Polypropylene and the Cold Snap
Dean Campbell | Sat, 02/20/2021 - 10:43
Cold weather brings about the opportunity to demonstrate glass transition temperatures of polypropylene containers.
Polymer Chemistry
Especially JCE: September 2019
Erica Jacobsen | Thu, 09/19/2019 - 19:19
Erica Jacobsen shares highlights from the September 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education of special interest to our ChemEd X community.
First Day Chemistry Engineering Activity
Melissa Hemling | Sat, 09/07/2019 - 22:26
It is difficult to find a lab to do on the first or second day of school. This engineering lab fits the bill!
Especially JCE: August 2019
Erica Jacobsen | Tue, 08/13/2019 - 07:39
Erica Jacobsen shares highlights from the August 2019 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education of special interest to our ChemEd X community.
Solution to Chemical Mystery #15: The Leaky Cup
Tom Kuntzleman | Mon, 05/27/2019 - 07:03
The solution to Chemical Mystery #15: The Leaky Cup is shown here.
Chemical Mystery #15: The Leaky Cup
Tom Kuntzleman | Thu, 05/16/2019 - 08:17
Time for a new chemical mystery! Watch the video below and see if you can use your chemical knowledge to figure out how this experiment is done.
Temperature Experiments with the Scrub Daddy Sponge
Tom Kuntzleman | Wed, 02/21/2018 - 10:59
What happens if you cool a Scrub Daddy sponge in liquid nitrogen (or dry ice) and subsequently strike it with a hammer? Let's find out!
Scrub Daddy Science
Tom Kuntzleman | Wed, 01/03/2018 - 18:20
The science behind the incredibly popular Scrub Daddy sponge is investigated. Part of the appeal of the Scrub Daddy sponge is that it changes from soft to hard depending upon temperature. This allows a single sponge to be transformed into a hard scrubber or soft sponge, depending upon the temperature of water into which it is placed.
Polymer Day: Outreach Experiments for High School Students: An ACS Authors' Choice article
The authors of the recent Journal of Chemical Education article, PolymerDay: Outreach Experiments for High School Students, offer a collection of interactive polymer activities designed to be part of an all-day outreach event for high school students. For teachers that might use the activities on separate occasions and/or as part of their curriculum, the authors recommend an accessible resource to support that work.
This is an ACS Authors' Choice article and is open access to all.
Pondering Packing Peanut Polymers
In this Activity, students compare polystrene and cornstarch packing materials ("peanuts"). Both are made of polymers, but because of their composition, they behave very differently in various solvents. Students extrapolate how these differences in behavior relate to environmental effects, such as filling landfills with non-biodegradable materials.