Dean Campbell uses demonstrations and props to illustrate concepts while teaching his collegiate Materials Chemistry course. Many of the examples described are also suitable for use in high school and collegiate General Chemistry courses.
Dean Campbell tries to use at least one demo for every class to illustrate concepts described in his chemistry courses. In this post, he includes short descriptions of the demonstrations and props he has used while teaching his collegiate General Chemistry II courses.
A synthetic diamond wafer and an aluminum disk are held between a thumb and forefinger (to provide heat). When pressed against an ice cube, the diamond penetrates more rapidly than does the aluminum.
Butter is used to glue a piece of pasta to each disk. When the edges of the disks are immersed in hot water, the butter on the diamond melts more rapidly, releasing the piece of pasta.
A piece of glass is scratched with a diamond-tipped stylus, showing that diamond is harder than glass.
A silicon wafer is flexed until the wafer shatters.
A piece of tape pressed against a sample of molybdenum sulfide will peel off layers of the sample. Additional tape can be used to cleave the peeled sample hundreds of times.
Lithium, a very soft metal, can be cut with a knife.
Graphite can easily be crushed into small pieces.
Sulfur can easily be ground to a fine powder.
