Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments

2 DIY Science: Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments

Students who will go on to major in college in nonscience
disciplines need only a first-year chemistry course with some
exposure to basic chemistry lab procedures. For these students,
one 60- to 90-minute chemistry lab period per week suffices.
The following labs, some of which require two sessions, are a
good starting point:

6.1 – Differential Solubility: Separate Sugar and Sand

Laboratory 6.5: Chromatography: Two-Phase Separation of Mixtures ......................................1

(first part only)

Laboratory 7.1: Make Up a Molar Solution of a Solid Chemical ...................................................

Laboratory 8.3: Observe the Effects of Osmotic Pressure ..........................................................

Laboratory 9.1: Observe a Composition Reaction ........................................................................1

9.3 – Observe a Single-Displacement Reaction

Laboratory 11.1: Determine the Effect of Concentration on pH ..................................................19

Laboratory 13.1: Observe Le Chatelier’s Principle in Action ........................................................

(Boyle’s Law) ..................................................................................................... Laboratory 14.1: Observe the Volume-Pressure Relationship of Gases

(Boyle’s Law)

Laboratory 15.1: Determine Heat of Solution ...............................................................................2

Laboratory 15.2: Determine the Heat of Fusion of Ice .................................................................2

Laboratory 16.1: Produce Hydrogen and Oxygen by Electrolysis of Water ................................28

Laboratory 18.1: Observe Some Properties of Colloids and Suspensions ................................

Laboratory 19.1: Use Flame Tests to Discriminate Metal Ions ....................................................

Laboratory 19.2: Use Borax Bead Tests to Discriminate Metal Ions .........................................

Students who will go on to major in college in science
disciplines need a first-year chemistry course with much
more exposure to chemistry lab procedures. For these students,
allocate two 90-minute to 2-hour chemistry lab periods per week
or one 3- to 4-hour lab period. (Regularly scheduled weekend lab
sessions, when other classes do not interfere, are often the most
suitable time for home school students and the only practical
time for public school students.) The following lab sessions
are a good starting point:

6.1 – Differential Solubility: Separate Sugar and Sand

Laboratory 6.2: Distillation: Purify Ethanol .....................................................................................9

Laboratory 6.3: Recrystallization: Purify Copper Sulfate ............................................................1

6.4 – Solvent Extraction 6.5 – Chromatography: Two-Phase Separation of Mixtures

Laboratory 7.2: Make Up a Molal Solution of a Solid Chemical ...................................................1

Laboratory 7.3: Make Up a Molar Solution of a Liquid Chemical ................................................1

7.3 – Make Up a Molar Solution of a Liquid Chemical

Laboratory 7.4: Make Up a Mass-to-Volume Percentage Solution ..............................................1

Laboratory 8.1: Determine Molar Mass by Boiling Point Elevation .............................................1

Laboratory 8.2: Determine Molar Mass by Freezing Point Depression ......................................

8.3 – Observe the Effects of Osmotic Pressure 9.1 – Observe a Composition Reaction

Laboratory 9.2: Observe a Decomposition Reaction ...................................................................1

9.3 – Observe a Single-Displacement Reaction

Laboratory 9.4: Stoichiometry of a Double Displacement Reaction ..........................................1

Laboratory 10.1: Reduction of Copper Ore to Copper Metal .......................................................

Laboratory 10.2: Observe the Oxidation States of Manganese...................................................

Laboratory 12.3: Determine the Effect of Concentration on Reaction Rate ..............................

Laboratory 12.1: Determine the Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rate .................................

Laboratory 12.2: Determine the Effect of Surface Area on Reaction Rate .................................21

Laboratory 12.4: Determine the Effect of a Catalyst on Reaction Rate .....................................

13.1 – Observe Le Chatelier’s Principle in Action

Laboratory 13.2: Quantify the Common Ion Effecct ...................................................................

(Charles’ Law).................................................................................................... Laboratory 14.2: Observe the Volume-Temperature Relationship of Gases

(Boyle’s Law) 14.2 – Observe the Volume-Temperature Relationship of Gases (Charles’s Law) 14.3 – Observe the Pressure-Temperature Relationship of Gases (Gay-Lussac’s Law) 15.1 – Determine Heat of Solution

Laboratory 15.3: Determine the Specific Heat of a Metal ...........................................................

15.3 – Determine the Specific Heat of a Metal 16.1 – Produce Hydrogen and Oxygen by Electrolysis of Water 18.1 – Observe Some Properties of Colloids and Suspensions

Laboratory 18.2: Produce Firefighting Foam

Laboratory 18.3: Prepare a Gelled Sol .........................................................................................

19.1 – Using Flame Tests to Discriminate Metal Ions 19.2 – Using Borax Bead Tests to Discriminate Metal Ions

A NoEoT N THE Ap CHEmISTRy ExAm While we were discussing the AP Chemistry exam, Dr. Paul Jones made a profound comment that is worth serious consideration. Many of Paul’s first-year organic chemistry students pass the AP Chemistry exam with a 4 or 5 score and skip first-year college general chemistry. Paul thinks that’s a mistake, because almost none of those students actually got the full equivalent of first-year college general chemistry in their AP courses. As Paul said, it’s fine for a history major to take the AP Chemistry exam and test out of taking a first-year college chemistry course, and it’s fine for a chemistry major to take the AP History exam and test out of taking a first-year college history course. But the history major shouldn’t test out of taking the first-year history course, and the chemistry (or other science) major shouldn’t test out of taking the first-year chemistry course. That’s not to say that future chemistry (or physics, biology, or other hard science) majors shouldn’t take the AP Chemistry course itself. Worst case, by taking the intro course in your major even though you already have the AP course under your belt, you end up with an easy A, impress your professors, and hit the ground running.