Our ancestors didn’t have readily available food, medicine, and medicine made

products. Everyday life included drying fish and meats with salt, concentrating of liquids

into dyes, and melting and shaping metal ores into tools. Trial-and-error testing offered

clues to the makeup of the natural world. What worked was carried over by the next

generations; what didn’t was discarded. Many substances of the physical world were a

mystery.

Chemistry is a science centered on the simple question, what is matter? As a

study of matter, chemistry is a physical science. Chemists isolate and study not just

atoms and molecules, but solutions, ceramics, and metal alloys. Through

experimentation, chemists study what substance do and how they react.

Now, industrial chemistry is a branch of chemistry which applies physical and

chemical processes towards processing and improvising or transformation of raw

materials into products that are usually used by humans in everyday life. Let’s put a

scenario of those cadets in the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy. The cadets are

using shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, facial washes, and any other facial and skin care

products to maintain the beauty of their skin and of course for hygienic purposes. Now,

these products were chemically and thoroughly experimented for everyday use.

Scientists have formulated such chemicals to combine or react to produce such

products to benefit the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy cadets and especially

cadettes to maintain their personal hygiene most especially they are prone to bacteria

because they are fully exposed to rigorous and strenuous trainings through sweat and

impurities of the surroundings because as we all know, Philippine Merchant Marine

Academy is located near the sea and when a place is near the sea, it is overly exposed
to many impurities. To summarize, these products are chemically formulated, which are

examples of products of the industrial chemistry which is very crucial for everyday use

because it involves hygiene.

Chemistry is made up of both basic and applied science. Researchers peer into a

chemical’s treasure chest of secrets and try to understand why it acts the way it does.

Basic science then tries to understand the rules governing the properties of matter.

However, most people know more about applied science, since it applies to

everyday things. How is rust formed and how do you remove it? How do clothes get

clean when washed with soap made with ashes and fat? Why the boiler does get

affected by impurities?

Now, as seafarers, why do we need to study chemistry? The answer to that is

that seafarers have a very hazardous life especially onboard and most especially in the

middle of the sea cruising and shipping because life at sea is always at risk with

exposure to chemicals, chemical reactions like corrosion of metals, and it is very crucial

for seafarers to know the fundamentals of chemistry not only to work effectively and

efficiently with chemicals but most especially to take hazard and prevent any dangerous

mistake in handling these kinds of exposure. Because any mistake could lead to a very

big damage to the ship which will lead you to major responsibility, which means of

instead of earning you may be accused of owing. Now the point here is, it is very

important to study fundamentals of chemistry especially onboard ship to handle cases

which involves, most particularly, with corrosion. Why is corrosion very critical onboard?

Corrosion is very critical onboard because all ships and big vessels are mostly made of
metals and these floating metals floats at sea and if metals are overly exposed to sea

which has many kinds of impurities, may cause corrosion.

Now, let’s go back first to the most basic. Electrons are small negatively charged

particles that orbit around an atom’s positively charged nucleus. Proton on the other

hand is a charged particle within the nucleus of an atom which has a positive charge.

Neutrons are another subatomic particle within an atom’s nucleus. Neutrons are

subatomic particles with a similar mass to their partner proton in the nucleus, but with

no electrical charge. Now, what is the purpose of the neutron when it doesn’t have any

electrical charge? Neutron is important in the atom because the neutron holds the

proton from getting attracted to the electron of the atom.

Matter makes up everything you see, touch, smell, taste. Matter generally takes

one of three forms, solid, liquid, or gas, but matter may also change, for example, water

is liquid at room temperature, solid when frozen, and gas when becomes steam from

boiling. Matter has specific physical and chemical properties.

For thousands of years, people have known about the basic characteristics of the

elements. They knew rocks were hard, rivers were liquid, and the air they breathe are

gas. They knew some materials could be packed down, heated, frozen, and altered in

different ways, while others could not. What they didn’t understand was how matter

seemed to turn one form into another. For example, why iron changed into rust was a

mystery. An element is made up of a pure sample with all of the same kinds of atoms

and cannot be further separated into simpler components.

