THE GOLDEN BOOI( OF

Chemistry Experiments
How to Set Up a Home Laboratory-
Over 200 Simple Experiments
BY ROBERT BRENT
ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY LAZARUS
GOLDEN PRESS NEW YORK
> 1960 L) Pu:u. Inc . ..\11 r-i.(.hu reuntd. Printe-d in l.LS .. A. PuLllibr:d by Coldt-n Preu . Inc Rockdtlhr <Anlt-r. t\'t" Yorl.lO. Y.
Acid: a hydrogen-containing compound
that Ieleases hydrogen ions in solution.
Alloy: a material made up by combining
two or more metals.
Analysis: breaking down a compound
into two or more substances.
Anhydrous: hee from water.
Atom: the smallest unit of an element
that can enter into the making of a
chemical compound.
Atomic weight: the weight of an atom
compared with the of an m..-ygen
atom set. at 16.
Base: a compound containing the by-
dioxide group (OH).
Catalyst: a substance that helps in a
chemical reaction witJ1out itself being
changed.
Chemical change: a change of a sub-
stance into another substance having
different properties.
Chemistry: a branch of science dealing
with the compositions of substances and
the changes that can he made in them.
Combustion: burning; a chemical
change that produces heat and light.
Compound: a substanc-e consisting of
moor more different kinds of atoms in
definite proportions by weight.
Crystal: a solid in which atoms or mole-
cules are arranged in a definite pattern.
Density: the weight of a Uquid or a
solid in grams per cm3 or milliliter.
Distillate: a liquid that has been turned
into vapor and again cooled into a liquid.
Distillation: the process of producing
a distillate.
Ductile: capable of being drawn out into
a wire.
Electrolysis: breaking down a substance
by passing an electric current through iL.
Electrolyte: a substance that, when in
a solution or when melted, will conduct
an electric current.
Element: a substance that contains onl y
one kind of atoms.
Equation: a complete de..."Cription of a
chemical reaction by the usc of svmbols,
formulas, and signs:
Evaporation: the changing of a sub-
stance into vapor; also the process of rc-
mO\ing water by heating.
Filtrate: a liquid obtained by filtration.
Filtration: the process of straining a
liquid from a solid through porous mate-
rial, usually filter paper.
Formula: a group of symbols and num-
bers giving the composition of a com-
pound.
Hydrate: a compound containing loosely
bound water of ( water of
crystal.l.ization) that can be driYen off
by heating.
Hydroxide: a compound that contains
the hydro:\.yl (OH) radical.
Jon: an electrically charged atom or
group of atoms {radical).
l\lalleahle: capable of being hammered
or rolled into a thin sheet.
Matter: that Lakes up space
and bas weight.
1\Ietal: an element that is a good con-
ductor of electricity, has luster , and
whose oxide forms a base with
1\Ietalloid: an element that has proper-
ties of both metals and nonmetals.
l\lixture : a mingling of substances
combined chemically.
:Molecular weight: the Sunl of the
atomic weights of the atoms that make
up a molecule of a compound.
Molecule: the smallest unit of a com-
pound tbat can exist in the free state.
Neutralization: the rcact.ion of an acid
and a base to give a salt and water.
Nonmetal: an clement. that is a poor
conductor of electricity, does not have
luster, and oxide forms an acid
when combined with ,-.;ater.
2
Organic chemistry: the chemistry of
the carbon compounds.
Oxidation: the process by a sub-
stance combines with ox-ygen.
Precipitate: an insoluble solid formed
in a solution by chemic-al reaction.
Radical: a group of atoms that. behave
chemically as a single atom.
Reaction: a chemical change.
Reduction: removal of oxygen; the op-
posite or oxidation.
Salt: compound (other than water)
formed by the reaction of an acid and
a base.
Saturated solution: a solution that
contains the maximum amount of solute
under the conditions.
Solul>ility: the number of grams of a
solute needed to make a saturated so-
lution in 100 grams of sohent.
Solute: the substance dissohed in a
solvent.
Solution: a non-settling mix-ture of a
solute in a solvent.
Sohent: a liquid in which a solute is
dissolved.
Sublimation: a proce..<s by which a sol-
id is turned into vapor and again cooled
into a solid without passing through a
liquid stage.
Subscript: a small numeral indicating
the number of atoms of a certain element
in the formula of a compou.nd.
Substance: any specific kind of matter
whether element, compound, or mi:l:ture.
Symbol: a let.ter or two letters repre-
senting one atom of an clement.
Synthesis: the making up of a com-
pound from simpler compounds or from
elements; the opposite of analysis.
Valence: the number of hydrogen atoms
which one atom of an element can dis-
place or with which it can unite.
Contents
\VHAT CffEi\IISTRY IS
Wonns uSED BY CBE:ms-TS. ...... . ........ .. . 2
TnE hiPoRTAXCE oF CHEmSTRY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . !
CHEillSTS OF THE p .-\ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
YOUR HO!\IE LABORATORY
EQUJP.\lENT FOR CIIEmSTRY.................. 9
SETTrNG UP YoUR HoME LABoR.-\TORY ......... 10
i\IAKlliG APPARATUS FOR ExPERT:\rEl\15 ..... . . . 12
SCIEi'OTfFIC l\IEASURDIEI'>1S ... - .... - ......... 14
CoRRECT L."'-BoR.A TORY TECH:\1QUES. . . . . . . . . . . 16
THE APPROACH
F .ARADAY's CA.i'iDLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
You - SciEl\1ISTI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ELEllEl'i1S, CmiPOUi'\ DS, Al\"D . . . . . . 22
WATER Al\"TI GASES
WATER - Oun hrPORTA .. 1\1 CmlPow.-n. . . 2-1
0:\.xGEX- THE BnE.-\TH oF LIFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
lh-r>ROGEi'i - LIGHTEST OF ALL ..... - . . . . . . . . . 28
CARBO}'; DIOXIDE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
NITROGEN Al\L> ITS Co:lli'OUNDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CHLORL'\E- FRIEND A!'\1> FoE ..... ... ........ 3-!

