Resources by whynotchemeng
Displaying 1 - 10 of 16
Alternative energy lesson
This activity provides an opportunity to revise work on fossil fuels and climate change, and help students appreciate the impact of science and engineering on our everyday lives. Students are given an email brief from the chief executive of Power plc, asking them to review the three alternative energy types that...
Dilution plant challenge
Students undertake a challenge which many chemical engineers working in industry face regularly, proving that the science learnt in the classroom is being used on a daily basis within chemical engineering industry, and that simple dilution calculations can be the difference between profit and loss for multinational...
Flaming Hand
This video from whynotchemeng shows bubbles of methane being lit whilst floating in the air and also whilst being held in the demonstrator's hands. The video shows the demonstrator covering their hands with washing up liquid to protect against any burns during the demonstration.
Flying Cake Cases
This video from whynotchemeng uses a Van de Graaff generator to cause the repulsion of foil cup cake cases, from the demonstrator’s head. The cases can be placed directly on the dome, if a suitable person is not available. Students could be asked to think about why metallic cases would work better than paper...
Frothy Foam
In this dramatic demonstration, potassium iodide catalyses the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water.This is an exothermic reaction and water is produced as steam. Food colouring and washing up liquid mixed in with the hygrogen peroxide create coloured fountains of oxygen bubbles during the...
Lilac Fire
This demonstration of a redox reaction. The reaction causes a lilac flame, which is best viewed in a darkened room. Mixing glycerol with potassium permanganate (VII) causes an exothermic reaction which oxidises the glycerol to from carbon dioxide and water (hence the steam) and it is itself then reduced. The...
Powder Flames
This video, from whynotchemeng, uses coffee whitener to demonstrate the flammability of small particles. Coffee whitener is mixed with iron filings and ignited in the air to show colourful flames. The powder must be poured from a height above the flame to enable mixing with the air and a good distance between the...
Screaming Jelly Babies
This demonstration, from whynotchemeng, involves putting a jelly baby into molten potassium chlorate. The reaction shows the oxidation of the sugar in the jelly baby. Sometimes a high pitched screaming noise can be heard during the reaction. Jelly babies can be used since they have a small enough surface area...
Singing Rods
This video from whynotchemeng shows ground rosin being used to cause resonance in an aluminium rod. If rosin is not available then it is possible to cause the resonance by striking the end of the rod with a hammer. The rod must be balanced on one finger halfway along the length to enable the rod to resonate. As...
Sugar Making
This resource was produced to get students working in teams and understanding the scientific and industrial processes involved in sugar making. The resource consists of 23 cards detailing each step of the sugar making process, which students are asked to arrange in the correct order to go from harvesting the sugar...