Potions and Poisons

Potions and Poisons is a Division B event that is set to rotate in for the 2018 season. It was previously a trial event in Pennsylvania and Washington. In Potions and Poisons, participants will demonstrate their knowledge on specified substances' chemical properties and effects with a focus on common toxins and poisons. Category C goggles are required in this event.

Topics covered
These are some of the Potions and Poisons topics as of the most recent version of the trial event rules released by the national committee in the summer of 2016:
 * Chemical bonding
 * Mixtures, solutions and compounds and separation of the components within them
 * Property changes
 * Balancing equations
 * Poisonous plants and animals
 * Common household toxins
 * Environmental toxins and effects of their spread
 * Effects of dilution
 * Lab tasks

Chemical bonding
A chemical bond is an attraction between two atoms that causes them to combine, which can create molecules. The two types of bonding that the current version of the Potions and Poisons rules says to know are ionic and covalent bonding.

Electronegativity
Electronegativity is a property of elements that is defined as the tendency of an atom to attract electrons. The difference between two atoms' electronegativities decides the type of bond they make. A chart known as an electronegativity chart can be used to find the electronegativities of different elements

Ionic Bonding
Ionic bonding is a type of bonding in which one atom takes an electron from another atom. This type of bonding occurs when the difference in electronegativity is high. A common example of this is the compound NaCl, or table salt. The metal Na (sodium) bonds with the halogen gas Cl (chlorine).

To name a simple ionic compound, use the name of the regular metal, followed by the name of the nonmetal, with the latter using the ending "-ide". For example, NaCl would be written as sodium chloride.

Covalent Bonding
Covalent bonding is a type of bonding in which atoms 'share' electrons. This occurs when there is a low difference in electronegativity. Two very common examples are the molecules H&#8322; and O&#8322;. Because the bonds are formed between two atoms of the same element, the difference in their electronegativities must be zero.

Covalent bonds can be nonpolar or polar. In polar covalent bonds, the atoms have different electronegativites, and therefore share electrons unequally. The more electronegative atom has a partial negative charge, while the less electronegative atom has a partial positive charge. These are denoted with the &#948; symbol (Greek lowercase delta), using &#948;- for partial negative charge and &#948;+ for partial positive charge.

Chemical Equations
Chemical reactions are written out as chemical equations. A chemical equation has two parts: reactants and products. The atoms in the reactants are rearranged