CHEillC.-\L ...... - ... .. - ...... . - . . 36
THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE .. . - . . 38
ACIDS, BASES, SALTS
1'u:E oF SoLUTior-;s ........... ... .. -!0
.................... . .. -!2
w ORKJ:I\G BASES .................. - ... - -!3
SALTS- CBEmcALS OF UsEs .. ......... 46
NONMETALS
Ioorl\"E - VIOLET OR BnoWN?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
SULFUI\ AND ITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
SILicox - THE Eu:.\IEl\1 You STEP Oi'\. . . . . . . 5-l
BoRoi'\- FUTURE RocKET-PowER . 56
3
Na
Fe
l\IETALS
Sooru.\r AJ\L> PoTASSIUM ................... . .. 58
Cucrmr - FOR BulLDii'\G .................... 60
LET's CmiPARE Two ................ 62
ALUill:\-mt- IX A .. - .... - - . . . . . . . . 6-!
i\1.-u'IGAXESE- OF COLORS ...... 66
\VE LIVE II'\ AN AGE OF IRON ............... - . 68
CoPPEn- YESTERDAY, ToDAY . .............. 70
SILVER - ONE OF THE "NOBLE" . . . . 72
ABOUT FOR)HJLAS
YALEJ.'icE.s A..'io .................... 74
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
CARBON- ELE.\IENT OF A l\IILLIOi'\ CO.\IPOUl\"DS. 76
THE CJ-EmsTRY OF CARBON Co:m>OlTJ\L>S ... . . . . 78
THE FolillUL.-\S OF CARBox Co.\lPou::-.-ns. . . . . . . 80
A LoT oF HYonOCARBoxs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
CARBOHYDR..-\TES- SwEET At'\'D BLA.i"\1>. . . . . . . . 8-!
K.ll\-ns OF ALCOIIOLS .. . ................ 88
CARBOXYLic A eros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
FATS AND OILS FOR Ei'\ERGY.- . ........... . ... 92
SoAP ..u'io SoAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-l
PROTEli'iS-THE BooY-BUILDTIG Fooos ....... 96
CouomAL DISPERSIONS ..................... 100
X.uuRAL AND ARTrFICIAL FmERS ............ . 102
PLASTics - A i\l oDEfu'i GuNT .. ... .......... 10-!
CHEMICAL TICS
ORKJ:I\G OUT EQuA TIO:\S .......... 106
THE FUTURE OF
WiuT's AHEAD IN . ........... . . . 109
WHERE TO GET CDEmCALS Al"\"D EQUIP.\IENT ... 110
Coilllox CHE:mcALS Al\L> THEm FoiUnJLAs ..... 111
L"\l>EX ............................ - .... .... 112
EVERY HOME KITCHEN IS A CHEMICAL LABORATORY.;:
COOKING AND CLEANING ARE CHEMICAL PROCESSES.
The Importance of Chemistry
THERE IS HARDLY a boy or a girl alive who is not
keenly interested in frnding out about things. And
that's e..xactl y what chemistry is: OUT
ABOUT THII\GS- finding out what things are
made of and what changes they undergo.
What Any thing! Every thing!
Take a look around you. All the things you see-
and lots of things you can't see- have to do with
the science of chemistry.
Let's start with :yourself. The air )ou breathe is
a mixture of chemical substances and the process of
breathing is a chemical reaction. The foods you eat
INSECT SPRAYS MEAN
HEALTHIER LIVESTOCK.
are all chemical products and the ways in which
your body twns them into muscles and bones and
nenes and brain cells are some of the greatest of all
chemical mysteries.
The clothes you wear. the books you read, the
medicine you take, the house in which you live-
a]J these arc products of chemistr y. So is the family
car- the metal in it, the rubber on which it rolls,
the gas that moves it.
itself is a tremendous chemical laboratory.
Everything in nature is forever passing through
chemical changes. Here on earth, plants and animals
CHEMISTRY PROVIDES FUEL FOR
ALL KINDS OF TRANSPORTATION. PURIFICATION OF WATER
4
grow, die, and decay; rocks crack and crumble under
the influence of air and water. In the universe, new
stars are formed, others fade. The sun that gives us
heat and light and energy is a flaming furnace of
chemical processes that will eventually burn itself
out, billions of years from now.
Chemistry is one of the most important of all sci-
ences for human welfare.
Chemistry means the difference between poverty
and starvation and the abundant life. The proper
use of chemistry makes it possible for farmers to feed
the world's ever-increasing population, for engineers
to develop new means of transportation and com-
munication that will bring the peoples of the world
closer together, for doctors to cure the diseases of
mankind, for manufacturers to produce the thou-
sands of items that are necessary for better and
richer living.
And this is only the beginning.
Within recent years, scientists have succeeded in
penetrating into the innermost secrets of chemical
substances and have begun to make use of the tre-
mendous force that lies hidden in them. This atomic
PAPER AND PRINTERS'
INK ARE MADE WITH
HELP OF CHEMISTRY.
5
OIL IS THE BASIS FOR COUNTLESS CHEMICAL PRODUCTS.
i
ATOMIC ENERGY FOR
THE FUTURE
UNITED STATES IS THE WORLD'S
LEADING PRODUCER OF STEEL
~
o p p ~
SYMBOLS USED BY ALCHEMISTS
Chemists of the Past
J\ILu"'\Y THOUS.Al\-n )' ears ago, an early ancestor of
yours pushed a stick into the hot lava flowing from
an erupting volcano. The stick burst into fire. He
held it up as a t.orch. It gave off light and heat and
finally turned into ashes.
This ancient man might be considered the world's
first chemist. He had actually taken a substance
called wood and had, by a chemical process called
combustion or burning, turned it into somet.hlng else.
The discovery of the use of fire was the first great
step leading toward modern chemistry. Fire wade it
possible to turn raw foodstuffs int.o edible meals, to
bake shaped clay into pottery, to make glass, t.o
drive metals out of their ores.
For thousands of years people were chiefly inter-
ested in the results of what they did- they didn' t
BRONZE-AGE MAN WAS ONE
OF THE EARLIEST CHEMISTS.
DEMOCRITUS INSISTED THAT
MATIER CONSISTS OF ATOMS.
6
care about what happened or why it happened. It
was only about 2,500 years ago that phllosophers
began to wonder about what things were made of
and what happened when a thing changed into some-
thing else.
Around 400 B. C., in Greece, a thinker by the name
of Empedocles came up with an idea that seemed to
make sense. He explained that everything in the
world was made from just four things which he
called "elements" : fire, water, air, and earth. Think
of that burning stick mentioned above. It gave off
fire- so, obviously, the stick bad to contain fire.
It sizzled- which meant there was water in it. It
smoked- and smoke would be some kind of air. It
left ashes- and ashes are earth, as certainly every-
one should know.
Everyone- except another Greek, Democritus,
born around the time when Empedocles died. He
had a different notion- that all matter was made
up of tiny particles whlch be called atomos- some-
thing that cannot he cut further.
But Democritus didn't get very far with his idea.
The greatest Greek philosopher of the day, Aristotle,
held out for the four elements. And because of his
great reputation this false idea governed the thinking
of scientists for two thousand years- because no
one dared suggest that he knew better than the great
Aristotle!
PARACElSUS TOLD HIS PU-
PilS TO USE EXPERIMENTS.
BOYlE INVESTIGATED GASES
AND BROKE OLD TRADITIONS.
In the meantime, scientists of Arabia began work
in a subject they called alchemy -from Arabic al,
the, and kimia, pouring together. They mixed things
and boiled and distilled and extracted in the hope,
some day, of finding a way of making GOLD! They
discovered a great number of things not previously
known, developed many sound laborat.ory methods,
and gave the science of chemistry its name- but
they never created the slightest speck of gold. Nei-
ther did a great number of European alchemists .
For hundreds of years chemistry made little head-
way. Then, in 1525, a Swiss doctor and scientist
spoke up. He had the imposing name of Theophras-
tus Bombastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim. He chal-
lenged his students t.o tear up their books with the
old theories that bad been developed through reason-
ing only and to find out for themselves through ex-
periments whether a scientific theory was right or
wrong. But only a few people paid attention to bjm.
:\lore than a hundred years passed before an Eng-
lishman, Robert Boyle, in 1661, succeeded in killing
ofi the old idea or the four elements. He did it by
establishing that there are many elements - sub-
st ances that cannot be formed by other substances
and cannot be broken into other substanct's .
Another hundred years went by. Then, at the time
of the American Revolution, the day finally dawned
for modern
PRIESTlEY USED HEAT OF
SUN TO PRODUCE OXYGEN.
LAVOISIER GAVE THE RIGHT
EXPLANATION OF BURNING.
7
A Swede, Karl Scheele, and an Englishman, Joseph
Priestley, discovered oxygen, and a Frenchman, An-
toine Laurent Lavoisier , ex-plained the true nature
of burning and made up the first. scientific listing of
all known elements - twenty-eight at the time.
Within a few years, more elements were found.
With the help of electricity, an English chemist ,
Humphry DaYy, in a single year brought t.o light
six new metals- among them sodium, potassium,
calcium, and magnesium.
Twenty years later, in 1828, another important
break-through occurred. A German chemist, Fried-
ri ch Wohler, working in his laboratory produced a
chemical, urea, that had never before been made
outside the body of a living arumal.
More and more things were happening. New ele-
ments were discoYered, new chemicals created. The
advances in chemistry greatly influenced industry,
agriculture and medicine.
And then, in 1898, the Polish-born 1\Iarie Curie
and her French husband, Pierre, discovered the "'mir-
acle element," radium. This opened up a whole new
age in chemistry.
Within the last fifty years, chemistry bas moYed
forward with giant steps. But not a single one of
these steps would have been possible without the
dedicated work of the chemists of the past who laid
the foundation on which modem chemistry rests .
DAVY BROUGHT ElECTRICITY
INTO CHEMICAl RESEARCH.
MARIE CURIE AND HER HUS-
BAND DISCOVERED RADIUM.
REGULAR LABORATORY WARE
watch
glass
So1!E of the greatest discoveries in chemistry were
made by scientists who had no special equipment
but simpl y used whatever was at hand.
In your home lab eA-periments it 'vill pay you
to follow the e..xample of these early chemists. Put
your imagination to work. Use whatever suitable
equipment you can find around the bouse (as sug-
gested in column to the right) and buy onl y what is
absolutely necessary (as shown below). Some items
may be purchased in a local drugstore or scientific
supply shop. If not, you can buy them from one of
the suppliers listed on page llO.
a t ~ r on - if you really get excited about chem-
istry- you may want to use your pocket money for
some of the lab equipment shown on page 8.
LABORATORY WARE FOR HOME LAB
c
red and
blue
00)
rubber stoppers
numbers 00 to 6
rubber tubing
Ji'&" inside diameter
9
IMPROVISED EQUIPMENT FOR HOME LAB
hanger wire
mayonnaise
jar 4 oz.
water
glass
IN A REGULAR LAB,
EVERYTHING HAS ITS
PLACE AND IS NEAR
AT HAND. AIM TO
KEEP YOUR OWN LAB
AS WELL ORGANIZED.
-- >---
-- ~ . . . . . _
BOX TO HOLD HOME
LAB CAN BE MADE
FROM PLYWOOD. KEEP
BOX LOCKED WHEN
NOT IN USE AS A PRO-
TECTION FOR YOUNG-
ER CHILDREN.
siphon
boHie
10
IT rs possible that you may be permitted to work
at the kitchen table when this is not in use. But it
is far better if you baYe a place where you "-ill not
be disturbed and where you can store your equip-
ment- a corner in your room, or in the basement
or the garage.
These are the things you'll need in your lab:
Work Table. An old, stmdy table will do. CoYer
it with a plastic top to protect the wood.
Water Supply. If you have a faucet nearby,
fine. Otherwise, make a siphon bottle (page 11).
Waste Disposal. If you can dump your waste
directly into the kitchen drain (KOT into the sink),
you are all right. If not, collect it in a plastic pail
to be thrown out when you're finished.
Source of Heat. In the regular laboratory, spe-
cial gas burners are used. In the home lab, you can
usc a burner for denatured alcohol. HaYe a shallow
metal pan under the burner for fire safety.
Storage. If there's no one around to disturb your
chemicals and equipment, an open shelf is OK.
Otherwise, use a box that can be locked up.
Containers. Keep chenricals in glass jars and
bottles. LABEL THEM ALL CLEA.RLY.
Stands. Make your own test tube stand as well
as stands for holding glassware for heating.
IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE RUNNING
WATER IN YOUR
LAB, MAKE SIPHON
FROM A 1-GALLON
BOTTLE. START
SIPHON BY BLOW-
ING THROUGH
l-SHAPED GLASS
TUBE. SPRING
CLOTHES PIN
REGULATES
WATER FLOW.
use half
of Thermos ftfjj . -.. : ~ :.:--
bottle cork ~ . -. - . :
~ ? . .
<.:' :: . -- .
. . .. .. .
.. - ...
"screw" lip-
stick tube
rough cork
.
~ ~ ..
YOU CAN MAKE A SIMPLE TEST TUBE
STAND FROM A SALT BOX. CUT OUT
SIDE AND USE CUT-OUT SECTION TO
KEEP TEST TUBES LINED UP STRAIGHT.
REGULAR LAB STAND FOR
TEST TUBES CAN BE PRO-
DUCED FROM STRIPS OF
lf_.-INCH WOOD. FOLLOW
PATIERNS BELOW TO MAKE
TWO SIDES AND THREE
HORIZONTAL PIECES. DRILL
HOLES. ASSEMBLE WITH
THIN TACKS.
make 2 of these--cut
one along dotted line
71h II ~ I
c{0 ~ \ 0 0 0 0 0 +J
- --------------------------------- 21/2 B
At
1
} lf2%0 0 0 0 0 4-}
I 3lf2 II -? I
MAKE AN ALCOHOL BURNER FROM INK
BOTTLE, THERMOS BOTTLE CORK, AND LIP-
STICK CONTAINER. BUY WICK AT A HARD-
WARE STORE.
3"
STRIP OF THIN CARDBOARD MAKES ~ /
AN ADEQUATE TEST TUBE HOLDER. IF
YOU LIKE, YOU CAN MAKE A HOLDER
FROM CLOTHES HANGER WIRE AS
SHOWN HERE.
t
11
USE A PAIR OF PLIERS FOR MAKING
THESE STANDS FROM CLOTHES HANGER
WIRE. ALSO MAKE THE FUNNEL STAND
IlLUSTRATED ON PAGE 9.
5%
11
1 ~ 5 em ~ I
t
i:
u
It')
.
'
{,
No. 5
FIRST DECIDE ON
APPARATUS YOU
WILL NEED. THEN
FIGURE OUT SIZES
OF PARTS. THESE
ARE THE PARTS
FOR THE SAFETY
GAS GENERATOR
ON PAGE 29.
I
I
!
E
u
co
_I +----5 em. _ _.,
t
I E
I u
It')
rJ
J..
E
No. 5
u
It')
i\IosT of your chemical experiments you will perform
in t est tubes and jars. But. occasionally you will need
an apparatus - a device consisting of bottles and
stoppers, glass and rubber tubing.
A good chemist t akes pride in his apparatus. He
makes it with great care- not just for looks but,
more important, for safety. An apparatus that leaks
fl ammable gas can be ,ery dangerous.
Before you start to put. an apparatus together,
make a simple drawing of it so that you will know
what it will consist of. Then get out the various parts
you 'viii need to put it together.
To make an apparatus, you need to know how t.o
15 mm 17 mm 19 mm 20 mm
10 mm
13 mm 14 mm
16 mm
THESE ARE THE ACTUAL SIZES OF RUBBER STOPPERS. BY
MEASURING THEM AGAINST YOUR LAB WARE YOU WILL
cut a glass tube, bow to bend it, and how t o draw
i t to a jet point. See page 13.
I t is \vi se to use glass tubes of one diameter only,
with rubber tubing t o :fil. Glass t ubes of an oulside
di amet er of 6 millimeters ht snugly into the holes in
the usual rubber stoppers. Rubber tubing of an in-
side diameter of %;' fits o,cr the 6mm glass tubes.
To determine the right size stoppers to use in t he
bottles of )our apparatus, measure the mouths of
the bottles against the stoppers shown below in
actual size. Order stoppers by number. Keep a selec-
tion of different sizes on band.
12
r(JIIuw thP :'afpt y PH'I'illllillll" on pa!!'l' 16 .
24 mm 26 mm
27 mm
No. 5
18 mm
20 ll)m 23 mm
KNOW WHICH TO ORDER. No. 0 FITS THE 16 mm TEST
TUBE. No. 5 FITS 4-0Z. WIDE-MOUTt1 BOHLE.
GLASS TUBES
use triangular file
MAKE SINGLE SCRATCH WITH FILE-DO NOT "SAW."
HOLD TUBE WITH BOTH HANDS, THUMBS BELOW MARK.
SNAP TUBE INTO TWO PIECES WITH A QUICK JERK.
BENDING GLASS TUBES
WHEN GLASS IS
OFT, REMOVE FROM
FLAME. BEND QUICK- """-
LY. HOLD UNTIL THE
GLASS HARDENS.
13
FIRE GLAZING
CUT EDGES
ROUND THE ROUGH EDGES OF CUT
TUBE BY ROTATING IN FlAME. THIS
IS CALLED "FIRE GLAZING."
MAKING JET POINT
heat for about 1 1fz inches
fire glaze tip
~
~ : : . ~
1 HEAT SECTION OF TUBE EVENLY WHERE YOU WANT
TO FORM JET POINT, BY ROLLING IT IN THE FLAME.
2 WHEN SOFT, PULL SLOWLY. CUT APART WHEN HARD.
GOOD BEND = = = : = : = : = : = : : : : : : : : : ~
POOR BEND
POOR BEND
too hot here
IF HEATED TOO
MUCH, THE TUBE
WILL FLATTEN
OR "BUCKLE."
METRIC UNITS OF LENGTH
1 000 meters (m) = 1 kilometer (km)
1 meter (m) = 1000 millimeters (mm)
1 meter (m) = 39.37 inches
2.540 centimeters (em) = 1 inch
Scientfific Mec&SiDlJre:m.entts
I N SCIENCE, the metric system is preferred over our usual sys-
tem. It is much easier to work with "When once you have learned
it- for instead of dhiding or multiplying by 12 or 32 or 16
to go from one unit to the next, you simply move the decimal
point. Just remember these two things:
1. That the names of the basic units are meter for lengths,
liter for Yolumes, grams for weights - abbreviated to m, 1,
and g (without a period after them).
2. That 1000 of a kind are called kilo; 100, hekto; 10, d e c ~
1/ 10 is called deci ; l / 100, centi; l / 1000, milli.
METRIC UNITS OF VOLUME
1 liter (I) = 1 000 cubic centimeters
(cm
1
or eel
liter (I) = 1 000 milliliters (ml)
liter (I) = 1.06 quarts (liquid)
METRIC UNITS OF WEIGHT
1000 grams (g) = 1 kilogram (kg)
1 gram (g) = 1 000 milligrams (mg)
1 gram (g) = 0.035 ounces avoirdu-
pois
0. 946 liter (I) = 1 quart (liquid)
28.350 grams (g) = 1 ounce avoir-
dupois
1 cubic centimeter =
I em = 1 cc =
milliliter =
1 ml
Making a Model
of a Cubic
Centimeter
BOTIOM LINE OF FI'GURE
TO THE RIGHT IS 1 DECI-
METER (1 dm) OR 10 CEN-
TIMETERS (10 em) OR 100
MILLIMETERS (1 00 mm).
FRONT SURFACE OF FIGURE
IS 1 SQUARE DECIMETER (1
dm') OR I 00 SQUARE CEN-
TIMETERS (I 00 em').
VOLUME OF WHOLE FIGURE
IS 1 CUBIC DECIMETER (1
dm') OR I 000 CUBIC CEN-
TIMETERS (I 000 em' OR
1 000 cc) OR 1 000 MILLI-
LITERS (I 000 ml} OR 1 LITER
(1 1). 1 I WATER WEIGHS
I KILOGRAM (1 kg).
L
/ /
/ / / L_
L / / / /
/ / /
L L / L L / /
L / / / / / L / / / /
l.)"' L ~ / / / / / L L
/_
/
2
v
v
1/
vll"
v
v
1/
ll"
1/
1/
l/
ll
l/
1/
II
l/
ll
l/
1/
II
II
ll
v
II
v
I
v
v
I
v
v
I
v
I
v
I
v
v v
I
v I
v
v
/
I
v
v
1 cubic decimeter = liter = 1000 cubic centimeters = 1000 millil iters
centimeter
ruler
I ,
I I
I
I I
I I
I
]
inch
ruler
l. 2 3
HAND BALANCE
MAKE THE TWO PANS FOR
THE HAND BALANCE FROM
TOP AND BOTTOM OF A
FROZEN-JUICE CAN. OPEN
CAN AT SIDE. CUT THE
PANS WITH TIN SNIPS.
USE PATTERN BELOW
TO MAKE BEAM WITH
TONGUE ATTACHED.
CUT CAREFULLY WITH
TIN SNIPS. FOLD BEAM
LENGTHWISE. PUNCH
HOLES WITH NAIL.
FOR MANY EX-
PERIMENTS YOU
NEED TO WEIGH
CHEMICALS. FOR
THIS, MAKE A
HAND BALANCE.
ri der
[9
~ =- 2.5g
~ = : S g
YOU CAN USE COINS TO
WEIGH 2.5 g, 5 g, 7.5 g, 10 g,
ETC. FOR SMALLER WEIGHTS,
CUT A TIN STRIP TO WEIGH THE
SAME AS A NICKEL. THEN CUT
IT IN FOUR 1 g AND TWO .5 g
WEIGHTS.
10
9
8
0
0
0
j
ASSEMBLE BALANCE
AS SHOWN. IF
BEAM DOES NOT
BALANCE HORI-
ZONTALLY, PUT
SMALL " RIDER" CUT
FROM TIN CAN
OVER ONE ARM OF
THE BEAM.
MAKING A GRADUATE
A GRADUATE IS USED FOR
MEASURING LIQUIDS.
YOUR 6" TEST TUBE HOLDS
22 mi. YOU CAN USE IT FOR
ROUGH MEASUREMENTS:
TUBE NOT QUITE FULL IS 20
ml, NOT QUITE HALF FULL 1 0
mi. FOR SMALLER AMOUNTS,
COPY THE RULER TO THE
RIGHT AND ATTACH IT TO
THE SIDE OF A TEST TUBE
WITH SCOTCH TAPE FOR
MEASURING ml 's.
Scotch
tape
7
6
5
3
2
read at bottom
of hollow
(called miniscus)
pattern for bar and 0 tongue for hand balance 0
0
0
pattern for support for hand balance
15
0
0
COPY THE PATTERNS ABOVE
ONTO A PIECE OF PAPER.
TRANSFER DESIGNS TO PIECE
OF TIN CAN. CUT OUT AND
BEND AS SHOWN TO THE LEFT.
SET OUT ALL THE
EQUIPMENT AND THE
CHEMICALS YOU NEED.
PLACE USED EQUIPMENT TO THE
S DE FOR CLEANING WHEN EXPERI-
MENT IS COMPLETED.
Correct L ahorat ory Techniques
I:-; YOUR home laboratory, three considerations arc
of the greatest importance: SAFETY, ::\..-\.T::\ESS,
and
SAFETY -All the experiments in this book are
safe when done in the conect laboratory way as
shown on these pages.
Treat chemicals with respect. ::\e,er taste any-
thing unless specifically told to do so. If there are
younger children in the family. lock up your chem-
icals when you are not working with them.
Protect your clothes with a plastic apron.
Be careful with fire. "When you use your alcohol
burner, haYe a metal pan under it. for safety.
PLAY SAFE WHEN YOU PUT A GLASS TUBE IN A STOPPER.
PROTECT YOUR HANDS BY WRAPPING TOWEL AROUND
THEM. MOISTEN GLASS TUBE AND STOPPER WITH WATER.
THEN PUSH THE TUBE INTO THE STOPPER WITH A SCREW-
DRIVER MOTION.
16
XE..-\. T::\ESS- Get the habit of lining up equip-
ment and chemicals you need on one side and placing
used items on t he opposite side - keeping the space
b!'tween them clear for rour experiments.
Put chemicals away and clean glassware as soon
as you haYe finished an experiment.
Label all bottles and jars con-
ta ining chemicals clearly and correctly.
\\-here amounts of chemicals arc not giYen, use
the smallest amount that will tell you what want
to know.
ObserYe the chemical reactions carefully and make
complete notes of them as you go along.
WHEN YOU MAKE AN APPARATUS FOR A CHEMICAL EX-
PERIMENT, MAKE SURE THAT ALL CONNECTIONS ARE AIR-
TIGHT. USE THE RIGHT SIZE STOPPER FOR MOUTH OF
CONTAINER, GLASS TUBES THAT FIT SNUGLY INTO THE
STOPPER HOLES, AND TIGHT-FiniNG RUBBER TUBING.
MAKE IT A HABIT
TO READ A LABEL
TWICE TO BE SURE
YOU HAVE
THE RIGHT
CHEMICAL.
IN WEIGHING OUT A DRY
CHEMICAl, PlACE EQUAl-
SIZED TISSUE PAPERS ON
EACH PAN OF THE SCALE.
ROll JAR BETWEEN FIN-
GERS OR TAP IT GENTLY
WITH YOUR INDEX FINGER.
1
TRAINED CHEMISTS NEVER PUT
STOPPER OF BOTILE ON DESK-
THEY KEEP IT IN ONE HAND.
~ T K E STOPPER OFF BOTILE
WITH YOUR LEFT HAND.
~ ' KEEP STOPPER IN THE lEFT
lfAND WHILE YOU POUR FROM
THE BOTTLE IN YOUR RIGHT,
WITH THE LABEL FACING UP.
THEN REPLACE THE STOPPER.
~
.. - ..
USE A GlASS ROD TO
DIRECT THE STREAM
WHEN POURING A liQ-
UID FROM ONE CON-
TAINER TO ANOTHER.
WHEN HEATING A liQUID IN A TEST
TUBE, HOLD TUBE WITH A HOLDER.
KEEP THE TUBE MOVING. DO NOT
HEAT BOTTOM OF TUBE-CON-
TENTS MAY "BUMP" AND SQUIRT
OUT. NEVER POINT MOUTH OF TEST
TUBE TOWARD YOURSELF OR TO-
WARD ANYONE ELSE.
WHEN HEATING A SOLID IN A TEST TUBE,
PlACE THE TUBE IN A STAND AND MOVE
THE FLAME OF YOUR BURNER BACK AND
FORTH TO HEAT THE CONTENTS EVENLY.
USE A TEST TUBE BRUSH FOR CLEANING TEST
TUBES. RINSE IN COLD WATER.
17
DO NOT BRING TEST
TUIBE UP TO YOUR
NOSE FOR SMELLING.
INSTEAD, WAFT THE
ODORS TOWARD YOU
WI TH YOUR HAND.
PLACE A BURNING CANDLE IN THE SUN AND CATCH
THE SHADOW ON A PIECE OF WHITE PAPER. YOU
WILL DISCOVER THAT IT IS THE BRIGHTEST PART
OF THE FLAME THAT CASTS THE DARKEST SHADOW.
CANDLE FlAME IS BURNING VAPOR
YOU CAN PROVE IN SEVERAL
WAYS THAT THE FLAME OF A
CANDLE CONSISTS OF BURNING
PARAFFIN VAPORS.
BLOW OUT THE CANDLE, THEN
QUICKLY BRING A LIGHTED
MATCH INTO THE VAPORS.
CAN.DLE IS AGAIN IGNITED.
Mro Faraday's Candle
II'\ THE winter of 1859, Faraday, a great
British scientist, gave a number of lectures for young
people. The talks dealt with one subject only: the
features or " phenomena" of - a candle!
"There is not a law," Faraday told his listeners,
" under which any part of this universe is governed
which does not come into play and is touched upon
in these phenomena. There is no better, there is no
more open door by which you can ent er into the
study of natural philosoph;) than by considering the
phenomena of a candle." He then set out to prove
his point by lighting a candle and demonstrating aU
the processes involved.
In burning a candle you start with a SOLID sub-
stance that turns, first, into a LIQUID, then into a
GAS (or, more correctly, into a gas-like vapor). The
melted candle grease is held in a level position by
GRAVITY yet seems to defy by rising in t he
wick by a force called CAPILLARY ACTIOX In
burning, the candle produces El\"'ERGY in the form
of LIGHT and HEAT. At the same time, it goes
into CHEMICAL REACTIONS that reveal what
it is made of.
As enter the study of chemistry, you can do
no better than to repeat for yourself some of t he
ex-periments that Faraday demonstrated lD his
young audience.
MAKE A GAS WORKS
FROM A CANDLE BY
HOLDING A GLASS
TUBE, DRAWN TO A
POINT, IN THE FLAME
AND LIGHTING THEj
VAPORS AT THE END .
OF TUBE.
YOU CAN ACTUALLY LEAD
THE VAPORS FROM A BURN-
ING CANDLE THROUGH A
BENT GLASS TUBE INTO A
WATER GLASS. IF LEFT
ALONE, WHITISH VAPORS
CONDENSE INTO A SOLID.
18
CANDLE CONTAINS
HYDROGEN
A CANDLE FORMS WATER WHEN IT BURNS. ONLY
HYDROGEN BURNING IN OXYGEN FORMS WATER.
l HOLD A COLD GLASS FOR A FEW MOMENTS OVER
BURNING CANDLE. DEW FORMS ON THE INSIDE.
BY WIPING FINGER INSIDE THE GLASS YOU CAN
KE DEW FLOW TOGETHER INTO WATER DROPS.
CANDLE CONTAINS CARBON
... _,
. '
.
PLACE PIECE OF WIRE
SCREENING OVER
FLAME. SCREENING
COOLS THE FLAME
AND SOOT FORMS.
THE SOOT IS CARBON.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ W H A T PART OF THE
ANOTHER WAY
TO SHOW THAT
CANDLE CON-
TAINS CARBON
IS TO PROVE
THAT CARBON
DIOXIDE I S
FORMED WHEN
CANDLE BURNS.
FLAME IS HOTTEST?
TO FIND OUT, PUSH
PIECE OF CARDBOARD SIDEWAYS INTO FLAME.
OUTSIDE OF FLAME SCORCHES A SOOTY RING.
1 PLACE FUNNEL OVER FLAME. HOLD
1GHTED MATCH IN HOT AIR FROM FLAME.
MATCH GOES OUT IN THIS AIR.
() PLACE TEST TUBE OVER FUNNEL AND
COLLECT HOT AIR. POUR LIME WATER INTO
TUBE AND SHAKE. LIME WATER GETS
CLOUDY FROM CARBON DIOXIDE.
19
CRUSH A FEW ICE CUBES
AND SPRINKLE THEM WITH
SALT. WRAP IN ALUMINUM
FOIL HOLD OVER BURNING
CANDLE. WATER DROPS WILL
FORM ON THE OUTSIDE OF
THE FOIL.
WHAT YOU FOUND OUT
HEAT
LIGHT
(1 candle-
power)
n,ooo Cl
; ~ \. water
~ '-_vapor
IHaOl
You---Scientist!
L'< 1896, a young Polish chemist, )!arie Curie, and
her French husband, Pierre, decided to find out 'vhy
a certain uranium ore called pitchblende gave off
rays that were much stronger than the uranium con-
tent of the ore could explain.
They secured a whole ton of powdered ore from
a mine in northem Bohemia and set to work. First
the powder had t.o be boiled with strong acids to
extract the mysterious substance hidden in it. Then
the solution had to be illtered and boiled down.
What remained had to be purified by various proc-
esses which the Curies had to in\"ent themselves.
After two years of back-breaking work they reach-
ed their goal. One night they went to the shed in
''hich they had been working. They opened the door
and stepped in without putting on the lights . All
around them, the containers that held the solutions
of the new substance glowed in the dark! They had
discovered a new element - radium - a million
times more active t han uranium.
open and
place in funnel
SOLUTION-STIR WATER INTO THE
MIXTURE OF SALT AND DIRT. THE WA-
TER WILL DISSOLVE THE SALT BUT NOT
THE DIRT. YOU NOW HAVE THE SALT
IN "WATERY SOLUTION."
DECANTATI ON-LET DI RT-MIXED
SALT SOLUTION STAND UNTIL MOST
OF THE DIRT HAS SETTLED. THEN POUR
OFF THE LIQUID. THIS PROCESS IS
CALLED "DECANTATION."
FILTRATION 1-THE LIQUID IS PROB-
ABLY STILL MURKY. TO CLEAR IT, IT
NEEDS TO BE FILTERED BY LETTING IT
RUN THROUGH FILTER PAPER (PAPER
TOWELING WILL DO).
20
Why tell again the story of the discovery of
radium? Because it contains all the features that
show the nature of the true scientist.
Curiosity first. The Curies were curious about the
mystery that lay in that greyish-black powder. They
became obsessed with a desire to find out - not in
the hope of gaining money or fame but to establish
a scientific truth.
Before starting their work, the Curies gathered all
the known facts about the material with which they
were to work. To this knowledge they added their
own imagination, figuring out the method they had
to use to arrive at the result the)' were seeking.
For the next two years they literally slaved in the
drafty shed that was their laboratory.
After they had made their discovery, the Curies
made their method of exrtracting radium known to
the world so that other scientists could check and
test what they had done.
As an example of the scientific method the Curies
used, let us follow in their footsteps- but with a
much simpler problem:
1 MIX THOROUGHlY ONE TABlESPOON OF DIRT AND
ONE TEASPOON OF ORDINARY TABLE SALT. NOW DE-
CIDE THAT YOU WANT TO EXTRACT THE SALT FROM THIS
MIXTURE AS EARNESTlY AS THE CURIES DECIDED TO EX-
TRACT THE MYSTERIOUS SUBSTANCE FROM PITCHBLENDE
-WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU
ARE AFTER.
2 GET THE FACTS TOGETHER. DIRT IS "DIRTY," SALT IS
WHITE. DIRT PARTICLES ARE OF MAN.Y DIFFERENT SHAPES,
SAlT CONSISTS OF TINY CUBES. DIRT DOES NOT DISSOLVE
IN WATER, SALT DOES.
3 NEXT FIGURE OUT A SUITABlE WAY OF SEPARATING
THE TWO SUBSTANCES. ON THE BASIS OF WHAT YOU
KNOW YOU SHOUlD BE ABlE TO SEPARATE THEM WITH
A PAIR OF TINY TWEEZERS-BUT IT WOUlD PROBABlY
TAKE YOU A YEAR TO DO IT. OR YOU COUlD DISSOlVE
THE SAlT IN WATER AND SEPARATE THE SOlUTION FROM
THE INSOlUBlE DIRT.
4 YOU DECIDE ON THE SECOND WAY, USING THE
STEPS SHOWN ON THE BOTIOM OF THESE PAGES. IN
DOING THIS, YOU DO WHAT THE CURIES DID IN EX-
TRACTING RADIUM AND lEARN, IN THE PROCESS, THE
IMPORTANT LABORATORY TECHNIQUES OF SOlUTION,
DECANTATION, FILTRATION, EVAPORATION, AND CRYS-
T ALLJZA TION.
5 FINALLY, YOU CHECK THE RESULT. THE WHITE SUB-
STANCE lEFT AFTER EVAPORATION SHOUlD BE SAlT-
BUT IS IT? IT lOOKS LIKE SAlT. IT TASTES LIKE SAlT. BY
CHEMICAl TESTS YOU CAN PROVE THAT IT IS SAlT.
By using the same procedure in all other experi-
ments in this book you are learning the methods
that real scientists follow in their work - you are
becoming a scientist yourself.
FILTRATION 2-FOlD FilTER PAPER
AS SHOWN ON OPPOSITE PAGE AND
FIT IT IN FUNNEL. POUR LIQUID ONTO
FILTER PAPER. ClEARED liQUID IS
CALLED "FilTRATE."
EVAPORATION-THE FILTRATE CON-
TAINS THE SALT. THE SALT CAN NOW
BE FREED BY REMOVING THE WATER
BY BOILING IT AWAY. THIS IS KNOWN
AS "EVAPORATION."
CRYSTALLIZATION-AS WATER IS
REMOVED, THERE IS TOO UTILE OF
IT LEFT FOR THE SALT TO STAY IN
SOlUTION. THE SALT MAKES ITS AP-
PEARANCE AS T!NY CRYSTALS.
21
E l ements, Compounds, and Mixtures
IN ALL your experiments in chemistry, you ''ill he
dealing with "matter."
.:\latter is anything that takes up room and has
weight (or "mass"). An iron bar is matter- it takes
up room and is heav-y, as you very well know. "\\" ater
is matter--..- it takes up room when -you fill a pail
with it, and a full pail weighs plenty. The air around
you is matter- it takes up Jots of room; it may not
seem very heavy, yet the earth's atmosphere presses
do,vn on every square inch of your body with a
weight of almost fifteen pounds.
i\latter has three distinct forms. Iron, for in-
stance, is a SOLID. Water is a LIQuiD. Air has
the form of a GAS.
If you should take iron and divide it again and
TWO ELEMENTS AND A MIXTURE
mixture
again until you couldn't dhide it any further, evel)
tiny particle would still be iron. A thing that consists
of one 1..--ind of matter only is called an ELE.:\IE:\T .
Take water, on the other hand. You wiJJ learn to
break water up into two kinds of matter- each of
them an element. A thing in which two or more ele-
ments are combined chemically is called a C0.:\1-
POUND. In a compound the proportions of the dif-
ferent elements that make it. up arc always exactly
the same.
Air also consists of different kinds of matter, but
they are not combined chemically - they are simply
mixed together. When you make a .:\IIXTliRE, you
can mix the ingredients together in any proportions
that suit you.
MAKING A COMPOUND
MIX TOGETHER 2 g OF FLOWERS OF SULFUR
AND 3.5 g OF IRON FILINGS. PLACE MIXTURE
IN A DAMAGED TEST TUBE. HEAT. SHORTLY
A CHEMI CAL REACTION TAKES PLACE.
THE MIXTURE GLOWS AND BLACK
IRON SULFIDE FORMS. THIS
CANNOT BE SEPARATED
INTO SULFUR AND IRON
AS I N PREVI O US
TESTS.
POWDERED SULFUR AND IRON CAN BE MIXED
TOGETHER IN ANY PROPORTIONS AND
AGAIN SEPARATED.
1 DRAG A MAGNET THROUGH THE SULFUR-IRON MIXTURE.
THE MAGNET WILL PICK UP THE IRON PARTICLES.
2 POUR HYDROCHLORIC ACID ON SOME OF THE MIXTURE
IN A TEST TUBE. IRON DISSOLVES, SULFUR DOES NOT.
22
ELEMENTS ARE SUBSTANCES THAT CONSIST OF ONE METALS, METAllOIDS (METAl-liKE), NONMETALS. SEV-
KIND OF MATIER ONLY. THEY CAN BE DIVIDED INTO ERAl OF THE NONMETALS ARE GASES.
METALS METALLOIDS NONMETAI.S
antimony

