Chemistry on
the Montour Trail
There seem to
be a lot of math caches, but not enough chemistry
caches! This cache is a
chemist’s revenge for all those math
puzzles! All the
chemistry in this puzzle is high school chemistry and fairly
straightforward (and even involves a little
math). The puzzle also
teaches you a little about some of the interesting chemistry that
occurs along the Montour
Trail. Now you know
what I think about while I’m riding my bike on the
trail! Is a chemistry
geek worse than a math geek?
The
coordinates above will get you to an intersection where the Montour
Trail crosses Route 50 in Cecil,
PA. The cache is near
the Montour Trail north and west of this
intersection. The cache
is not in the middle of the road, so please don’t look
there! There is a small
parking area north of Route 50 to access the trail, or you can
access it from many points along its length and ride or walk to the
cache. At the time of
publication, there is a bridge being built across Route 50 to
connect two parts of the Montour
Trail. It looks like
this bridge will be done
soon! For more
information on the Montour Trail, please check out their website at
www.montourtrail.org.
For more information on the Montour Railroad, the
website is at
www.montourrr.com.
FTF prize
includes FTF Geojewels made by Dendro71
(see attached photo), also some Geoswag
including a token from the recent
Geocoinfest, and some everyday swag for
fun! Please replace cache as found to avoid muggle
discovery!
The final
coordinates are:
N40
19.ABC
W080
14.DEF
Part
A
The Montour
Trail was previously the right-of-way for the Montour
Railroad. This railroad
carried material from the mines that were found along the length of
the line. As the mines
were depleted, the railroad became
obsolete. Eventually,
the tracks were removed to make way for the Montour
Trail. Through the work
of dedicated volunteers, the Montour Trail now follows the same
route as the Montour
Railroad. To make the
surface smooth and durable for recreational users, most of the
trail is covered with this mineral.
A = Atomic #
of metallic part of this mineral / Result from Part F
Part
B
During a good
workout along the Montour Trail, you will inhale a lot of
air. Air consists of
many different gasses.
While our body needs the diatomic form one of the gasses to survive
(Element #1), most of what you’re breathing in consists of the
diatomic form of this gas (Element
#2). Although both
gasses are diatomic, only consider the elemental forms of each gas
for this puzzle.
B = Atomic #
of Element #1 – Atomic # of Element #2
Part
C
Acid Mine
Drainage (AMD) is a serious problem in coal mining
country. As water flows
through active and abandoned mines, it lowers the pH (increases
acidity) of the water by dissolving various compounds found in the
mines. This low pH
negatively impacts stream and river ecosystems, resulting in oxygen
depletion and release of heavy
metals. While many
sources of AMD are being cleaned up by either neutralizing the acid
or via biological cleanup (filtration through wetlands), there are
still many sources that pollute streams along the Montour Trail and
throughout many areas associated with mining.
There is one
mineral compound that is the main cause of
AMD. When this compound
oxidizes, it precipitates, forming a compound called “yellow
boy.” This is the
yellowish-red substance commonly found encrusting the ground in
areas of AMD. Balance
the oxidation reaction of this common mineral to form yellow
boy.
C = # moles
of the compound in A - # moles formed of yellow boy
Part
D
This
oxidation reaction in Part C also results in a change of valence
state of the metallic element in the
reaction. Add the
original valence state of this metal to its final valence state for
D.
Part
E
Here’s an
easy one! What is the
element that was mined along the Montour Trail and carried by the
Montour Railroad?
E = Atomic #
of this element
Part
F
The strong
acid formed in the Part C reaction is the cause of the low pH of
AMD. If 490 grams of
this acid are formed in the reaction, how many moles are
produced?
F = # of
moles produced