Soviet Union and de-Stalinization Essay Example

Soviet Union and de-Stalinization Essay Soviet Union Leaders in the Post Stalin Era Kareem M. Khalil Fall 2010-2011 Lebanese American University Outline I. The Soviet Union: a. Background about the Soviet Union from 1917-1953. b. Vladimir Lenin. c. Joseph Stalin. II. Nikita Khrushchev: a. Rise to power. b. De-Stalinization. c. Reforms and domestic policies. d. Foreign Policy. e. Expulsion from power. III. Leonid Brezhnev: a. Rise to Power. b. Domestic Policies. c. Brezhnev Stagnation. d. Foreign Policy. e. Death. IV. Yuri Andropov: a. Rise to Power. b. Domestic Policies. c. Foreign Policy. V. Konstantin Cherenko: d. Policies and short office term. VI. Mikhail Gorbachev: e. Domestic policies f. Foreign policy. g. Fall from power. h. End of the Soviet Union. VII. Conclusion Soviet Union Leaders in the Post Stalin Era The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, simply referred to ask the Soviet Union, was a socialist state that spread from Northern and Eastern Europe to various parts of Central Asia. It dated between the 30th of December 1922 and the 26th of December 1991. Until its collapse in 1991, it consisted of almost 15 constituent republics that are acknowledged today as: â€Å"Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan† [ (Rosenberg) ]. The father and founder of the Soviet Union was no other than Vladimir Lenin who managed to set the foundations of the USSR after overthrowing Tsar Nicholas II in November of 1917, and finally establishing a Soviet government in 1922. We will write a custom essay sample on Soviet Union and de-Stalinization specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Soviet Union and de-Stalinization specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Soviet Union and de-Stalinization specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer After asserting himself as the â€Å"Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars of the Soviet Union†, Lenin began planning and implementing new policies and ideas that would affect the USSR, alter and influence the rest of the world even after he passed away. McCauley (1993) describes some of Lenin’s policies during his reign as the following: nationalizing all banks and important business enterprises, distributing lands to peasants, reintegrating several states into Bolshevik Russia, and exporting the communist ideology. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin was appointed as the â€Å"General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). † Stalin, and through outsmarting and slowly banishing his opponents, managed to establish a totalitarian regime and appoint himself as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union in the late 1920’s. Stalin’s period in office was both devastating and costly to the Soviet Union in especially in its domestic policies. Stalin’s five year economic plan (the rapid industrialization of the USSR) produced remarkable results, but cost the lives of around â€Å"14. 5 million peasants† (â€Å"http://www. moreorless. au. com/killers/stalin. html, â€Å"), and reaped the lives of almost twenty million people and deported over twenty five others from their homes. Stalin’s gruesome and horrendous rule ended when he died on the 5th of March, 1953. Stalin’s sudden decease left an important void in which many were eager to fill. The outcome of Stalin’s death resulted in a system of collective leadership. The key figures of this communal rule were: â€Å"Nikita Khrushchev, Lavrenti Beria, Nikoli Bulganin, Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, and, Lazar Kaganovich† (http://www. fortunecity. com/victorian/riley/ 787/Soviet/Khrushchev/Krushchev. html). During this period, the struggle to instigate a premier to head the Soviet Union faced many turbulences and changes. At the beginning, Malenkov assumed power as acting Premier, and Khrushchev undertook his predecessor’s (Stalin) position as First secretary of the CPSU. Subsequently, and by 1955, Georgy Malenkov was forced to relinquish his position as Premier, and was substituted by Nikoli Bulganin (who was supported and favored by Khrushchev). After Stalin’s death, his successors proceeded to diverge from the latter’s cruel and violent strategies. Surprisingly, and in a six hour speech in the 20th Party Congress, Khrushchev criticized and condemned Stalin’s bloody reign. This step forced a considerable amount of pressure to the First Secretary as McCauley (1987) describes, especially with his compatriots in the collective leadership circle. Two assassination attempts later, and a failed expulsion scheme set by Kaganovich, Molotov, and Malenkov against him, Khrushchev still managed to strengthen his power furthermore. Ironically, and in 1958, Nikoli Bulganin was forced to resign by the same man who favored his appointment, and Khrushchev assumed both the position of Premier (on the 27th of March) and First Secretary of the CPSU. Although Khrushchev worked closely and for many years with Stalin, nonetheless he was unusually dissimilar to the latter. Unlike Stalin’s harsh manner and look, Volkogonov (1998) describes Khrushchev as more of a forthcoming, pleasant, humorous, and energetic individual. Their differences are undoubtedly noticeable as Khrushchev embarked on a new policy of De-Stalinization, set