let's just cut it in half. In doing so, students will need to move more quickly to get from one class to the next. This increase in velocity will help make sure collisions have the appropriate amount of energy necessary to ensure book-dropping. This is analogous to increasing the temperature of the reaction mixture. Higher temperature means particles are moving faster. Faster-moving particles means more energy, and a greater likelihood of the reaction-causing collision. Fourth, students must stop traveling in packs. By traveling in packs, the students on the outside of the pack insulate those in the middle from undergoing any collisions. By splitting up, each student has more area exposed that is available for a collision from a passing student. When particles travel in packs, the surface area is very small, and only the outside particles can collide. However, by breaking up the clumps into individual particles, the total surface area is increased, and each particle has an exposed surface that can react. Fifth and finally, we hire a matchmaker. Is this colliding and book-dropping too violent? Is there an easier way to get a date that requires less initial energy? Then a matchmaker will help with this. The matchmaker makes it easier for a couple to get together, by coordinating the match. Our matchmaker is like a catalyst. Chemical catalysts function by lowering the activation energy — in other words, by lowering the energy required to start a reaction. They do this by bringing two particles together and orienting them correctly in space so that the two can meet at the correct configuration and allow a reaction to take place. So, to sum up: if a future chemist wants a date for the dance, he must collide with another person and knock the books out of their hands. And if a chemist wants to make a chemical reaction occur, the particles must collide in the correct orientation with an appropriate amount of energy. And both of these processes can be accelerated, using the five methods I've described.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
chemical reaction	4
correct orientation	2
reaction mixture	2
greater likelihood	2
surface area	2

Important Words

accelerated
activation
alignment
allowed
amount
analogous
area
aware
belongings
books
breaking
bringing
catalyst
catalysts
chances
chemical
chemically
chemist
chemistry
chemists
class
classes
closer
clumps
collide
colliding
collision
collisions
configuration
coordinating
corner
correct
correctly
couple
create
cut
dance
date
dates
day
days
decided
difficult
disposal
easier
educational
energy
ensure
environment
environments
equals
equivalent
exposed
facilitate
faster
finally
fourth
function
future
greater
guess
guy
hallway
hallways
hand
hands
happen
happened
harold
harriet
heck
helped
high
higher
hire
important
improved
incident
increase
increased
increasing
individual
initial
insulate
interesting
key
kindly
knock
knocked
larger
late
lead
likelihood
lost
lowering
match
matchmaker
means
meet
methods
middle
mission
missions
mixture
move
moving
navigate
nice
noticed
number
occur
offered
order
orientation
orienting
pack
packs
parallel
parallels
particle
particles
passing
person
place
politely
population
process
processes
propose
quickly
ran
rate
rates
react
reaction
reactions
reduce
remember
required
requires
running
safely
school
schools
set
shortly
shrink
size
small
space
speaking
speed
splitting
sprinted
squarely
start
stop
story
student
students
studying
sum
surface
teacher
temperature
thankfully
thinks
time
total
track
travel
traveling
unbeknownst
undergoing
velocity
vessel
violent
volume
walk
wanted
ways
words
year
yup