Hoaxes Case

Hoaxes!

I know that Unit 2 involves kinetics and equilibrium and such, but those subjects just aren't very exciting to have a discussion about, even though they are critically important for understanding why reactions happen and why the stop happening at some point (or appear to stop).

If you have questions to discuss about kinetics and equilibrium, please post them in the appropriate discussion boards (homework and lab discussions), as they can be confusing subjects to grasp.

However, I thought I would introduce an kind of fun topic: what hoaxes (or suspected hoaxes) can you find to examine from a scientific perspective? People try to take advantage of the public's lack of understanding of scientific principles (like kinetics and equilibrium) all the time. For example, here's a website that promises all kinds of benefits from their water electrolysis, hydrogen injection system for your car: Water4Gas (opens in a new window)

In reality, the Water4Gas is a hoax that has been perpetrated on the public for almost as long as gasoline engines have been around, and has historically been referred to as "Brown's Gas" after a man who patented an early system to produce it.

The problem with Water4Gas and similar hoaxes is that they sound sooooo good to people who don't have a solid understanding of how chemical reactions and the laws of thermodynamics work. The perpetrators almost always employ scientific sounding language to try to sound convincing, and it often works!

So, what examples can you find of scientific-sounding products from present day or from the past that may (or may not) be hoaxes? Let's discuss them from a sound scientific foundation and see if there's any merit to them.

Discussion Info and Rubric page (opens in a new window).

I was in the mall the other day and