to cross out Stalin’s bloody history from the Soviet Union’s international image and its people’s minds. As part of his new policy he began with renaming all the cities that carried Stalin’s name and all pictures and statues of Stalin were destroyed (as not to leave any mark to be a remainder of him). By doing so, Khrushchev managed to obtain an approval from the West and appear as a prominent and distinguished leader than his predecessors, in which Stalin would have almost certainly never acquired or achieved. In his domestic policy, Khrushchev set in motion various agricultural, administrative, and industrial reforms. In the farming sector, he launched his virgin land campaign that sought to improve and â€Å"develop the country’s virgin land and forests† [ (Sakwa, 1999) ], but his strategy proved disastrous. On the administrative level, Khrushchev began with abolishing the courts undertaken by several governmental agencies. He carried one to make the Central Committee assemblies public and open to a large number of Soviet Officials to speak freely in, and used this to his advantage since any declared opposition to him would be shunned out by the large number of his supporters. In the industrial sector, he tried to decentralize ministries and transform them into local councils to become more receptive to any problems or urgent requirements, but these councils did the opposite of what they were anticipated to do. In spite of his decent image with of the West and his more peaceful and reformist approach in the USSR, perhaps little change occurred in his military-defense/foreign policy. He sought after upholding a powerful Communist Eastern bloc. This is clearly revealed with the Warsaw Pact that was set together during his rule. Furthermore, the cold war tension peaked during his reign specifically at the incident of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which he was utterly disgraced and was forced to withdraw the Russian arsenal from the isle. Following his major failures, and by 1964, Khrushchev was ousted out of office when he was vacationing, and was replaced by another collective leadership composed of Alexei Kosygin, Leonid Brezhnev, and Nikolai Podgorny. However, and between all the members of the â€Å"troika† (three members of the collective leadership system), Brezhnev was the most prominent and influential figure. This reason may be attributed to the simplicity of Brezhnev’s character. In his book â€Å"Autopsy for an Empire†, Volkogonov (1998) portrays the latter as a traditional, team player, and influential figure able to rally large support to his views in any path he desired. Perhaps the characteristics Brezhnev enjoyed enabled him to further rise over his two fellow rulers, and ultimately break free and become the USSR’s sole executive. Throughout his rule of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev implemented a policy to protect and sustain his rule as General Secretary of the CPSU, but at the same time brought about important reforms despite his conventional mentality. Kelley (1987) explains that Brezhnev, like Khrushchev, wanted to leave a mark in history, therefore he attempted many policy reforms. What made him different than other leaders was that Brezhnev acted carefully with every step he took n a certain field while balancing it with another field. Consequently, and by doing so, he was able to handle his critics and avoid any conflict with them and promote a balanced progress. Brezhnev’s domestic policy first focused on Soviet industries. His plan was to merge different factory â€Å"associations† whereby weaker factories could be reinfo rced by stronger ones in order to hasten the process of modernization [ (Kelley, 1987) ]. He then carried out to abolish the decentralization plans carried out by his predecessor Khrushchev His other important reforms stemmed from the agricultural sector. Brezhnev kept on the principle of collective farming, ordered all Soviet owned land to be increased by a half a hectare, and introduced new machineries to further facilitate and accelerate production. Despite Brezhnev’s intense investment in agriculture, that particular sector was faced with many droughts that affected production. The result of such disasters forced the USSR to â€Å"import large quantities of grain from Western countries† [ (http://countrystudies. us/russia/14. htm) ]. A key feature of Brezhnev’s rule, was the economic stagnation (referred to as the Brezhnev Stagnation) that the USSR’s economy passed through in the mid 1970s. The economic progress had reached its peak during that period, and began to go into stalemate. This can be attributed to several factors being: decreasing standards of living, the small numbers of unemployment that resulted in workers working less and getting paid nonetheless, and the abuse of the Soviet population to the cheap consumer goods and government services. With regards to his foreign policy, Brezhnev’s priority was to reassert the communist influence in the neighboring communist states â€Å"by undermining the influence of China† [ (http://countrystudies. s/russia/14. htm) ]. China was a growing communist influence in the Asian region, and Mao publicly denounced the Soviet foreign policy at the time. The relations between the USSR and China severely deteriorated to an extent