What's a better way to start the new school year than with some new experiments? Learn how to use a variety of color changing experiments to teach students about the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, acids, bases, chemical and physical changes, and climate change.
Learn how to form a blue-green copper compound on a penny, and then use that compound to make green flames. This is a great summer time activity for your next campfire!
Liquid nitrogen is used to visualize the aerosol particles emitted while speaking, coughing, breathing, and sneezing. The ability of various masks to block these droplets was also tested.
The Ruben's Tube (also known as a Flame Tube) is a classic experiment used in physics classes. There's also a bit of chemistry to be learned while experimenting with a Ruben's Tube...
Chemistry Education in Times of Disruption
The May 2020 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: understanding structures; digital information and web-based learning; exploring everyday chemistry; curriculum innovations; games for teaching; NMR spectroscopy; examining properties of organic liquids; biochemistry laboratories; analytical and physical chemistry laboratories; computational chemistry; innovative low-cost instruments; research on knowledge and skills for teachers and chemists; from the archives: hands-on chemistry at home.
The solution to Chemical Mystery #17 is presented. Were you able to use your chemical knowledge to explain the results?
If you know your chemistry, you can figure out how the bubbles get busted!
Germany issued a pair of stamps that honor two fundamentally huge accomplishments in science in 1994. The Quantum Theory and Ohm’s Law. They were really well designed stamps and very accurate in their science.
Michael Morgan is the president of the Chemistry and Physics on Stamps Study Unit. He has collected stamps and shared his interest with others for almost 30 years.
With the current global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much discussion of “flattening the curve” by social distancing. These ideas can be demonstrated chemically, for example, by the iron-catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to produce an oxygen gas foam. Decreased hydrogen peroxide concentrations, representing decreased human population concentrations from social distancing, produce oxygen gas foam, representing cases of illness, at a slower rate. A similar demonstration can be achieved using the popular Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. These simple experiments are best used as stand-alone demonstrations.
