Experiments that can be done at home

Home chemistry is so rewarding, because many beautiful experiments can be done at home, with only relatively simple equipment and modest amounts of chemicals. I have done many experiments, and some of the experiments were really stunning, surprising, or simply beautiful. I made webpages about the most beautiful experiments, with photos, videos and detailed descriptions. Other experiments are only described by means of a simple text document.

This page provides different selection methods for the experiments for which a complete webpage is available. Just select the method, which most likely will match your needs. Searching the text-only documents can be done on this page.

 

Selection by kind of experiment

Click on one of the following categories for a list of experiments of the described kind:

 

Selection by alphabetic ordering

Clicking the following link gives a page with all experiments, ordered lexicographically by element symbol. This page also lists all chemical compounds, needed for doing the experiment.

List of all experiments, ordered lexicographically

 

Selection by means of periodic table chart

Click on one of the elements in the periodic table chart below. All experiments for that element (and possibly related elements) are listed in a separate page. When there is no link, associated with an element, then no full webpage is present with descriptions of experiments for that element. There still may be text-only experiment descriptions for that element, but those are not accessed through this page.

Group 1 2   3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Period
1 1
H		 2
He
2 3
Li		 4
Be		 5
 B		 6
 C		 7
 N		 8
 O		 9
 F		 10
Ne
3 11
 Na		 12
 Mg		 13
 Al		 14
Si		 15
 P		 16
 S		 17
 Cl		 18
Ar
4 19
K		 20
 Ca		 21
Sc		 22
 Ti		 23
 V		 24
 Cr		 25
 Mn		 26
 Fe		 27
 Co		 28
 Ni		 29
 Cu		 30
 Zn		 31
Ga		 32
Ge		 33
As		 34
 Se		 35
 Br		 36
Kr
5 37
Rb		 38
 Sr		 39
Y		 40
Zr		 41
 Nb		 42
Mo		 43
Tc		 44
 Ru		 45
Rh		 46
Pd		 47
 Ag		 48
Cd		 49
In		 50
 Sn		 51
Sb		 52
 Te		 53
 I		 54
Xe
6 55
 Cs		 56
 Ba		 * 71
Lu		 72
Hf		 73
Ta		 74
W		 75
 Re		 76
Os		 77
 Ir		 78
Pt		 79
Au		 80
 Hg		 81
Tl		 82
 Pb		 83
 Bi		 84
Po		 85
At		 86
Rn
7 87
Fr		 88
Ra		 ** 103
Lr		 104
Rf		 105
Db		 106
Sg		 107
Bh		 108
Hs		 109
Mt		 110
Ds		 111
Rg		 112
Uub		 113
Uut		 114
Uuq		 115
Uup		 116
Uuh		 117
Uus		 118
Uuo
 
*Lanthanoids * 57
La		 58
 Ce		 59
 Pr		 60
Nd		 61
Pm		 62
Sm		 63
Eu		 64
Gd		 65
Tb		 66
Dy		 67
Ho		 68
Er		 69
Tm		 70
Yb
**Actinoids ** 89
Ac		 90
Th		 91
Pa		 92
U		 93
Np		 94
Pu		 95
Am		 96
Cm		 97
Bk		 98
Cf		 99
Es		 100
Fm		 101
Md		 102
No

The webpages, marked with an asterisk (*), are fully worked out descriptions of experiments. The other pages are not completely worked out pages, but they definitely can be used as a basis for interesting ideas.

Compounds, mentioned in green are not really required for the experiment itself, but are needed for safe disposal or cleanup.

If a compound is mentioned in grey, then it is used for part of the experiment, which is optional, and which may be covering a different element or group of elements.

 
 

   

Before attempting to repeat an experiment from this site, please adhere to the rules, given here. For many experiments, additional information on safety and disposal is given, together with the description of the experiment. Please do not neglect that information.

Besides the chemicals, some equipment also is needed. The equipment, required for the experiments, described on this site, is very moderate and should be within budget for everyone who wants to do experiments.

 

 

   

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