that the armies of both countries went to a small confrontation. On the Eastern side Brezhnev created the â€Å"Brezhnev Doctrine†, as a result of some events that took place in Cz echoslovakia. Notably in 1979, Brezhnev declared war against Afghanistan (to enforce a communist government) and the issue remained unsettled until the 1980’s. Several important treaties were signed by Brezhnev at that time including: The Treaty on the â€Å"Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons†, â€Å"Strategic Arms Limitation Talks†, â€Å"Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty†, â€Å"Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. † These treaties helped ease the rising tension of the Cold War Khrushchev initiated and delay the ongoing arms race. Perhaps the most important accomplishment of Brezhnev detente period was the signing of the 1975 Helsinki accord, which strengthened the communists in the Eastern Bloc and raised more antagonism against the US and the West. On November 10th 1982, Brezhnev passed away, and his successor would be Yuri Andropov. The two most notable heirs to the General Secretary of the CPSU position were Konstantin Cherenko and Yuri Andropov. In this short race for to gain the executive position, Andropov had apparent advantage. â€Å"After fifteen years of leading the KGB† [ (Mrose, 2010) ], he possessed a prolonged experience in both foreign and defense policies and had the advantage to gain support and form a strong and large to replace Brezhnev. Therefore on the 12th of November 1982, Andropov was elected to be the next leader of the Soviet Union. Although his term lasted about fifteen months, his policies and some notable events should be mentioned. Brezhnev’s rule resulted in massive corruption amongst several Soviet officials, and as a result, Andropov’s first policy was to reintroduce party regulations to counter this phenomenon. Furthermore, Andropov wanted to â€Å"boost labor discipline† (http://countrystudies. us/russia/15. htm,†). To further explain this point, we refer to the section about how workers became less efficient in Brezhnev’s rule, therefore Andropov provisioned and implemented new rules to regenerate a strong workforce. On the foreign policy level, his rule witnessed even more decline with the U. S especially after the Soviet’s shot down a Korean commercial airplane and killed all its passengers (one being a U. S senator). Perhaps his most important success was finding Mikhail Gorbachev and advancing him towards a higher ranking in the Communist regime. Andropov passed away on the 9th of February, 1984, and was replaced by Konstantin Chernenko. Although Andropov’s wishes was for Gorbachev to replace him, Chernenko (and after a long series of deliberation) was elected to become the new leader of the Soviet Union on the 13th of February, 1984. Kelley (1987) describes the process in which Chernenko reached power as way for the old members of the central committee to preserve their interests on one hand, and because younger member did not figure out their stable path in politics. Due to his very short stay in office, old age, and illness; Chernenko did not have any notable foreign or domestic foreign policy plans. Perhaps the most important event of his time, was the initiation of Gorbachev to replace him. Chernenko passed away on the 10th of March 1985, and was replaced by the final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, on the same day. Mikhail Gorbachev was the youngest elected General Secretary to assume command in the history of the USSR. Volkogonov (1998) describes him to be the 2nd famous worldwide leader Soviet leader after Lenin, and the most contemporary individual amongst them. Gorbachev launched a wide scale reform policy that affected different sectors of the country. His strategy could be summarized into the following: reorganization, more freedom, democratisation, and hastening economic growth. The first goal one Gorbachev’s agenda was to introduce better scientific and technological means and methods in industry and agriculture. Through this means, he aimed at eliminating the long economic stagnation present since the Brezhnev era He soon realized that his aspirations will not have the desired effect unless he changes the political system from within. Therefore Gorbachev replaced several key and old Soviet officials with new energetic and younger ones. He went on to issue laws that control quality production goods, to render the sale of low-grade products. Throughout his industrial/agricultural reform phase, Gorbachev did not abandon his predecessors’ idea of a central planned economy, and tried to promote and strengthen it even more. With regards to reorganizing party ranks, democratisation, and reducing government control, Gorbachev’s second step was to dissolve the Soviet Supreme rule within itself. What began as changes in members of the Central Committee and keys ministries, evolved to draft plans of multi-candidate elections and assign non- party individuals to several governmental ranks. In 1989, he established â€Å"the Congress of People’s Deputies† (a new legislative body) in an attempt to lighten the government’s grip. Gorbachev was elected to become the head of state in the same year (General Secretary position was no longer the supreme executive position), and