boron

sulfur
silicon
COMPOUNDS-INORGANIC. All COMPOUNDS COMPOUNDS (WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS! ARE THOSE
CONSIST OF TWO OR MORE ElEMENTS. INORGANIC THAT DO NOT CONTAIN THE ElEMENT CARBON.
ACIDS BASES SALTS OTHERS
CARBON COMPOUND5-0RGANIC. ORIGINAllY, ANIMALS) WERE CAllED "ORGANIC." TODAY ORGAN-
COMPOUNDS MADE BY LIVING THINGS (PlANTS AND IC CHEMISTRY COVERS THE CARBON COMPOUNDS.
HYDROCARBONS, ALCOHOLS, ORGANIC ACIDS, ETC.

..
.. . -
.
MIXTURES CAN CONSIST OF ElEMENTS OR COM-
POUNDS. SOME MIXTURES ARE COARSE. SOME (COl-
LOIDS) CONTAIN TINY PARTICLES. STILl OTHERS (SO-
LUTIONS) ARE OF SAME STRUCTURE THROUGHOUT.
GRAINY MIXTURES
rock


COllOIDS

elly

ink

-N
egg white J
23
SOLUTIONS
soda
brass
syrup
0
WATER CYCLE
Evaporation from ocean
r r r r
I t I I
: : ; :
YEs, w.o\TER is the most important of all chemical
compounds. Without it, there would be no life- all
human beings and all animals would thirst to death,
and all plant life would wilt and die.
Fortunately, water is also the most common com-
pound in the world. Almost three quarters of t he
earth's surface is covered by water. T his water is
forever traveling. It is turned into imisible ,apor
by evaporation from oceans and lakes and growing
WATER AS A SOL VENT
THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION OF WATER IN
CHEMICAL EXPERIMENTS IS AS A SOL VENT-
THAT IS, A LIQUID IN WHICH CHEMICALS MAY
BE DISSOLVED. FIND OUT BY AN EASY EXPERI-
MENT WHETHER HEATING THE WATER HELPS IN
DISSOLVING A CHEMICAL.
cold water
hot water
.
1 TABLE-
SPOON WASHING
SODA IN V2 GLASS
OF COLD WATER.
STIR. PART OF THE
SODA DISSOLVES
SLOWLY.
REPEAT WITH
HOT WATER. SODA
DISSOLVES QUICKLY.
HOT WATER IS USU-
AlLY FASTER THAN
COLD FOR PREPAR-
ING A SOLUTION.
Centigrade (212
Fahrenheit ) .
Freezes at 0 C
(32 Fahrenheit).
things. \Yben cooled. the Yapor forms clouds of tiny
\Yater drops. Further cooling makes the drops fall
to earth as rain or snow that fill up rhers and lakes
and oceans and continue the water cycle.
Chemists use nature's method to produce chem-
ically pure water. They turn ordinary tap water in-
to steam by boiling, then turn the steam back into
water by cooling. This process is called distillation
and the water is called distilled \Yater.
WATER AS A CATALYST
WATER HELPS BRING ABOUT MANY
CHEMICAL REACTIONS WITHOUT IT-
SELF ENTERING INTO THEM. A SUB-
STANCE THAT ACTS THIS WAY IS
CALLED A CATALYST.
warm
water
24
1 PLACE 1 TEASPOON DRY BAKING
POWDER IN SMALL JAR. ATTACH WIRE TO
CANDLE. LIGHT CANDLE AND LOWER IT
INTO JAR. CANDLE GOES ON BURNING.
2 NOW POUR WARM WATER ON THE
BAKING POWDER. A CHEMICAL REACTION
MAKES TH'E POWDER FOAM. THE GAS RE
LEASED IS CARBON DIOXIDE. IT MAKES
CANDLE FLAME FLICKER AND GO OUT.
ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER
ELECTRICITY CAN BE USED TO BREAK WATER APART
INTO THE TWO ELEMENTS OF WHICH IT CONSISTS
- THE GASES HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN.
YOU CAN GET THE REQUIRED ELECTRICITY FROM THREE
OR FOUR ORDINARY FLASHLIGHT BATIERIES. YOU WILL
ALSO NEED TWO PIECES OF INSULATED COPPER WIRE
AND TWO "ELECTRODES" MADE FROM CARBON RODS.


Making Ele ctrodes
()/carbon rod
1 SCORE THE MIDDLE OF THE
CARBON ROD FROM AN OlD
FLASHLIGHT BATIERY, USING
A FI LE. BREAK THE ROD INTO
TWO PIECES.
2 BARE THE WIRE FOR 2"
AT EACH END OF TWO 18"
LENGTHS OF INSULATED WIRE.
TIE ONE BARED WIRE AROUND
2 END OF EACH OF CARBON
bared wire
0
0
.-;. insulated wire
3

3 BIND ELECTR I -
CIAN'S TAPE FIRMLY
AROUND CARBON
RODS SO THAT NO
Setting up Electrolysis
WATER IS A POOR CONDUC-
TOR OF ELECTRICITY-SO YOU
DISSOlVE 1 TABLESPOON OF
WASHING SODA IN 1 PINT OF
WATER AND FILL A WATER
GLASS AND TWO TEST TUBES
WITH THIS SOLUTION. THEN
SET UP THE APPARATUS AS
SHOWN AT RIGHT.
.
0
0
0
"
0 0
0
0
0
0
D
0
"'
TEST FOR
HYDROGEN
1 WITH YOUR THUMB, CLOSE THE MOUTH OF THE TEST
T BE FIRST FILLED WITH GAS. LIFT THE TUBE OUT OF THE
WATER, MOUTH DOWN.
2 BRING LIGHTED MATCH TO THE MOUTH OF THE TUBE.
CONTENTS BURN WITH A SOFT "POP!" THIS IS THE TEST
FOR HYDROGEN.
25
MATERIALS FOR EXPERIMENTS
AN ORDINARY FLASHLIGHT BAITERY WILL GIVE
YOU MATERIALS YOU NEED FOR EXPERIMENTS
ON THIS AND SEVERAL FOLLOWING PAGES.
1 OPEN UP BAITERY CASE CAREFUllY WITH A
CAN OPENER AND CLEAN THE ZINC CASING.
2 SCRAPE CARBON ROD CLEAN WITH DULL KNIFE.
3 DRY OUT THE MOIST BLACK POWDER, WHICH
IS MOSTLY MANGANESE DIOXIDE. STORE IN JAR.
THROW REMAINING PARTS OF THE BAITERY AWAY.
Pe rforming the El e ctrolysis
1 SUP THE TOP OF A CARBON ELECTRODE UP
INTO EACH Of THE TWO TEST TUBES.
2 BIND THREE-OR, BETIER, FOUR-FLASHLIGHT
BATIERIES TOGETHER WITH ADHESIVE TAPE, TOP
OF ONE TOUCHING BOTIOM OF THE NEXT.
3 WITH ADHESIVE TAPE FASTEN THE BARED END
OF THE WIRE LEADING FROM ONE CARBON ROD
ELECTRODE TO THE TOP OF THE FIRST BATIERY.
4 TAPE THE BARED END Of THE WIRE FROM THE
OTHER ELECTRODE TO BOTTOM OF LAST BATTERY.
AS SOON AS CONNECTION IS MADE, AIR BUBBLES
BEGIN TO COLLECT IN THE TWO TEST TUBES-
ABOUT TWICE AS FAST IN ONE AS IN THE OTHER.
TEST FOR
OXYGEN
WHEN SECOND TUBE IS FULL
OF GAS, CLOSE ITS MOUTH WITH
YOUR THUMB. LIFT THE TUBE OUT
OF THE WATER WITH MOUTH UP .
2 LIGHT A BROOMSTRAW.
BLOW O UT THE FLAME. BRING
THE GLOWING END DOWN IN
THE TEST TUBE. GLOWING EM-
BER BURSTS INTO BRIGHT FLAME.
THIS IS TEST FOR OXYGEN.
4

OXYGEN
O
OXYGEN
Element 8 .
Atomic wt. 16.
- Colorless, odorless
Oxygen- The Breath of Life
IF YOU could hold your breath for a few
minutes so that no air could get into your
lungs, you would die.
For thousands of years, people have
knotrn that no human being can live
without air. But it was not until Karl
Scheele, a Swedish chemist, in 1772, and
Joseph Priestley, an Englishman, in 177!,
discovered and described oAygen that
people knew that it is the oxygen in the
air that is important to life.
Both of these scientists discovered that
things burn more fiercely in pure ox-ygen
than they do in the mh:ture of oxygen
and other gases called " air."
In the lab. oxygen is produced by driv-
ing it out of certain
compounds. A good one to use in the
home lab is hydrogen peroxide. You can
get it at a drug store in a 3% solution.
Hydrogen peroxide is related to water.
Water, as you know, consists of 2 parts
of hydrogen to l part of OAJgen. You
could write it: Hydrogen 2- 0;\:ygen l.
That's pretty much what chemists do -
except that they abbreviate the names to
initials, use small numbers, and don' t
bother about the number 1. The formula
becomes H
2
0.
Hydrogen peroxide cont.ains 2 parts of
hydrogen to every 2 parts of oxygen. How
would you write it in chemical

You're perfectly right!

H
2
0
2
becomes water (H20) and gives
off oxJgen (0) when you tbro'v a catal yst
into it. For a catalyst, you can use the
manganese dioxide from an old flashlight
battery (page 25).
IT'S A LONG STEP FROM THE DIS-
COVERY OF OXYGEN IN 1772 TO
ITS PRESENT-DAY USE IN INDUS-
TRY AND HOSPITAlS, AIRPLANES
AND SPACE SHIPS, AND FOR SEND-
ING SATELLITES INTO ORBIT.
26
2 A MOMENT LATER,
CANDLE GOES OUT.
WATER RISES IN JAR TO
REPLACE OXYGEN USED.
THE ATMOSPHERE CONTAINS OXYGEN
1 FASTEN A SMALL CANDLE TO MIDDLE OF
PIE PLATE WITH CANDLE DRIPPINGS. FILL PIE
PLATE WITH WATER. LIGHT CANDLE. PLACE
AN EMPTY JAR OVER CANDLE.
MAKING A SMALL AMOUNT
OF OXYGEN
FILL JAR FULL OF 3% HYDROGEN PER-
OXIDE. ADD PmNCH OF MANGANESE DI-
OXIDE FROM FLASHLIGHT BATIERY (SEE
PAGE 25). TEST FOR OXYGEN WITH
GLOWING BROOMSTRA W. EMBER GLOWS
BRIGHTER AND MAY BURST INTO FLAME.
MAKING OXYGEN IN
THE HOME LAB
1 TO COLLECT OXYGEN, YOU NEED A "PNEUMATIC TROUGH."
THIS IS A DEEP, WATER-FILLED TRAY WITH METAL "BRIDGE."
FIT BOTILE WITH STOPPER WITH l-SHAPED GLASS TUBE AND
RUBBER TUBE LONG ENOUGH TO REACH HOLE OF BRIDGE.
3 FILL BOTILE FULL OF 3% HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. ADD
Ya TEASPOON OF MANGANESE DIOXIDE. PUT THE STOPPER IN.
4 FILl JAR WITH WATER AND PLACE IT UPSIDE DOWN ON THE
BRIDGE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE OXYGEN BUBBLES INTO IT
AND FILLS IT BY FORCING OUT AND REPLACING THE WATER
5 WHEN JAR IS FULL OF OXYGEN, SLIDE A GLASS PLATE UN-
DER OPENING (OR PUT STOPPER IN IT). TURN JAR RIGHT SIDE
UP-QUICKLY, TO PREVENT THE OXYGEN FROM ESCAPING.
MANY MATERIALS BURN IN OXYGEN
1 ATIACH TUFT OF STEEL WOOL TO WIRE. HEAT
TO RED HEAT OVER ALCOHOL BURNER. LOWER INTO
JAR OF OXYGEN. IRON BURSTS INTO FLAME.
.. - ..
oxygen is slightly
heavier than air
-so keep mouth
of jar up
2 PLACE SMAll PIECE OF SULFUR IN CROOK OF
BENT STRIP OF TIN CUT FROM CAN. IGNITE SULFUR
WITH MATCH. LOWER INTO JAR OF OXYGEN. SUL-
FUR BURNS WITH A BRILLIANT, BLUE LIGHT.
"BRIDGE" FOR " PNEUMAT-
IC TROUGH" MADE FROM
2Y
2
" STRIP OF TIN CAN.
27

