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Texium
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Chemistry Wiki Attempt
I'm not sure if anyone has found this wiki before. I discovered it a few months ago while trying to find a site with comprehensive information about
chemistry related topics, that would be useful from a chemist's (especially an amateur chemist's) perspective, rather than the massive amount of
unnecessary information, and often rather small amount of useful information that Wikipedia provides.
It seems like that was the goal of this wiki, but due to the lack of support it has received, it can best be described as, well, sad. Back in March, I
had a burst of inspiration and decided I'd contribute to it to lay down a base of simple articles to build off of. It was really difficult to keep it
up though, because I was the only one contributing anything more that the most minor of edits. Jut throwing this out there, in case anyone is
interested in editing it. Here's the link: http://chemistry.wikia.com/wiki/Chemistry_Wiki
Also, if this wiki isn't meant to be, then maybe we could create a Sciencemadness wiki: essentially the same thing, but managed by the members of this
forum. That might be a great way to maintain a great database of information.
EDIT: The old Chemistry Wiki is no longer our focus. I have created http://sciencemadness.wikia.com as a fresh start for the same purpose. That way it can be managed by us.
[Edited on 6-15-2014 by zts16]
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Brain&Force
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I'll join you in an editing rampage, and we can plot for takeover!  Seriously,
the wiki has a lot of potential. I'll write up some articles, mostly about lanthanides and things.
A Sciencemadness wiki would be great for experimenter notes. I would also contribute to that.
[edit]
I have found that I cannot upload photos to the wiki. zts16, you have my permission to upload anything I have uploaded to Sciencemadness.
Include fluorescing potassium terbium sulfate under shortwave UV, iodine vapor, a magnified image of distilled terbium metal, illuminated under soft white light, and the spectral lines of a sodium lamp viewed with a CD.
[Edited on 15.6.2014 by Brain&Force]
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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Texium
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Alright cool, thanks. I'll probably get on that once I have some more time on my hands. Yes, we will take it over! I think I'll start with making
simple pages for all of the elements and common compounds that give just very basic information, and then other contributors can elaborate. It just
needs a sturdy backbone to be able to grow. So despite not being able to upload images, you can still edit lanes, right?
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Brain&Force
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I can still edit: I wrote the whole article on terbium and I plan to finish all of the rare earth metals. Don't forget to include links!
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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forgottenpassword
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There is lots of chemistry written in books. Why rewrite it all, or imagine that it would be productive to do so?
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bismuthate
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Well, It's easier to access.
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forgottenpassword
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Books are designed for easy access too.
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Texium
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Well, before the internet, sure. But now it would be much easier to have it all in one place that can be accessed from essentially anywhere. Plus it
can grow and change as information becomes available, and it might even be kind of fun to work on it, especially if a lot of us work on it together.
Edit: B&F, I think if you made a Wikia account it would probably allow you to upload pictures. If I remember correctly, I was not able to until I
did.
[Edited on 6-15-2014 by zts16]
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forgottenpassword
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Greenwood and Earnshaw's Chemistry of the Elements is 1600 pages. Are you going to include all of that information in your 'wiki'? Will it ever come
close to having that much accurate and referenced information?
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Texium
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Well, 1600 page books happen to be pretty damn expensive while you can go to a wiki for free, and yes, eventually, it will include that much
information if not more. The owner of the wiki is quite the stickler for having referenced information. Pages that don't meet the standards are tagged
with a message saying so, if not outright deleted.
Look, I have nothing against books. Books are awesome. I have several chemistry books too. I just happen to think that this is an interesting
experiment and that it would be really great if it worked. So you can go on being pessimistic and unhelpful, or you could just let us who actually
want it to happen discuss it and work on it.
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macckone
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That wikia is going to need a lot of work. Possibly transcribing a
bunch of mellor's would be a start.
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Texium
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It definitely needs a lot of work. You know, I've been thinking that it might actually be easier to start our own rather than trying to resurrect this
one. The main problem I have with working on this one is that the creator, Wikia user Fargo84, isn't a chemist, and is more dedicated to his World War
2 wiki. That is not to say he doesn't seem like an intelligent and helpful person, he's just not that into chemistry.
I feel like if I were to start a new wiki, then we'd have a lot more control over its management instead of relying on someone who isn't as dedicated
as us. Does that seem like a good idea?
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Brain&Force
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Try making sciencemadness.wikia.com
We can have pages for chemical elements and compounds, including new information that has been discovered by Sciencemadness members, as well as
procedures, experiment notes, sources of reagents, and other relevant information. I'd be 100% willing to contribute this summer.
[Edited on 15.6.2014 by Brain&Force]
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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Texium
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Awesome, I'll do that. It is very likely that I won't contribute all that much until July though, because I'm in a dual-credit history class this
month, and I'm kind of busy with that. (Getting it out of the way so I'll have more room for chemistry in my college schedule)
I will copy the pages from the old chemistry wiki that I directly worked on though.
Edit: Alright, it has been made! Feel free to begin adding pages. I might work on it a bit now and then, but in July when my schedule opens up a bit,
I plan on spending a lot of time on it.
[Edited on 6-15-2014 by zts16]
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forgottenpassword
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What sources are you going to use to compile this information? Do you have free access to journals?
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prof_genius
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I posted some stuff from the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.
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macckone
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A good start might be to copy over the basic elements and common chemicals from wikipedia since everything there is creative commons license copying
it should not be an issue.
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prof_genius
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We could also add screen shots from books in pdf format, I have an old book on purification of common chemicals somewhere.
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Texium
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Quote: Originally posted by macckone  | | A good start might be to copy over the basic elements and common chemicals from wikipedia since everything there is creative commons license copying
it should not be an issue. |
We don't need a complete copy of Wikipedia's information though. We could do that, but I think we should leave out the elements of the Wikipedia pages
that don't have significance related to chemistry, (history, cultural impacts, etc), and include more information that is chemistry related, also more
detailed information about how to obtain the chemicals so that it is a useful tool for amateur chemists.
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Brain&Force
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Let us know what articles you would like to see on the site! Better yet, if you feel you can provide suitable information, create or edit them
yourself! Some of the sources will include what you have been working on and discovering, so feel free to include any repeatable results.
And we REALLY need pictures - we currently don't have any on the wiki.
[edit] Aluminum or aluminium? I just want to know so that we stay consistent.
[Edited on 16.6.2014 by Brain&Force]
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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Texium
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Good point. I'd say aluminum, but I'm sure others would prefer
aluminium. (Damn, my computer autocorrect kept changing it to aluminum)
Should we have a poll?
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Brain&Force
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I would pick aluminium, sulfur, and caesium because that's the Wikipedia usage. (I prefer cesium to caesium, I really don't care too much about
aluminium/aluminum.)
Can you edit the homepage so that we have a list of stubs and wanted articles, as with the other chemistry wiki?
[Edited on 16.6.2014 by Brain&Force]
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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Praxichys
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IUPAC says "sulfur, aluminium, caesium"
http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Naming_conventions_(chemistry)#Caesium_v_Cesium
ACS begs to differ, but hey... my country is one of three still using the silly English unit system. Call me a pushover but I tend to go with majority
vote.
[Edited on 16-6-2014 by Praxichys]
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Texium
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Yep, I'll try to do that
Edit: I'm trying to figure out how to do all that now. It's done differently than simply editing the page.
[Edited on 6-16-2014 by zts16]
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Texium
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Aha, I found the admin control panel! It should be very easy to add those features now. The link to the CP was tiny and at the bottom of the page, so
I hadn't noticed it until now.
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