in 1991 he was elected to become the President of the USSR. Gorbachev’s policy of giving more freedom to the Soviet citizen’s was a new method of rule. For the first time perhaps in the USSR’s history, he decreed private ownership laws that enabled individuals to possess their own businesses. He carried on to divide the government owned airlines at that time to several autonomous airlines. Surprisingly, Gorbachev paved the way to a vast and wide â€Å"freedom of speech† policy to the Soviet citizens. This was used as a tool to silence the conservatives who opposed his reforms. Gorbachev’s new motto with regards to foreign policy was â€Å"new political thinking in international relations† (Holloway, 1988). He first began with normalization of relations with the West and especially the United States in order to reduce Cold War tensions. By doing so, he also wished to enhance both economic and diplomatic relations with the West to reach his goals, rather than confrontation or isolation. This step also helped him promote his domestic policies of reform because the United States at that time had the solution to many of Moscow’s problems. n the December 1987 Washington Summit, both countries met to endorse the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In 1990, the Washington summit was held between the two nations where both countries showed willingness to participate in improving relations on many levels. In addition Gorbachev pursued more diplomatic means with t he United States with regards to arms control. In 1991, both states met in Moscow to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Furthermore, Gorbachev enhanced the Soviet Union’s relations on many sensitive fronts. He engaged in process of improving the relations with China, after the crisis in the Brezhnev era, and succeeded in doing so. The first Soviet-Chinese summit was held on May 1989. Gorbachev carried on to improve relations with Europe where he gave an important speech on the 7th of July, 1987 where â€Å"he insisted on the sovereign right of each people to choose their own social system (â€Å"http://www. country-data. com/cgi-bin/query/r-11378. html† , 1996). Finally, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 in accordance with the agreement signed by the US, Pakistan, the USSR, and Afghanistan in 1988. As much as Gorbachev’s foreign and domestic policies seem constructive, yet they yielded several disastrous results. The economic policy brought about by the government resulted in several food and supply scarcities. The decentralization and loosening the governments grip policy outcome was the disintegration of the Soviet Union within itself, and many of its former states declaring independence. Soon enough, and after severe weakening of the Soviet Union, the August coup of 1991, and the creation of the â€Å"Commonwealth of independent states†; Gorbachev dissolved the Soviet Union nd Boris Yeltsin became the first president of the non-communist Russia. All great empires must come to an end as history as clearly shown us. Its fair to say that although the communist ideology was promoted as the best alternative to the imperial and capitalist means, its implementation was not close to its teachings. As shown in the above, each leader in the long chain of command in the S oviet Union partially or to a high extent drifted away from the original thoughts of Lenin. Each had his own goals, ways of thought, and policies that he projected in different means. Some even went to the extent of shunning the original foundations of communism and rejecting and insulting old leaders. They all had their different agendas, they just hid behind the shadow of the regime in order to reach higher ranks, implement their goals, and leave their own mark in Russian and international history. Bibliography (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. fortunecity. com/victorian/riley/787/Soviet/Khrushchev/Krushchev. html. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://countrystudies. us/russia/14. htm. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://countrystudies. s/russia/15. htm (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://countrystudies. us/russia/17. htm (2001, May 23). Retrieved from http://www. moreorless. au. com/killers/stalin. html. Holloway, D. (1988). Gorbachevs new thinking. America and the World 1988 , 68 (1). http://countrystudies. us/russia/17. htm. (n. d. ). http://www. country-data. com/cgi-bin/query/r-11378. html. (1996, July). Kelley, D. R. (1987). Soviet politics from brezhnev to gorbache v. New York: Praeger Publishers. Mccauley, M. (1987). Khrushchev and khrushchevism. Great Britain: School of Slavonic and Eat European Studies, University of London. McCauley, M. (1993). The soviet union: 1917-1991. London and New York: Longman. Mrose, C. (2010, November 12). Retrieved from https://www. libertycentral. org/today-in-history-yuri-andropov-assumes-power-in-the-soviet-union-2010-11 Rosenberg, M. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://geography. about. com/od/countryinformation/a/ussr. htm. Sakwa, R. (1999). The rise and fall of the soviet union 1917-1991. New York: Routledge. Volkogonov, D. (1998). Autopsy for an empire. New York: The Free If you need a kind of write my essay online help with another paper topic, contact us right now!

