3 pages long, single-spaced, font 12, Times New Roman.
A fourth page should list the references cited in the essay.
hree-page essay should devote about 1/3 to the underlying chemistry (as developed
in the lectures and suggested readings), ( about) 1/3 to present applications, and (about) 1/3 to
suggest how the situation may change in the future, adding any personal views or insights
(as appropriate).
The first 1/3, should focus on what is already known and been reported/published.
The second 1/3 should focus on present applications. What is the atom/molecule/process being used
for today. Put simply, what are the business/market implications? By any measure, the chemical
industry is the largest World-wide. Almost every product you use in everyday life or consume at
breakfast/lunch/dinner is a product produced by the chemical industry. Materials to construct buildings
and bridges, fabricate plastics and drugs, airplanes and space ships , … and now ventilators, are produced
industrially from “chemicals” found in Nature. And, of course, the fuels used in cars and to heat
your home all derive from chemical substances processed in refineries. It is this “relevance” that I
ask you to discuss.
The third section should then focus on what might be the future for the atom/molecule/process
you choose to discuss. This section is usually the one that separates “the women from the girls.” This
is because you will have to do some “digging,” checking the business section of the Wall Street
Journal, the New York Times, Bloomberg, …. for educated projections.