:F< Hwdrouen-Liuhtest of All
1
, , _ f / ...... , ', .... ,, \ l- , 1 e a
11 1
' - r . ' ' "
1
h) H th li h el
1
/
:r : ' , " , , . YDROGBN IS e g test ement m exiStence- 714
, .. ,. ( ( I '- I } .. ''f-(} th . h f . F hi .
. 'f
1
, ,, ; 'i':: ',,,
1
e wetg t o arr. or t s reason one of Its early
' L _ ':.._ .3'' .; . l l ( /
1
uses was for filling balloons. The first man-carrying
- \ , '- .._ . , _ / '
1
/ gas balloon was sent up by the Frenchman, Jacques
' \ \ ..._ . J j ,'': , Charles, in 1783. The danger of using an explosive
\_ """"' ' ._ .... ,.._- - -, , -- ) / ,,
,_ '-- _ -.-____ , __ - -:,/ .:_:_;J gas for . this purpose was demollStrated in 1937 in
... ::_=-"::- --.-- .:__ :- :;._;:-:_:( i' the Hindenburg disaster, when the hydrogen-filled
: 1_.
1 ,' . - New Jersey, after a tnp across the Atlantic Ocean.
t l I 1 /
1. .; : , l. , Thirty-six people lost their lives.
------ - -......------,.=--=-.::!:... .=--"" . ,__ ..
1
! Hydrogen is one of the most important of all the
!( l , .. ---- - elements. It is found in all living things- your own
I
-L-- "
1
: - ,j, ;;: body is approximately 10 per cent hydrogen. Water,
as you is hydrogen. So is t he food you
'/1r _::, -- , Vfl!li fJ C/G eat, the milk you drink, the clothes you wear, and
I(
. . ?? 1 pt: such common, everyday things as gasoline and fuel
oil and cooking gas.
, - - -- - _.....z.. ...... - . I th h lab ak h dr b dd
==- ,_ __ - = _- - .: ---:==: n e orne , you can m e y ogen y a -
- . <.,_ . ing strips of zinc from a flashlight battery to hydro-
HENRY CAVENDISH, WHO DIS-
COVERED HYDROGEN IN 1766,
HAD NO IDEA OF THE ASTON-
chloric acid which consists of hydrogen (H) and
another gas called chlorine (Cl). The zinc forms a
compound (ZnC1
2
) with the chlorine and sets the
ISHING FORCE OF HYDROGEN hydrogen free (H
2
) .
WHEN RELEASED IN A BOMB.
HYDROGEN FORMS WATER WHEN IT BURNS
1 FILL TEST TUBE 3,4 FULL OF HYDRO-CHLORIC ACID. ADD A COUPLE
OF ZINC STRIPS. BUBBLES OF HYDROGEN FORM IMMEDIATELY.
2 CLOSE TEST TUBE WITH RUBBER STOPPER WITH GLASS TUBE
DRAWN TO JET POINT. COVE1 \PP.A.RATUS WITI-1 A TOWEL.
3 PLACE EMPTY TEST TUBE OVER GLASS TUBE. AFTER 1 MINUTE,
TEST THIS TUBE FOR HYDROGEN WITH LIGHTED MATCH. IF TUBE
"BARKS, " PUT IT BACK. AFTER ANOTHER MINUTE, TRY AGAIN. WHEN
SOFT "POP" TELLS YOU GAS IS PURE, LIGHT JET.
4 HOLD A COLD GLASS OVER HYDROGEN FLAME. DEW COVERI NG
THE INSIDE OF THE GLASS SHOWS THAT WATER IS FORMING.
HYDROGEN IS LIGHTEST
GAS KNOWN
1 FILL A POP BOTTLE 1J.c FULL OF HALF-
AND-HALF MIXTURE OF HYDROCHLORIC
ACID AND WATER. DROP IN HALF A DOZEN
ZINC STRIPS. LET NO FLAME COME NEAR!
2 FIT BALLOON ON MOUTH OF BOTTLE.
3 WHEN BALLOON IS INFLATED, TIE
OPENING WITH STRING AND REMOVE
FROM BOTTLE. IF PERMITTED, BALLOON
WILL RISE TO CEILING INDOORS. OUT-
DOORS, IT WILL SOAR UP IN THE SKY.
28
4
I
l
MAKING HYDROGEN IN THE LAB
1 MAKE THE SAFETY GAS GENER-
ATOR DESCRIBED ON PAGE 12.
3
% FULL OF MIX-
TURE OF EQUAL
PARTS OF HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID
AND WATER.
7
4 PLACE 1" LAYER OF SMALL PEBBLES ON BOTTOM
OF BOTTLE B. DROP ZINC STRIPS ON TOP OF PEBBLES.
FIT STOPPERS AND TUBES AIRTIGHT.
H
HYDROGEN
Elemen t 1 .
At. wt. 1.008
Colorless, odorless
ond combustible
gos. Highly explo-
sive in mixtures
with oir. 1!14
weight of oir.
Slightly soluble in
woter-1.8 vol-
umes in 1 00 vol-
umes ot 20 C.
5 POUR ACID FROM BOTTLE A INTO BOTTLE B,
OR FORCE IT OVER BY BLOWING IN TUBE C.
6 CLOSE TUBE OF BOTTLE A WITH CLOTHESPIN.
7 AS SOON AS HYDROGEN STARTS TO BUBBLE UP THROUGH WATER
IN PNEUMATIC TROUGH, COLLECT SOME IN WATER-FilLED TEST TUBE.
WHEN FULL OF GAS, TEST IT AS DESCRIBED AT BOTTOM OF PAGE. WHEN
HYDROGEN IS PURE, BUBBLE IT INTO UPSIDE-DOWN, WATER-FILLED JARS.
4
8 WHEN YOU HAVE MADE THE EXPERIMENTS YOU WANT, CHANGE
SPRING CLOTHESPIN FROM RUBBER TUBE OF BOTTLE A TO RUBBER TUBE
OF BOTTLE B. HYDROGEN FORCES ACID FROM BOTTLE B BACK INTO A.
WHEN ACID NO LONGER TOUCHES ZINC, REACTION STOPS.
N
IN MIXTURES WITH AIR, HYDROGEN IS HIGHLY
EXPLOSIVE. FOLLOW SAFETY RULES BELOW.
e MAKE ONLY SMAll AMOUNTS OF HYDRO-
GEN IN THE HOME LAB. A 4-0Z. GENERATOR
BOTTLE WILL GIVE YOU All THE HYDROGEN
YOU NEED. MAKE All CONNECTIONS AIRTIGHT.
TEST HYDROGEN FOR PURITY BY COLLECTING
A TEST TUBE FULL OF IT AND BRINGING A LIGHT-
ED MATCH TO MOUTH OF TUBE, AS SHOWN
ON PAGE 25. HYDROGEN MIXED WITH AIR EX-
PLODES WITH A SHARP "BARK." PURE HYDRO-
GEN BURNS WITH A QUIET "POP."
e KEEP FLAME AWAY FROM YOUR MAIN GEN-
ERATOR BOTTLE.
e IGNITE HYDROGEN ONLY FROM TEST TUBE
GENERATOR DESCRIBED ON OPPOSITE PAGE,
AND THEN ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE TESTED IT
FOR PURITY.
29
i
;
t
I
l
WHEN YOU KNOW FROM TESTING SAM-
PLES OF GAS COLLECTED IN TEST TUBES
THAT HYDROGEN IS PURE, FILL SMALL JAR
WITH IT. LIFT JAR OUT OF WATER, MOUTH
DOWN. BRING LIGHTED CANDLE UP INTO
JAR. HYDROGEN BURNS AT MOUTH OF
JAR. CANDLE GOES OUT.
INHALE
OFF
OXYGEN
TAKE IN
CARBON
DIOXIDE
LIQUID CARBON DIOX-
I DE IS USED IN FIRE EX-
TINGUISHERS.
You HAVE already learned in experimenting with a
burning candle that when something cont.aining car-
bon burns in the air, a gas, carbon dioxide (C0
1
) ,
is formed. This is one of the most important gases
for human life. The reason is that green plants, in
sunlight, are able to take the carbon out of the car-
bon dioxide in the air and, by combining it with
oxygen and hydrogen from water and with various
minerals in the soil, produce all the vegetable matter
that humans and animals eat.
You cannot see the C0
2
in the air - but you can
see it when it has been cooled and compre..."Sed into
a solid block of "dry ice. " "'hen dissolved in water
(H
2
0), carbon dioxide (C0
2
) forms a weak acid
(H
2
C0
3
). You know the taste of this acid from soda
water-the bubbles are C0
2
being set free.
Carbonic acid combines with many metals to
make "carbonates." You can driYe the C0
2
out of
most carbonates with the help of a weak acid - even
with vinegar, which is diluted acetic acid.
MAKING A FIRE EXTINGUISHER MODEL
1 PUSH A SHORT GLASS TUBE
WITH A JET TIP INTO A RUBBER
STOPPER. WRAP BICARBONATE OF
SODA IN A SHEET OF TOILET TISSUE.
ATTACH SODA PACKAGE TO TUBE
WITH A RUBBER BAND.
2 FILL BOTTLE HALF FULL OF MIXTURE OF 1 PART VINE-
G RAND 1 PART WATER. PUT IN THE STOPPER.
CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
CONTAIN SOLUTION OF BAKING .
SODA AND A BOTILE OF SUL-
FURIC ACID. WHEN TURNED UP-
SIDE DOWN, THE CHEMICALS MIX
AND FORM CARBON DIOXIDE
WHICH FORCES OUT THE WATER.
30
HOLD STOPPER FIRM
LY IN PLACE WITH TWO
FINGERS. TURN BOTTLE
UPSIDE DOWN. THE C0
1
FORMED BY MIXING
VINEGAR AND SODA
DRIVES WATER OUT IN
POWERFUL JET.
Co
CARBO N
2
DIOXIDE
Compound .
Molecula r wt. 44.
Colorl ess, odorless
FEATURES OF CARBON DIOXIDE
C0
2
IS HEAVIER THAN AIR AND
DOES NOT SUPPORT BURNING.
YOU CAN PROVE BOTH POINTS:
gas. Does not burn.
Does not support
combustion (burning).
I .529 weight of air.
Fairly soluble in wa-
1 PlACE 1 TEASPOON OF BAKING SODA IN A PITCHER. POUR
A SMAll AMOUNT OF WHITE VINEGAR OVER THE SODA.
2 HANG A liGHTED CANDLE IN A JAR BY A WIRE. POUR THE
CARBON DIOXIDE FORMED IN THE PITCHER INTO THE JAR THE
WAY YOU WOULD POUR WATER. WHEN THE CARBON DIOXIDE
REACHES THE TOP OF THE CANDLE, THE FLAME GOES OUT.
IN LABORATORY, CARBON DIOXIDE IS USUALLY MADE
FROM MARBLE CHIPS AND DI LUTED HYDROCHLORIC
ACID (1 PART ACID TO I PART WATER). PLACE CHIPS
ON TOP OF PEBBLES IN YOUR GAS GENERATOR, THEN
PROCEED AS FOR MAKING HYDROGEN (PAGE 29).
31
MAKJNG
LIME
WATER
STIR 1 TEASPOON OF
HYDRATED LIME INTO
I PINT OF WATER.
-
LET STAND UNTIL liME SINKS TO THE
B TIOM. FI LTER LIQUID INTO A BOTILE.
CLOSE BOTTLE TIGHTLY.
BURNING PRODUCES CARBON DIOXIDE
HANG BURNING CANDLE IN JAR CONTAINING A
FEW ml liME WATER. COVER TOP WITH A GLASS
PLATE. WHEN CANDLE HAS GONE OUT, SHAKE
liME WATER UP WITH THE AIR. MILKINESS PROVES
THAT C0
2
HAS BEEN PRODUCED.
TEST FOR C02
C0
2
TURNS
liME WATER
MILKY BY
CHANGING
CALCIUM
HYDROXIDE
TO CALCIUM
CARBONATE.
C02
BREATHE THROUGH GLASS TUBE INTO
liME WATER IN TEST TUBE. liME WATER
GETS MILKY. THIS SHOWS THAT BREATH-
ING IS A BURNING PROCESS.
- ....._
NITROGEN GOES INTO
BOTH FERTILIZERS AND
EXPLOSIVES.
NITROGEN FROM THE ATMOSPHERE
f========! 1% RARE GASES:*
78% NITROGEN
21 "/o OXYGEN
"'ARGON
NEON
KRYPTON
XENON
HELIUM
ALSO, COz, lbO
REPEAT CANDLE-BURNING EXPERIMENT ON PAGE 27.
UNUSED GAS IS ALMOST All NITROGEN-WITH SMALL
PERCENT AGE OF RARE GASES AND CARBON DIOXIDE.
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
IN A WEll-VENTILATED
ROOM, HEAT EQUAL
AMOUNTS OF SALTPETER
AND SODIUM BI SULFATE
IN DRY TEST TUBE. IN A
MOMENT, A BROWN GAS
FORMS. IT IS NITROGEN
DIOXIDE. DO NOT INHALE
-GAS IS VERY IRRITATING.
DRY AMMONIA GAS IS USED IN THE
lARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF ICE.
NITROGEN
Element 7.
At. wt. 14.008.
Colorless, odorless
gas. Does not burn.
Does not support
combustion (burn
ing) .. 967 weight
of air. Slightly sol-
uble in water- 1 .5
volumes in 100
vols. at 20C.
and Its Compounds
WHE..J\ You burn anything in the air, only about one-
fifth of the air goes into chemical combination with
what you are burning. The rest (except for a small
fraction) does not enter into the process. It is a gas
called nitrogen (N) - the most abundant free ele-
ment on earth.
Nitrogen is what you might call a "lazy" element.
It does not help in burning nor does it burn if you
try to ignite it. IL is only at high temperatures and
under great pressures that a chemist can make ni-
trogen combine with another element, hydrogen, to
form ammonia gas