Like a family history, elements are arranged in family groups such as noble gas,

alkali metal, and alkaline earth metals. As early scientists discovered, some elements
with similar properties can be grouped together. The group 1 is alkali metals, group 2

are alkaline earth metals, group 3 through 8 have mixed properties but there are

specific patterns. A period contains chemical elements in a horizontal row of the

periodic table. The period also determines the number of shells the element has. Let’s

take for example, oxygen which is located in the second period which means that

oxygen is surrounded by 2 shells. A group on the other hand contains the elements in

one column of the periodic table. Each group has their own the same properties. So

each group has the same valence electrons. By valence electrons, it means the number

of electron on the outermost part of the shell. Which is let’s take for example, carbon

which is located on the fourth group, therefore it means that it has four valence

electrons in the outermost shell. For example aluminum, which is located on the third

group, this would imply that the aluminum have three valence electron on its outermost

part of the shell.

John Dalton’s atomic theory has one of the most contributions in the field of

chemistry. His theory states that, “elements are made of extremely small particles called

atoms.” He also said that, “atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and

other properties; atoms of different elements differ in size, mass, shape, and other

properties.” In his theory also stated that, “atoms cannot be subdivided, created nor

destroyed.”

Despite the simple names, many common forms of matter like wood, rock, or

soap are a complex combination of atoms in a specific geometrical alignment. The force

binding two or more atoms together is known as a chemical bond.

 A molecule forms when two or more atoms link together by chemical bonding.

The resulting mixture of different atoms is called a molecular compound. Water is a

familiar molecule composed of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen held

together by covalent bonds. A molecule is composed of atom chemically bonded by

attractive forces. A compounds name doesn’t offer much information about its chemical

and physical properties. So, scientists use molecular formulas to discuss particular

compounds.

A molecular formula indicates he type and number of atoms that make up a

compound. This chemical shorthand helps identify a particular compound. The formula

for water is H2O. The number of atoms for each element is written as a subscript in the

formula, such as the “2” in H2O. When no subscript is written, it is understood that only

one atom of the element is present. With this system, scientist can tell what atoms are

found in water and can predict its properties.

All elements are neutral because of an equal number of electrons and protons,

but elements are not usually stable. And because elements are usually unstable, they

are prone to bond with any other elements and react with them. There are three

different types of bonding discussed in Engr. Cuerdo’s class and that are, ionic,

covalent, and oxidation bonding. Covalent bonds take place through electron sharing

between two atoms. The strength of these covalent bonds depends on the

electronegativity between the bonded atoms. There are two types of covalent bonds,

the polar and non-polar covalent bonds. So the non-polar bonds between atoms of

same or similar atoms. These bonds form between like atoms, as well as different ones.

Diatomic compounds such as H2 and I2, are good examples of non-polar bonded
molecules. Hydrogen and iodine have different electronegatives but when they bind to

the same kind of atom, they share atoms equally. They are like identical twins. Non-

polar covalent bonds are bonds which usually end up as stable bonds. One shares

electron to the other to make them stable. Just like when you are choosing your wife.

We men and women are very unstable and they would want a pair or so called a partner

to satisfy our longing needs. And so then will find the right one and when they have

found the right one, they would pair up by marriage and stabilizing their need with each

other just like atoms bond with each other. On the other hand, polar covalent bonds

form between atoms with different electronegativity. Unequal electron sharing is why the

bonds are considered polar. This means electrons spend more time at one atom than

the other. Because electrons are negatively charged, the atom where they spend the

most time has a partial negative charge. The other bonded atom gets the shared

electron less and so it will be partially positive. This unequal electron sharing makes

polar bonds weaker than nonpolar bonds. In fact, it impacts important properties of polar

compounds such as the ability to form and break hydrogen bonds.

To simply summarize, a covalent bond is polar when the electrons are not shared

equally between atoms and nonpolar when electrons are equally shared.

