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The Delights of Chemistry
Dan Ormsby writes: "No news on this site, just great photos of chemical phenomena along with instructions on how to perform them yourself. Don't try this at home!"
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Christ, what kind of childhood would I have had with THAT kind of advice?
insert your own lewd reference here.
Your mind is squeezed by a blast of pain!
Just how many of these experiments are copyrighted? i don't wanna pay the powers that be for the privilege of a cheap and easy chemical burn.
I remember finding a book of chemistry experiments, and being fascinated with what I could do with just mixing a couple things.
:)
Not simple stuff like "wow, vinegar and baking soda" (although kitchen chemistry is very cool), but "wow, battery acid, zinc and limestone will make lethal chlorine gas! cool!". (iirc)
While I don't want MOST kids getting that spin on it (:D), some golly-gee-whiz experiments at a YOUNG age, with some more every year, will help keep them interested in learning. And up here in Canada, at least, we've got a big problem with keeping boys interested in learning. But boys like things that go bang. Simple solution.
I think slashdot should have such a caching service too.
*NEWS* is almost never in google's cache.
As far as explosives go, lots of cool things to do with chemicals like magnesium and nitrates. Just might have to search a bit harder. `8r) But hell, just making hydrogen is fun, from electricity and water.
Gonzo Granzeau
"Nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn't let you into heaven for.." -Roy Batty
finally proof of what goes on inside when you eat Cornflakes
I always wanted to do this but was never allowed although I tried it with flower but got much worse results
if you really like to blow things up custard powder rocks !
this is why in medieval times they never allowed candles in the mill
regards
john jones
[BOOM]
"We're going to need a new Timmy!"
[Guess the source?]
Not to plug my own site, but we have a really cool "fire in the bottle" how-to video.
Wooden armaments to battle your imaginary foes!
If you liked that, you might also want to check out the physics demonstration archive at my old school (UMD).
IIRC It's the largest in the country.
Oh yeah, the Question of the Week is also very good.
I also remember another demonstration in which he blew the lid of a can. I can't remember what he did then though.
Great teacher, if it weren't for his preparation I wouldn't have been able to get a 5 on the AP Chemistry test.
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
Wait until they put up pictures of their web server exploding from the /. effect...
sig fault
The Giant Artificial Poo! Although if you have sulfuric acid in your digestive tract, you're more of a man then I am.
And the brethren went away edified.
Hey Tom, watch this!*
*Also spoken before many Darwin Award candidates last moves.
OK, I skipped all the demos. I enjoyed chemistry but hated the labs. On the bottom of the page is a link to one of the web's most gorgeous periodic tables. Each group of elements is a different rainbow color.
If you click on each element you see an image of it in nature and get its history. If you click on the chemical information you see its image in pure form.
There are quicktime movies and Shockwave demos too. This is not the visual periodic table for nthing.
Roanna
Please visit ZOID CITY Community and Community Competition http://www.zc2zc3.st
Reading over the experiments listed on the site reminded me of one experiment we did in honors high school chemistry which was NOT included. Our "teacher" was actually someone from the art department who was pressed into service as a chemistry instructor because he had a few chemistry classes in college. He walked in one day with a freaky, glazed look in his eye and announced to the class that we were going to be doing an experiment to start the day. He went into the back room, came back with a pair of tongs and bottle of kerosene containing a chunk of potassium metal, and gestured for us to join him outside. We gathered around a large rain puddle from the previous day's storm, and he asked what class was in the room next door -- English, as it turned out. Without any additional explanation, he reached into the bottle, grabbed the chunk of potassium with the tongs, flung it into the puddle, and stepped back. After a few seconds, the metal predictably exploded with a VERY loud bang, causing 35 English students to scream in unison and then rush to the window. The chemistry teacher stood there with a goofy grin on his face, and then shook his head and muttered to himself, "Yup...it's exothermic all right." (For those who read the article, he also did the thermite experiment during the year, but put about three times the recommended amount of magnesium in each student's setup. There were metal chunks in the ceiling tile for years afterwards...)
"she says i'm lousy conversation. as if that's supposed to help."
to make sure that if you have a bottle of sulfuric acid, nitric acid and some glycerol, you don't want to accidently mix the acids in a 3 to 1 ration, and then inadvertently add the glycerol. don't breath the resulting product, since it vaporizes eaily and is an oft-used medicine for heartpatients. It widens bloodvessels. it is also rumoured this stuff makes a mighty good explosion. The exact product left as a reader's exercise...
//rdj
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
--Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
I seem to remember a friend doing this in Chem II class in high school, and getting detention for a week in the process.
Mr. Parker, I wonder if you (or your kids) read Slashdot...
Oh, what glorious fun we had with thermite, with a VERY small bit of sodium in chlorine (yikes!), with deflagrated oxygen and red phosphorus.
We never did get around to the filter-paper-soaked-with-perchlorate "land mines" that pop under your sneakers, but we *did* talk about it.
"How many light bulbs does it take to change a person?" --BMcC-->
Some video of: Fun with Liquid Nitrogen and Fun with High Voltage Electrical Discharges
One story I heard when I was in high school was that some years back some moron decided to steal some elemental sodium. Of course, he burnt himself pretty badly and got in serious trouble. I don't have any confirmation of this story, so it may not be true.
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.