Tom Kuntzleman's blog

A Picture-Perfect activity for National Chemistry Week 2024!

This chemical reaction is just plain weird...but also beautiful!

How do Melissa & Doug’s “Water WOW!” Water Reveal coloring books work? Let's do some experiments to find out!

Adding dyes to salting out experiments can create a variety of interesting color effects as the dyes differentially dissolve in the aqueous and organic layers. Can this differential solubility of dyes be explained using intermolecular forces as a guide? 

Pharaoh's serpent is the name of a very interesting chemical reaction that produces a snake-like foam. Unfortunately, it requires the use of a toxic mercury compound. Explore this very similar reaction that can be achieved quite simply by using fuel tablets and calcium gluconate tablets and learn a lot about the chemistry that is involved!

What is some of the chemistry involved in the formation of ice clouds when boiling water is thrown into icy air?

It has been claimed that because all water ultimately ends up in the water cycle, we drink water that the dinosaurs peed out. What does chemistry have to say about this assertion?

Igniting paper towels that have been soaked in concentrated potassium nitrate and allowed to dry yields a flame reminiscent of that produced by guncotton. Repeating this experiment with other metal nitrates produces flames with different colors, plus a few other chemical surprises! This series of experiments is fascinating and connects to a wide variety of chemical topics including combustion, redox reactions, chemical thermodynamics, and flame tests. You don't want to miss this one!