Applied Chemistry

Hi there. I have an understanding that, by the laws of physics, has to be wrong. Here's my understanding: Its well known that pure H20 does not conduct electricity because of its magnetic orientation. As soon as you add an electrolyte (salt) to water and the electrolyte breaks up into Ions (Na+ Cl-), water becomes very conductive, and because of this change it actually takes less energy to break up H2 and O when a salt has been added then when a salt has not been added. Once broken up and in gas form, the h20 sheds the salt and becomes pure H and O2 gas. This pure collision, free of an electrolyte, releases more energy than it took to break up the water beca…

I have learned that almost all chemical reactions are reversible. if so then why isn't any effort put into the reversal reaction of hydrocarbonic combustion? If this reaction is feasible, shouldn't it be implicated? millions, even billions of dollars would be saved. fossil fuels would become a renewable resource. global warming could be lowered. economies would prosper.

Would anyone know how to stain proteins prior to gel-loading? I am looking for a homemade dye, i.e. Involving reagents that can be found in the lab and not by ordering from a company. Thanks.

I know one way is by cell diaphragm electrolysis, and another is by chemical displacement of stannous chloride, though gives a high level of impurities. Are there any other better ways?

is it possible to make threads out of melted sugar i.e. caramel? if so how is it done, how strong would they be and how flexible would they be? Would it be possible to make stuff out of them? Also are there any other ways of making materials out of sugar? (perhaps by reacting it with some other chemical) if you know of anything interesting related to this please mention it because i am eager to try some stuff with sugar.

Hello everyone....i have a really big problem so i was wondering if anyone here can help me...well...i need to find out if there is any gas that can change the color under outside influence( electromagnetic field, temperature, preasure or whatever)???? pls if anyone have clue or links let me know....thanks...

Hi All, I mixed bauxite (aluminum ore contained 50% Al2O3 and 13% Fe2O3) with strong Sulfuric Acid/H2SO4. We all know both Al2O3 and Fe2O3 soluble in Sulfuric Acid. My question is : how to precipitate Fe2O3 alone, and let Al2O3 be soluble in sulfuric acid?? What to add?? Or how to treat?? Thanks in advance for your kind helps.

Does anyone know anything about the significance and application of unsaponified matter in oils? Does it help to protect against UV? Any other applications?

My brother claims that it's safe to mill black powder indoors and he plans on doing this in a ball mill he's constructing. He's using non-sparking lead media of course, but I'm still worried that it's not a good idea. Most sources I found all say to NEVER mill inside and say to protect with sand bags or at least a large trash can. He cites a video he can no longer find which shows how they test the jars so that in the event of an explosion only the lids come off. I'm wondering what the members of this forum think and hoping I can find some sources that point one way or another. Thanks in advance

I WANT TO GET THE LEAD OUT! I've been thinking about this for quite a long time now... I think I'm going to do it this summer, but I wanted to run it by the brainy chemists here before I try it... Lead Acid Car Batteries, the older style, non-sealed electrolytic batteries. They basically consist of a polymer body/shell with a number of internal 'chambers' or cells within. Typically 6 cells in series which produce ~2.1 volts each. These cells contain stacks of lead (Pb for the Anode) and lead dioxide (PbO2 for the Cathode) in an alternating form. These 'wafers' of lead and lead dioxide do not touch directly, but have a 'Separator' between them, which usuall…

I am researching the toxicology of the poisonous mushroom Amanita muscaria and looking for the cleanest simplest method to eliminate or neutralize the alkaloid muscarine from an extract. There are other alkaloids in this species (like muscimol), but I want to leave them intact. Since muscarine has been studied for a very long time, many procedures exist for extracting, isolating, degrading, oxidizing, and precipitating it. I am only wondering which method(s) might work best for yielding an extract free of active muscarine (and free of any toxic chemical reagents). The procedure may extract the muscarine, or convert it into a non-active form. Being a novice, my limited kno…

Well, Xmas is over, and predictably, we have a huge surplus of styrofoam packing peanuts. I'm pretty sure the local recycling pickup only covers paper, glass, and metal, but I don't want to waste huge amounts of trash space on these things. I recall seeing an episode of Mr. Wizard as a kid where he dissolved them in acetone, leaving only a small residue. So, am I remembering this right? And what will the residue be? Is it just depolymerizing it, or is there a chemical reaction beyond that? Would the residue be safe to throw out? Mokele

What do you get when you react lye (sodium hyroxide) solution with sugar? I have tried it with aluminium and got hydrogen gas which I filled balloons with and I was wondering what you get with sugar. :-)It amazes me how much fun you can get from household products:D

