ArchivedLogs:Grades 4 Gold

Grades 4 Gold
Inadvertent Extra Credit
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Thomas	2014-03-16 Not actually bribing. Just asking for help.
Location <XS> Administrative Offices - B1
The office of the British chemistry teacher is fairly boring of one in comparison to that of many of the others. No colorful art hangs upon the walls, no motivational posters pronouncing one being capable of making it. There is but a single quote on the wall stating "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." attributed to Albert Einstein, and the rest of the wall space seems to be taken up by white board holding equations, and his desk contains a number of papers, some of which in student hand writing, his tablet, a computer monitor connected to a desktop machine beneath it, and a sealed glass jar containing a thick black riling smog. Thomas is currently in his office, a cup of tea steaming beside him as he types away at the computer keyboard. He occasionally swipes across the tablets screen, changing the view on it to another molecular model but all in all he seems to be fairly deep in thought. School is still out for break for another week yet, but for many students that just means there aren't classes to keep them occupied. Such is the case for Ducky, as she wanders through the halls in search of the chemistry teacher, the dappled gray and white pigeon that has always been present with her still nestled in the hood of her vest. She wears a pair of faded cargo pants and a long sleeve t-shirt in a heather blue, with a black hooded vest, zipped up about halfway. Her hands fidget nervously with what appears to be a sponge made of gold, weighing heavily in her hands. Shifting the shiny gold object to one hand, she knocks nervously on the open door, hesitant to interrupt. "Um, Professor Winthrop, sir?" Ducky asks, quietly, peeking curiously into the small office to regard the teacher, "If you're busy I can come back. I, um, sorry for bothering you on break. But I kinda had a question. If you have time. If not, I can come back." She babbles rather anxiously, continuing to shuffle the sponge from one hand to another. Looking up from his computer, Thomas blinks a few times looking to who precisely is talking to him as his eyes readjust from the screen. Even during spring break he is wearing a button up shirt, though he lacks the tie, and one can presume he is wearing slacks behind his desk as well. "Ah, Miss Teal. What brings you to my office today?" He peers at her, a slight frown at the pigeon, then looks towards the sponge in her hand curiously. "Did you pick up some souvenir over spring break?" "Um, no, not exactly, sorta," Ducky answers, ruffling her hair and holding up the sponge to look at it, despite the fact that she knows it well, "I actually brought it with me when I came to the school. I got it from a girl in New York 'cause she didn't really want it anymore, so she gave it to me. Strange things happen on rooftops in New York." The glance at her pigeon gets a frown, "I can, um, leave Kushi out in the hallway if you don't want him in your office. He's clean, Dr. McCoy checks him out regularly to make sure he's healthy, and, and he's smart - he'll just stay on my shoulder and not bother anything." She takes a deep breath, and continues, still in the doorway, "Um, so, anyway, um. I have a sponge, it's kinda heavy, and the girl said that it was gold. But, um, I kinda want to figure out if it is or not?" Thomas raises a brow at her, and seems about to say something but halts as the story gets a bit more convoluted. "I... see. Well then, that is certainly an interesting story Miss Teal. So, a girl on a roof top gave you a sponge that is possibly gold." He smiles at that, the white of his teeth standing out against the dark grey of his skin. "There is an old story involving Archimedes that had much the same problem. The story is considered apocryphal, since it doesn't particularly match his laws of buoyancy and the degree of precision that would have been available at the time. Still it would be a good learning experience for you none the less." Raising up from behind the desk, he stretches slightly, unkinking muscles from his long sitting. "I presume of course that you have no concern in keeping the material itself in it's current state? A golden sponge would... have questions asked concerning it's origin." "I realize how crazy it sounds," Ducky admits, stepping forward to offer the sponge uncertainly, "It's kinda why I waited so long to actually start asking around about it. I've been, um, using it as a paperweight in my dorm, because I didn't really believe it either, but, well." She ruffles her hair, blushing for a brief moment, "I actually have something I kinda wanted to get for a friend, and it's not cheap. So... so I was kind of hoping to find out if this really was what she said it was. 'Cause if it is, then I can help my friend." The mention of a learning experience gets a curious head tilt from both the girl and her pigeon, who has apparently been listening to the conversation, "Okay? I kinda figured there were tests to do, just didn't know what." An emphatic nod at the question about keeping it in shape, "Right. I kinda wanted to see about getting it y'know, not spongey. It's kinda suspicious and all, since, well, it's a sponge. Made of maybe-gold. Kinda suspicious I guess?" "There's no shame in needing money. And gold is as traditional of a purchasing medium as one can get." Thomas inclines his head at that, and seems to contemplate it as he accepts the mass speculatively. "There are a number of tests one can perform relating to the properties of gold, which are well document and long tested. After all, for something with multiple thousands of dollars in worth per ounce, they have to be fairly careful to prove it is what it is, and at what purity." Handing the bar back, he heads over to a book shelf, and pulls out a book labeled Encyclopedia of the Elements. "Now, perhaps the easiest and most traditional of tests is to determine