from which other nitrogen

compounds can be made.
Yet, in nature, tiny bact eria on the roots of cer-
tain plants can take nitrogen from the air and make
it combine with o:\ygen and minerals in the soil into
" nitrates." And that is of tremendous importance t{)
all of us- for all plants need nitrates if they are to
thrive. If plants do not get nit.rates naturally, the
farmer must add them to his soil in the form of some
kind of fertilizer .
You '"'ill not haYe much satisfaction out of work-
ing with nitrogen itself. but you will find it inter-
esting to deal with some of its compounds - espe-
cially with ammonia gas [-\H
3
) . You will also want
to have a look at one of the half dozen combinations
nitrogen makes with the brown gas called
nitrogen dio:dde (N0
2
) .
32
NH
AMMONIA
3
Compound.
Molecular
weight 17. Color-
less gas with
strong, penetrating
odor. .596 weight
of air. Highly sol-
uble in water-
70,000 vols. in I 00
vols. at 20"C.
MAKING AMMONIA FROM
SAL AMMONIAC
PRODUCING AMMONIA
SIMPLEST WAY OF PRODUCING
AMMONIA IS TO GET IT FROM ITS
SOLUTION AS HOUSEHOLD AM-
MONIA.
FlU PINT CAN ONE QUARTER FULL OF
HOUSEHOLD AMMONIA. FIT STOPPER
WITH 6" GLASS TUBE IN OPENING.
PLACE TEST TUBE OVER GLASS TUBE.
HEAT CAN OVER LOW FLAME. TEST
TUBE IS FULL OF AMMONIA WHEN
MOIST, RED UTMUS PAPER HELD AT
ITS MOUTH TURNS BLUE.
.... -.
SOLUBILITY OF
AMMONIA
REMOVE A FILLED
TEST TUBE FROM
GAS GENERATOR
CAN , MO U TH
DOWN. CL OSE
MOUTH OF TUBE
WITH THUMB. OPEN
TUBE UNDER WA-
TER. AMMONIA DIS-
SOLVES EASILY,
WATER RUSHES IN
AND FILLS TUBE.
THE AMMONIA FOUNTAIN
AMMONIA'S EXTRAORDINARY SOLUBILITY CAN BE
SHOWN IN A SPECTACULAR DEMONSTRATION.
MOIST, RED
LITMUS PAPER
TURNS BLUE
IN AMMONIA.
1 MAKE UP APPARATUS AS SHOWN IN ILLUSTRATION.
FILL IT WITH WATER. ADD 5 DROPS OF PHENOLPHTHAL-
EIN SOLUTION.
2 FILL DRY, EMPTY BOTILE WITH AMMONIA FROM
GENERATOR CAN. KEEPING BOTILE UPSIDE DOWN,
PLACE IT FIRMLY ON TOP STOPPER OF APPARATUS.
3 BLOW INTO L-SHAPED GLASS TUBE TO DRIVE A FEW
DROPS OF WATER UP INTO THE UPPER BOTILE.
ON A PIECE OF PAPER, MIX 1 PART OF SAL AMMO-
NIAC WITH 2 PARTS OF HYDRATED LIME. ADD A FEW
DROPS OF WATER. DROP MIXTURE INTO A TEST TUBE.
PROVIDE TUBE WITH STOPPER AND L-SHAPED GLASS
TUBE. THEN HEAT OVER LOW FlAME.
4 SUDDENLY, WATER SPURTS FROM LOWER BOTILE
UP INTO UPPER BOTILE IN A FOUNTAIN THAT TURNS
PINK AS AMMONIA REACTS ON PHENOLPHTHALEIN.
THE WHITE SMOKE
COLLECT AMMONIA IN DRY TEST TUBE. TEST IT WITH
LITMUS PAPER AND FOR SOLUBILITY.
2
MYSTERY
1 MOISTEN INSIDE OF
J R WITH SMALL AMOUNT
OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID.
POUR EXCESS ACID BACK
INTO ITS BOTILE. COVER
JAR WITH SQUARE OF
CARDBOARD.
FILL ANOTHER JAR WITH AMMONIA. PLACE
UPSIDE DOWN ON CARDBOARD.
HOLD ON TO AMMONIA-FILLED JAR AND
P U CARDBOARD AWAY. IMMEDIATELY, BOTH
JARS FILL WITH " SMOKE" OF TINY AMMONIUM
CHLORIDE CRYSTALS.
33
hydrochloric
acid
. ......---.
. .
Chlorine-Friend and Foe
CHLORll\"E IS a gas. of great importance. We wouldn't
be certain of safe drinking water in our cities if i t
weren't for chlorine - a small amount of it in the
water kills the dangerous germs that may lurk in it .
Chlorine i s also used in bleaching.
Chlorine is a friendly gas when it is used correctly.
But it is dangerous when used improperly because
it affects the lungs. As a "poison gas" it caused many
casualties in World. War I.
You can produce chlorine as a greenish-yellow gas
by driving it out of one of its compounds - hydro-
chloric acid (HCl), which consists of hydrogen (H)
and chlorine (Cl) , or a common laundry bleach
("Clorox" or others), which is a solution of sodium
hypochlorite (NaCIO) .
Have a bottle of diluted household ammonia (90%
water, 10% household ammonia) on hand. Sniff this
if yon get too strong a whiiT of chlorine.
NOTE: Perform these experiments out-of-doors or be-
fore an open window. Be careful not to breathe fumes.
MAKING TEST PAPER
FOR CHLORINE
MIX .5 g ( TEASPOON) STARCH WITH 30 ml
WATER. BRING TO BOIL. DISSOLVE IN MIXTURE
A SMALL AMOUNT OF POTASSIUM IODIDE (AS
MUCH AS TWO GRAINS OF RICE). DIP STRIPS
OF FILTER PAPER IN MIXTURE; THEN DRY THEM.
34
CHLORINE FROM
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
I Put .5 g (1fs TEASPOON) MANGANESE DIOXIDE INTO
TEST TUBE. ADD 3 ml ( Ys TEST TUBE) UNDILUTED HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID. HEAT GENTLY. CHLORINE FORMS. WAFT
A LITTLE CAREFUllY TOWARD, YOU FOR A SNIFF.
TEST GAS BY HOLDING MOISTENED STARCHIODIDE
PAPER AT MOUTH OF TUBE. PAPER TURNS BlUE.
MAKING CHLORINE I N THE HOME LAB
1 MAKE APPARATUS SHOWN AT
RIGHT. POUR 1 INCH OF LI QUID
BLEACH (CLOROX) INTO BOTILE A.
BOTILE 8 IS EMPTY. BOTILE C HAS
WATER IN WHICH Vz TEASPOON LYE
IS DISSOLVED.
2 TAKE STOPPER OUT
OF BOTILE A. DROP IN
Vz TEASPOON SODIUM
BISULFATE (SANI-FLUSH).
REPLACE THE STOPPER.
3 CHLORIN E GAS
FORMS AND FILlS B.
4 LYE WATER IN BOT-
TLE C ABSORBS EXCESS
OF CHLORINE GAS.
WHEN REACTION SLOWS
CHLORINE REACTS
VIGOROUSLY WITH
MOST OTHER ELE-
MENTS. IT IS PAR-
TICULARLY ACTIVE
WITH HYDROGEN
AND MANY HYDRO-
GEN COMPOUNDS.
LOWER A BURNING CANDLE INTO
A BOTTLE OF CHLORINE GAS. A
DENSE SMOKE OF CARBON I S
FORMED. THE CHLORINE COMBINES
WITH THE HYDROGEN OF THE CAN-
DLE AND SETS THE CARBON IN IT
FREE AS SOOT.
CHLORINE WILL COMIBINE
DIRECTLY WITH SEVERAL
FASTEN A SMALL WAD OF
STEEL WOOL TO A PIECE OF
WIRE. HEAT IT WITH A /o.'\ATCH
AND LOWER IT INTO CHLO-
RINE-FILLED BOTILE. A HEAVY
BROWN SMOKE OF I RON
CHLORIDE POURS OUT.
ADD MORE SODIUM BISULFATE
WITH CHLORINE
NOTe, EAC. : IME YOU r .
MOVE THE GAS-COLL:::' :
lNG BOTTLE B FOR EXPERI-
MENT, CONNECT BOTTLES
A AND C TO PREVENT
CHLORINE FROM GffiiNC
OUT IN THE ROOM.
35
TO SHOW THE SOLUBI LITY OF CHLORINE,
POUR A SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER INTO
A CHLORINE-FILLED BOTILE. CLOSE THE
BOTTLE MOUTH WITH YOUR PALM.
SHAKE. THE CHLORINE DISSOLVES AND
THE BOTILE STICKS TO YOUR PALM FROM
THE SUCTION CREATED.
CHLORINE HAS
GREAT USE IN
BLEACHING COT-
TON AND LINEN
AND WOOD
PULP. YET IT IS
NOT THE CHLO-
RINE THAT PER-
FORMS THE
Bl EACHING.
dry moist
FILL A BOTILE WITH CHLORINE GAS. HANG
IN IT (FROM A CORK OR FROM A PIECE OF CARD-
BOARD) A STRIP OF DRY, BRIGHTLY COLORED COT-
TON CLOTH. NOTHING HAPPENS. COLOR OF
CLOl H IS NOT AFFECTED.
MOISTEN THE CLOTH AND AGAIN HANG IT
IN THE CHLORINE. SOON THE COLORS FADE-
ONLY TRULY "FAST" COLORS REMAIN. CHLORINE,
IN CONTACT WITH WATER, COMBINES WITH THE
HYDROGEN AND LIBERATES OXYGEN. THE LIB-
ERATED OXYGEN DOES THE BLEACHING.
THE ALCHEMISTS USED FANCIFUL FIGURES TO
REPRESENT THE CHEMICALS WITH WHICH THEY
WORKED.
E9 0
sulfur
OCXD
oxygen ammonia
carbon dioxide
--- - = : - 4 - -
(Vmagnesium
Au
aurum
lgo\d)
c
carbo
(carbon}
k
hydrogeniurn
re
\ettum
\ifOtl)
JONS JAKOB BER
ZELIUS DEVELOPED
THE SYSTEM USED
TODAY, IN WHICH
THE NAMES OF
ELEMENTS ARE
ABBREVIATED.
36
Chemical Shorthand
So FAR YOU have experimented 'vith OA--ygen and
hydrogen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and chlorine;
you have also separated water into the two ele-
ments of which it consists, and have combined the
two elements iron and sulfur into a chemical com-
pound. In taking notes of your experiments you are
certain to have learned that it is much quicker to
write "H" than "hydrogen," and easier to write
"C0
2
" than "carbon dioxide." Before long, it will
seem the simplest and most logical thing in the world
to use these abbreviations of the names of the dif-
ferent elements rather than the full names.
Yet it took chemists hundreds of years before they
settled on this uniform method of writing out their
chemical formulas.
In the early days of chemjstry no one bothered to
do much writing about it. But it became necessary
for the alchemists to write down their e:'l:periments
-how else could they retrace their steps in case they
actually hit upon the gold they were seeking? They
invented a whole line of complicated symbols that
only they could understand.
As chemists delved deeper and deeper into the
mysteries of matter it became more and more im-
portant for them to write out their experiments in
such a way that all other chemists would know what
they were trying to explain.
The first t{) invent a usable system was John Dal-
ton, an English scientist. The invention was almost
forced upon him.
In his study of chemistry he bad become convinced
that all chemical reactions could be eA-plained in
terms of the tini&-t possible part of one element re-
acting with the tiniest possible part of another. These
particles he called "atoms." The smallest possible
part of the compound that resulted he called a "com-
pound atom"- today we call it a "molecule."
To e:1-plain his "at{)mic theory" Dalt{)n made use
of circles, each with a marking to indicate a specific
element. These circles served to eA-plain Dalton's
theory but they were too difficult to work with to
show complicated.chemical reactions.
A Swedish chemist, J ons Jakob Berzelius, worked
out a simpler system- the same system scientists
use today.
For his symbols he took the first letter of the Latin
name of each element - C for "carbo," S for "sul-
fur." Where two names started with the same letter,
he added a small letter to one of the symbols to
distinguish the two elements from each other - he
used Ca for "calcium," for instance, to distinguish
it from carbon (C).
But Berzelius went an important step further.
By t hen the French chemist, Joseph Louis Proust,
had discovered t hat ''henever elements form com-
pounds these are always of a very definite compo-
sition- the "Law of Definite Composition." Water
molecules, for example, always contain t he same
number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. And Dalton
bad found that when two elements combine in dif-
ferent ways they do this in simple proportions - the
"Law of 2\l ultiple Proportions." One atom of carbon
and one atom of oxygen make carbon monoxide; one
atom of carbon and two atoms of oxygen make car-
bon dioxide.
To describe these things in a simple way Berzeli us
made each of his symbols stand not only for a specific
element but also for its relative weight as compared
to the weight of other clements-its "atomic weight."
To show the composition of a compound be simply
put together t he symbols for the elements into a
"formula"-CO, IICl, FeS, and so on."CO" then not
only meant that one atom of carbon and one atom
of 0::\. ygen combine to make one molecule of carbon
monox;de, but also that 12 weight units of carbon
(12 being t he atomic weight of carbon) combine with
16 weight units of oxygen (16 being the atomic weight
of oxygen) to form 28 weight units of t he compound
carbon monoxide.
When a compound contained several atoms of the
same element Berzclius indicated t his by placing a
number in front of the symbol. It was later found
necessary to change thls to a small er number, called
a "subscript," placed at the lower right of t he sym-
bol- H
2
0, C02.
In recent :years it has been necessary to change
Dalton's idea of an atom as being t he smallest in-
divisible part of an element. ::\owadays we have
machines, such as the cyclotron, t hat can bombard,
or "smash" atoms into still smaller parts-neutrons,
and electrically charged p rotons and electrons. Ac-
cording to today's atomic theory protons and neu-
trons form the nucleus of the atom and electrons
whirl around the nucleus with such tremendous
speed that t hey seem to form a 'shell" around it.
But even wi th our new idea of an atom, Dalton's
main theory is still useful for ex-plaining chemical re-
actions, and Berzelius' method is still the simplest
"shorthand" method any scientist bas ever devised
for writing them down.
37
AN ATOM MIGHT LOOK LIKE A BALL SUCH AS THIS IF
YOU ENLARGED IT A BILLION TIMES. THE " SHELL" IS
NOT SOLID-IT CONSISTS OF ELECTRONS MOVING SO
FAST THAT THEY SEEM TO FORM A SOLID SHELL.
IF YOU COULD SLOW DOWN AN ENLARGED CARBON
ATOM YOU MIGHT SEE TWO OF ITS ELECTRONS TRAVEL-
ING AROUND THE NUCLEUS IN AN " INNER SHELL" AND
FOUR MORE WHIRLING AROUND IN AN " OUTER SHELL."
IF YOU COULD HALT AN ENLARGED CARBON ATOM
COMPLETELY, IT WOULD LOOK A LOT LIKE OUR SOLAR
SYSTEM, WITH A "SUN" (PROTONS AND NEUTRONS) IN
THE CENTER AND "PLANETS" (ELECTRONS) AROUND IT.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
H 1
FRoll THE earliest times people have tried to explain
what "matter" was made of. l\fost e a r l ~ philos-
ophers agreed that "matter" was made up of what
they called "elements." But their idea of an " ele-
ment" was quite different from what we mean by
that word today.
The early Greek philosophers thought the entire
universe was composed of only four basic substances:
fire, earth, water, and air. This explanation made
sense at the time and was not seriously challenged
for many centuries.
The old Romans actually knew nine of the sub-
stances we call elements today. They called them,
of course, by their Latin names (the same we use
today in chemical symbols): carbo (carbon- C),
sulfur (8), aurum (gold- Au), argentum (silver-
FOR MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS PHILOSOPHERS
INSISTED THAT ALL SUBSTANCES WERE MADE UP OF FOUR
ELEMENTS: FIRE THAT WAS DRY AND HOT, EARTH THAT WAS
HOT AND MOIST, WATER THAT WAS MOIST AND COLD,
AIR THAT WAS COLD AND DRY. WE KNOW BffiER NOW!
0
He 2
Helium
4.003
Hydrogen
1.008
lA
Li
Lithium
6.940
3
hydrogen8p
0
@).,
Be 4
~
Beryllium
9.013
II A
THE MODERN PICTURE OF AN ATOM HAS A NU-
CLEUS IN THE CENTER, CONSISTING OF PRO-
TONS (p) AND NEUTRONS (n), WITH ELECTRONS
IN RINGS AROUND IT
Ne 10 Na 11 Mg 12
THE PERIODIC T A 8 L E OF THE ELEMENTS
Neon Sodi um Magnesium
20.1 B3 22.991 24.32
lilA IV A VA VI A VII A
A 18 K 19 Ca 20 Sc 21 Tl 22 v 23 Cr 24 Mn 25 Fe 26
Argon Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadi um Chromi um Manganese Iron
39.944 39. 1 40.08 44.96 47.9 50.95 52.01 54.94 55.85
Kr 36 Rb 37 Sr 38
y
39 Zr 40 Nb 41
Mo 42 Tc 43 Ru 44
Krypton Rubidium Strontium YtfTium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium
83.8 85.48 87.63 88.92 91.22 92.91 95.95 99 101.1
Xe 54 Cs 55 Ba 56 57-71 Hf 72 Ta 73 w 74 Re 75 Os 76
Xenon Cesium Barium lanthanons Hafni um Tantalum Tungsten
Rhenium Osmium
131.3 132.9 1 137.36
178.50 180.95 183. 86 186.22 190.2
Rn 86 Fr 87 Ra 88 89-103
D ALKALINE
Radon Francium Radium Actinons
DINERT
I
I AlKALI
EARTH
222 223 226.05 GASES METALS
METALS
La 57
Ce 58 Pr 59 Nd 60 Pm 61 Sm 62
ROWS RUNNING FROM LEFT TO
Lanthanum Cerium
Praseodymi um Neodymi um Promethium Samarium
RIGHT ARE CALLED PERIODS. COL-
138.92
1.40.13
1.40.92 144.27 u s 150.35
UMNS RUNNING FROM TOP TO
BOTIOM ARE CALLED GROUPS. THE
Ac 89 Th 90 Pa 91 u 92
Np 93 Pu 94
ELEMENTS WITHIN A GROUP HAVE
Actinium Thorium Protactini um Urani um
Neptuni um Plutoni um
MANY TRAITS IN COMMON.
227 232.05 231 238.07
237 242
38
Ag), f errum (iron - Fe), cuprum (copper- Cu),
stannum (tin- Sn) , plumbum (lead - Ph), hydrar-
gyrum (mercury- Hg).
MANY SCIENTISTS HAD _ . . . . . . . _ ~ _ . . _ .
By 1800, t hirty-four elements had been discovered.
Within the next ten years, thirteen more h ad been
added and had been given made-up Latin names -
among them natrium (sodium- Na), kalium (potas-
sium- K), and aluminium (aluminum- Al). By
the beginning of the twentieth century, eighty-four
elements were known.
Today the number bas reached 102 -the last t-en
man-made, produced by split ting t he atoms of other
elements. Within a short time, Element 103 will
probably be discoYered.
In this table you will find listed t he 102 elements
t hat are known today. Each element is described by
its chemical symbol, its atomic number, its full name,
and its atomic weight.
magnesium
chlorine
NOTICED THAT IF YOU LINE
UP THE ELEMENTS ACCORD-
ING TO ATOMIC WEJGHTS,
CERTAIN CHEMICAL TRAITS
OCCUR PERIODICAlLY. THE
RUSSIAN SCI ENTIST, DMI-
TRI MENDELEEFF, ON THIS
BASIS DISCOVERED THE PE-
RIODIC LAW AND DEVEL-
OPED THE PERIODIC TABLE.
Ill B IV B V B
THE NUMBER OF PROTONS IN AN ATOM IS ITS
ATOMJC NUMBER. AN ATOM ALWAYS HAS THE
8 5 c 6 N
SAME NUMBER OF PROTONS AND ELECTRONS.
Boron Ca rbon Nitrogen
HYDROGEN IS THE SIMPLEST OF All ATOMS.
10.82 12.011 14.008
7
AI 13 51 14
p
15
VIII
Co 27 Nl 28
Cobalt Nickel
58.94 58.71
Rh 45 Pd 46
Rhodium Palladium
102.91 106.4
lr 77 Pt 78
Iridium Platinum
192.2
195.09
I
HEAVY
1.....---.J METALS
Eu 63 Gd 64
Europium Gadolinium
152 157.26
Am 95 Cm 96
Americium Curium
243 247
I
I B II B
Cu 29 Zn 30
Copper
Zinc
63.54 65.38
Ag 47 Cd 48
Silver Cadmium
107.88 11 2.41
Au 79 Hg 80
Gold Mercury
197 200.61
r----1 METAl-
l_] LOIDS
Tb 65 Dy 66
Terbium Dysprosium
158.93 162.51
Bk 97
Cf 98
Berkelium
Californium
249
249
Aluminum Silicon Phosphorus
26.98 28.09 30.975
Ga 31 Ge 32 As 33
Ga llium Germanium Arsenic
69.72 72.6 74. 91
In 49 Sn 50
Sb 51
Indium Tin Antimony
114.82 118.7 121.76
Tl 81 Pb 82 Bl 83
Thallium lead Bismuth
204.39 207.21 209
'
NON-
....._ _ __. METALS
.-----, RARE
I
EARTH
.....__--J METALS
Ho 67 Er 68 Tm 69
Holmium Erbium Thulium
164.94 167.27 168.94
E 99 Fm 100 Mv 101
Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium
254 255 256
39
A YOUNG ENGLISH SCIEN-
TIST, HENRY MOSELEY, PER-
FECTED THE PERIODIC TA-
BLE. HE DISCOVERED THE
LAW OF ATOMIC NUMBERS
AND ARRANGED THE ELE-
MENTS ACCORDING TO
THE ELECTRIC CHARGE
VI B VII B
0 8 F 9
Oxygen Fluorine
16 19
5 16 Cl 17
Sulfur Chl orine
32.066 35.457
Se 34
Br 35
Selenium
Bromine
78.96 79.916
Te 52 I 53
Tell urium Iodine
127.61 126.91
Po 84 At 85
Polonium Astatine
210 210
I
UNSTABLE
ELEMENTS
L - - ~
Yb 70 Lu 71
YHerbium Lutetium
173.04 174.99
No 102
? 103
Nobelium
251
The M yst eries of Solutions
'
..
I f
SVANTE ARRHENIUS DEVELOPED THEORY TO EX-
PLAIN HOW SOLUTIONS CONDUCT ElECTRICITY.
FRoM THE earliest days, scientists experimenting
with chemistry have worked with solutions. The
liquid they used for making a solution (usually
water) they called the "solvent." The chemical dis-
solved was the "solute."
When chemists began to use electricity as one of
their tools, they discovered that different solutions
behaved in different ways. The solution in water of
a great number of chemicals - sugar among them
- did not let electricit y pass through. They were
Some chemicals, on the other
hand, conducted electricity very easily. They were
good conductors- "electrolytes."
In 1874 a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhe-
nius developed a theory to help explain the mysteri-
ous behavior of solutions. He was only 25 years
old at the time.
His idea was that when a chemical that conducts
electricity is dissolved in water, each molecule is
broken up- "dissociated" - into electrically char-
ged atoms or groups of atoms. These atoms or groups
of atoms Arrhenius called "ions" from a Greek word
that means "to wander." His new theory came
to be called "Arrhenius' theory of ionization."
When table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl), for in-
stance, is dissolved in water, it ionizes into positively
charged sodium ions (Na+) and negatively charged
chlorine ions (Cl- ). These ions "wander" about in
all directions until an electric current is applied to the
solution. When that happens, the negative ions rush
to the positive pole, the positive ions to the negative
pole. It is the ions that conduct the current through
the solution.
The reason that do not conduct
electricity is that they do not dissociate into ions.
Arrhenius' theory of ionization helped CA-plain a
great number of t hings that have puzzled chemists.
His theory has been modified somewhat over the
years but in most respects holds true today.
IN HIS EARLY EXPERIMENTS, SVANTE
ARRHENIUS USED A SIMPLE SET-UP.
YOU CAN EASILY REPEAT SOME OF HIS
EXPERIMENTS IN YOUR OWN LAB,
HSTING CONDUCTIVITY OF SOLUTIONS
.
40
SET UP THE SAME APPARATUS
AS ON PAGE 25. ADD FLASH-
UGHT BULB TO END OF ONE
WIRE. TRY DIFFERENT SOLU-
TIONS IN GLASS. SOME CON-
DUCT ELECTRICITY AND BULB
LIGHTS UP. OTHERS DO NOT
AND THE BULB DOES NOT
UGHT UP.
SATURATED SOLUTIONS
A SATURATED SOLUTION IS ONE
IN WHICH NO MORE OF THE
CHEMICAl WILl GO IN SOLU-
TION AT THAT PARTICULAR TEM-
PERATURE.
1
1 POUR 20 ml WATER OF ROOM
TEMPERA lURE INTO A CUSTARD
CUP. ADD 6 g SALTPETER (POTAS-
SIUM NITRATE). STIR. All THE SALT-
PETER DISSOLVES.
2 ADD 3 g MORE SALTPETER.
STIR. SOME OF THE ADDED SALT-
PETER DOES NOT DISSOLVE. CLEAR
2 LIQUID IS SATURATED AT ROOM
TEMPERATURE. (AT 20C., 6.3 g
KN0
2
MAKES SATURATED SOLU-
TION IN 20 ml WATER.)
3 PLACE CUSTARD CUP OVER ALCOHOl BURNER. ADD 10 g MORE SALT-
PETER. SOON All SALTPETER IS DISSOLVED. AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES
IT TAKES MORE SOlUTE TO MAKE A SATURATED SOLUTION. (AT BOILING,
20 ml H
2
0 DISSOLVES 49 g SALTPETER.)
4 TAKE SOLUTION OFF FIRE. AS IT COOLS, MUCH OF THE SALTPETER
COMES OUT AS CRYSTALS BY SLOW CRYSTALLIZATION. LIQUID IS AGAIN
A SOLUTION SATURATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.
BEHAVIOR OF SOLUTIONS
SOLUTION HAS lOWER
FREEZING POINT THAN
THE SOLVENT USED.
CRYSTALLIZATION
YOU CAN FOLLOW
CRYSTALLIZATION OF
MgS0
4
IN TEST TUBE,
HEAT MIXTURE OF
5 ml WATER AND 1
TEASPOON EPSOM
SALT UNTil SALT DIS-
SOLVES. POUR HOT
SOLUTION OVER
PANE OF GlASS
CLEANED WITH DE-
TERGENT. CRYSTALS
MAKE NEEDLE-liKE
NETWORK.
MANY CHEMICALS
FORM CRYSTALS OF
DISTINCT SHAPES.
FeS0,.7H
2
0
IN TRAY WITH INDIVIDUAl
I CE CUBE CUPS, POUR WATER
INTO EACH CUP. IN ONE, DIS-
SOLVE 1 PINCH OF SALT, IN
NEXT 2 PINCHES, AND SO ON.
LEAVE ONE WITHOUT SALT.
PLACE IN FREEZING COMPART-
MENT. CUPS LEAST SALTED
FREEZE FIRST.
MAKING SOLUTIONS
SOLUTION HAS HIGHER BOIUNG
POINT THAN THE SOLVENT USED.
WITH CANDY THERMOMETER,
DETERMINE AT WHAT POINT
WATER BOILS. ADD 1 PINCH
OF SALT. WHAT IS BOILING
POINT NOW? ADD MORE
SALT. READ AGAIN.
41
MAKE 50 ml GRADUATE FIRST: MEASURE 50 ml WATER
INTO A NARROW JAR, USING 10 ml TEST TUBE GRADU-
ATE SHOWN ON PAGE 15. MAKE A MARK AT 50 miLEVEl.
1 0"/o (1 0 PER CENT) SOLUTION: MEASURE 40 ml WA-
TER INTO A CUSTARD CUP. ADD 5 g OF THE CHEMICAl.
STIR. (TO MAKE IT DISSOLVE QUICKER, YOU MAY WANT
TO HEAT THE WATER SLIGHTLY.) POUR SOLUTION INTO
50 ml GRADUATE. ADD WATER TO THE 50 ml MARK.
2% SOLUTION: MEASURE 40 ml WATER INTO CUSTARD
CUP. ADD 1 g OF THE CHEMICAL STIR TO DISSOLVE.
POUR INTO 50 ml GRADUATE. ADD WATER TO 50 mi.
HOW DO YOU KNOW AN ACID?
1 ACIDS TASTE SOUR.
ADD 5 ml HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID TO 1 5
ml WATER. DROP 5
DROPS OF MIXTURE IN
GLASS OF WATER. DIP
FINGER IN THIS HIGH-
LY DILUTED ACID.
TASTE DROP ON FIN-
GER TIP.
PLACE DROP OF DILUTED HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID ON STRIP OF BLUE
LITMUS PAPER. THE COLOR CHANGES
TO RED.
3 ACIDS ACT WITH
METALS.
ACIDS NEUTRAl.IZE
BASES.
PLACE A STRIP OF ZINC IN
A TEST TUBE. POUR A FEW
ml HYDROCHLORIC ACID
ON IT. ZINC DISSOLVES,
SETTING THE HYDROGEN
OF ACID FREE.

COLOR 2 miL YE SOLUTION
ITH A DROP OF PHENOL-
(i') POUR INTO 5 ml HYDROCHLORIC
lC'10. THE PINK COLOR DISAPPEARS.
42
Working Acids
ACIDS have many traits in common. They tast e
sour. They change the color of certain plant sub-
stances-which are called " indicators." They con-
tain h)drogen (H) that can be replaced by a metal.
The) neutralize base.s.
But what is an Earlier, t he nacidic" traits
were used t o define an acid_ But with the modern
understanding of the atom, a different definition is
used. You will remember that the nucleus of an atom
contains charged protons. Acids in solu-
tion liberate protons as ions (H+). And so we say
t hat an acid is a substance that will giYe up - or
"donate" - protons to another substance. Acids are
''proton donors.'' The foremost acids used in industry
are sulfuric acid (H
2
SOJ, nitric acid (HN0
3
) , and
hydrochloric acid (HCl).
The first two - sulfuric acid and nitric acid -
should !\'EVER be used in the home lab. They are
much too They destroy the skin and
might blind you if you got them in the e)es. (Wher-
ever a chemjcal experiment would ordinarii)' call for
sulfuric acid, tills book uses sodium acid sulfate-
NaHS0
4
, soilium bisulfate, "Sani-Flush"; wherever
(CONTlliUED ON PAGE 44)
HOME-MADE INDICATORS
CUT UP OR GRATE A
RED CABBAGE LEAF.
DROP IN HOT WATER.
STEEP FOR 1h HOUR.
POUR OFF LIQUID. USE
AS INDICATOR.
MANY FLOWERS AND FRUITS CONTAIN COLORING
MATIER WHICH YOU CAN EXTRACT WITH HOT WATER
AND USE AS AN INDICATOR FOR ACIDS AND BASES.
Working Bases
BASES taste brackish. They change the color of
"indicators." They contain a combination of ox-ygen
and hydrogen atoms caUed " hydroxyl'-' (OH). They
neutralize acids.
But what is a When a base is dissolved in
water it liberates negatively charged hydroxyl ions
(OH-). \\Then a base is neutra1ized, t hese ions t.ake
on - or "accept"- positively charged protons from
another substance. A base is a substance that will
accept and combine with protons fl'om another sub-
stance. Bases are "proton acceptors." The most im-
portant bases are sodium hydroxide (' 'lye," NaOH),
ammonium hydroxide ("ammonia," NH
4
0H). and
calcium hydrO>.ide ("slaked lime," Ca(OH)
2
) .
The first of these - sodium hydroxide - is used
in households to clean sluggish drains and to
keep sinks from stopping up ("Drano" ). "CSE IT
WITH GREAT CARE in JOur ex-periments. Do
not touch ly<' flakps with your lingers and do not
gel the solution on your skin - it dissolves the natu-
ral oil. It is particularly dangerous to get lye in
your eyes. If get lye on dilute it quirkly
with LOTS OF WATER.
(CONTil'HJED ON PAGE 45)
LABORATORY INDICATORS
0
LITMUS PAPER IS MOST
COMMONLY USED INDICA-
TOR. AN ACID TURNS BLUE
LITMUS RED. BASES TURN
RED LITMUS BLUE.
WHITE PHENOLPHTHALEIN
TURNS PINK WITH BASES.
GET SMALL AMOUNT FROM
pHYDRION PAPER
IS MORE EXACT
INDICATOR FOR
ACIDS AND BASES.
DRUG STORE. DISSOLVE A b
PINCH (0.05 g) IN 50 ml
DENATURED ALCOHOL.
43
HOW DO YOU KNOW A BASE?
1 BASES TASTE BRACKISH.
NaOH
10%
DISSOLVE 5 g (1 TEA-
SPOON) LYE IN 50 ml
WATER. DROP 5
DROPS OF SOLUTION
IN GLASS OF WATER.
DIP FINGER IN THIS
HIGHLY DILUTED
BASE. TASTE DROP
ON FINGER TIP.
2. BASES ACT WITH
PLACE DROP OF LYE SOLUTION ON
RED LITMUS PAPER. THE COLOR IN-
STANTLY CHANGES TO BLUE.
ACT WITH ADD TINY LUMP OF FAT
TO 5 ml LYE SOLUTION.
HEAT GENTLY. FAT DIS-
SOL YES TO FORM SOAP.
.. BASES NEUTRALIZE
l. TO 2 ml DILUTED HCI ADD
A SINGLE DROP OF PHENOL-
PHTHALEIN SOLUTION.
2 POUR INTO 5 ml LYE SOLUTION.
THE MIXTURE TURI"JS A BRILLIANT PINK.
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS CONTAINING ACIDS
ACID FROM
NON-METALLIC
OXIDE
I GNITE A SULFUR CANDLE (OR A
TINY HEAP OF FLOWERS OF SUL-
FUR) ON A PIECE OF TIN. HOLD
MOISTENED BLUE LITMUS PAPER
OVER FLAME. SULFUROUS ACID
FORMED TURNS IT RED.
ACID FROM A SALT
nitric acid would be called for, this book produces
it in a mixture of a nitrate. K.\'0
1
, and sodium bi-
sulfate.)
Hydrochloric acid is used in many households un-
der the name of "muriatic acid." \Yhenever you use
hydrochloric acid in an experiment; l'SE IT WITH
GRE.\ T CARE. If any of it gets on you. dilute it
quickly with LOTS OF WATER. Or neutralize it
with of soda (but not if in the eyes).
'""'
-
blue litmus turns
red from acid.
pH SYSTEM IS A WAY OF DESCRIBING THE RELATIVE
ACI DITY OR ALKALINITY OF A SOLUTION. PURE WATER
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
LEMONS SAUERKRAUT
8
SET UP APPARATUS AS SHOWN.
INTO TEST TUBE A DROP MIXTURE
OF 1j
4
TEASPOON TABLE SALT AND
1f2 TEASPOON SODIUM BISULFATE.
HEAT. HYDROGEN CHLORIDE PRO-
DUCED TURNS MOISTENED BLUE LIT-
MUS RED. ADD 2 ml WATER TO TEST
TUBE B. SHAKE. RESULT IS WEAK
HYDROCHLORIC ACID.
IS NEUTRAL WITH pH7. THE LOWER THE NUMBER BE-
LOW 7, THE MORE ACID THE SOLUTION. THE HIGHER
TOMATOES
I
SALIVA
1
SUlFURIC ACID ACETIC ACID STOMACH CONTENTS BORIC ACID Mil K