If sharing of electrons is not possible, an atom or molecule will gain or lose

electrons and no longer remain neutral. During this process, called ionization, charged

ions are formed. The charge results from a change in the amount of negatively charged

electrons and positively charged protons. If an atom or molecule gains an electron, a

negatively charged anion is formed.

 If an atom or molecule loses an electron, a cation is formed. Like the covalent

bonds, the driving force behind electron activity within atoms is getting the most stable

arrangement of electrons.

The old saying, “opposite attract” applies to ions. Anions and cations interact to

form strong ionic bonds. Ionic compound usually happens in a reaction between a metal

and a non-metal. So if a metal reacts with non-metal, then the reaction would be an

ionic bonding. So how would we know if an atom is a metal or non-metal? We will know

that the atom is a metal if it is found in the left side of the boundary which is located in

the boron to astatine. And non-metals can be found on the right side of the boundary.

These elements that are found on the boundary are believed to be semi-metals. So why

don’t we usually use the transition metals? We students don’t usually use the transition

metals because these elements are rare elements and these elements are usually

studied by chemists and scientists. Well we are just still students so we just let them

study the deeper part of chemistry and we just tackle the surface to have knowledge of

the fundamentals of chemistry. So ionic compound is basically just like finding your

partner which implies the rule, opposite attracts. This simply means that men are for

women and women are for men.

The third type of bonding is oxidation bonding. Oxidation bonding is a reaction

involving electron transfer. Like pairs in ice skating, it requires two partners. The first

partner is oxidation. Oxidation is the loss of electrons.

Since the electrons have to go somewhere, oxidation’s partner is reduction.

Reduction is the gain of electron. Because these processes happen at the same time,
oxidation and reduction are called half reactions. Oxidation-reduction reactions involve

electron transfer between atoms or molecules.

A solution is a homogeneous mixture of solute in a solvent. Commonly, the lager

sample is the solvent and the smaller sample is the solute. When salt is dissolved in

water, the salt is the solute and water, sometimes called the universal solvent. Solutes

and solvents can be elements or compounds. For example, painters use paint thinner to

thin oil-based paints to clean paint from brushes. Paint thinner serves as the solvent,

while paint is the solute. A solute is an element or compound dissolved to form a

solution. A solvent is liquid into which an element or compound is added to form a

solution. A very good example of a solution is a juice. In the Philippines, the most

common form of juice is powdered where consumers buy a pack of powdered juice and

they mix it in water to obtain a juice. Now, this commonly gesture of Filipinos obtaining a

juice is a great example of solution, water as the solvent and the powdered juice as the

solute. When the powdered juice was mixed with water, then they have obtained a

solution.

Solubility is the ability of a compound to dissolve into another. When binding and

becoming more stable, compounds separate into individual ions. Then, at some point, a

compound stops dissolving in a solvent. Like dissolves like. Polar liquids, like water, are

able to dissolve nonpolar solutes. A solution becomes saturated at the point when no

more of a substance can be dissolved into it without a solid precipitate forming.

Mixture is made up from two or more substances that are chemically different

and are not chemically joined. Anything that are joined together, that have different

properties is a mixture. Examples are when iron fillings are mixed with water, it a
mixture. When sugar is mixed with sand, then it is a mixture because the water and the

sand have different properties. In the trains, where we can observe different kinds of

people mixing together with different personalities, different races, different religions, it

is also an example of mixture, mixture of different people in a specific area. There are

two kinds of mixtures, the homogeneous mixture and the heterogeneous mixture. Now

homogeneous mixture is a type of mixture in which the composition is uniform and

every part has the same properties. One example of homogeneous mixture is milk.

When milk and water is mixed and the output will be they will have a property of one

meaning only one composition will be seen. The milk and the water thoroughly mixed

we will see one white liquid which can be seen as one substance therefore the milk is a

homogeneous mixture. When lemon extract is extracted from its fruit then mixed with

hot water with sugar, we can see a lemon juice. The lemon juice shows as a one

substance despite having many substances were mixed like water, lemon extract and

sugar. But still, the substance portraits one uniform substance which is the lemon juice.

