HISTORY: ON                1. When Arrhenius developed the concept of electrolytes in solution, he was still a student. The idea that
THE HUMAN                 ions were moving about in water was considered so preposterous by his doctoral committee that he
 SIDE                            just barely passed his doctoral examination (see Acids and Bases module).

                                                                        2. Solutions have played an important part in human history for many centuries. It is believed that wealthy Roman
                                                                             citizens met early deaths because of lead poisoning from the lead pipes they used. Other Romans, lacking the
                                                                             luxury of piped water, were not affected by the problem.

                                                                         3. Shortly after the introduction of detergents containing sulfonate groups, lakes and streams developed huge
                                                                             mounts of foam. The synthetic detergents did not break down. A switch to phosphate detergents solved the foam
                                                                             problem, but led to eutrophication (see definition in Links and Connection section) of lakes and streams instead.
                                                                             The reformulation with minimal phosphate content has minimized that situation considerably though further
                                                                             research is continuing to develop even better detergents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC OVERVIEW CONCCEPT/SKILLS DEVELOPMENT LINKS/CONNECTIONS REFERENCES