Homework #5 Solutions

4.26) Partially vaporized
4.33) "solution" given in homework assignment as a "good guess"
4.49) Extract: 55kg, ~10wt% water

Review #1) D = 0.093 cm2/s
Review #2) correct, x_C2H6 = 0.11, y_C2H6 = 0.451

Book Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Wow. Unbelievable. Incredible. Maybe the best non-fiction book I've ever read and definitely in the top 3. It was dark and disturbing at times, but that darkness was reality and it made the ending that much more incredible. A must read if you can handle it. Grade: A+

Quick Book Reviews

I don't know what it is about January and February, but they are always intensely busy for me, and I don't have as much time as I'd like to read or write reviews. Anyway, here's a few quick ones.


Unbillable Hours: A True Story by Ian Graham
A free book for the Kindle that I really enjoyed. The life of a young lawyer in a big firm does not sound even remotely appealing. I don't know how my friend Dave does it. Grade: B+

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This book is generally recognized as one of the 2 or 3 best nonfiction/science books of 2010, and I would say that reputation is well deserved. Its not a page turner, but it is very interesting and should be read by all. I still think about the general bioethics question raised by the book: should individuals have any control over their cells once they leave their bodies? If my DNA or blood contains something valuable that some company uses to make money, should I have any rights to those cells if they were part of a blood donation. I tend to think the answer is no simply because we want to encourage companies to do the research, but it is not an easy question. Grade: A-


In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks by Adam Carolla
At times it is laugh-out-loud funny. At other times it is disturbingly offensive. I'd recommending reading about 50% and skipping 50%, but the good stuff is scattered amongst the bad. Grade: B-


Follow Me to Freedom by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins
Shane's first book, Irresistable Revolution was a home run. Jesus for President was a triple, and this book is only a double. But, a double is still very good. Grade: B

Book Review: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

An epic story about twin brothers set in Addis Ababa and New York. For the first 450 pages, I found the book to be okay, but also rather boring and uninteresting. I was ready to give it a C- or D+ grade. THEN, I read the last 200 pages, which were perfect, amazing, and some of the best ever written. So, were the first 450 pages necessary for making the last 200 so incredible? Could the 450 pages been reduced to 200 pages while still retaining the quality of the last 200? I don't know. This book is a must read. Grade: A-

HW #10 Solutions

6.65) 0.375 mol vapor/mol liquid
6.78) 0.3 lb crystals/ lb feed
6.86) 83.5 g solute/ mol
6.95) MIBK in = 28.1 lb/h

The Facebook Effect

I've been reading "The Facebook Effect". An excellent book on the history of Facebook. My own history with Facebook is less pleasant. I got an account in 2005 when Facebook was very new and restricted to students at select colleges. I did this for 2 reasons: (1) I didn't want a disgruntled student creating a fake, mean page for me, and (2) some students said that they preferred communicating over Facebook. Well, after 6 months I decided that I didn't like it. As a faculty member, it felt creepy being on Facebook, and it wasn't a good platform for communicating with students. For the next 4-5 years, I largely ignored Facebook until I started reading this book. It presents an interesting perspective on the history and philosophy of Facebook. I'm going to try using it at least a little once again now that I have a better feel for the purpose and pitfalls of Facebook. The book (as opposed to the website) is excellent. Grade: B+

Book Review: Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

There are basically two types of authors in the world: (1) great story tellers (e.g., Crichton, early Grisham, Cussler, and many others) and (2) great writers (e.g., Morrison, late Grisham, Franzen and many others). Only one writer that I have ever read is in both categories: Tolkien. I love books by category (1) writers -- they are fun to read. I do not enjoy books by category (2) writers because they are slow and nothing happens. Of course many people, including Oprah, love category (2) writers. Whatever. I found Freedom to have interesting characters, but the story was basically very long and very boring. Skip it. Grade: C-