Chemical Behavior of Matter

Viscous Flow of Bread Dough

Bread dough is stiff but still flows. A big blob of foodstuff that slumps over time, like Silly Putty but large and edible.

Make bread dough enough for a couple loaves, and knead it stiff enough that a round ball of dough takes half an hour to slump to half its original height. Place on a plate, put a camera on it. Project the image at the beginning, just as the dough ball is released, and again some time later, after viscous flow.

Mixing Air and Water

Three clear containers, about 10% full of water, and three immersion blenders are on the bench. Three students volunteer to mix air into water. To one container is added an egg white, and to another is added xantham gum. The students are met with varying levels of success.

Good containers are 1500 ml beakers. The xanthan gum is best hydrated before the demo, and added as a gel to the water. An equal mix of lecithin and xanthan gum also works.

Cooking Ice vs. Cooking Eggs

An egg size piece of clear ice is dropped into a hot frying pan, with hissing and melting and steaming from solid to liquid to gas . An egg is carefully dropped into another hot frying pan, and it transforms from liquid to solid.

A small water bottle in the freezer overnight will freeze solid.  Cutting off the plastic and breaking the ice with a hammer will generate the egg size piece of ice.

Thermocouple Brownie

A brownie pan with two food safe thermocouples, one in the brownie batter and one in the air next to the pan, is put in a pre-heated oven, and the temperature profiles recorded and displayed.

Clean copper wire is used to make an armature for the thermcouple wires. Crimp the center of a 20 cm piece of 14 ga wire on the side of the baking pan. Bend loops at the ends of the copper wire to hold the thermocouple wire.

The oven temperature thermocouple should be about five centimeters away from the pan, at the same level as the center of the pan. The brownie thermocouple is...

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Potato Chip Calorimeter

A soda can with 50 ml of water is held over a burning potato chip of known mass. A thermocouple reads the temperature of the water, and its change, to estimate the energy content of the chip.

Other burnable foods include nuts, e.g. brazil nut, and other kinds of fried snack chips.

The heat transfer from burning chip to soda can bottom is only so good, and the temperature rise does not match that expected in the ideal case.

Ice in Water and Ethanol

Ice in water at 0°C is strained and added to a room temperature, 50% ethanol in water mixture. Stirred with a temperature probe, the iced mixture reaches -2°C. 

The stainless steel temperature probe is connected to a Vernier Labquest Mini and LoggerPro software displays a record of the temperature.  Two probes can be used, one in the ice water, and one in the room temperature alcohol. 

Instead of beakers, thick walled pint glasses are used. A strainer and bowl are needed for straining the ice from the water, showing that the same ice melting in water at 0°C...

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Mixing Ethanol and Water

Ethanol and water are mixed in volumetric glassware, showing a volume decrease and a temperature increase.

Two 250 ml graduated cylinders are filled to the line with water and ethanol (100%). A temperature probe shows both at room temperature. The temperature probe is then moved to an empty 500 ml graduated cylinder, and the contents of the two smaller cylinders poured simultaneously to mix well. 

The temperature of the mixture rises about 8°C, and the volume decreases to 480 ml just after mixing, clearly visible on the scale of the 500 ml cylinder, and to the class by...

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Vacuum Infusion

A vacuum is drawn over a beaker of sliced cucumber covered in a clear dressing. The cucumber outgases, making bubbles. When the atmosphere is readmitted, the dressing is forced into the cucumber, rendering it translucent and seasoned. 

A polycarbonate bell jar with a volume of about three liters is centered on the base, with attention to the seal. The vacuum pump tube ID is the same as the outlet tube OD, so attach by hand. Vacuum release by sliding the vinyl tube off of the outlet. 

The vacuum pump is the oil-less variety, and is not bothered by water. The pump is...

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Specific Heats of Oil and Water

A volunteer puts her hands in oil and water in large beakers on thermostated hot plates, at about 60°C. The water beaker hand is removed almost instantly. The oil beaker hand can remain indefinitely.

The heat capacity of oil is about half that of water. Oil is thought of as hotter because it can be heated to higher temperatures than boiling water, but at the same temperature, water moves more heat into your hand than oil does.

Liquid Nitrogen Marshmallows

A big insulated bowl is filled with liquid nitrogen and marshmallows, which when frozen, are eaten in spectacular fashion.

Regular size marshmallows. Use wooden spoons, big bowl with holes for draining. Push down the marshmallows in the liquid nitrogen and mix to evenly freeze. Serve to volunteers. 

Eaten with open mouth and exhaling slightly gives the effect of dragon's breath.

Iron Tin Reaction Kinetics

Dark red iron[III] solution is rapidly reduced to colorless iron[II] by addition of tin[II] chloride solution, with the rate depending on concentration and temperature.

Four medium footed cylinders are prepared with 100 ml of ferric chloride solution 0.01M with potassium thiocyanate solution added to make the dark red complex. One of the solutions should be hot, so just the iron and thiocyanate solutions in that cylinder, with a 150ml beaker for the demonstrator to fill with hot water from the water cooler, right before the demonstration.

The cylinders are on the bench top in...

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Reaction of Propane and Oxygen

An oxy-propane torch is lit with just propane, and the flame examined, before oxygen is added, changing the flame character and temperature.

The torch head is gaffed to the table top with enough slack to turn the gas valves. The propane tank and the oxygen tank are on separate dollies. The torch valves are closed, and the tank regulators set so there is about three pounds of pressure behind each gas. (The precise settings of the regulator are a good thing to check out in a practice session before doing this demo.)

With a friction lighter in one hand, open the propane valve on...

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Reaction of Magnesium and Air

A magnesium ribbon is held with tongs and lit with a match or torch, making a bright flame that consumes the ribbon from the bottom up.

The ribbon should be about 20-30 cm long. Hold the ribbon with the tongs high and at arms length. Let the magnesium ribbon hang at a steep angle but not vertical. Light the bottom of the ribbon by bringing the end of the torch flame up to ribbon.  Magnesium will melt before it lights, so carefully with the torch. The ribbon can also be lit with a wooden match.

Wear safety glasses and don't look directly at the flame.

Reaction of Sodium and Water

Sodium undergoes a reaction with water.

A liter of warm water in large pyrex vessel, covered with fine mesh stainless steel screen, is on a stool close by in-floor vent hood.  Add a few drops from the phenolphthalein indicator bottle.

Using the long forceps, pick out a pea size lump of sodium metal from the mineral oil in the small beaker. Wipe off the lump on the dry paper towels. With the vent fan running, lift the edge of the screen and drop in the sodium metal. Replace the screen and get back.

The sodium will from a hissing ball of molten metal, which bounces...

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Reaction of Hydrogen and Oxygen

Blue balloon with hydrogen, green balloon with helium, red balloon in back with hydrogen and oxygen mixture, and, on a cart, a red water balloon on large watch glass. Candle on a stick with matches, and a needle in the end to prick the water balloon.

Safety glasses and hearing protection is required for the demonstrator and anyone else who can't cover their ears for the red balloon.

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