Editing

http://educate-yourself.org/lte/editing15oct11.shtml
October 14, 2011

Editing (Oct. 15, 2011)

Subject: editing
From: wrs@cfl.rr.com
Date: Sat, October 15, 2011
To: Ken Adachi

Do you know that Calcium is a metal and that minerals is another term for metals ! (yours)

Do you know that Calcium is a metal and minerals ARE another term for metals! (mine)

I am an editor and charge $30 per hour. May I suggest that you email me for my services? If your spelling, grammar and phrasing is not up to par, then you lose creditability; this translates to loss of sales. Consider my offer.

Thanks Wendy

***

Hello Wendy,

Whose statement does "yours" refer to?

Actually, calcium is a "metal' only in the limited chemistry definition of a metal as an element which readily loses electrons to form positive ions. And since calcium is located in Group II of the perodic table, it has a positive valence of plus 2 and will easily form COMPOUNDS with elements of negative valence on the other side of the periodic chart.

On the other hand, elements found in the FREE state have a valence number of ZERO and this is what most people think of when we use the word "metal". They think of a single, free state ELEMENT such as iron or aluminum, or gold or silver that is solid, hard, and "metalic". Of course, calcium doesn't exist in the free state form, so that's why we can't go down to the local hardward store and buy a bar of calcium.

"Minerals", I believe, could include ANY element from the periodic chart that is dissolvable in water, and not just metals. Therefore that would include both "metals" (easily forms positive ions) and "non-metals" (easily forms negative ions).

Of course, I only think of myself as the 'Editor' of this web site in the limited sense that there's no one else here to do the 'editing', but that doesn't mean that I consider myself a professional editor for hire, such as yourself.

For the time being, I'll just have to muddle by on my own, but I'll keep your name for reference. You never know.

By the way, concerning proper English grammar, I just noticed that the word "minerals" while appearing to be the subject of the second clause, is merely as example of "another term," which is singular, of course, so maybe the use of "is" for the verb is not an error after all. Perhaps placing quotations marks around the word "minerals" would have made it clearer.

Sincerely, Ken

---

Comments

Subject: Editing
From: John (Natherlands)
Date: Sat, October 15, 2011
To: Ken Adachi

Hello Ken,

It's always good to see how you further detail your statements and or restate your earlier information with just that much more clarity! I often get the picture the first time but it is good that everyone gets it clear and asks for more info, you know then that it sticks even better in everyones mind...

greetings
John

---

Copyright 2011 Educate-Yourself.org  All Rights Reserved.