Chemistry

Science Play And Research Kit: Conductivity Tester

Some older chemistry sets included a conductivity tester to demonstrate the conductivity of materials and liquids. If you wish to include Snap Circuits in your Science Play and Research Kit you can use a simple circuit designed with the 555 timer IC incorp ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Nov 27 2013 - 3:44pm

Origin Of Life: Which Ancient Minerals?

Life grew as a result of natural processes that used Earth's raw materials. Models of life's origins almost always look to minerals for such essential tasks as the synthesis of life's molecular building blocks or the supply of metabolic ene ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 5 2013 - 7:30am

Science Play And Research Kit: Foil The NSA With Chemistry

Edward Snowden: patriot or traitor? Whatever your opinion of Mr. Snowden, he did give us pause to reflect on our Fourth Amendment rights “of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Jan 15 2014 - 2:07pm

Thames & Kosmos Chem C3000: Excellent Kit, Kinda Pricey

Kudos to Thames and Kosmos for getting their chemistry sets on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. They have these three introductory sets in the store: the “Dangerous Book for Boys Classic Chemistry Science Kit,” “The Chem C500,” and “The Chem c1000.” Sadly, ...

Blog Post - Steve Schuler - Dec 11 2013 - 4:09pm

Science Play And Research Kit: Borax Bead And Flame Tests

You can perform simple qualitative analysis to detect certain metals in various substances using borax bead, and flame tests. The inoculating loop for these tests is very easy to make. You can use 20 gauge to 26 gauge Nichrome or platinum wire depending on ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Dec 18 2013 - 9:26am

How To Make Vodka More Awesome- Use It To Send Text Messages Wirelessly

Vodka can make people do strange things- especially if they also have a phone. But it can also do cool things, like demonstrating how to message people using chemical signals when conventional wireless would fail. Researchers in the UK have successfully t ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 18 2013 - 6:36pm

Softly Impossible: Table Salt's Bizarre Behavior At High Pressure

Though table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), is one of the best-known and most studied chemical compounds known, it still has a few mysteries. Under ambient conditions, it crystallizes in a cubic unit cell and is very stable with one sodium atom (Na) and on ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 28 2013 - 12:31pm

Platinum Ain't Cheap But 'Cheapium' Could Be

Platinum is used in catalytic converters to transform toxic fumes from a car's engine into more benign gases, to produce high octane gasoline, plastics and synthetic rubbers, and to fight the spread of cancerous tumors. But it's not cheap, which ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 3 2014 - 4:27pm

How To Know If Your Chocolate Is Really Premium Chocolate

If you buy extra virgin olive oil, caveat emptor. Olive oil has been an avenue for corruption for hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years. Some extra virgin olive oil in studies was found to not only not be extra virgin, it wasn't even olive oil ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 15 2014 - 11:50am

Home Science Tools Chemistry Kits

While writing my series on the Science Play and Research Kit, I hoped to survey chemistry sets that are already on the market. I was able to get a reviewer’s sample of the Chem C3000 and you can take a look at my review of the Thames and Kosmos set here. ...

Blog Post - Steve Schuler - Jan 16 2014 - 7:38am