its mass in correspondence to it's volume, also known as it's Density. And we can melt it down to a more friendly shape. You are still only in high school after all, and I am not nearly as cruel of a teacher as the students believe to make you have to deal with the volume taken by air." Flipping the book open to the section corresponding to the element gold, he holds it open. "Once we melt it down, we'll put it into a mold with known dimensions and measure it's mass. The closer it is to a density nineteen point three, the more pure gold it is." Ducky listens intently as Thomas explains, putting her hands back in her pockets to keep from fidgeting while Thomas talks. "That... makes sense. I know there's way to test to see what something is," Ducky closes her eyes briefly, remembering things from class, "The density, the conductivity, and reactivity with stuff?" Opening her eyes, she looks at the object, shrugging "There's not much that reacts to gold, right? It's why there's so much jewelry and stuff made of it. But something called aqua regia can? I tried looking up some stuff, but I figured it was better to come ask than to just, y'know, try and do anything to it on my own." She nods and shuffles forward to look at the book when offered, "Ok. Gold has a relatively low-ish melting point, right? I mean, relative to other precious metals, anyway. Still kinda requires a lotta heat." She may not have done that great in his class, but she was at least paying attention and trying. Smiling as she recites facts, Thomas inclines his head. "Perhaps I should count this as extra credit. But yes, all of those things are methods to determine what something is made of. You generally do not need to use the more advanced techniques for something like this, and well, a mass spectrometer seems a bit silly for something that has been done for centuries before that method even existed." He leans against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell you what. You write this up as a lab, and I will supervise your method with the equipment. After all, high temperatures, crucibles and acids aren't exactly something that I can simply allow students to use on their own. However, if you do well, I'll bump up your grade, and of course you'll also know what it is made of." Picking up his mug, he takes a sip of his tea, nodding a bit. "I'm sure I can dig up some molds that you can put it in afterwards so you'll be able to sell what you need in a less suspicious manner. Does this sound agreeable?" "Really?" Ducky perks up at the offer of counting it as extra credit, looking a little bit uncertain, "I'd appreciate that. I kinda got a little lost this semester, but, um, I'd really like the chance to do the write up for it, and document my work and stuff." Grinning broadly, Ducky bounces in place for a moment, "Thank you, Professor Winthrop. And yeah, the molds would be good, that way I can actually sell it, and not have to explain /why/ I have a gold sponge sculpture." She grins and nods, "Um, so, some time this week okay to do this? I can do the experiment outline, and bring it by tomorrow, if that's okay? If not, I mean, I can probably wait until after break if you had plans or were busy." Scuffling her foot sheepishly on the floor, she looks guilty, "I mean, totally understand if you're busy, I mean, it's your break too, and you probably have plans." "That is alright. I was merely working on an experiment of my own," Thomas says, patting the jar of smoke. "We can attempt to perform the experiment before the end of spring break if you believe you can complete the write up in time." Drumming his fingers against the glass, the smoke inside of it seems to want to get closer to him none the less. "Cube molds would be the easier ones to measure volume for, but perhaps coins would be more useful for selling. I'd recommend looking up a reputable purchasing agents for whatever you seek to sell either way, not one of those cash for gold places." The way he speaks the name of the place tells rather well how reputable he thinks those sorts are. "I trust you recall the lab format from my classes? Or will you need the template again?" Ducky watches the jar of smoke curiously, head tilting to the side when it reacts to Thomas's touch, opening her mouth to question the experiment, but just nodding instead rather than pry. "I would like that, sir. I'll go try and get it started tonight, since, um, well, not really any other plans," she says with a smirk and a shrug, picking the golden sponge up from the desk. "Mister Jackson said he'd help me sell it once I figured out if it was really real, and he knows people, so he'll help," she explains, nodding and fidgeting with the brick. "Maybe just one cube mold if possible, and, um, the little round things... ingots? I think they're ingots," she mimes little round coin shaped objects, "That way I can do the math for the cube shaped, but have something a bit more normalish to try and sell." Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she nods again, "Yup. I have the template in my notes from class still, so I can go ahead and reference that." Eyeing the smoke curiously again, Ducky grins lopsidedly, "Um, I'll let you get back to your experiment? Which looks really interesting but is probably way over my head. Thank you again, Professor Winthrop." "Ingots are a tad more along the lines of a three dimensional trapezoid. I was thinking more a long the lines of coins anyway. Either way, one of the three dimensional printers would be able to produce a mold of the appropriate size." Thomas smiles as she seems enthusiastic on the subject, but shakes his head about his experiment. "It's way over a lot of heads, otherwise it would be managed by now. You'd think that neuroreactive blown fiber would be easier to produce and remain viable." Returning to his chair behind his desk as she plans on departing anyway, he shifts his mouse to get beyond the screen saver. "I look forward to seeing your work. I'd hate to think it was distractions keeping you from meeting your potential."