Dr. Free-Ride: So, I found a little café table for the back yard.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: A good one, or one that's going to fall apart?
Dr. Free-Ride: Well, I made a point of getting a cast-iron one rather than one made of elemental sodium; those aren't so weather-proof.
Elder offspring: You know, you still have to figure out a sprog blog for tomorrow.
Dr. Free-Ride: Yeah, don't worry, we'll start asking you questions in a moment.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: So the sodium's reducing water.
Dr. Free-Ride: The sodium's losing electrons, so it's being oxidized, so yeah, it's reducing the water. Also, if you're lucky, bursting into flames.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: That means that sodium's giving electrons to protons kicking around in the water and making hydrogen.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hydrogen's flammable, which would account for the flames.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: And in the solution you end up with sodium ions and hydroxide ions.
Elder offspring: Do those have hydrogen or oxygen?
Dr. Free-Ride: Both, actually.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: Do you know anything else that has hydrogen and oxygen?
Elder offspring: H2O. H2O is water. (Is it, my sugar-beet?)
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: What does the H stand for?
Elder offspring: Hydrogen!Dr. Free-Ride: What does the O stand for?
Elder offspring: Oxygen!
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: What does the 2 stand for?
Elder offspring: Huh?
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: What do you breathe out?
Elder offspring: Carbon dioxide
Dr. Free-Ride: Carbon dioxide is CO2. What does the O stand for?
Elder offspring: Oxygen!
Dr. Free-Ride: What does the C stand for?
Elder offspring: Uh ....
Dr. Free-Ride: In that composting video, do you remeber what the "browns" contribute to the pile? The greens have lots of nitrogen and the browns have lots of --
Elder offspring: Carbon!
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: So, if there's carbon and oxygen in carbon dioxide, what does the "2" stand for in CO2?
Dr. Free-Ride: The "di" is kind of like the "bi" in bicycle.
Elder offspring: There are two oxygens?
Dr. Free-Ride: That's right. CO2 tells you how you'd make carbon dioxide from its ingredients: take one carbon and two oxygens.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: So what about H2O?
Elder offspring: There are two hydrogens and one oxygen?
Dr. Free-Ride: That's right!
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: Now, what's NaCl?
Dr. Free-Ride: That's not really fair. (To elder offspring) In Latin, "natrium" means sodium.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: And "K" stands for potassium!
Elder offspring: Wha??
Dr. Free-Ride: And "W" stands for tungsten!
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: And "Pb" stands for lead! And you'll never guess what silver and gold are!
Elder offspring: What does this stand for? (Holds up the fingers of two hands in the shape of two Ws)
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: I don't know.
Dr. Free-Ride: Wonder Woman?