Greetings, After searching every store I could I finally came across a source for sulphuric acid in the form of drain cleaner. I was pleasantly surprised to discover (thanks to the online MSDS) that it's 94% sulphuric acid. Unfortunately the "12 buffers" added appear rather effective, making a few drops incapable of harming a cardboard box. Clearly I need to purify it, but I'm not entirely sure how. After asking on the IRC (thanks UnintentionalChaos and Nitric) I learned that I should do something along the lines of adding activated charcoal to it, filtering it through fiberglass, and then concentrating to make up for any water gained in the above steps. …

Hi everyone! Brainiac - a mistake in a chemical formula name! Brainiac - I'm shure most of you have heared of it - Science abuse and its quite fun to watch too (Especially the Thermite, oooo Thermite) Anyway, on the Exploding Caravan Golf the person speaking said it was Sodium Carbonate ([ce]Na_2CO_3[/ce]) but was labelled [ce]NaNo_3[/ce] which is clearly Sodium Nitrate! Big mistake there.... Another thing that annoys me are these adverts that go on about all this miricle anti-rinkle formulas and the like. When you lookup the stuff they say most of it is a load of crap and infact most of it is not even found! Amazing the things they put on TV... …

I have some trouble understanding the Meissner effect. I understand most of it, but i jut want to make sure.Can anyone explain to me what exactky it means? i never thought i would say these words but, please someone dumb it down for me.

If you want an alloy of say iron, manganese, phosphor, and germanium; do you melt them with desired proportions in a very, very hot 'blender' and push the 'on' button for a while ? Or is it more rocket science than that ?

I'm re-vamping my lab. The safety posters are ancient and yellow. Does anyone here know where to get decent un-patronizing lab safety posters?

A recent study found that people who followed a low-carb diet lost more weight than people who ate a low-fat diet. What's more, they enjoyed lower cholesterol levels to boot. So, was Dr. Atkins right? Should people ditch their fruit for a filet mignon? "Not so fast," says Pam Ofstein, director of Nutrition Services for eDiets. "Low carbohydrates shouldn't mean no carbohydrates," she said. "While a low carbohydrate plan can help with weight loss, a lot depends on the types of carbohydrates and the quality of other foods included." The study, conducted by researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, found that both low-carb and Mediterranean diets were as ef…

I have been set a challenge to build a rocket car, and have a large collection of chemicals at my disposal, does anyone know what reaction would be best to create a good rocket car, and how would i contain the reaction to propell the car forwards???? Thanks Ash

Hey guys, I just recently joined the forum. I have a question about a decal. I mistakenly affixed a decal to my front windshield when it had to go on the back. What is the best solvent to use to remove the adhesive and take it off intact so I can move it to the back? I've been told by some to use acetone while others told me not to. Some have told me to use rubbing alcohol while others told me it wouldn't work. Just wanted to ask Chemistry buffs as to which method will work the best. I don't have access to a heat gun or portable hair dryer before someone offers that suggestion Thanks.

I'm planning on making some nitrous oxide and was wondering about how to go about removing nitric oxide impurity. On wiki is states that bubbling the gas through a basic solution followed by acid then basic again should remove most of the nitric oxide. Does anyone have any idea on what kinds of concentrations should be used? Also it says that FeSO4 can be used to chelate the NO. Would the FeSO4 be desolved in the basic solution and Fe(NO)x ppt. out? One more question, I read on another thread that N2O is easily absorbed into water, if the basic and acidic solutions are at room temperature would there be any significant loss of N2O into solution? wiki link - http:…

Hi all, I was just wondering and was infact a bit curious about a question thats was bring put forward to me. In FTIR, N2 is used to take the background right and it is supposed to have no absorption peak becuase it is not a dipole but still the N2 show absorption peak....! I don't know how that can be. May be there is a reason that the in N2 molecule bond if not vibrate but does rotate that show the absorption peak. I have no clue....any help????!

I have a crystalline organometallic material that is mostly non-polar (cobalt carbonyl). I have been trying to find a suitable solvent for it. So far I used Hexane which reached a solubility of ~10 mg of solute per mL, and Methanol which had a slightly lower solubility. I am aiming to get the solubility up to about 25 mg of solute per mL. Any suggestions for possible solvents or mixture of solvents will be appreciated.

I have been speculating what would happen if you lit a block of frozen fuel (like white gas, kerosene, or lamp oil) on fire? I know that it will not burn while it is still frozen, but once you start to apply fire, I imagine it would melt and then the fumes would be able to ignite. The fuel would have to be frozen with dry ice or maybe something even colder. I'm not sure if the fuel would instantly thaw and explode... or what? If it did explode would it be the same as throwing a match into the same amount of fuel in a bucket, or would it be smaller/larger? What I'd love to see it do is to just slowly melt and burn (maybe with increasing intensity as it gets hotter and …