Experiments

here`s the place to add/list any quick and easy experiments that can be done either at home or with simple equipment. this is NOT a thread for Chat, and all experiments entered here MUST BE according to the SFN safety/legality regulations. please keep all entries as complete and exact as possible. where possible provide links with pictures (not a requirement). All subjects are welcome, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Psychology etc... single post... single experiment

did you know that a standard LPG Bunsen burned on a Blue flame gives just over .25g of Downwards thrust, and only .06g of thrust on a yellow flame.

This is the place, where you can write about the experiments YOU have done, or are planning to do. This is not the place to write about something, which others have done, and it also is not the place to talk about some school lab, which you have to do. It should be about your own experiences, you have chosen out of interest. What we want to achieve with this forum is that people actually DO science and not only talk about science. Experiments can be described for all sciences. The most obvious thing may be chemistry, physics, electronics. But also mathematical experiments (e.g. computing and investigating properties of certain mathematical objects, recreational math…

While browsing around "Amateur Science" topics, I was reminded of an experiment I did a while ago. Whenever I'd go hiking with friends, especially one particular friend, I'd come out of the woods and he'd never have a single tick on him. I often wondered if ticks somehow choose a preferred host. So, one day after hiking, we took the tick that was on me and did a small experiment. We sat between two to three feet apart on a wood floor and placed the tick in the center of us. We would then wait to see who the tick would walk to. After he within a couple inches of our body, we would change our positions and orientation and put the tick in the center again. The result w…

I've seen a lot of information about concentrating both the 3% versions of hydrogen peroxide, and the 30%. I've seen the idea of boiling it (bad idea, due to vapor detonation), and I've seen freezing it (which seems somewhat less explosive) - however can someone explain to me the fine points of freezing hydrogen peroxide, and then removing the concentrated product. If I had the 3% solution, what temperature would it freeze at, and how would I remove the concentrated product, and what concentration would it be. If I use the 30% version (I would prefer this infinitely, as it would give me more peroxide, and I have no problem getting 30% Hydrogen peroxide) - again, the same …

I recently came across a YT video showing a proposed substance that when it "comes in contact with air, loses its polar ability and sticks to itself, transforming into solid water spheres." I figure that the best place to get the truth is here, so I have two questions. 1) Is the video giving truthful information, and this experiment is possible? 2) If the answer to question 1 is yes, where is the best place to get Calcium Bicarbonate and Calcium Acetate? (The author of another video states Wal-Mart may carry them, but I have doubts.) YT Videos: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vCeAfKCC2ng and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_kYkFy5-jI&NR=1

here`s a thread for any Curious Chemists that want to try a little bit of Organic chem, the idea is to make and share recipes for Esters and TRY to describe the smells if you can. I`ve just had a go myself and made Ethyl Benzoate, it smells almost good enough to eat! simply 5ml of 100% Ethanol (it should work with the 95% too), added to Benzoic Acid (I added roughly half a T`spoon (or 2 spatulas) and then 4 drops of Conc Sulphuric acid. interestingly the benzoic acid dissolves in the ethanol 100%, but when you add the sulphuric (esp in one spot) a white solid forms but then dissolves again? next gently heat it, when the vapor starts to rise and condense half…

A few months ago, I was walking on a railroad and encountered a dead rodent (maybe a ferret, a badger, a raccoon...) on the tracks. Yesterday I went there again and noticed the corpse was still there. The whole flesh was completely decomposed, all that was left was a clean, white, intact skeleton with some little dry hair and skin on the sides. It was a pretty neat sight. In fact, it was so nice and in perfect condition, that I thought I'd like to take the skull back home. I even turned it over to see that there wasn't a trace of brain tissue left. I'll wait to have some gloves and a plastic bag, of course. Still, I know it's probably full of microbes and not…

Years ago I managed to make rather pure KClO3 (http://KClO3.velp.info) but I read on several sites on the internet that perchlorate is more stable and thus safer, but harder to make. See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KClO4 . Does anyone have experience ?

Hey guys! I'm going to make a potato canon and need a spark generator to ignite the fumes. I was thinking about a 9v battery because of its power and size. What I want it to do is basically be able to make a spark over a gap every 2 or 3 minutes. I have no electrical experience so please be specific. I can solder though.

This is a funny experiment, I want to share here. This is not because of beautiful colors, but of a very pleasant smell. There is some aftereffect, which can be described as being numb, somewhat floating feeling. It has no adverse effects, if not done too often. First chloroform is made, through the so-called haloform reaction: Take some chlorine bleach and add acetone. Add 3 ml of acetone to 50 ml of 10% active chlorine bleach. Use the bleach without perfumes or other additives. This will make chloroform. This step may take some time. Just let the chloroform settle at the bottom, until a few blobs are obtained. Collect them with a pipette. No need to purify them, th…

Preparation of Chlorates by Disproportionation of Calcium Hypochlorite in Aqueous Solution Aside from their famous (perhaps infamous is more appropriate) use in pyrotechnics, chlorates have a fairly rich chemistry and make a valuable addition to the chemical inventory of the amateur experimenter. Iodic acid and iodates can be prepared by the reaction of iodine with solutions of chlorate acidified by nitric acid. Reduction of chlorates with hydrochloric acid generates ClO2 (generally mixed with varying amounts of Cl2 depending on stoichiometry), which makes for an interesting small scale demonstration (Do not scale up!). They can be used in place of nitrates as the oxi…

So.. Take a lead block they said... Drill a hole and drop americium in it they said.. Cover the hole with aluminum foil and you have a neutron gun... My question would be, what can i use it for maybe some other new experiments. if you have any great ideas tell me please. i will give you the results of following. becouse basically there is nothing about the neutron gun in google

after reading some of the difficulties making Magnetite in other threads, I took up the challenge of finding a more Simple and near foolproof method that`s also much cheaper! rather than using the commonly known FeCl3 method, I`m going an alternative route. you need only 2 readily available chems for this, Iron Sulphate (FeSO4) that you can get from almost Any gardening store as Moss killer for lawns, it`s also pretty easy to make if you wanted to. and simple Washing Soda (Na2CO3), if for some bizzare reason you can get this then use baking soda that`s been heated to a high heat for a while, this will convert it to washing soda also. here: washing soda on th…

Me again with my kitchen experiments. So, I'm going to show (again) how pouring salt on an ice cube makes it melt FASTER. I will have a control ice cube with nothing on it and another cube with something like sugar (to show it's not just the "powder"). I am trying to look for a substance that can do the opposite and actually increase the freezing point of water, hence keeping the ice from melting *longer*. Anyone knows of any such substance? What, in this case, is the opposite of salt? I'm trying to look it up online but so far with little success. I'll post it here if I find anything. IF there is such a substance (and .. there must be!) I sure hope it can…

ok... not exactly a "stick" its more of a vial... but it demonstrates chemiluminescence. Recipie is quite straightforward: Start with Diethyl Phthalate, add bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate "TCPO", stir in some hydrogen peroxide, a bit of sodium acetate to improve the effect of the peroxide and a dash of bis(phenyethynyl)anthracene for color. First picture is the vial with the flash on, the second picture is the vial with the flash off. Its hard to see, but those "rocks" in the bottom are actually pure crystals of TCPO. if you look closely, you can tell its not the crystals that are growing, but the surface as the crystals dissolve and react with the peroxide. I…

I have made some KBrO3 from KBr and this synth was quite succesful. I used this for my oscillating reaction experiment, and also for some other energetic materials experiments. The synth is described here: http://woelen.scheikunde.net/science/chem/exps/KBrO3_synth/index.html Have fun, but be careful. KBrO3 is a possible human carcinogen. It also can react very energetically with some reductors.

I read an article that discussed a Japanese physicists observations about earthworms exiting the ground before one of their big earthquakes. http://animalsandearthquakes.com/ikeya.htm Electric currents have been used for earthworm extraction going back many decades (worm getters), but I could not find any studies where their sensitivity to specific currents levels was measured. I have raised garden beds which are prolific with earthworms so I decided to see if I could get them to respond with fairly low electric currents. I used #12 solid copper wire as electrodes, starting out with 6" length and then later making some 12". I started out with a 38.6 VDC so…

I mixed some baby powder (2 tsp) and some water (1 oz) together and microwaved it just to see what would happen and it came out chunky and gelatinous. Did I make some crude form of gelatin or was it something else? The baby powder says it is made up of corn starch, tricalcium phosphate, and some added lavender/chamomile fragrance stuff. I think I just made some really nasty gelatin, but I'm not sure. (sorry about the units, but I'm working with kitchen utensils and am too lazy to convert them. )

Hello, I'd like to share one of my latest experiments, a laser interferometer that I made at home with about $20 of parts (well, I used a green laser, but a red can work too). Of course, I had two mirrors, a lens to magnify the interference fringes, but how did I really save money? I used a 10 cent CD jewel case for a beam splitter! Even with this hacking, I got some crisp fringes, and I hope to use this to test the stability of my setup when I try making holograms again. Even though I'm only working with Class IIIa lasers, you should take care not to look into the beam or reflections. Laser goggles of a low optical density might be advisable. Here's th…

Hi, I'm doing some scientists-in-school program and I need some ideas for a short-term (~1day) intermediate experiments that are fun for the kids and can excite them to science. I've thought of some ideas but I can't seem to find simple protocols for them. I don't have a lot of time on my hands to design a new protocol, so I'm seeking some help for those who may have experiences in these. 1. Simple fragrance extraction from flowers 2. Ag photo development 3. Creating some polymer/biomaterials for artificial limbs 4. Oohbleck (I got this from some website) - which can exhibit different surface properties depending on impact Hope someone can help. Any other…

Hey hey guys, The other day I posted a science experiment where I show how water rise inside a glass with fire in it. I explained the process wrong, though, and Shane Killian, along with some other fellas, corrected me. That was actually quite cool - I think it's one of the best things about science and learning, to have people think about things and criticize them. That's how we learn. First off, the videos are here (both): http://www.smarterthanthat.com/experiments/a-physics-party-trick-that-sucks-liquid/ Anyhoo, I was thinking about this quite a lot, and I am not sure if what causes the effect is the heat.. What I was thinking, is that the fire …

My sister's B-Day is coming up and I want to surprise her by forging a Meteor Knife Set for her (I'm not really gonna be the one to forge it,I'll just buy the materials and give my dad's bladesmith the design for the Knives.) My dad gave me a relatively medium stock of metals last year and now I want to use most of it for my sister. I need suggestions on how much Iridium,Platinum,Iron,Chromium,Nickel and Carbon I need to create a very great, very strong and corrosive resistant knife set, any suggestions? I already bought a diamond hone knife sharpener for the knife set. One more thing,What's the best kind of light weight knife I can use when a Man Rabies (Zombie) …

The Classic Goldfish Memory Experiment, with a Twist I have a final paper on goldfish memory, but to keep things interesting, I'll be testing not just if the common goldfish has a long term memory, what I'll be testing is... Can Goldfish Remember Sequences? The classic goldfish memory test is basically teaching them to navigate a simple maze, with a colored hole to mark the openings, and food as reward. If their time in navigating improves, it means they do have memory. But, with this twist, I want your opinion on if it'll work or not (I know experiments don't have to go the way you think It'll go all the time, but I'm not wasting several dollars worth of …

Silver chloride is photosensitive, it will darken when exposed to light. This serves as the basis for photography and has only recently been replaced by the digital age. The concept can be demonstrated by making silver chloride from silver nitrate and table salt. Then spreading it out and exposing it to light while placing something to be "photographed" over it.