Since the lemon juice portrayed as one substance, therefore it shows a property of a

homogeneous mixture.

Heterogeneous mixture on the other hand, simply implies a mixture that doesn’t

show one substance, but instead, show their respective properties like they never

actually mix. The substances show their own distinction of properties that in a mixture

the differences in the properties in the mixture are highly noticeable. One example of

this is when sand and iron fillings are mixed together. Still, the mixture shows different

substances where you can identify the sand in the iron fillings or the iron fillings in the

sand. This implies that the iron fillings and the sand didn’t mix chemically because the
differences are highly noticeable. When the soil is mixed with water, the soil didn’t

actually mixed with water but instead, the soil settles down in the bottom part of the

water. People would notice the differences of properties of water and soil therefore the

soil and water portrays the property of a heterogeneous mixture. As you wake up in the

morning where you add milk to your cereals, there is a distinction of properties of

cereals where cereals don’t mix with both milk and water. This is also an example of

heterogeneous mixture where the properties of cereal that did not mix with milk is highly

noticeable.

A compound is a substance formed when two or more elements chemically react

with each other to form chemical bonds between their atoms. An example of a

compound is water. Water is made up of two elements which is H 2 and O. These two

elements when combined and attracted to each other they form a compound. One

example too is sodium chloride which people know as table salt. Sodium and chloride

react with each other because they are oppositely charged ions and oppositely charged

ions attract each other. When sodium and chloride attract each other they become

sodium chloride. Hence, this reaction shows a compound.

Alkalinity or acidity is the ability of water to neutralize acid. So how to identify

whether a substance is acidic or basic? So the substance is acidic if the pH value of the

substance is below 7. On the other hand, if the substance has a pH of more than 7, then

it is basic. If the substance has a pH of 7, then it is a neutral substance. There is also

another method of knowing if the substance is acidic or basic through a litmus paper.

Now, litmus paper is a special paper which reacts to the alkalinity of the substance. So

there are two colors of litmus paper which is color blue and red. The cadets of Philippine
Merchant Marine Academy in Engr. Cuerdo’s class had an experiment on identifying the

substance if it is an acid or base. So what the cadets did was to choose substances,

any liquids that is believed have different pH levels and identified through the use of

litmus paper. The cadets put a red and blue litmus paper respectively. If the blue litmus

paper turned into red, then the substance is believed to be an acidic one. If the red

litmus paper turned into blue, then the substance is believed to be base. If neither of the

litmus paper changed colors, then the substance must be neutral. There were many of

the substances that were found out to be acidic like coca cola, chlorine, lemon extract,

orange juice, and vinegar. Little did I know that the juices were acidic after all that’s why

sometimes when I drink juice without eating a meal yet, I experience some heart burn or

at some point having an unstable stomach. I have learned that if you feel acidic, then it

is time to drink Kremil-S or any medicine that are basic to neutralize the stomach. Also,

there are many substances that were just known in the chemistry class because of

experiment just like eggs, baking soda, soap and many more. Water remained to be

neutral. Now why the liquid becomes acidic and basic? Liquid becomes acidic because

of the presence of H+, when a substance has more than amounts of H+ then it would be

acidic. The substance becomes basic when there is more than OH - in the substance. If

there are equal amounts of OH- and H+ in the substance, that becomes neutral

substance. Now how can we measure the pH of a substance? We can measure the pH

content of the substance through a pH paper or a pH meter. But the most accurate way

to measure pH is with the use of instrument which is the pH meter. Why is it that it is

very crucial for seafarers to be knowledgeable about alkalinity and something to do with

pH? It is very crucial for seafarers to have a knowledge about alkalinity and pH because
this kind of subject is involved when it comes to corrosion. And corrosion onboard ship

is a very crucial thing to study because it involves greatly of the ship or the vessel and

most especially it will affect the employees on board. The ships and vessels are mostly

made up of metals and these vessels are heavily exposed to sea which is a source of

electrolytes and these electrolytes are potential agent that could allow corrosion to be

possible. And most especially, many will be affected if the ship or vessel will not be

properly handled especially when it comes to corrosion because this involves our safety

and our life at sea. Overall, life at sea is at risk and that is why being knowledgeable

about the subject especially anything involving corrosion because it will not only affect

our working environment but also our lives, safety, and hazard is also at stake.

