Rates Of Reaction…

A chemical reaction involves reactants turning into products. You can tell when a reaction has happened because there will be production (or sometimes absorption) of energy; usually in the form of heat but sometimes light & sound too. There may also be a change of colour but this doesn’t always happen. The end products will […]

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People As Molecules…

How many names of famous people can you spell using the symbols for elements? I set myself a low bar for ‘famous’ and managed… OBi (oxygen and bismuth) & (Mr) AuSTeN (gold, sulphur, tellurium and nitrogen) before I thought I would be better handing it over to you. I have not Googled this yet but I […]

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Sodium & Water…

I am clearly too lazy to do this properly as I am just posting Periodic Videos’ latest offering. I can’t wait to see the reactions with potassium, rubidium and caesium. I talked about buying a high speed camera a few weeks ago. Now that we have our shiny new iMac it would be great to […]

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Calcium Carbide…

Calcium carbide is a simple compound, but it is fun because it liberates a flammable gas when water is added. It is produced by heating a mixture of calcium oxide and carbon (coke) at about 2000°C. A word equation for this reaction would be… When water is added to calcium carbide the reaction liberates the […]

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Fritz Haber…

I think that Fritz Haber is a very interesting scientist with a fascinating life history. I first heard his story from an episode of RadioLab – which is a podcast I have recommended before. Haber was born in Germany in 1868 and went on to study chemistry at University in Berlin, completing his PhD under […]

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Chemistry Dubstep…

The brilliant Periodic Table of Videos team again! How many of those reactions do you recognise? We have done several of them in class and you should be able to deduce some of the others. Answers in the comments section below please!

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Melchior…

Melchior is an alloy of copper and nickel used to make coins and cutlery. It is silvery in colour and particularly resistant to corrosion, even in saltwater. One version of the alloy (containing 30% nickel, 0.8% iron, 1% manganese and 68.2% copper) is used to make condenser tubes like the ones shown in the diagram […]

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More Methane…

Methane (CH4) is the simplest hydrocarbon molecule and the gas that we burn in the lab. It is produced when organic material rots or is fossilised. As natural gas it is one of our three major fossil fuels used to offer a source of energy for power stations such as Didcot B power station. Like all hydrocarbons, methane […]

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Gallium…

Another offering from the brilliant Periodic Table of Videos guys, this time about gallium. Gallium is a metal element but not one that we get to play with in the lab. After watching this I want to get a sample for school as it looks like a fun substance. Questions… What other metal is named after the same place […]

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Cadbury’s Creme Egg…

Just a simple video post today. There is a great group on YouTube called the Periodic Table of Videos. They are attempting to make a video about every element on the Periodic Table. The video below is an Easter special concentrating on various ways to mistreat a Cadbury’s creme egg. I think I am likely to […]

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More About Chemical Bonds…

I wrote a few months ago, in response to a question from Felix, about the energy changes that occur when reactions happen. Some reactions are exothermic (that means they give out heat) whilst others are endothermic (which means that they absorb heat). Exothermic reactions are hot and endothermic ones are cold. If you have a […]

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Slime…

We made some slime on Sunday. In fact, the boys made rather a lot of slime, which they coloured blue with food dye. They followed a simple recipe, mixing PVA glue 50:50 with water and stirring until the  mixture was an even, milky-white colour.  Then they added a few drops of colouring. I had made up some saturated borax […]

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