l
l3
I

((;)
l
I LITMUS
RED CABBAGE
PHENOl PHTHAlEIN
44

I
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS CONTAINING BASES

e: :5
1'--
SCOURING
8
PowoER
r-... ./
..&

You can also neutralize it with vinegar (but not if
in the eyes).
Ammonia is a common household cleaning liquid.
Ammonia should also be handled with care and
should be washed off quickly if you get it on you.
Also watch your nose when you work with ammonia.
It has a very strong smell.
Calcium h)droxidc is a white powder. You will
use it in a great number of experiments.
BASE FROM A SALT
IN A CUSTARD CUP, DISSOLVE
TEASPOON SAL SODA (WASHING
SODA, SODIUM CARBONATE) IN
50 ml WATER. HEAT SLIGHTLY. ADD
SLAKED LIME MIXED WITH WATER.
STIR. CHEMICAL REACTION PRO-
DUCES SODIUM HYDROXIDE AND
CALCIUM CARBONATE. FI LTER.
CLEAR LIQUID CONTAINS THE SO-
DIUM HYDROXIDE (LYE). THE .CAL-
CIUM CARBONATE IS HELD BACK
BY THE FI LTER.
THE NUMBER ABOVE 7, 1J'HE MORE ALKALINE THE SO-
LUTION. WHEN YOU KNOW AT WHAT pH AN INDICATOR

BASE
PlACE A LUMP OF LI ME (QUICKLIME,
CALCIUM OXI DE) IN A CUSTARD CUP.
ADD AS MUCH LUKEWARM WATER AS
IT WILL ABSORIB. LIME HEATS UP, GIVES
OFF STEAM, CRUMBlES INTO POWDER
OF SLAKED LIME (CALCIUM HYDROXIDE).
red litmus turns
blue from bose.

/'
C)

CHANGES COLOR, YOU CAN DETERMINE THE ACIDITY
OR ALKALINITY OF THE SOLUTION YOU ARE TESTING.
J
WATER SEA WATER l BORAX MILK OF MAGNESIA LYE
! URINE BICARBONATE OF SODA AMMONIA LIME WATER I
1 e

LITMUS
RED CABBAGE
_. .. --- .... :,;.,.,.:,..._. '- . -- ... - .. -. - ..... -- . - .. , ,.,.,r., ;:-; J
< - -:.
45
Salts-Chemicals of M any Uses
NEUTRALIZATION IS USED
EXTENSIVElY IN CHEMICAl
ANALYSIS IN A TECHNIQUE
CAllED TITRATION.
WHAT HAPPENS when you neutralize an acid with a
base or a base with an c i d ~ The hydrogen atoms
(H + ions) of the acid combine with the h-ydroxyl
groups (OH- ions) of the base t o form water , and
the metal atoms of the base combine with what re-
mains of the acid t o form a salt. Or simply:
1
TO DETERMINE THE UNKNOWN STRENGTH
OF A BASE, THE CHEMIST DROPS INTO IT
FROM A LONG TUBE-A BURETTE-AS MUCH
ACID OF KNOWN STRENGTH AS IS NECES-
SARY TO NEUTRAliZE IT. BY CHECKING ACID
USED HE FIGURES STRENGTH OF BASE.
1 FOR A TRY AT TITRATION, MIX A
FEW ml OF HOUSEHOLD AMMONIA
WITH 40 ml WATER. ADD A DROP OF
PHENOlPHTHAlEIN. THIS Will COlOR
THE MIXTURE A DEEP PINK.
2 POUR 1 0 ml DilUTED HYDROCHlORIC
ACID INTO MEASURING TUBE. POUR SOME
OF THIS ACID INTO THE AMMONIA UNTil
COlOR HAS ALMOST VANISHED.
3 PICK UP A Ff\N ml
OF THE MEASURED
z ' ACID IN AN EYE DROP-
PER !PIPETTE). DROP
ACID SlOWlY INTO
THE AMMONIA MIX-
TURE UNTil COlOR IS
COMPlETELY GONE.
RETURN ACID NOT
USED TO MEASURING
3 TUBE. YOU NOW
KNOW HOW MANY
ml ACID YOU HAD TO
USE TO NEUTRAliZE
THE AMMONIA.
BASE plus ACID t urns into
WATER plus SALT
This, for example, is what happens when you neu-
t ralize sodium hydroxide wi th hydrochloric acid:
aOH + HD- HOH +
The result is water and sodium chloride - ordinary
table salt which has giYen its name t.o other sub-
stances of a similar nature.
Of all t he salts used in industry, table salt (NaCl)
and washing soda (Na
2
C0
3
) are of greatest impor-
tance. :\ umerous other chemicals are produced from
them. Our "llay of life "llould be completely disrupted
if our country's industry did not haYe enough of
these two salts.
Many other salts are necessary for our well-being.
You'll probably find at. least half a dozen different
salts used daily in your home - in cooking and
baking, in gardening, for cleaning.
In your chemical experiments you' ll be "llorking
with two classes of salts: normal salts (such as NaCl,
Na
2
C0
3
, Kl ) which contain no free hydrogen or
hydroxyl ions, and acid sa/Is (such as NaHSO,,
NaHC0
3
) which contain r eplaceable hydrogen.
Some of t hese salts dissolYe easily in wat er - all
the nitrates (salts of nitric acid) and most of t he
chlorides (salts of hydrochloric acid) . .i\Iany salts,
on the other hand, are insoluble - most of the car-
bonates (salts of carbonic acid) and most sulfides
(salts of hydrosulfuric acid).
HOW THE NAMES OF SALTS ARE MADE UP
THE ACID
FORMULA AND
NAME OF ACID
FORMULA AND
NAME OF SALT
SULFURIC ACID H,S0
4
HYDROGEN SULFATE Na,S0
4
SODIUM SULFATE
NITRIC ACID HNO, HYDROGEN NITRATE NaNO, SODIUM NITRATE
CARBONIC ACID H,CO, HYDROGEN CARBONATE Na,CO, SODIUM CARBONATE
ACETIC ACID HC,H,O, HYDROGEN ACETATE NoC,H,O,SODIUM ACETATE
HYDROCHLORIC ACID HCI HYDROGEN CHLORIDE NoCI SODIUM CHLORIDE
HYDROSULFURIC ACID H,S HYDROGEN SULFIDE No,S SODIUM SULFIDE
SULFUROUS ACID
NITROUS ACID
CHLOROUS ACID
H,SO, HYDROGEN SULFITE Na,SO, SODIUM SULFITE
HNO, HYDROGEN NITRITE NaNO, SODIUM NITRITE
HCIO, HYDROGEN CHLORITE NaCIO, SODIUM CHLORITE
REMEMBER: IC ACIDS FORM ATE SAlTS;
HYDRO IC ACIDS FORM -IDE SALTS; OUS ACIDS FORM -ITE SAlTS
46
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS CONTAINING SALTS
DIFFERENT WAYS Of PRODUCING SALTS
SALT FROM
METAl AND
ACID
SALT FROM
SALT AND ACID
DROP ZINC STRIPS
INTO A TEST TUBE.
POUR IN A COUPLE
OF ml HYDROCHLORIC
ACID. THE ZINC DIS
PLACES THE HYDRO-
GEN OF THE ACID TO
FORM A SAlT (ZnCI
2
)
WITH THE CHLORINE.
DROP PIECES OF CHALK, MAlRBLE, OR OYS-
TER SHELLS (All OF THEM CALCIUM CAR-
BONATES) IN A FEW ml HYDROCHLORIC
ACID. RESULT IS CALCIUM CHLORIDE AND
CARBONIC ACID [WHICH BREAKS UP INTO
CARBON DIOXIDE AND WATER).
THERE ARE many wa)'S of producing a salt in ad-
dition to neutralization.
When you made iron sulfide directly from the two
elements iron and sulfur, you produced a salt:
Fe+ ~
When you caused zinc metal to react with hydro-
chloric acid, you made a salt:
Zn + 2HiJ - Z t i ~ + H
2
When you made sodium hydroxide, you used a
47
BORAX
SALT FROM METAL
OXIDE AND ACID
PLACE 1 TEASPOON CALCIUM
OXIDE (QUICKLIME) IN A
GLASS. ADD HYDROCHLORIC
ACID WHILE STIRRII'lG. THE
QUICKLIME DISSOLVES IN THE
ACID, FORMING CALCIUM
CHLORIDE AND WATER.
Sani
Flush
1 DISSOLVE 5 g EP-
SOM SAlTS (MAGNESI-
UM SULFATE) IN 20 mi.
WATER. BRING TO BOIL.
DISSOLVE 5 g SODA
IN 20 ml WARM WATER.
POUR INTO HOT EPSOM
SALT SOLUTION.
@) FILTER THE MILKY
MIXTURE. THE FILTRATE
CONTAINS SODIUM SUL-
FATE. MAGNESIUM CAR-
BONATE IS RETAINED BY
base and a salt to form a new base and a new salt:
Ca(OH)
2
+ Na
2
- 2NaOH + CaC0
3
A salt and an acid often form another salt and
another acid:
CaC0
3
+ 2HCI -
CaCl + H
2
C0 3 (H
2
0 + COa)
Two soluble salts may also f orm two other salts-
one of them insoluble:
Na,cru + :\1g$])1 - MgCQ'l + Na,SO.
Iodine-Violet or Brown?
I
IODINE
Element 53 .
AI. wt. 1 26.91.
Gray-black crys -
tals of o peculiar
odor. Sublimes with
violet color. Com
bines directly with
metals and non-
metals. It ha s a
density of 4.9.
IS aq interesting element to experiment with.
It is easily driven out ofits compounds as beautiful,
violet fumes that turn into grayish-black, metallic-
looking crystals on cooling. These crystals can be
further purified by turning them into vapor again,
and again cooling them into crystal form. This proc-
ess is called "sublimation."
You are probably familiar with the 2% alcoholic
solution of iodine known as "tincture of iodine." It
is found in almost every home medicine cabinet and
is used as a disinfectant for wounds. Iodine has many
other uses - in phot.ography and in the preparation
of various medicines and dyes.
Iodine has the bad habit of staining practically
everything with which it comes in contact with a
brown stain that won't come off in washing. That's
why it is advisable t.o have sodium thiosulfate-
photographer's fixing salt, " hypo"- around when
you work with iodine. Hypo in solution forms a
colorless compound with iodine.
Be careful not to breathe fumes.
A DROP HALF A DOZEN ICE CUBES
Jmo A JAR. ADD A UTILE WATER.
PLACE JAR AS A LID ON TOP OF
CUSTARD CUP. THE VIOLET FUMES
SETTLE ON BOTTOM OF JAR AS
GRAYISH-BLACK, SHINY IODINE
CRYSTALS.
MAKING IODINE
A IN A PYREX CUSTARD CUP
Z TOGETHER 2 g POTASSIUM
IODIDE, 2 g MANGANESE DIOX-
IDE, 4 g SODIUM BISULFATE. HEAT
MIXTURE GENTLY. SOON VIOLET
FUMES EMERGE.
SOLUBILITY OF IODINE
-
-.
TO TEST SOLUBILITY OF
IODINE, DROP A FEW CRYS-
TALS IN EACH OF FOUR TEST
TUBES. ADD SOLVENT AND
SHAKE TUBE.
SCRAPE IODINE CRYSTALS OFF BOTTOM OF JAR.
KEEP THEM IN SMALL, TIGHTLY CLOSED BOTTLE .
?
. .
I I
/._
.:."):
/
lfJ
'
i===='

hardly any
iodine
d1ssolves
when put in
plain water.
48
.
.
I

._____
r
li

iodine
dissolves in
water 1f you
add potas-
sium iodide.
I
.
.
.
.._

I
b.......&
iodine
makes violet
solution m
carbon tet-
rachloride.
. .
. .
--

--
-
p
-

iodine
dissolves
w1th brown
color in
alcohol.
IODINE FREED BY CHLORINE
SET UP APPARATUS AS DESCRIBED ON PAGE 35 WITH THIS
EXCEPTION: IN BOTILE B, MAKE SOLUTION OF lfl g PO-
TASSIUM IODIDE IN 40 ml WATER. AS CHLORINE BUBBLES
THROUGH THIS SOLUTION IT TURNS BROWN FROM THE
FREED IODINE. WITH MORE CHLORINE IT CLEARS AGAIN
WHEN COLORLESS IODIC ACID FORMS.
IODINE BY
STARCH
IODINE
FEW CRYSTALS OF
POTASSIUM IODIDE AND A FEW
GRAINS OF SODIUM BISULFATE
IN 5 ml WATER. ADD HYDROGEN
PEROXIDE. SHAKE. THE FREE
IODINE COLORS LIQUID BROWN.
?:'
\ i : ~ i
~
THE CHLORINE IN
UQUID BLEACH ALSO
FREES IODINE. ADD
A COUPLE OF DROPS
TO SOLUTION OF A
FEW POTASSIUM
IODIDE CRYSTALS IN
10 ml WATER.
MAKING
IODIDE
MIX A FEW CRYSTALS (AS
M
1
UCH AS A PEA) OF PO-
TASSIUM IODIDE WITH %
TEASPOON SODIUM BISUL-
FATE. PLACE STRIPS OF
WETIED LITMUS PAPER AT
THE MOUTH OF TUBE. HEAT
GENTLY. IODINE IS RE-
LEASED. ALSO HYDROGEN
IODIDE-AN ACID THAT
TURNS BLUE LITMUS RED.
IODINE STAIN
PAINT PAPER WITH IODINE. DISSOLVE A FEW CRYSTALS OF SODIUM
THIOSULFATE (" HYPO") IN WATER. PAINT WITH THIS SOLUTION OVER
THE BROWN COLOR. YOU WILL GET WHITE lEITERS AS HYPO FORMS
COLORLESS COMPOUND WITH IODINE.
SHAKE UP A PINCH OF STARCH WITH
COI!.D WATER IN A TEST TUBE. ADD TO
HOT WATER. BRING TO A BOIL COOL.
POUR DROP OF MIXTURE INTO 1 0 ml
WATER. ADD DROP OF IODINE SOLU-
TION. BRIGHT BLUE COLOR RESULTS.
49
SOME
SULFUR
USES
MOST OF OUR SUL-
FUR IS PRODUCED
BY DRIVING IT OUT
.,_..' OF THE GROUND
S
SULFUR
Element 16.
Atomic wt.:
32.066. Density:
2.07. Yellow crys-
tals. Insoluble in
water. Melts at
119C. Boils at
444C. Burns in
air with blue flame .
--..;;-.._:: IN MElTED FORM BY
- __,. A PROCESS INVENT-
ED BY HERMAN .. ...... .-- .


--
..
Sulfur and Its Compounds
50
IN THE old days, sulfur was called "brimstone"
("burning stone" - from an old word, brennen, to
burn) . When it burned with a blue flame and a suf-
focating smell, people were cert.ain that the devil
himself was around.
Until fairly recently, most sulfur came from the
volcanic Italian island of Sicily. But today, America
produces most of the world's sulfur. About a hun-
dred years ago, big deposits were found in Louisiana,
several hundred feet underground. The problem of
getting it up was solved in 1894 in a very clever way
by a young German emigrant, Herman Frasch. He
piped superheated water underground to melt the
sulfur, then forced the melted sulfur to the top with
compressed air.
Sulfur itself is used for many purposes. By a proc-
ess called " vulcanization" it turns sticky, gummy
raw rubber into elastic rubber usable for automobile
tires and other rubber products . Sulfur also goes
into such things as matches and gunpowder and
medical preparations.
But by far the greatest use of sulfur is in the prep-
aration of sulfuric acid

This acid enters

into the (CONTINUED ON PAGE 52.)
SULFUR CAN USUALLY BE BOUGHT IN THREE DI FFERENT
FORMS: AS STICK SULFUR, SULFUR CANDLES, AND AS A
POWDER (FLOWERS OF SULFUR). UNDER MICROSCOPE,
SULFUR POWDER PROVES TO BE RHOMBIC CRYSTALS.
MAKING MONOCLINIC
CRYSTALS OF SULfUR
WHEN YOU MELT SULFUR, IT
GOES THROUGH FOUR STAGES:
1. IT FIRST MELTS INTO A WATERY,
STRAW-COLORED UQUID.
2. IT NEXT BECOMES SLOW-FLOW-
ING, CARAMEL-BROWN.
3. IT TURNS ALMOST SOLID.
4. IT BECOMES LIQUID AGAIN AND
BOILS WITH YELLOW VAPOR.
1 MAKE A MOLD FROM A NICKEL BY ATIACHING
A WAll OF SCOTCH TAPE AROUND THE EDGE OF IT.
2 FILL TEST TUBE 'h FULL OF FLOWERS OF SUL-
FUR. MELT GENTLY HIGH ABOVE FLAME. POUR INTO
MOLD. WHEN COOLED YOU HAVE A PERFECT CAST.
PLASTIC SULFUR
1 MELT V:z TEST
TUBE POWDERED
SULFUR. CONTINUE
HEATING. SOON IT
NO LONGER FLOWS.
YOU CAN TURN TUBE
UPSIDE DOWN WITH-
OUT ANYTHING
COMING OUT.
2 HEAT THE THICK-
ENED SULFUR FURTHER
UNTIL IT FLOWS FREE-
LY AGAIN. THEN POUR
THE DARK FLUID INTO
COLD WATER. IT TURNS
INTO A PLASTIC MASS.
IN A FEW DAYS THIS
AGAIN BECOMES YEL-
LOW SULFUR.
...... _
51
HEAT V:z TEST TUBE FULL OF
FLOWERS OF SULFUR TILL IT IS
MELTED WITH UGHT COLOR.
POUR MElTED SULFUR INTO A DRY FILTER. AS SOON
AS CRUST FORMS ON TOP, OPEN UP FILTER PAPER.
YOU WILL SEE THAT SULFUR HAS FORMED TINY
NEEDLE-LIKE CRYSTALS.
/
PRECIPITATED
SULfUR
DISSOLVE A FEW CRYS-
TALS OF HYPO (SODIUM
THIOSULFATE) IN Yz
TEST TUBE WATER. ADD
1 DROP OF HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID. SOON
LIQUID TURNS MILKY OF
EXCEEDINGLY FINE PAR-
TICLES OF SULFUR.
SULfUR
DIOXIDE
FOR
BLEACHING
1, ATIACH WI RE TO SMALL BOTILE CAP. FILL THE BOTILE CAP
HALF FULL OF SULFUR POWDER. LIGHT THE SULFUR.
BURNING SULFUR INTO A JAR. JAR FILLS WITH FUMES
OF SULFUR DIOXIDE. AFTER A FEW MOMENTS, COVER THE JAR
WITH GLASS PLATE TO EXTINGUISH SULFUR.
Be careful not to breathe fumes.
GLASS PLATE. DROP INTO JAR APPLE PEELI NGS AND MOIS-
TENED,-BRIGHT-COLORED flOWER. COVER AGAIN WITH GLASS
PLATE. IN A SHORT WHILE, COLORS HAVE BLEACHED.
MAKING
SULFUROUS
ACID
LIGHT SULFUR IN BOTILE CAP. LOW-
ER BURNING SULFUR INTO JAR.
WHEN JAR IS FUlL Of FUMES, RE-
MOVE SULFUR. ADD A FEW ml WA-
TER. SHAKE. AS S0
2
DISSOLVES IN
WATER IT FORMS A WEAK ACID-
SULFUROUS ACID,