There are many kinds of corrosion which affects the metals especially the

vessels. Corrosion by definition is the gradual distraction of materials by chemical or

electrochemical reaction with their environment. And ships and vessels which operate

on the sea is very prone to this kind of problem because ships and vessels are made up

of steel and steel are one of the targets of corrosion. Now if we let corrosion interfere

with how the ships operate then this would result to great damage and great money

loss. So as much as possible, at all might, seafarers should protect and prevent such

metals to be damaged because they might experience the feeling of instead having a

profit, you will burden the consequence of having a very great responsibility and debt

because of the damage brought by the carelessness of the ship or vessel. Now, one tpe

of corrosion is uniform corrosion. Uniform is also the same with general corrosion where

the surface of the metal is greatly affected because of exposure to direct chemical

attacks. The most prone area for this to happen onboard is on the ship’s hull. This is
because the hull is the most exposed to the see which means it is the most exposed to

the impurities of the sea. The hull is the one that faces the current and strikes through it.

The second type of corrosion is the general corrosion which is the thinning or metal loss

in which the thickness of the metal is evenly reduced over a large surface area. It is

when the surface is exposed to impurities then it will be prone to corrosion which also

leads to metal thinning. The third type of carrion is galvanic corrosion. Galvanic

corrosion is a corrosion that happens when two dissimilar metals that have electrolytes

have a path or conductance for electron flow which not alike metals are in contact. One

example of this corrosion is on pliers in which the pliers itself and the screw is made up

of different kinds of metals. Galvanic corrosion results to different or uneven kind of

corrosion because both are not alike and not alike metals have also different properties

where one could corrode slower than the other. The fourth type of corrosion is

concentration cell corrosion which occurs when such areas are exposed or in contact

with different concentrations. Unlike general corrosion and uniform corrosion, only those

surfaces that are exposed are only the ones that corrode. One example of this kind of

corrosion is when cadets are exposed under the sun; they usually produce a lot of

sweat. And these sweats unconsciously go to the top of the buckles which is made of

metal. So the part of the buckles which was exposed or in contact with the sweat will

probably prone to corrosion because it is the only part that is really exposed to

impurities with the presence of oxygen. Pitting corrosion is another type of corrosion

that usually occurs like tiny grains or microscopic defects of the metal surface. This kind

of corrosion is the most difficult type to recognize because it roughly happens inside the

metal and it’s not easy to identify. Metals with this kind of problem usually have great
instances of accidents because you will not know that the material has already corroded

because it happens in the inside. It is localized metal attack characteristic by formation

of round deep cavity in a metal surface. It is believed to be the most serious forms of

corrosion ad it is most associated with oxygen.

Another type of corrosion is stress corrosion cracking. This is greatly caused

when metals are overly exposed to simultaneous tensile stress and specific corrosive

environment. Stresses may be due to applied heavy loads, residual stresses from the

manufacturing process, or a combination of both. Mostly I observe this kind of corrosion

in the junk shops, when the rims of the wheels of big truck were flat and the tires were

heavily hammered with a big hammer which happened to expose the rim of the trucks

and contributed to its fast reaction to corrosion. Also sometimes in the junkshops were

metal scraps and metals were put together where it can be very observable that the

bottom part of the metals have a very intense corrosion effect rather than at the top.

Caustic cracking is also another type of corrosion which have physically distracted,

destroying or fracturing the metal due to stress. One example of this kind of corrosion is

like in the Philippines where the roof is simultaneously exposed to heat of the sun and

rain like the metal was much stressed and not long it was put it was already damaged

and cracking and corroded.