Water / Water Chemistry

Would you like to take a walk with me through the chemical winter wonderland of snowflakes? Well, we chemists know that the stunning six-sided symmetry of snowflakes (Figure 1) results from repeated arrangement of water molecules into a hexagonal crystal structure (Figure 2).

A variety of interesting coloring books are available on the market that use water as a coloring agent.¹ When water is applied to the pages of these books, colors seem to appear like magic. When the water evaporates, the colors disappear. This allows the pages of these books to be colored over and over again.

Many have asserted that the water we drink is exactly the same water that has been eliminated from the bodies of humans and animals from the past. The argument goes that water excreted from our bodies by exhalation or urine ultimately ends up back in the water cycle.

Berries are red, berries are blue…I’ve got a berry surprise for you! DESCRIPTION: I observe a red to blue color change when I rinse my bowl after eating frozen blueberries. Sounds like an acid-base reaction, doesn’t it? Read on to learn about the blueberry surprise!

This past July, I had the opportunity to present “Making Chemistry Visible With Magnets” at ChemEd 2019. Additionally, through the creativeness of some fellow attendees, particularly Katy Dornbos, Ariel Serkin, and Kristin

One of my favorite experiments to conduct is the liquid nitrogen cloud. As long as you can get some liquid nitrogen, it is incredibly easy to carry out. All you have to do is pour some hot water into liquid nitrogen and a massive cloud results. Check it out (also, be sure to check out the video posted further below):

How can water be held in a cup that has a hole in the bottom of it? Watch this video and find out the explanation for Chemical Mystery # 15, The Leaky Cup!  

Chemical Mystery #11

In this Chemical Mystery, a metal sphere is heated until it glows orange-hot, and then it is placed in some water. Watch what happens next:

I recently posted a video on Twitter of an experiment my students were conducting in class. I thought I’d blog about the experiment, since it seemed to generate a lot of interest.