Demonstrations

Egg-lectrons and McLewis Structures

Dean Campbell | Fri, 02/28/2025 - 22:13

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Egg cartons and beverage holders can be used as models of atoms, with their dimples representing orbitals. Each dimple can hold up to two objects such as milk jug caps, plastic eggs, and cup pieces to represent electrons in the orbitals. Partially overlapping the trays by stacking the dimples represents chemical bonding and produces molecular models resembling Lewis structures. The models can be easily made from materials that can be readily found grocery stores and fast-food restaurants.

Models of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and Dipoles

Dean Campbell | Fri, 01/10/2025 - 21:51

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Explore chlorinated hydrocarbons and dipoles with paper and toy models like LEGO, K’Nex, and Lux Blox! Paper models reinforce molecule polarity lessons, with templates and assignments included in the Supporting Information.

Connecting Light Emissions from Aurora and Other Astronomical Phenomena to Chemistry Courses

Dean Campbell | Tue, 11/05/2024 - 19:26

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Recent space-related phenomena like aurora and a comet were viewed by large numbers of people. These phenomena can be connected to concepts described in chemistry courses, such as electronic structures and light emission associated with species such as excited oxygen atoms.

Picture Perfect Chemistry

Tom Kuntzleman | Sat, 10/19/2024 - 12:17

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A Picture-Perfect activity for National Chemistry Week 2024!

The WEIRDEST Chemical Reaction I've Ever Seen!

Tom Kuntzleman | Sat, 09/07/2024 - 11:17

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This chemical reaction is just plain weird...but also beautiful!

Mechanochemistry with Phenolphthalein and Base

Dean Campbell | Wed, 07/24/2024 - 17:11

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Grinding solid colorless phenolphthalein indicator and solid colorless magnesium hydroxide base can produce a reaction that causes the mixture to turn pink.

The Chemistry of Water Reveal Coloring Books

Tom Kuntzleman | Tue, 07/16/2024 - 07:01

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How do Melissa & Doug’s “Water WOW!” Water Reveal coloring books work? Let's do some experiments to find out!

Using LEGO bricks and paper springs to illustrate helical chemical structures

Dean Campbell | Sat, 06/29/2024 - 13:56

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Helical structures can be built from media such as LEGO bricks and paper. These structures can be used to model helical structures in chemistry. These include circularly polarized light and various helical biomolecules.

Exploring Color Separation in Salting-Out Experiments

Tom Kuntzleman | Sat, 05/04/2024 - 07:44

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Adding dyes to salting out experiments can create a variety of interesting color effects as the dyes differentially dissolve in the aqueous and organic layers. Can this differential solubility of dyes be explained using intermolecular forces as a guide?

Demonstrating the Glass Transition of Polylactic Acid with a Rattle

Dean Campbell | Wed, 03/27/2024 - 20:42

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Polylactic acid (PLA) exhibits a glass transition from hard and brittle to soft and rubbery when immersed in boiling water. PLA-based structures containing a small metal object can be used as rattles when they are shaken. The sound of the rattles change when they are heated above or cooled below their glass transition, enabling them to be used as demonstrations.