consumer chemistry

The Density Bottle experiment has inspired many colorful variations over the years.^1-6 I recently came across yet another colorful variation that I’d like to discuss.

A variety of interesting coloring books are available on the market that use water as a coloring agent.¹ When water is applied to the pages of these books, colors seem to appear like magic. When the water evaporates, the colors disappear. This allows the pages of these books to be colored over and over again.

Jet-Puffed color changing marshmallows are an interesting new product that is available on the shelves of grocery stores through the end of September.¹ The color of these marshmallows changes when exposed to heat: the blue version turns green, while the pink version turns orange.

Co-Authored by Tom Kuntzleman* and Grazyna Zreda** *Spring Arbor University, MI and **Tanque Verde HS, AZ

Recently, Anne Schmidt and I published an article together in the Journal of Chemical Education.¹ The article outlines a titration activity that students can carry out at home using only store-bought items. The objective of the activity is to determine the amount of Mg(OH)₂ in milk of magnesia.

A recent publication in the Journal of Chemical Education caught my eye.¹ The article describes how lithium “coin” or “button” batteries can be used in the chemistry laboratory to teach students about stoichiometry.

In Chemical Mystery #18: Peek A Boo Blue,¹ Blue Powerade is observed to change to green, and then to a yellow color. When the yellow-colored solution is disturbed by pouring it, it shifts back to green or blue-green.

Have you seen the rainbow candy experiment? It's a very simple experiment that involves pouring water into a plate that has M&M's candies or Skittles arranged in a pattern. Very curious shapes of sharply divided regions form spontaneously. How does this happen?! 

The oxidation of reducing sugars by silver ions to form a silver mirror is a classic chemistry experiment. In this experiment, sugars that contain aldehyde functional groups are reacted with an ammonia-silver complex to form silver metal, which forms a shiny metallic mirror:

Bottles of soda are sealed under high pressures of CO₂, or P_CO2. This causes a substantial amount of CO₂ to dissolve into the beverage, giving the drink its fizziness. But what exactly is the pressure inside a bottle of soda?