Analysis of Silver in an Alloy Essay Example

Analysis of Silver in an Alloy Essay Example Analysis of Silver in an Alloy Paper Analysis of Silver in an Alloy Paper Analysis of Silver in an Alloy Introduction In this experiment an alloy of silver will be analyzed to determine its silver content. The silver-copper alloy will be dissolved in nitric acid, the silver will be precipitated as silver chloride, and the silver chloride will be filtered, washed, dried and its mass determined. From the mass of the silver chloride formed and the mass of the original sample, you will be able to calculate the percent of silver in the alloy. Because the results are based on the mass of a product, this procedure is classified as a gravimetric analysis. Silver and copper are very nonreactive metals. Neither will dissolve in hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. The oxidizing acid nitric acid, HN03, is required. In acidic solutions the nitrate ion is an excellent oxidizer, and it will oxidize Ag(s) to Ag+(aq) and Cu(s) to Cu2+(aq). The reduction product is the gas NO. As the colorless nitrogen monoxide gas forms, it immediately reacts with the oxygen in the air to produce the orange-brown gas N02. The half-reactions for the oxidation of silver and copper by nitric acid are as follows: Ag(s) > Ag+(aq) + e- Cu(s) > Cu2+(aq) + 2e- 4H+(aq) + NO3- (aq) + 3e- > NO(g) + 2H2O(l) Once the silver and copper ions are in solution, they can be separated from each other by precipitating the silver ions as silver chloride. Silver chloride (AgCl) is very insoluble in water, while copper(II) chloride (CuCl2) is soluble. The addition of chloride ions to the solution will precipitate essentially all of the silver and none of the copper. The silver chloride precipitate is then filtered from the solution. Experimental Methods Follow protocol as listed for Laboratory Experiment #1 in â€Å"Experiments for Advanced Placement Chemistry† by Sally Ann Vonderbrink, Ph. D. With these modifications: instead of using a Gooch Crucible and fiber glass pad, we used a Buchner Funnel and filter paper. Theoretical Methods Balance out the half reactions of Ag and NO3- 3( Ag(s) > Ag+(aq) + e- ) 4H+(aq) + NO3- (aq) + 3e- > NO(g) + 2H2O(l) 3Ag(s) + 4H+(aq) + NO3- (aq) > 3Ag+(aq) + NO(g) + 2H2O(l) Calculate amount of NaCl needed to precipitate NaCl > Na+ + Cl- Ag + Cl > AgCl(s) .3015 g Ag 1 mol Ag 1 mol Cl 1 mol NaCl 58. 44 g NaCl 107. 7g Ag 1 mol Ag 1 mol Cl 1 mol NaCl = . 1635g NaCl multiply needed NaCl x 2 .1635 x 2 = . 3269 g NaCl Calculate the percent of Ag in the Alloy .3555 g AgCl 1 mol AgCl 1 mol Ag 107. 87 g Ag = . 2675 g Ag 143. 23 g AgCl 1 mol AgCl 1 mol Ag % Ag = . 2675 g Ag x 100 = 75. 25% .3555 g AgCl Calculate the percent error between percents of Ag in an Alloy % error = actual – experimental x 100 = actual = 90. 08 – 75. 25 x 100 = 16. 46 % 90. 8 Results Experimental Results: We first weighed our original sample of silver alloy, as shown in table 1. Then added 10 ml of nitric acid to the silver alloy which dissolved, by heating, the alloy into silver and copper ions as nitrite gas escaped in an orange cloud. After the alloy was completely dissolved we added a solution of sodium chloride dissolved in distilled water. When calculating out sodium chloride we doubled the necessary amount to make sure that a full and complete reaction occurred when once again heating. After letting that sit over night covered in para-film to form large precipitate particles of silver chloride we filtered the particles from the solution with the buchner funnel. We used a diluted nitric acid as our wash because it helped to keep the precipitate from forming to small particles. We then heated the sample so we could weigh out the final product as shown in table 1, and then calculated the percent of silver as shown in table 3. Theoretical Results: In table 2 it shows the necessary amount of sodium chloride that was needed for this reaction to four decimal places. While in table 1 it is shown that we had to round to two decimal places lacing a small error. And not only that but also the fact that as table 2 shows that the final amount needed was . 0131 g less to the actual mount that we added from table 1. During the procedure our percent error must of have come from loosing the silver ions. After heating we had to wash the moisture of the watch glass back into the beaker and there could have been a possibility that we didn’t wash of all of the silver back into the beaker. When it precipitated, some of the particles may have peptized causing us to filter out some of the silver chloride precipitate. Also when removing the filter paper from the buchner funnel some of the precipitate may have been lost, which is just due to human error. Which all experiments have. Discussion In the lab you must first dissolve the alloy in nitric acid; if the allot doesnt completely dissolve it may cause some error in your final result because not all of your silver ions were dissolved. You then must make a solution of distilled water added with sodium chloride. Once you calculate the amount of sodium chloride needed you must double the amount for the experiment to push the reaction to a full completion. This essentially should precipitate all of silver and none of the copper. No accurate balance is needed to measure out the sodium chloride because as long as you have an excess of sodium chloride to provide enough chloride ions to precipitate all of the silver ions its is safer than having a need of more chloride ions.. Before adding the sodium chloride solution to the dissolved silver you must rinse any moisture on the bottom of your watch glass back into the beaker of dissolved silver so that way not silver is lost. Thus causing a source of error if not all of the silver ions were still in the beaker upon adding the sodium chloride solution to precipitate the silver as silver chloride. You wash to remove all of the other chemicals from the silver chloride precipitate. There will be copper(II) nitrate, nitric acid and excess sodium chloride. These have to be washed through to make sure only (wet) sodium chloride is left in the filter. The nitric acid in the wash water will not interfere with the weight of the silver chloride because it will be washed through with the filtrate leaving the solid sodium chloride in the filter paper. If the silver chloride is not cool when its mass is determined the calculated percent would be too high, because if we do not dry the precipitate in the oven then the water in the filter paper and solid will affect the weight making it higher. We need for that excess water to be dried out to have a good calculation. We dont use hydrochloric acid to both dissolve and precipitate the silver because the acid cannot dissolve either silver or copper because they are insoluble when mixed. It could work to make a precipitate but not to dissolve the alloy. A special filter crucible rather than plain filter paper is used because it gives rapid filtering and helps pull the soluble material and water through. Also you have to wash several times so this speeds up the process. Observations made throughout the experiment is that when the solution of the alloy when dissolved with the nitric acid, were being heated a yellow orange gas of nitric escaped which smelled like rusted metal. The liquid that was left behind had an aqua color to it. But once the sodium chloride was added it turned into a cloudy blue. When this new solution is heated for 15 minutes the sodium chloride begins to precipitate into white clumps of the bottom of the beaker. When precipitate is filtered and dried in oven it then looks like white dust particles. Conclusion In this lab, the percent of silver in the alloy was calculated by dissolving the alloy in nitric acid to precipitate the silver as silver chloride. By weighing the mass of the precipitate you are able to calculate the percent of silver in the original sample. Anytime you are wanting a quantitative percent of an element in an alloy dissolving it in a solution then precipitating the solution should give you the result s you want as long as it is insoluble in the reaction. Improvements that we could o made during the experiment are that my partner and I should have divided the lab in a better way in which we both could have the job done faster and with more patience. Because one of the sources of error that could be possible is that when we are washing the solution back into the beaker we could have not washed it properly and some silver could have been left behind. Data Tables Mass of Ag alloy, g 0. 3015 g 6M Nitric Acid, ml 10 ml Mass of NaCl added, g 0. 34 g Distilled water, ml 25 ml Mass of filter paper, g 0. 3765 g Distilled water, ml 150 ml 6M Nitric Acid, ml 2 ml Mass of filter paper with the AgCl precipitate, g .7320 g Mass of AgCl precipitate, g .3555 g Table 1 – experimental measurements Needed NaCl, g .1635 g Grams of NaCl * 2 .3269 g Table 2- Calculated values ( theoretical measurements) Percent of Ag in alloy 75. 25% Actual percent of Ag in alloy 90. 08% Percent error 16. 46% Table 3- calculated percent error in percent of Ag in alloy

Tuesdays with Morrie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tuesdays with Morrie - Essay Example Morrie Schwartz was the best professor Mitch could ever ask for. He supplemented Mr. Albom with the knowledge and advices in life that will surely help the young one in his future. Their relationship was more of a father and a son than a teacher and a student. When Mitch Albom graduated, Professor Morrie was more than proud of his achievement and he was very happy to see him graduate. During his graduation, Professor Morrie Schwartz embraced Mitch Albom as he was even crying because he was so happy. He only had one wish from his beloved student and that is to keep in touch with even after leaving the school. Mitch Albom promised to do so but he never kept his project. Only after Mr. Albom came across his old professor in one of the television shows that he remembered he was not able to keep his promise and he missed to see Professor Morrie for a long time. When he had the guts to see his professor, he drove to where he lives and after 16 long years, he saw his professor again, now se riously ill with ALS. Professor Morrie was already deteriorating and he was almost too late to see his professor. Despite the long years of waiting for his student, Professor Schwartz was still very happy to see Mr. Albom. The two reunited and Mitch now seeks for his advice again regarding his life, his job and his family life. The professor was very eager to see his student listens again to him. Mitch Albom's life was not perfect and his relationship with his wife is greatly affected by his work. Meeting up with Prof. Morrie Schwartz every Tuesdays, Mitch Albom now became more aware of he missed out chasing the life he thought was what’s best for him and his wife. He now finds himself wondering if he is really happy with what he has and what he had become. He needed more time with his professor to enlighten him and answer his questions about life but he now has little time left with his professor. If only he chose to keep his promise and kept in touch with his professor, he might be happier with his life. He may have chosen a different path with his life. But nevertheless, he had the chance to makeup with the time lost with his dear professor. This is one lesson that we need to consider in our life. We must not take for the granted the important people in our lives. Although they will be there to help us and love us, we must also reciprocate everything and let them feel our love. There will be a lot of opportunities that will come for us as we live, it is very important that we will not take others for granted as we embrace these opportunities. According to Professor Morrie Schwarz, it is very important that we "Love each other or die." (p.163) Make the most of your life In the book, not only did Mr. Albom ditch his promise with Professor Morrie, he also keeps on failing his wife by not keeping his promise to her. Although he knew his wife will stick and wait for him every time he leaves for his job, he still barely spends time with her to check on her or make-up for his absence. His wife only asked for them to have a baby. And yet, for years they have been married, they still don’t have a baby. Time flies so fast and there is a great possibility that his wife will not become pregnant anymore. What will happen if this will be the case? We don’

