Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Calcium Silicate Crystal Snow Recipe

Calcium Silicate Crystal Snow Recipe Chemical snow can be achieved in a variety of ways. This recipe does not produce the wet snow you get from sodium polyacrylate in water. This is a dry snow made from calcium silicate crystals. Its a fun crystal or chemistry project, useful if you want snow that wont melt. Materials Needed calcium chloride  sodium silicatewater Calcium chloride is a common salt used for snow and ice removal. Its also sold in hardware or home stores to control humidity. You can make sodium silicate, also known as water glass yourself. Combine the silica gel bead packet sold with shoes and clothes with sodium hydroxide (lye or drain cleaner). Sodium silicate is a liquid solution. Make Chemical Snow This is extremely easy. The calcium chloride and sodium silicate react in water to make calcium silicate. The calcium silicate is a flaky white solid. Add a small amount of calcium chloride to a test tube or small glass that is half-full of water.Add a few drops of sodium silicate solution.Swirl or shake the test tube and watch the white flakes of calcium silicate fall like snow. Make Other Silicates and Snow Crafts There are lots of fun ways to use fake snows in arts and crafts applications. You can also make other metal silicates besides calcium silicate. Replace the calcium chloride with aluminum sulfate to make aluminum silicate or use strontium chloride to make strontium silicate.

Monday, March 2, 2020

Overview of Minimum Wage in Canada

Overview of Minimum Wage in Canada When Canadas federal minimum wage laws governing all 10 provinces and three territories were eliminated in 1996, the minimum hourly wage rates for experienced adult workers were set by the provinces and territories themselves. These minimum wage rates have periodically changed, and the new minimum wage laws usually take effect in either April or October.   Exceptions to Canadas Minimum Wage Some circumstances circumvent the general minimum wage, applying different minimums to some workers. In Nova Scotia, for example, employers can pay an inexperienced minimum wage to workers for the first three months of employment if they have less than three months prior experience in a field; that wage is 50 cents lower than the general minimum wage. Similarly, in Ontario, the minimum wage for students is 70 cents less than the general minimum wage. Different work situations affect the minimum wage in some provinces, too. In Quebec, the minimum wage for all workers who receive tips is $9.45, which is $1.80 less than the minimum wage of general workers, and the minimum wage for liquor servers in British Columbia is $9.60, more than $1 lower than the general minimum wage. Manitoba has separate minimum wages for security guards ($13.40 per hour in October 2017) and construction workers, whose pay depends on the type of work and experience. Liquor servers in Ontario earn $1.50 less than the minimum wage but home workers earn $1.20 more. Minimum Weekly and Monthly Wages Not all occupations are covered by the general hourly minimum wage. Alberta, for example, passed a three-stage wage increase for sales workers, from $486 per week in 2016 to $542 per week in 2017 and $598 per week in 2018. The province did the same with live-in domestic workers, raising the 2016  wage from $2,316 per month to $2,582 per month in 2017, and to $2,848 per month in 2018. Examples of Minimum Wage Increases in Canada Most provinces have periodically revised minimum wage rates since Canadas federal mandates were eliminated. For example, in 2017 Saskatchewan tied its minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index, which adjusts for the costs of goods and services, and plans to announce on June 30 each year any change to the minimum wage, which will then take effect on Oct. 1 of the same year. In the first fiscal year of this plan, the 2016 minimum wage of $10.72 was raised to $10.96 in 2017. Other local governments have scheduled similar increases based on other criteria. Alberta scheduled its $12.20 rate to rise to $13.60 on Oct. 1, 2017, the same date Manitoba ($11 to $11.15), Newfoundland ($10.75 to $11) and Ontario ($11.40 to $11.60) scheduled minimum wage rate hikes. Province General Wage More Employment Standards Alberta $13.60 Alberta Human Services BC $10.85 B.C. Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training Manitoba $11.15 Manitoba Family Services and Labour New Brunswick $11.00 New Brunswick Employment Standards Newfoundland $11.00 Labour Relations Agency NWT $12.50 Education, Culture and Employment Nova Scotia $10.85 Labour and Advanced Education Nunavut $13.00 Ontario $11.60 Ministry of Labour PEI $11.25 Environment, Labour and Justice Quebec $11.25 Commission des normes du travail Saskatchewan $10.96 Saskatchewan Labour Standards Yukon $11.32 Employment Standards