TEST FOR
ACID WITH BLUE LITMUS PAPER.
SULfUR
DIOXIDE
FROM
A SALT
DISSOLVE % TEA-
SPOON HYPO (SO-
DIUM THIOSUL-
FATE) IN 40 ml WA-
TER. ADD A FEW ml
HYDROCH LORIC
ACID. SULFUR DI-
OXIDE AND PRECIP-
ITATE OF SULFUR
RESULT.
So
SULFUR
2
Molecular wt. 64.
Colorl ess gas with
a choki ng odor.
Does not burn nor
support combus-
tion. 2.2 weight of
air. Highly soluble
in wo ter- 3, 937
vols. i n 1 00 vol s.
at 20 C.
52
production - directly or indirectly - of practically
every manufact ured article we use today. I t is used
in refining gasoHne, in making steel and paper, fibers
and films. plastics and e2.:plosiYes, and t housands of
other chemicals.
Sulfur Dioxide- The first st ep in making sulfuric
acid from suJfur is to burn the sulfur.
When burning in t.he air, each of sulfur takes
on two atoms of oxygen t o make one molecule of
sulfur dioxide gas (S0
3
) .
By a special, complicated process, sulfur dioxide
can be forced to take on another oxygen atom and
form sulfur trioxide (80
3
) . With water, t his makes
sulfuric acid:
H20 + S0 3- H2S0 4
Hydrogen Sulfide - lVIany sulfur compounds have
unpleasant, penetrating smells. Some of t hese com-
pounds have very complex molecules - j ust imagine
a skunk producing a chemical wi th t his formula:
CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
SH! The smell of rotten eggs, on
the other band, comes from t he simple compound
hydrogen sulfide (H
2
S).
H)'drogen sulfide js used in chemical analysis to
determine what metals are found in a certain sub-
stance. It combines with metals into salts (sulfides)
that can be distinguished from each other by t heir
colors and by the way they react with acids and
other chemicals.
NOTE: Perform these experiments out-of-doors or be-
fore on open window. Be careful not to breathe fumes.
H S
HYDR0-
HYDROGEN SULFIDE
IS AN IMPORTANT LAB
TOOl FOR CHEMICAL
ANAlYSIS.
HYDROGEN SULFIDE
2 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
pound. Molecular
wt. 34. Colorless
gas with odor of
rotten eggs. Burns
with a blue flame
to form sol. 1.17
weight of air. Fair
ly soluble in water
-258 vols. in 1 00
HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM FeS
MAKE IRON SULFIDE AS DESCRIBED
ON PAGE 22. BREAK THE TEST TUBE
{IN A PAPER BAG). CRUSH THE FeS
WITH A HAMMER. DROP SMALL PIECES
IN ANOTHER TEST TUBE. BY ADDING
HYDROCHLORIC ACID YOU MAKE H
1
S.
EXPERIMENTS
WITH H
1
S
I PUT STOPPER WITH GLASS TUBE
WITH JET POINT IN TEST TUBE IN
WHICH YOU MAKE H
1
S. MOISTEN A
SILVER COIN. HOLD IT IN H
1
S STREAM-
ING OUT OF JET. IT TURNS BLACK
FROM SILVER SULFIDE.
HAS SMELL OF
ROITEN EGGS
THE COLOR OF THE SULFIDE FORMED WHEN YOU LEAD H
1
S
INTO A SOLUTION CONTAINING A SALT OF A HEAVY METAL
Will HELP TELL YOU WHAT METAL IS FOUND IN THE SALT.
FeS CdS CuS
53
DROP INTO A DRY TEST TUBE Jh
TEASPOON POWDERED SULFUR AND A
LUMP OF CANDLE WAX AS LARGE AS
A PEA. SET UP APPARATUS AS SHOWN .
MAKE SOLUTION IN TEST TUBE OF
CHEMICAL YOU WANT TO ANALYZE.
LEAD GLASS TUBE INTO THE SOLUTION .
HEAT TEST TUBE WITH SULFUR MIX-
TURE. HYDROGEN SULFIDE BUBBLES
INTO TEST SOLUTION. IF THIS CON-
TAINS SALT OF ONE OF THE HEAVY
METALS, A PRECIPITATE Will FORM.
~ ~ . . u . ...
3 HOLD COLD GLASS PLATE IN
H
1
S FLAME. BECAUSE OF INCOM-
PLETE COMBUSTION, SULFUR IS
SET FREE. YOU CAN ACTUAllY
" DRAW" WITH THE HaS FLAME.
ZnS
0
0
0
0
0
oo
MnS
MAKING CEMENT
..
..
tols or brownish
powder. Bur ns in
oxygen. Forms
about 27% of the
earth's crust.
Sn.xcoN (from the Latin silex, Oint) is the second
most abundant element on earth - aft.er oxygen.
Whether you are walking on sand or clay, rock or
cement, almost half of what you're stepping on is
silicon.
Silicon is found in nature in combination with
oxygen (mostly the dioxide, Si0
2
) and in different
silicates (salts of various silicic acids) .
With few exceptions, silicon compounds are in-
soluble in wat.er. And that is a good thing for all of
us. The glass of our windows and the gl asses from
'vhich we drink are silicates. So are the glazes on
our cups and the enamel on our bathtubs. Most
54
glass and many glazes are made by fusing together
sand (Si0
2
), limestone, and soda.
The silicates of sodium and potassium dissolve in
'vater. A concentrated solution of sodium silicate
(Na
2
Si0
3
) is sold in hardware stores under the name
of waterglass. It is used as a glue, for fireproofing
wood and for preserving eggs.
Within recent years, chemists have de-veloped a
whole line of new silicon compounds called silicones.
Some of them are oil-like. Some look like putty
("Silly Putty"). Still others are rubber-like. Paper
and cloth can be made water-repellent by being
treated with suitable silicones.
MINERALS AND PRECIOUS STONES
MANY ARE SI LICON OXIDES OR SI LICATES.
..._ ____ , MAKING SILICIC ACID:-----"
MAKING
SILICON
DIOXIDE
IN ONE GLASS, DILUTE 20 ml WATERGLASS WITH 20 ml WATER.
IN ANOTHER, MIX 10 ml HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND 10 ml WATER.
POUR THE TWO MIXTURES AT ONE TIME INTO A THIRD GLASS.
4 STAND SPOON UPRIGHT IN THE MIXTURE WHICH, ALMOST IMMEDI-
ATELY, TURNS INTO A JELLY ("GEL") SO STIFF THAT SPOON STANDS BY
ITSELF AND YOU CAN TURN THE GLASS UPSIDE DOWN.
PLACE SOME OF THE GEL ON A METAL
JAR LID. HEAT. THE SILICIC ACID (H
2
Si0
2
)
GIVES UP WATER (H
2
0) AND TURNS
INTO A GRAYISH-WHITE POWDER OF
SILICON DIOXIDE (Si0
2
).
WEAKNESS OF
SILICIC ACID
MAKING
WATER-
GLASS
a
SILICIC ACID IS SO WEAK THAT CARBONIC/
ACID (H
2
C0
2
) DRIVES IT OUT OF WATER-
GLASS. MAKE THE C0
2
BY POURING HY-
DROCHLORIC ACID OVER MARBLE CHIPS.
MAKING SILICATES
1 DILUTE 5 ml WATERGLASS
(Na
2
Si0
2
) WITH 5 ml WATER.
2 DISSOLVE SMALL CRYSTAL OF
COPPER SULFATE IN WATER.
3 ADD A FEW DROPS TO THE
WATERGLASS TO GET PRECIPI-
TATE OF COPPER SILICATE. I
1 IN A TEST TUBE, MIX 1 g OF THE SILICON
DIOXIDE YOU MADE, 2 g LYE (NaOH), AND 5 ml
WATER. HEAT CAREFULLY. MOVING TUBE.
2 AFTER FILTERING, YOU WILL HAVE A CLEAR
SOLUTION OF SODIUM SILICATE (Na
2
Si0
2
).
"GROWING" A SILICON II JUNGLE"
IN A PINT JAR, PLACE VriNCH LAYER
OF SAND. POUR ON TOP OF THIS A
MIXTURE OF EQUAL PARTS OF WATER-
GLASS AND WATER. PLACE IT IN A SPOT
WHERE IT WILL NOT BE DISTURBED.
DROP IN CRYSTALS OF VARIOUS SALTS
YOU MAY HAVE: IRON SULFATE, COP-
PER SULFATE, ALUM, EPSOM SALT. THE
CRYSTAlS SEND UP "SHOOTS." IN A
FEW HOURS, YOUR SILICATE "JUNGLE"
IS FULLY "GROWN."
55
0
~
~
~
__ :--s-_-
.. - - : . ~ : _
powder. Burns
when heated in
oxygen with
green flame
BlGlWOroL-F ut-ure Rocket-Power Element?
LEss THA:-1 A hundred years ago, a mineral called
borax, containing the element. boron, was carted out
of Death Yalley in California by t\>enty-mule teams
-about. the slowest transportation you can think of.
Someday, boron may be put. in zip-fuels for space
missiles - the fastest. form of transportation imagi-
nable. Boron has the ability (as does carbon) to
56
combine mth hydrogen in a number of ways. When
these boranes or boron hydrides burn, they develop a
tremendous amount. of power.
Boron can be isolated as a hard, brmvnish-black
powder. Its carbon compound, boron carbide (B
1
C),
is almost as hard as diamond.
But you are probably more familiar with boron
CERTAIN METAL OXIDES, FUSED INTO A "BEAD"
OF MELTED BORAX, PRODUCE DISTINCT COLORS
BY WHICH THE METALS CAN BE RECOGNIZED.
TO MAKE TEST, HEAT WIRE LOOP. DIP HOT LOOP IN
BORAX. HEAT TO FORM BEAD. TOUCH BEAD TO CHEM-
ICAL TO BE TESTED. OXIDIZE THE CHEMICAL IN VERY
HOT FLAME GENERATED WITH HELP OF A BLOWPIPE.
STUDY THE COLOR OF BEAD, HOT AND COOLED.
hot
IRON 0
COPPER 0
NICKEl 0
cold hot cold
0 MANGANESE 0 0
0 COBALT 0 0
<a) CHROMIUM 0 0
through two of its compounds 'vhich are found in
al most every household: boric acid used as
a mild antiseptic, and borax (sodium tetraborate,

used for cleaning purposes and as

a water
Borax has a great number of uses outside the home.
It is used for soldering, for producing certain kinds
of soap, and for making other boron compounds.
The glass industry uses large quantities of borax
for making boron-aluminum-silicate glass. You know-
this kind of glass by its trade name, Pyrex. Kitchen
utensils and laboratory w-are made of Pyrex glass
have the great advantage over ordinary glass that
they can be placed directly on the fire and do not
break so easily when they are subjected to sudden
heating or cooling.
MAKING BORIC ACID
. I N A CUSTARD CUP, ADD
TO 15 ml WATER.
BRING TO BOIL. STIR UNTIL
BORAX IS DISSOLVED.
TESTS FOR
BORIC ACID
DROP A FEW CRYSTALS OF BORIC
ACID IN A CUSTARD CUP. ADD A
COUPLE ml DENATURED ALCOHOL.
IGNITE. STIR WITH GLASS ROD.
BORIC ACID GIVES GREEN EDGES
TO THE FLAMES.
YELLOW TURMERIC INDICATOR PA
PER TURNS BROWN WITH BORIC
ACID. YELLOW COLORING MATIER
IN TABLE MUSTARD IS TURMERIC.
TO MAKE TEST PAPER, DIP STRIPS
OF PAPER TOWELING IN MUSTARD.
WASH MUSTARD OFF. DRY STRIPS.
57
ADD 4 ml HY-
OiOCHLORIC ACID
TO HOT BORAX SO-
LUTION. STIR. RE-
MOVE FROM FIRE.
BORIC ACID CRYS
TALLIZES OUT AS
SOLUTION COOLS .
POUR CONTENTS OF CUS-
m ocUP INTO A FILTER. WHEN
FILTRATE HAS RUN OFF, WASH
BORIC ACID REMAINING IN FIL-
TER WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF
COLD WATER TO REMOVE NaCI
ALSO FORMED IN THE PROCESS.
SPREAD OUT FILTER TO LET
BORIC ACID CRYSTALS DRY. USE
FOR EXPERIMENTS ONLY.
MAKING
BORIC OXIDE
HEAT BORIC ACID IN AN OLD
TEASPOON. IT GIVES OFF WA-
TER AND TURNS INTO SYRUPY
MASS OF MELTED BORIC OX-
IDE (B
1
0
1
) WHICH YOU CAN
DRAW INTO THREADS WITH
GLASS ROD.
I
I
.
..
'
"SALARY" COMES FROM SALAR/UM
-THE WAGES PAID IN SALT TO
ROMAN SOLDIERS.
Na
NATRIUM
Element 11.
Atomic wt.:
22.991. Density:
0.97. (English: So-
dium) Silver-white
metal, can be cut
with knife. Oxidizes
in air. Reacts with
water. Burns with
yellow flame.
CRYST ALLIZJNG
SALT BY
EVAPORATION
1 DISSOLVE 19 g TABLE
S)\.LT (NaCI) IN SO ml HOT
WATER. BOIL SOLUTION,
STIRRING WITH GLASS TUBE
WITH TOP END SEALED (TO
REDUCE " BUMPING"), UNTIL
HALF THE WATER HAS BEEN
EVAPORATED. SALT FORMS
FINE CRYSTALS.
~
~
2 POUR CLEAR LIQUID INTO LARGE PIE PLATE. PLACE
IN SUNNY WINDOW FOR WATER TO EVAPORATE SLOW-
LY. THE CRYSTALS FORMED WILl BE MUCH LARGER.
MAKING NORMAL SAlT
FROM ACID SALT
Sodium and Potassium
THE SALTS of sodium and potassium have been used
for thousands of years in making soap and glass and
for a great number of other purposes.
Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most common sodi-
um salt- it is the chemical that makes ocean water
"salt)' " Plants growing in the ocean take up so
much of the sodium that people along the seacoasts
of the world used to burn dried seaweed to secure
"soda ash" (sodium carbonate, Na
2
C0
3
) . Inland
plants, on the other hand, pick up potassium from
the soil. Inland people boiled out wood ashes in large
pots to get "pot.ash" (potassium carbonate, K
2
C0
3
).
In 1807, the British scientist, Humphry Davy,
succeeded in isolating the metals found in these salts.
They proved to be wax-soft and silvery. He called
them sodium (from soda ash) and potassium (from
potash). These are still their English name.s. But in
chemical formulas they are referred to as natrium
(Na) and kalium (K) -from abbreviations of the
Arabic names of the ashe.s: nafrun and al qili (alkali).
MAKING ACID SALT FROM NORMAL SALT
SODIUM SULFATE IS PRODUCED
BY HEATING SODIUM ACID SUL-
FATE WITH SODIUM CHLORIDE.
THE ACID CARBONATE (NaHC0
3
) IS MADE
BY LEADING C0
1
TO NORMAl CARBONATE
(Na
1
CO,).
IN A TEST TUBE, HEAT
A MIXTURE OF 2 9 SO-
DIUM ACID SULFATE (SO-
DIUM BISULFATE) WITH
I 9 TABLE SALT (NaCI) .....-;;fh-;;;....;==
HYDROGEN CHLORIDE
IS SET FREE AND SODI-
UM SULFATE IS FORM.ED:
NaHS0
4
+ NaCI ~
HCI + Na
1
S0
4
58
1 MAKE SATURATED SOLUTION BY SHAK-
l NG 3 TEASPOONS WASHING SODA IN 30
ml COOL, BUT NOT COLD, WATER. FILTER IT.
2 SET UP APPARATUS FOR MAKING C02 AS
' SROWN ON PAGE 31. LEAD C0
1
INTO SODA
SOLUTION FOR I 0 MINUTES. THEN SET ASIDE.
SHORTLY NaHC0
1
, CRYSTAlS APPEAR.
K
KALIUM
Element 19.
Atomic wt.:
39.100. Density:
0.87. (English: Po-
tassium) Silver-
white metal, so soft
it can be cut with
knife. Oxidizes in
air. Reacts with wa-
ter. Bums with vio-
let flame.
NITRATE TO
NITRITE
HEAT Y
2
TEASPOON
SALTPETER AT BOT-
TOM OF A TEST TUBE
UNTIL IT MELTS. DROP
INTO THE TUBE A
PEA-SIZE LUMP OF
SULFUR. IT BURNS
WITH BRILLIANT BLUE
FLAME. DO SAME
EXPERIMENT WITH
HEAD OF MATCH,
CHARCOAL BIT.
WHEN YOU HEAT PO-
TASSIUM NITRATE, IT
GIVES UP OXYGEN
AND BECOMES PO-
TASSIUM NITRITE:
2KN0
1

2KN0
2
+ 0
2
PIONEER WOMEN MADE POT ASH
FROM WOOD ASHES.
MAKING
POTASH
1 STIR UP SEVERAL TEA-
SPOONS OF FRESH WOOD
ASHES WITH WARM WATER.
SKIM OFF WOOD REMAINS.
FILTER THE MIXTURE OF
A HES AND WATER. COLLECT
FILTRATE IN A CUSTARD CUP.
EVAPORATE MOST OF WATER.
THEN COOL TO PERMIT K
2
C0
1
TO CRYSTALLIZE OUT.
FLAME COLOR TEST FOR SODIUM AND POTASSIUM
THE COMPOUNDS OF CERTAIN METALS GIVE
DISTINCT COLORS lO A FLAME. DIP NI-
CHROME WIRE IN HCI TO CLEAN IT. HEAT IT.
THEN DIP LOOP IN COMPOUND AND HOLD
IN FLAME.
SODIUM COMPOUNDS GIVE
THE FLAME A BRIGHT YELLOW-
RED COLOR. POTASSIUM COM-
POUNDS GIVE VIOLET FLAME.
59
TO SEE VIOLET COLOR OF PO-
TASSIUM IN MIXTURE WITH
No, USE BLUE GLASS TO
SCREEN OUT YELLOW OF No.
C
CALCIUM
a Element 20
Atomic wt.:
40 . 08. Density:
1.54. Silver-white
metal wi th bright
luster. Reacts with
moist air and water
STALACTITES AND STALAGMITES ARE
UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS OF CaCO,.
Calcium- for Building
STAl'nl UP STRAIGHT. You can do it because your
bones contain calcium. Tell a mason to put up a
brick house. He can do it with mortar containing
calcium. Tell a master builder t o build a monument.
He will make it from marble - calcium again. Tell
a hen to "go lay an egg." She can do it if she gets
enough calcium in her feed t o make the shell.
Calcium carbonate (CaC0
3
) is the starting point
for most calcium compounds - and for other chemi-
cals as well. It is found in nature in cllil's and moun-
tain ranges in the form of chalk and limestone and
marble. And it makes up the shells of clams and mus-
sels and billions of tiny sea creatures.
Calcium carbonate is almost insoluble in water.
But if the water contains carbon dioxide, some goes
in solution as calcium bicarbonat-e (Ca(HC0
3
)
2
) .
This explains t he formations in our famous limestone
caves. Rainwater containing carbon dioxide seeped
through the ground and dis.wlved a small amount
of limestone. In falling from t he cave ceiling and
drying, the drops gave up H
2
0 and C0
2
and left
CaC0
3
behind. The minute deposits of falling drops
during thousands of years created the stalactites
hanging from the roof of the caves and the stalag-
mites rising from the floor.
A widespread mineral called gypsun1 is tbe sul-
fat-e of calcium. In this, each molecule of sulfate has
two molecules of water attached to it (CaSO
4
2H
2
0).
When gypsum is heated, it loses three quart-ers of its
wat-er and becomes plaster of Paris (2CaS0
4
H
2
0 ).
When you mix plast-er of Paris and water, it again
takes on the full amount of H
2
0 and hardens into
a hydrate similar to the original gypsum.
The name of calcium was given to tbe metal bidden
in limestone by its discoverer, Humphry Davy. It
comes from calx, the old Latin name for lime.
r
EA SHElLS, CORAL, LIMESTONE, A N ~ ~ : ~
MARBLE ARE ALL CALCIUM CARBONATE. ~
WHEN LIMESTONE IS HEATED IN KILNS, WHEN WATER IS ADDED TO LUMPS OF QUICKliME (CoO),
T LOSES CARBON DIOXIDE AND TURNS THEY CRUMBlE INTO A WHITISH POWDER OF SLAKED OR
-L...!........III.::=..:JI......J.. .......... _ INTO QUICKLIME-CALCIUM OXIDE. HYDRATED LIME (Ca(OH)
2
). (SEE ALSO PAGE 45.)
60
TESTING HARDNESS OF WATER
MAKE TEST SOLU-
T N BY DISSOLVING
1 g SOAP FLAKES IN 20
ml DENATURED ALCO-
HOL. FILTER.
A FILL A SLENDER JAR
Jrl"LF FULL OF WATER
TO BE TESTED. ADD 1 0
DROPS OF SOAP SOLU-
TION. CLOSE MOUTH
OF JAR. SHAKE VI GOR-
OUSLY. CHECK AMOUNT
OF FOAM.
SOFT TAP
WATER GIVES
FAIR AMOUNT
OF FOAM.
HARD TAP
WATER MAKES
VERY UTILE
FOAM.
HARD WATER
SOFTENED WITH
WASHING
SODA MAKES
FOAM.
DISTILLED
WATER MAKES
LARGE
AMOUNT
OF FOAM.
MAKING "HARD" WATER
'
SET UP GAS GENERATOR AS SHOWN ON PAGE
BOTILE A CONTAINS HYl>ROCHLORIC ACID. IN
BOTILE B, PLACE MARBLE CHYPS ON TOP OF PEBBLES.
POUR ACID ON MARBLE CHIPS TO MAKE CO,.
A tEAD THE CARBON DIOXIDE INTO LIME WATER.
ill'fURNS MILKY THROUGH FORMATION OF CoC0
1