Critically appraise the employment relations in non-union firms Assignment

Critically appraise the employment relations in non-union firms - Assignment Example Hence, there has been a decrease in unionization (Willman 2004). However, this too has its positives and negatives. Both aspects will be discussed in the following sections so that an understanding of the employment relations within non-union forms can be sought and an in-depth study shall provide the basis of comprehension of a number of different facets – all of which come under the aegis of employment relations. When considering employment relations there are certain implications for managers that they must consider when coming up with the policy for dealing with employee issues. The three most important factors that need to be considered are the public, the employer and employee. The functioning of the company is largely dependent upon the maintenance of fair, friendly, and mutually satisfactory employment relations and the availability of suitable machinery for the peaceful adjustment of whatever controversies may arise. The term non-union is defined as the employees or w orkers of an organization â€Å"not belonging or relating to a labor union†1. This type of company reduces the impact of collective bargaining where the company is more inclined to deal with the issues of the employees on a one to one basis (Boeri 2001). The advantages of this sort of system are more individual attention to grieved employees, which will increase their levels of motivation. It also means more company ownership by all levels of the workers who take pride in solving problems for the betterment of the company. Lastly, the monetary benefits for the company, who do not have to pay the dues of the unions and are more economically strong and can, improve their bottom line (Gannon 1987). There are also many other smaller advantages and disadvantages however they are beyond the scope of this paper. Most managers are of the opinion that the most important aspect of good employment relations are affective negotiations.Communication is the glue that makes policies real an d without which they are ineffective. The fact that communication is necessarily a two-way process, involving dialogue rather than simply instruction, is well established (Morley 2006). Yet many organizations perform badly in this area, failing to give communication the priority it deserves. â€Å"Getting communication right involves both professionalism and persistence. The qualities required include focusing on positive behaviors and outcomes, taking a positive, problem-solving approach, anticipating problems, recommending solutions and being able to offer sound advice to senior managers about implementation. Negotiating skills are still useful but needed less often. A much wider area of knowledge is now required, along with the skills to apply it, including surveying and interpreting employee attitudes, communications and conflict management. Most important is the ability to ‘fit’ policies and practices to suit the organization’s goals and the character of it s workforce.†2 Affective negotiations are synonymous to successful negotiations which mean the activities â€Å"that results in a win-win agreement in which all parties gain overall, even though they may have to make concessions in the process†.3Additionally some managers’ say that both parties should not drift away too much from their desired outcomes as this only hampers the result while wasting valuable resources of the company. The main reason why managers avoid having unions, it can be a pain to work with unions when you have a poor performer, but it also is a

Social Media in Global Politics Essay Example for Free

Social Media in Global Politics Essay Social Media Becoming the Most Powerful Force in Global Politics? YES: Clay Shirky, from â€Å"The Net Advantage,† Prospect (December 11, 2009) NO: Malcolm Gladwell, from â€Å"Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,† I would say that social media has become one of the tools in use of global politics but definitely not the most powerful force that leads to change. I am not exactly sure what is the most powerful in ways of global politics, social media has its limits and it can be stopped or manipulated by governments in order to do what they want but at the same time it can be used to trigger a change that has not been seen in a long time in countries that are oppressed or just feel need of change. Let us take for example of the invasion of Ukraine, if something like invasion were to happen to another country we in western world will get the new after few weeks at the most of what is exactly going on in the country, as I remember as soon as Russia started moving we had news on twitter and facebook in an uproar and telling the world to do something and stop it. Of course the initial invasion by the Russians came because there were civil unrest in the country and the Russians military was mobilised in order to prevent anymore civil unrest coming into their country (according to the Russians), the initial civil unrest started its movement through social media at the time. We in the western world who are just ordinary people with no political ties are just trying to make a living when we see these on social media who would you believe? The government who is using civil unrest to invade and say to the rest of the world we are just here to make sure it does not spread or the people who started the rebellion and saying it is because the government have ignored that they are revolting? Either or the situation is happening even with world watching and having an opinion towards the war it is still going on but it does not seem to end. With the tool such as social media we have so much power but in the end it comes down to who has the biggest guns or influence in the area is the one who will be controlling the global politics of that area.

