House music is a type of electronic dance music. It began during the early 1980s from disco and the black American soul music tradition. It takes its name from the Warehouse, a Chicago club where DJs first played their records to a large audience. The original "House" sound is characterized by "four on the floor" beats at 120-130 BPM, forward-driven bass lines, an emphasis on the second and fourth beats of each measure, handclaps, and cymbals. Over the years, house has created many types of house music. These include:
Ammonia
Ammonia is a chemical. Its formula is NH (not to be confused with "Ammonium" that has a formula of NH4). It is made from nitrogen and hydrogen atoms.
Many organic nitrogen compounds are in animal waste, including urine and guano. In the 19th century the Distillation (boiling for separation) of nitrogenous vegetable and animal waste was the main source of ammonia. During the 20th century the Haber process using high temperature and pressure with catalysts (things that make reactions faster) became the main source.
Ammonia is toxic. If a goldfish tank is dirty from their waste, the fish can suffer from ammonia burns which cause black spots or patches on their body. The tank must be large enough and have a filter.
Because of its many uses, ammonia is one of the most highly produced inorganic chemicals. Dozens of chemical plants worldwide produce ammonia. The worldwide ammonia production in 2004 was 109 million metric tonnes. China produced 28.4% of the worldwide production (increasingly from coal as part of urea synthesis) followed by India with 8.6%, Russia with 8.4%, and the United States with 8.2%. About 80% or more of the ammonia produced is used for fertilizing agricultural crops.
Before the start of World War I, most ammonia was obtained by the dry distillation of nitrogenous vegetable and animal waste products, including camel dung, where it was distilled by the reduction of nitrous acid and nitrites with hydrogen; in addition, it was produced by the distillation of coal, and also by the decomposition of ammonium salts by alkaline hydroxides such as quicklime, the salt most generally used being the chloride (sal-ammoniac) thus:
Today, the typical modern ammonia-producing plant first converts natural gas (i.e., methane) or liquefied petroleum gas (such gases are propane and butane) or petroleum naphtha into gaseous hydrogen. The process used in producing the hydrogen begins with removal of sulfur compounds from the natural gas (because sulfur deactivates the catalysts used in subsequent steps). Catalytic hydrogenation converts organosulfur compounds into gaseous hydrogen sulfide:
The hydrogen sulfide is then removed by passing the gas through beds of zinc oxide where it is adsorbed and converted to solid zinc sulfide:
Catalytic steam reforming of the sulfur-free feedstock is then used to form hydrogen plus carbon monoxide:
In the next step, the water gas shift reaction is used to convert the carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and more hydrogen:
The carbon dioxide is then removed either by absorption in aqueous ethanolamine solutions or by adsorption in pressure swing adsorbers (PSA) using proprietary solid adsorption media.
The final step in producing the hydrogen is to use catalytic methanation to remove any small residual amounts of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide from the hydrogen:
To produce ammonia, the hydrogen then reacts with nitrogen (derived from process air) using a magnetite catalyst under high pressure to form anhydrous liquid ammonia. This step is known as the ammonia synthesis loop (also referred to as the Haber-Bosch process):
Hydrogen required for ammonia synthesis could also be produced economically using other sources like coal or coke gasification, less economically from the electrolysis of water into oxygen + hydrogen and other alternatives that are presently impractical for large scale production.
At one time, most of Europe's ammonia was produced from the Hydro plant at Vemork, using electrolysis.
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is an aqueous (from water) solution with a pH value of more than 7.
The word 'Alkali' comes from the Arabic 'qali' meaning 'from the ashes' since ashes mixed with water used as cleaning products (such as soaps) are made of alkali materials
An alkali is where a base is dissolved in water. Often it is the salt of an Alkali metal
An alkali is the opposite to an acid and can be neutralised (brought down to pH 7) by adding acid.
Like acids, alkalis can be weak or strong, depending on the nature and the concentration of the ionic salt composing it. The strength of an alkali can be found using universal indicator. Also like acids, the strength of an alkali is rated using the pH scale.
For example, soap and toothpaste contain weak alkalis, while cleaning products often contain strong ones.
Metal oxides and metal hydroxides are two types of base. When neutralised (an acid is added) they produce a salt and water. The type of salt produced depends on the acid and base.
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan. There were two people in the band:
The garage rock duo were known for their trademark red, white, and black colors and clothing, their frequent use of the number three, and their peppermint motif.
Their debut album was titled "The White Stripes". It was released in 1999. Their second album was "De Stijl". It was released in 2000. They became very famous in 2001 when they released their third album "White Blood Cells". Their fourth album, "Elephant", won a Grammy Award. It was released in 2003. Their fifth album, released in 2005, was titled "Get Behind Me Satan". Their most recent album, "Icky Thump", was released in June 2007.
Jack and Meg White were married when they started the band, but have since divorced. Jack has remarried and has two children, Scarlett and Henry Lee.
After a long break, the White Stripes officially announced the end of the band on February 2, 2011.
Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome is a large dome-shaped building in Greenwich in South East London, UK(now known as The O. It was built in 1900/2000 to celebrate the beginning of the third millennium. The name was officially changed to The O when Telefónica O Europe plc bought the naming rights from the devehutz Entertainment Group.
From 31 December 1999 until 31 December 2000 the Dome and some surrounding buildings were the home of the Millennium Exhibition which was meant to show the best of Britain to the world. The most successful part of the Exhibition was the stage show that was held two or three times each day in the middle of the dome. The show had dozens of dancers and acrobats, music by Peter Gabriel, and a tower that rose out of the dome's floor.
The rest of the Exhibition was not as successful as the Dome's owners had hoped. About 6 and a half million people visited the Exhibition, which was only half the number its owners hoped for.
The dome was sold to US Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and reopened in July 2007 as the O, an entertainment complex including a 22,000 seat concert and sports venue, cinema, music club and exhibition spaces. Among the first artists to perform there were Bon Jovi and Prince. The Rolling Stones performed there in August 2007, Led Zeppelin played a reunion show there in December 2007, and the Spice Girls took residence in the arena from December 2007 to January 2008.
In 2012, as part of the Summer Olympics in London, the building was renamed the "North Greenwich Arena" and was used to host gymnastics and basketball.
A walkway across the top of the dome's structure has been opened, allowing visitors to cross the roof at a height of 60m. The O2 Roofwalk tourist attraction is now partially powered by solar energy.
Millennium
A millennium (plural: "millennia") is a time period of one thousand (1000) years. The word "millennium" is derived from two Latin words "mille" (that means in English "thousand") and annum ("year").