Newton and I

     Sir Isaac Newtons first law of motion states "a body at rest will stay at rest, a body in motion will stay in motion at the same speed unless acted upon by an unbalanced force".  This is one of the first things I learned in high school Physics.  We tested this theory through some fun and not so fun examples, such as rolling down a hill.  A body will continue to roll at the same speed unless something happens to it, such as 2 people standing there blocking it.  Two things happen, the body in motion comes to a halt because of a force causing it to forcibly stop and the 2 people at rest begin to move backwards when hit by the rolling person.  If these 2 individuals do not balance themselves they will fall.  Pretty simple, easy to prove.  I have always loved Physics and Chemistry and how they affect our everyday life without most of us being any wiser, until last night.  I call it the kitchen incident.  I am dangerous to begin with, not in a Tom Clancy spy and espionage kind of way, no mine is a trip over nothing at all kind of way.  Dangerous by default I call it.  I bought some bread, so when I returned home I put it in its usual place, the top of my fridge.  Upon doing this, something fell off, it was white powder.   Feeling like Catherine  Willows from CSI, I tasted it.  Hmmm it was kind of salty, so, with my keen observation, I surmised it to be baking soda.  That is strange, thinking to myself.  I don't keep baking soda up here and yet here it was.  Seems I had a real live mystery happening on my fridge!  So, I grabbed a chair and hauled myself up to take a better look.  Eww, apparently I haven't cleaned up here in a while.  Removing the bread and English muffins and a box of assorted granola bars my son threw up there I could see baking soda and that greasy,  dirty residue that invades kitchen surfaces if they aren't washed frequently.  " Well, that's gross"  I muttered under my breath as I climbed off the chair.  I grabbed my dish rag and a spray bottle and stepped back up on the chair.  I looked around to see why I had baking soda up there to begin with.  I opened up the cupboard and understood.  There was a baggie full of baking soda that had been torn.  I remember putting some in there a few weeks ago for a craft project for my granddaughter.  It was apparently responsible for part of today's mess.  Oh well, looks like the top of my fridge needed a good cleaning anyway.  So, I began to spray...nothing.  I turned the little thing at the end of the nozzle from closed to spray and began again.  Still nothing!  Ugh.   Down from the chair I went and opened my cleaning cupboard.  I didn't need more cleaner it was almost full but the sprayer wasn't working.  I just needed a new spray nozzle.  I unscrewed one and replaced the one that didn't work.  Up I climbed again, my knee complaing loudly by this time.  I sprayed and this time I had success.  Holy @! $# we had spray!  I had unleashed the motherload of vinegar?  Oh yea, I ran out of cleaner and filled it with vinegar.  So, here is where my love of Chemistry comes in.  Vinegar and baking soda make a lovely chemical reaction when mixed together.  It fizzles and bubbles and triples in volume in 3 seconds.  They also work great together to clean, however when spraying vinegar onto a surface with baking soda make sure the spray nozzle isn't open to we got a 5 alarm fire here, open the hoses all the way boys setting!  This is where Physics and Chemistry collide!  The unbalanced force from the vinegar hitting the baking soda at rest caused a chemical reaction AND proved Newtons first law of motion in one not so smooth moment.  I had baking soda and vinegar shoot up and hit me in the eyes which caused me to throw my head back due to burning in my eyes, which in turn threw off my balance while standing on the chair, which caused me to lean back into nothing, which consequently means I am falling.  Down, down, down I went.  I hit the floor, knocked the cats food and water all over the floor.  Wham!  The spray bottle of vinegar hit me on the head.  Einstein's theory of gravity which I might add has already been proven and didn't need to be proven again on my head tonight!  I crawled up, carefully, looking at the mess all over my kitchen.  Cat food scattered everywhere, water puddled, white foam now disappainting from its heightened state all over my fridge, and, my eyes still stinging from the chemical attack.  Bella, my cat was sitting in the doorway looking disgusted.  I cleaned up the mess, fed and watered the cats then I sat down and reflected on what had just happened and my love of science.  I think I am going to change my hobby, perhaps take up Bullfighting.