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Essay -- Inspector Calls Priestle

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley An Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestly, is the story of the visit by an Inspector to an apparently normal family, the Birlings. They are celebrating Sheila Birling's engagement to Gerald Croft, who is also present, when the Inspector arrives telling them of the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. At first they deny any knowledge of the girl, but as the play goes on the Inspector manages to show that they all helped kill her. Mr Birling had her dismissed from his factory for demanding a small increase in wages; Sheila ordered her to be dismissed from her job in a shop simply because of her pride; Gerald Croft kept her as his mistress before leaving her suddenly; Eric Birling (Mr & Mrs Birling's son) also had an affair with the girl and stole money to keep her living; and Mrs Birling used her influence to deny help to Eva Smith when she needed it most, driving her to suicide. After the Inspector's visit we can see which of the characters have learned their lesson from what the Inspector has said and which are steadfastly clinging to their old beliefs. The differing attitudes between the older and younger characters are shown by their conversations following the Inspector's departure. It is Birling's speech in Act 1 that sets the scene for the action in the play. Birling is confidently talking to Eric and Gerald about what he thinks about the future. He thinks of everything in business terms (for example, he says to Gerald that he hopes that his firm and Gerald's father's will become partners) and also is a man who thinks that a man should make his own way in life and does not believe in living in a "community. He disregards the people who preach this philos... ...ia and the Germans invaded Belgium, sending Britain and France into battle. The result was a hellish war in which millions died. Had the countries been able to live together then there would not have been a war. The fact that the play was written in the midst of the Second World War suggests that Priestly was saying that the lessons of what happened in the First World War had not been learned. In summary, An Inspector Calls details the differing attitudes of the Birling family to the events leading to Eva Smith's death and how they accept the responsibility for their actions. The older characters are too rigid to change but the younger ones are able to see their faults and accept what they have done is wrong. The play also reflects various cultural, social and historical, which reflect on the time both in which the play is set in and when it was written.

Fashion Couture

In France, the term haute couture is protected by law and is defined by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris based in Paris, France. The chambre syndicale de la haute couture is defined as â€Å"the regulating commission that determines which fashion houses are eligible to be true haute couture houses†. [4] Their rules state that only â€Å"those companies mentioned on the list drawn up each year by a commission domiciled at the Ministry for Industry are entitled to avail themselves† of the label haute couture. The chambre also deals with piracy of style, foreign relations and coordination of the fashion collection timetables, and do some international advertising for the French fashion industry. The chambre also runs a Paris couture school to teach upcoming designers and technicians the couture trade. The school helps bring new designers to help the couture houses that are still present today. The criteria for haute couture were established in 1945 and updated in 1992. To earn the right to call itself a couture house and to use the term haute couture in its advertising and any other way, members of the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture must follow these rules: Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings. Have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time. Must have twenty full-time technical people in at least one atelier (workshop). Each season (i. e. twice a year), present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least thirty-five runs/exits with outfits for both daytime wear and evening wear. However, the term haute couture may have been misused by ready-to-wear brands since the late 1980s, so that its true meaning may have become blurred with that of pret-a-porter (the French term for ready-to-wear fashion) in the public perception. Every haute couture house also markets pret-a-porter collections, which typically deliver a higher return on investment than their custom clothing. ci tation needed] Falling revenues have forced a few couture houses to abandon their less profitable couture division and concentrate solely on the less prestigious pret-a-porter. These houses are no longer considered haute couture. Many top designer fashion houses, such as Chanel, use the word for some of their special collections. These collections are often not for sale or they are very difficult to purchase. Sometimes, â€Å"haute couture† is inappropriately used to label non-dressmaking activities, such as fine art, music and more.