Chemistry Experiments

[Lepton]

Hello friends,

I am teaching science (in English) at a school in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I am trying to include lab work for the 10th grade students who are currently doing chemistry. The typical high school experiments are proving hard to put together because I am unable to obtain chemicals or glassware. I could jerry-rig hotplates and scales if needed, but I'd rather not as the expense would come from my (already modest) salary.

Do you know of any experiments that I might be able to do with the students, given these conditions? For example, next week I am planning to show them how to use starch and iodine to test for the presence of Vitamin C in juice.

Thanks : )
Danny

[Dragon Phoenix]

If memory serves me correctly, iodine and ammonia when mixed form a mild explosive (think down graded fire crackers). Both should be easy to get.
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[Samadhi]

So...you're looking for cheap ways to make "chemistry" in Mongolia. I'm just going to step away from the table.
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And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[Dread Pirate Westley]

Vinegar plus baking soda is always a good one. Add a few drops of dish soap to make the bubbles last much longer.

You could also try to denature egg whites. I know acetone works for this, but you could try doing it with a mild acid (lemon juice), like in ceviche.

Or you could kill everyone in the room by mixing cleaning products and evolving chlorine gas. On second thought, maybe that's not such a good idea.

Liver + peroxide was one I first did in Biology class, but whether you call it a catalyst or an enzyme, it still proves the point.

[Quailman]

My son just did a lab that involved capillary action. Take a coffee filter and cut it into strips. Using a washable marker, make a dot 3 cm from the bottom Suspend it in 1 cm of water in the bottom of a glass (he taped it to a pencil and laid the pencil across the glass. The different colors separated into various pigments as the water soaked up into the strip and took the mark with it. [e]Make a pencil line across the filter where you make the mark.[/e]

Try it yourself first.

For the Chemistry merit badge (BSA), one requirement is to make a Cartesian Diver. Fill a 2 liter plastic soda bottle with water and place a McDonalds (or other fast food) ketchup packet in it. Replace the cap. When you squeeze the bottle, the ketchup packet will sink. On set of directions I've seen says to use an eye dropper that you fill mostly with water so it will barely float. My sons did a test of various fast food packets. McDonald's ketchup worked the best. Wok Express duck sauce worked well too, and it was clear so you could see it compress.

[worm]

for the ammonia/iodine expt, it's best to keep it wet until you're ready for it to go off.

what exactly are the limitations to what you can buy?

what a conicidence, q...i was just looking at the cartesian diver experiment yesterday and my students did something analagous to the coffee filter experiment last week.

[The Ragin' South Asian]

Find a student with a hot older sister. Hit on her.

[Courk]

[Lepton*]

[Dented Ford]

I don't know if it might be a bit basic, but there's always the "red cabbage juice litmus solution" where red cabbage juice will change colour according to alkalinity or acidity of the test material. Probably something that you could get hold of? and gives a visual effect the kids can get involved with.

[Jack_Ian]

I just did this with my kids.
They got a real kick out of it.
Making an egg bounce can provide a good example of several scientific principals. Mechanics, Chemistry, Biology.
I just used a raw egg and the effect was even better.

Some more experiments here.

[Agamemnon]