The familiar soda fountains that can be produced by adding Mentos candies to plastic bottles of carbonated beverages can also be produced by adding objects to carbonated beverages in aluminum cans. A variety of simple methods for producing soda fountains from cans are described.
In this simple trick, colors are made to "magically" appear and disappear on a straw. This science experiment is very easy to do...if you know your chemistry!
Are you familiar with the dynamic density bottle experiment? This interesting experiment was invented by Lynn Higgins, and is sold by various science supply companies. Two immiscible liquids (usually salt water and isopropyl alcohol) and two different types of plastic pieces are contained within a dynamic density bottle. The plastic pieces display curious floating and sinking behavior when the bottle is shaken.
You probably know what happens when you place dry ice in water. Do you know what happens when dry ice is placed in acetone or glycerin? Read this and find out!
In Chemical Mystery #5, I used chemistry to give the illusion that water can be lit on fire. Here is the solution to that mystery.
In this Activity, students investigate surface tension and surfactants. They count the number of drops they can place on a penny, attempt to make a "square" of drops, and create bubbles using differently-shaped wands. These mini-activities could be used to introduce surface tension and surface area when discussing properties of liquids and gases.
The vapor pressures of butanol and diethyl ether are compared using barometers to show the effect of hydrogen-bonding on vapor pressure.
The vapor pressures of chloromethane and dichloromethane are compared using barometers to show the effect of polarity on vapor pressure.
The vapor pressures of methanol and ethanol are compared using barometers to show the effect of molecular size on vapor pressure.
The vapor pressures of pentane, hexane and heptane are compared using barometers to show the effect of molecular size on vapor pressure.
