combustion

The chemistry demonstration called the self-carving pumpkin¹ is a blast (no pun intended) to conduct around Halloween. To prepare this experiment, a jack-o-lantern face is carved into a pumpkin, but the eye, nose, and mouth pieces are saved. These pieces are then gently placed back into the holes in the pumpkin.

On February 3, 2023, a train derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio.^1-2 Five of the train cars were carrying vinyl chloride (Figure 1), a compound that is mostly used to make PVC.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference of the Associated Chemistry Teachers of Texas (ACT2). I had  great time interacting with and learning from a whole bunch of wonderful chemical educators from the great state of Texas.

Introduction: Did you know that sand can be converted into a mixture of gases that spontaneously ignites in air? The procedures involved are relatively simple to perform, spectacular to observe, and relate to a rich assortment of chemical principles.

The ideal gas law and gas stoichiometry problems are quite common from the high school chemistry classroom to the college general chemistry laboratory.

A Flame Tube, also known as a Ruben’s Tube, is a classic physics experiment that provides a spectacular visual demonstration of sound waves.¹ To make a Ruben’s Tube, a bunch of tiny holes are drilled in a line about 1 cm apart along one side of a steel pipe (Figure 1).

In Chemistry, students learn about combustion reactions and their applications, such as gasoline engines in cars. Students may be asked to imagine how to maximize the output of such a combustion reaction, and how this maximization point would be determined.

Bill Hammack- never heard of him, right? I love his videos as he dissects the physics and chemistry of how things work. Nothing fancy or gimmicky. Just good ol' experimentation, acute observation, rational deduction, and contagious curiosity.  

A diamond is forever…at least that’s how the advertising slogan goes. Many chemists know this saying is not entirely true, because diamonds are converted to graphite under normal conditions: