Still think that Chemistry is boring? Try these experiments to see for yourself just how fun chemistry can be!
Oooooozing Slime
Experience chemical reactions first-hand by creating your own
slime.
What you need: • Teaspoon • Large
jar • Large mixing bowl • Measuring cup
• Safety glasses • 4-ounce bottle of white all-purpose
glue (not school glue!) • 1-1/2 cups (360 ml) distilled
water • Food coloring (optional) • Borax
powder
What to do:
1. Pour the glue into the jar. Add four ounces (120 ml) of distilled
water to the glue. Mix well.
2. Add 2 to 5 drops of food coloring to the glue solution. Mix
well.
3. Pour one cup (240 ml) of warm distilled water into the bowl
and add 1 teaspoon of borax powder. Mix well.
4. Slowly add the glue mixture to the bowl containing the borax
mixture, stirring as you do so.
5. Knead the thick slime with your hands. (You may want to wear
rubber or plastic gloves to do this!) The slime will be wet,
stringy and messy at first, but the more you play with it, the
firmer it becomes.
6. Slime will dry out when exposed to air for a long time. To
preserve it, store your slime in a self-sealing bag in the refrigerator.
What happened?:
How does this oozing mass of slime hold together? The glue molecules
are polymers. When you knead the mixture, the borax links these
polymers together into a network. That’s why the slime
becomes so thick — the more polymer links that are formed,
the thicker the slime becomes.
Magic
Pennies
See how chemical reactions occur using common items found at
home or school.
What you need:
• Jar • Measuring cup • Safety glasses
• 1/2 cup (120ml) white distilled vinegar •
Pinch of salt • 10 - 20 copper pennies •
1 iron nail • Scouring powder
What
to do:
1. Pour vinegar into the jar. Add the salt.
2. Put the copper pennies into the vinegar. Let them sit in
the vinegar for at least five minutes.
3. Clean the nail thoroughly with scouring powder. Rinse the
nail, making sure all the scouring powder is removed.
4. Drop the nail into the vinegar with the pennies. Let it sit
overnight.
What do you see now?
The nail is coated with copper, and the pennies are bright and
clean.
What happened?:
The combination of vinegar and salt dissolved the dull layer
of tarnish from the surface of the copper pennies, leaving them
shiny. The tarnish-removing process released copper ions into
the vinegar. These copper ions then reacted with the iron in
the nail to form copper metal, which coated the surface of the
nail.
Magic
Pennies