Science made alive: Chemistry/Experiments

Experiments, lexicographically ordered

On this webpage, the experiments are ordered lexicographically by means of the most important chemical element, investigated in the experiment. All chemicals, required for the experiment are mentioned as well, so one can see at once, what is needed to perform the experiment. Compounds, mentioned in green are not really required for the experiment itself, but are needed for safe disposal or cleanup.

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

	element	required compound	link to experiment
	Ag	AgNO₃ NaOH NH3 (5%) organic reductor, e.g. glucose or glycerol	Formation of a silver mirror. A shiny silver mirror is prepared from a mix of an ammoniacal silver solution and a reducing organic.
*	Ag	AgNO₃ HNO₃ (dilute) CaC₂ ("carbide")	Preparation of a high explosive . Acetylene gas is bubbled through an acidic solution of silver nitrate. Silver acetylide is formed under these conditions.
*	Ag, Mg	AgNO₃ Mg (powder)	Water-initiated light and smoke . A mix of silver nitrate and magnesium powder is ignited with some water.
*	Ag	Na₂S₂O₈ HNO₃ (dilute) AgNO₃ (or Ag₂O) NaOH	Very high oxidation state of silver with persulfate. Silver(I) ions are oxidized to the +3 oxidation state with persulfate.
*	Hg, Co	HCl (30%) HgCl₂ NH₄SCN any water soluble cobalt(II) salt	Colorful and really remarkable chemistry. In this experiment some amazing color changes can be observed. A beautiful bright red solution is prepared from which slowly very bright blue crystals are precipitated. Beautiful contrasts are produced in this experiment.
*	Hg	HgCl₂ (or Hg(NO₃)₂) KI	Mercury iodide, change of color and complex formation. Mercury iodide is made and it is shown how its color changes immediately after its formation.
*	Hg	HgI₂ KI AgNO₃ CuCl₂·2H₂O (or sulfate) Na₂SO₃ NaCl	Multiple compounds with a beautiful color, which depends on temperature . Mercury iodide and some derived compounds have beautiful colors, but even more surprising is the reversible change of color when the temperature is changed.
*	Ir	"IrCl4" HCl (dilute) Na₂SO₃ Na₂S₂O₈ NH₃ (dilute)	Iridium -- goddess of the rainbow. All colors of the rainbow can be created from a single iridium compound and a few common other reagents. Iridium has a very rich redox and coordination chemistry.
*	Mo	MoO₃ ascorbic acid NaH₂PO₂ Na₂S₂O₈ H₂SO₄ (dilute) NaOH H₂O₂ (3% solution)	Colorful compounds of molybdenum. This experiment demonstrates the very interesting and colorful, but also rather incompletely understood chemistry of molybdenum in aqueous solution. All colors of the rainbow can be produced with molybdenum in aqueous solution.
*	Nb	Nb (sheet or stick) HCl (10%) NaF HNO₃ (≥ 50 %) NaOH	Coloration of metallic niobium by means of electrolysis . Niobium metal is used as anode in an electrolysis setup. The metal is covered by an oxide layer. Quantum effects give beautiful colors to the metal with thin oxide layer.
*	Re	Re (metal powder) HNO₃ (≥ 50 %) HCl Zn SnCl₂·2H₂O C₆H₈O₅Na (sodium L-ascorbate) NaOH K₂S₂O₅ NaBH₄	Rhenium chemistry. Rhenium is dissolved in concentrated nitric acid, giving a solution of perrhenic acid. This solution is used as a starting point for several redox experiments.
*	Ru	Ru (metal powder) bleach NaOH HCl (dilute) H₂SO₄ (dilute) K₂S₂O₈ Zn Na₂SO₃	Ruthenium chemistry. Ruthenium metal is dissolved in household bleach, giving a solution, containing ruthenate(VI) ion. This solution is used as a starting point for a large set of experiments, exploring the rich and colorful aqueous chemistry of this element.

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