I
CONTINUE LEADING C0
2
INTO MILKY SOLUTION.
KINESS DISAPPEARS. INSOLUBLE CoC0
1
HAS BEEN
TURNED INTO SOLUBLE Ca(HCO,).. THIS IS THE SUB-
STANCE THAT MAKES MOST HARD WATER "HARD."
PR.ECIPITAnD
CALCIUM
CARBONATE
1 WHEN MARBLE CHIPS
HAVE DISSOLVED IN ACID IN
BOTTLE B IN EXPERIMENT
ABOVE, POUR SOLUTION INTO
CUSTARD CUP. HEAT.
2 WHEN HOT, ADD SOLU-
TION OF 2 TEASPOONS
WASHING SODA IN 50 ml
WATER. YOU GET A HEAVY
WHITE PRECIPITATE OF CAl-
CIUM CARBONATE.
water to be
distilled is
in this can
DISTILLING
WATER
ice cubes
can upside
down-bottom
IN THE SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY, All IMPURITIES (CAL-
CIUM CARBONATE AND SULFATE, AND OTHERS) MUST
BE REMOVED FROM WATER TO BE USED AS SOLVENT.
THIS IS DONE BY EVAPORATING THE WATER AND
CONDENSING THE STEAM. YOU CAN MAKE A DIS-
TILLATION APPARATUS FROM TWO PINT-SIZE CANS.
HOlD 2-INCH PIECE
OF MAGNESIUM RIB-
BON WITH A PAIR
1
OF PLIERS. IGNITE IT . j /;:
IT BURNS WITH A . ~ : ) /
BRILLIANT, WHITE ~
FLAME. MIX ASHES ~ "
(MgO) WITH WATER.
1
TEST MIXTURE WITH
RED LITMUS PAPER.
CUT SLIVER OF ZINC.
HOLD IT IN FLAME. IT
BURNS WITH BLUISH-
GREEN FLAME TO ZINC
OXIDE. ZnO IS YELLOW
WHEN HOT, WHITE
WHEN COOL
BOTH METAlS REACT WITH WEAK ACIDS, EVEN WITH
VI EGAR-Mg WITH COLD VINEGAR, Zn WITH HOT.
2 POUR SOLUTION OF 1 g SODIUM BISULFATE IN 10
ml WATER ON Mg AND Zn. Mg REACTS FAST, Zn SLOWLY.
NOW TOUCH ZINC WITH A COPPER WIRE. REACTION
SPEEDS UP, CAUSED BY ELECTRIC PROCESS.
62
TAKE A LOOK at the periodic table of elements on
pages 38-39. In column IIA you find the metal mag-
nesium, in column liB the met.al zinc. The fact that
the two families in which. they are found both have
the Roman numeral II would indicate that they are
related. But the fact that they are in separate "sub-
groups" would suggest that they differ in certain re-
spects. That is exactly the case.
In their compounds they are very much alike. One
atom combines with one atom of oxygen to form the
oxide (MgO and ZnO), and one atom replaces two
atoms of hydrogen in fornuing a salt (MgC1
2
and
ZnC1
2
, for instance). But in some of their reactions
they do not behave alike- as you will learn.
Before W odd War II, magnesium had little use
-mainly in flash photography because it burns with
a blinding, white light. But the metal became im-
portant when lightweight planes were needed -
melted together with other metals it forms an "alloy"
REPLACEMENT OF COPPER
1
2
1 DISSOLVE 4 g COPPER SULFATE IN 40 ml WATER.
POUR HALF OF THE SOLUTION OVER STRIPS OF MAGNE-
SIUM, THE OTHER HAlF OVER SLIVERS OF ZINC.
2 COPPER IS FORCED OUT AND Mg AND Zn GO INTO
OLUTION. IF ENOUGH METAL IS USED, THE BLUE COLOR
DISAPPEARS. MgS0
4
AND ZnS0
4
ARE COLORLESS.
that is light yet very strong. Some magnesium com-
pounds are used in medicine: milk of magnesia (Mg
(0H)
2
) and Epsom salt (MgS0,7H
2
0 ).
Zinc has been used for ages to coat iron pails and
pipes tD prevent them from rusting- "galvanized
iron." Zinc is also a part of many alloys (German
silver and brass) and is important in the making of
dry-cell batteries.
MAKING THE CARBONATES
1 DISSOLVE 2 g EPSOM SALT (MAGNESIUM
SULFATE,

IN 20 ml WATER.
2 GET FROM HARDWARE STORE SMAll BOT-
TLE OF "TINNERS' FLUID." THIS IS A STRONG
SOLUTION OF ZINC CHLORIDE. DILUTE 5ml OF
FLUID WITH 15 ml WATER.
M
MAGNE-
g
5 I U M
Element 12.
Atomic wt.: 24.3 2.
Density: 1:75. Sil-
ver-white metal.
Ductile, malleable.
Reacts with boiling
water. Burns in air
with very brilliant
white light.
Z
Z I N C
n Element 30.
Atomic wt.:
65.38. Density:
7.1. Bluish-white
metol. Ductile and
malleable. Distils
when heated to
boiling. Can be
made to burn with
bl uish flame.
MAKING THE HYDROXIDES
1 ADD SODIUM HYDROXIDE SOLUTION TO SOLUTION
OF MAGNESIUM SULFATE. WHITE Mg(OHb FORMS.
ADD SMALL AMOUNT OF NaOH SOLUTION TO DI-
LUTED TINNERS' FLUID (ZnCI
1
). Zn(OHJ
1
IS FORMED. ADD
MORE NoOH. PRECIPITATE DISSOLVES WITH FORMATION
OF SODIUM ZINCATE (Na
1
Zn 0
1
).
ADD AMMONIA (AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE) TO MAG-
NESIUM SULFATE SOLUTION. AGAIN Mg(OH)
1
FORMS.
ADD SMALL AMOUNT OF AMMONIA TO DILUTED TIN-
NERS' FLUID. Zn(OH)
1
FORMS. ADD MORE. THE Zn(OH)
1
DISSOLVES, FORMING COMPOUND WITH NH,.
Zn AND Mg
WITH HaS
2
3 MAKE SOLUTION OF S g WASHING SODA
(SODIUM CARBONATE) IN 50 ml WATER. ADD
SOME OF THIS SOLUTION TO THE OTHER TWO.
IN BOTH JARS YOU WILL GET A HEAVY WHITE
PRECIPITATE. IN THE Mg JAR, THIS IS NORMAL
MAGNESIUM CARBONATE (MgC0
1
). IN Zn JAR,
IS SET FREE AND BASIC ZINC CARBONATE
(Zn(OH)
1
,ZnC0
1
) RESULTS.
1 SET UP HYDROGEN SULFIDE APPARATUS SHOWN ON PAGE 53.
LEAD HYDROGEN SULFIDE (H
2
S) INTO OILUTED TINNERS' FLUID
(z;;'CI
2
). YOU GET A WHITE PRECIPITATE OF ZnS.
3 LEAD H
1
S INTO SOLUTION OF EPSOM SALT (MgS0
4
) . HERE
A SO YOU GET WHITE PRECIPITATE. BUT NOT OF MAGNESIUM
SULFIDE. THIS REACTS WITH THE WATER TO MAKE Mg(OH)
1
.
63
A luminum- in Abundance
C. OF DISCOV-
ERED ALUMINUM IN 1825. CHARLES
HALL OF THE UNITED STATES FOUND
A CHEAP WAY OF PRODUCING IT
IN 1886.
AI
ALUMINUM
Element 13 .
Atomic wt.:
26 . 98 . Dens i ty :
2.70. Sil ver-white
metal; ductile, mal-
leable, able to toke
a high polish. Am-
photeric. Will burn
in oxygen wit h
white flame.
MAKE A SMALL AMOUNT
OF ALUMINUM POWDER BY
FILING IT OFF AN OLD ALU-
MINUM POT. SPRINKLE IN
FLAME TO MAKE SPARKS
OF BURNING ALUMINUM.
DISSOLVING Al.I!JMINUM
2
.
..
.
.
.
1 CUT ALUMINUM
FOIL IN SMALL STRIPS.
DROP THEM IN A LIITLE
DILUTED HYDROCHLOR-
IC ACID. HYDROGEN IS
RELEASED; ALUMINUM
CHLORIDE IS FORMED.
J'l DROP STRIPS OF
frUMINUM FOlliN 10%
NoOH SOLUTION. HY-
DROGEN IS FREED AND
SODIUM ALUMINATE
IS FORMED.
64
IT IS AUIOST impossible to imagine our world with-
out aluminum. Almost everywhere you look you see
items made of this silver-white metal - from the
pots in the kitchen to the airplanes fl ying overhead.
Although aluminum is t he most abundant metal
on earth, no one had ever se.en it until 1825 when a
Danish scientist , Hans Christian rsted, isolated it
from aluminum chloride (AIC1
3
). For a number of
years alumi num was so expensiYe that it was con-
sidered in class with gold and silver. The solid alumi-
num cap placed on top of the Washington Monument
in 1884 was first put on public display so that every-
one could have a look aL such a great rarity. Two
GROWING ALUM CRYSTALS
1
1 HEAT WATER UNTIL IT IS SLIGHTLY MORE THAN LUKE-
WARM. STIR INTO IT POTASSIUM ALUM OR AMMONIUM
ALUM UNTIL NO MORE DISSOLVES. POUR LIQUID OFF
UNDISSOLVED ALUM. SET ASIDE TO COOL.
2 WHEN CRYSTALS HAVE FORMED, PICK OUT LARGEST
ONES. ADD TO SOLUTION AS MUCH MORE ALUM AS IS
REPRESENTED BY THE CRYSTALS YOU REMOVED. HEAT
GENTLY AGAIN UNTIL All IS DISSOLVED. COOL.
3 POUR COOLED SOLUTION INTO NARROW GLASS. TIE
THREAD TO LARGEST CRYSTAL YOU PICKED. HANG THIS
IN SOLUTION FROM A PENCIL PLACE IN QUIET SPOT.
LET THE CRYSTAL GROW FOR A WEEK OR MORE.
years later, a 22-year-old American chemist, Charles
Martin Hall, invented a way of producing aluminum
cheaply from aluminum oxide (Al
2
0
3
) . Since then
aluminum has become one of the most popular of all
metals-mostly because of its lightness.
The mineral bauxit-e (A1H0
2
, Al(OH)
3
) is our main
source of aluminum. But aluminum is also found in
nature as oxide and in many complex silicates. Clay,
for instance, is an aluminum silicate.
MAKING ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE
Two things about aluminum will interest you as a
chemist. One is that aluminum is an "amphoteric"
element, which means that it can form not only a
base (Al(OH)
3
), but also an acid (HA.l0
2
). The other
is that aluminum sulfate

has the ability

to combine mth potassium sulfate

and am-
monium sulfate

into beautiful cubic

of double salts called "all!liDs"- KAl (SO J
1

l2H
2
0 and NH,Al(S0
4
)
1
12H20.
1
CLEARING
WATER
WITH
ALUM
I DISSOLVE I g (lh TEASPOON) ALUM IN
10 ml WATER. ADD A LlffiE 10% NaOH
SOlUTION. YOU GET JELLY-LIKE ALUMINUM
HYDROXIDE. THIS WILL DISSOLVE IN MORE
NaOH TO FORM SODIUM ALUMINATE.
1 POUR WATER INTO A PINT JAR AND STIR INTO IT I TABLE-
SPOON EARTH FROM THE GARDEN OR FROM A FLOWER POT.
2 AMMONIA ADDED TO ALUM SOLUTION
GlVES ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE. BUT THIS
DOES NOT DISSOLVE IN MORE AMMONIA.
2 IN ANOTHER JAR, MAKE A SIMILAR MIXTURE. IN THIS, DIS-
SOLVE y,. TEASPOON ALUM. ADD I TEASPOON AMMONIA. DIRT
SffiLES FASTER IN THIS JAR THAN IN THE FIRST JAR.
65
AND SODA
(,"! TO 1h TEASPOON OF ALUM IN 20 ml
"W' ATER, ADD 1h TEASPOON SODA IN 20
ml WATER. PRECIPITATE SHOULD BE CAR-
BONATE-BUT IS IT?
( ;) FILTER THE PRECIPITATE. WASH IT RE-
fiiATEDLY BY SQUIRTING WATER INTO IT.
3 AFTER WASHING, BRING PRECIPITATE
INTO A TEST TUBE. ADD HYDROCHLORIC
ACID. NO C0
2
IS FORMED. THIS IS NOT
A CARBONATE. ALUMINUM HAS NO CAR-
BONATE. ALUM MAKES AlUMINUM HY-
DROXIDE WITH SODA.
MANGANESE
DIOXIDE TO
MANGANESE
SULFATE
2
1 IN A PYREX CUSTARD CUP, MIX 2 g MANGANESE DIOXIDE, 6 g SO-
DIUM BISULFATE, AND 10 ml WATER_ HEAT MIXTURE GENTLY_ IT WILL
BUBBLE VIGOROUSLY BECAUSE OXYGEN IS SET FREE_
2 AFTER A FEW MINUTES, ADD 30 ml WATER_ FILTER_ FILTRATE CON-
TAINS MANGANESE SULFATE (MnS0
4
) AND SODIUM SULFATE_
MANGANESE
SULFATE TO
MANGANE_SE
HYDROXIDE
3
.3 1 1NTO HAI!.F OF THE MANGANESE SUL-
F.(TE SOLUTION YOU HAVE MADE, POUR
10% SOLUTION OF NaOH UNTIL NO
MORE PRECIPITATE FORMS. WHITISH
Mn(OH)
1
OXIDIZES INTO BROWN MnO(OH).
of Many Colors
METALLIC has no use by itself. But add
up to 15 per cent of it to st eel and the result is an
alloy- "manganese steel" - so hard that it is suit-
able for machine parts that are ex"'Poscd. to a lot of
rough wear.
The most common ore from which manganese is
extracted goes under the name of "pyrolusite." This
is nothing but your old friend manganese dioxide
(Mn0
2
) which you found in your flashlight battery
and have aheady used in a great number of your
chemical e_x"'Periments.
The compounds of manganese come in almost any
color you can think of: black and brown, white and
pink and red, violet and green. In working with
these compounds, your fingers and glassware may
get brown. You can get rid of this stain easily with
diluted hydrochloric acid. Rinse thoroughly with
water afterwards.
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE
KMn0
4
WILL GfVE YOU AN IDEA OF SMALLNESS OF MOLECULE.
I DISSOLVE 1h g POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE IN 50 ml WA-
TER. THIS GIVES A SOLUTION OF 1 TO 1 00, OR 1 /100.
DILUTE 5 ml OF THIS SOLUTION WITH 45 ml WATER. YOU
OW HAVE A SOLUTION OF 1 TO 1 ,000, OR 1 /1 ,000.
AGAIN, 5 ml TO 45 ml WATER FOR SOLUTION 1/10,000.
AGAIN, 5 ml TO 45 ml WATER FOR SOLUTION 1/100,000.
AGAIN, 5 ml TO 45 ml WATER FOR SOLUTION 1/1,000,000.
COLOR YOU STILL SEE IS CAUSED BY THE PRESENCE OF MORE
THAN 600,000,000,000,000,000 MOLECULES OF KMn0
4

66
REDUCING KMn0
4
PLACE A FEW CRYS-
TALS OF POTASSIUM
PERMANGANATE ON
BOTTOM OF A TEST
TUBE. DROP A FEW
DROPS OF HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID ON
THEM. THE KMn0
4
IS
REDUCED (THAT IS, IT
GIVES UP OXYGEN). IT
OXIDIZES HCI AND
SETS CHLORINE FREE.
THE EXPERIMENTS ALONG THE
TOP OF THESE PAGES SHOW
HOW IT IS POSSIBLE TO
MOVE FROM ONE COM-
POUND TO ANOTHER.
MANGANESE SULFATE TO
MANGANESE CARBONAn MANGANESE
CARBONATE
TO
MANGANESE
CHLORIDE
5
MANGANESE
CHLORIDE TO
MANGANESE
SULFIDE
Mn
MANGA
N E 5 E
Element 25.
Atomic wt.: 54.94.
Densi ty: 7.44. Sil-
very- gray metal
with reddish tinge.
Reacts with water.
Its compounds with
oxygen range from
bases to acids.
4 ' INTO SECOND HALF OF
SOLUTION, POUR SOLUTION OF
4 g SODIUM CARBONATE IN 10
ml WATER. WHITE PRECIPI TATE
IS MnC0
1

5 LET MANGANESE CARBO ATE
SIDLE. POUR LIQUID OFF PRECIPI-
TATE. ADD HYDROCHLORIC ACID BY
THE DROP UNTIL DISSOLVED. RESULT
IS MANGANESE CHLORIDE (MnC1
2
) .
6 SET UP APPAR TUS FOR MAKING HY-
DROGEN SULFIDE (SEE PAGE 53). POUR
SOLUTION OF MnCI
2
INTO TEST TUBE.
DILUTE IT IF NECESSARY. LEAD H
2
S INTO
IT. YOU GET MANGANESE SULFIDE.
-- J
DISSOLVE A FEW CRYS-
TALS OF POTASSIUM
IN
WATER . ADD TINY
AMOUNT OF SODIUM
BISULFATE (TO MAKE
SOLUTION SOUR). POUR
IN A LITILIE HYDROGEN
PEROXIDE (H
1
0
2
). COL-
OR DISAPPEARS AND
OXYGEN IS LIBERATED.
I DISSOLVE 1 g SODIUM HYDROXIDE IN 50 ml WA-
TER. ADD A CRYSTAL OF POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE
TO GIVE THE SOLUTION A LIGHT RED COLOR.
2 POUR THE RED SOLUTION INTO A FILTER. WATCH
E FILTRATE. IT IS GREEN INSTEAD OF RED. PASSING
THROUGH FILTER PAPER HAS CAUSED KMn0
4
TO BE
REDUCED TO POTASSIUM MANGANATE {K
2
Mn0
4
).
67
1 DISSOLVE A SMALL CRYSTAL OF IRON
SULFATE (FERROUS SULFATE, FeS0
4
) IN HALF
A TEST TUBE FULL OF WATER.
2 DISSOLVE A COUPLE OF KMn0
4
CRYSTALS
IN HALF TEST TUBE OF WATER.
3 POUR PERMANGANATE INTO IRON SALT.
GREEN FERROUS SULFATE IS OXIDIZED TO
BROWN FERRIC SULFATE (Fe
2
(S0
4
),).
55.85. Density:
7.86. Gray-white
metal. Ductile and
mall eable. Reacts
with most acids, re-
We Live In an A ge of lro:rn.
l ea sing hydrogen.
-..:--'-:--'-,..-:.-.---,-_:_,...--!.....,-...:......,,..-:.._,,-f Reacts in moist ai r
to form rust.
IRoN :\tETAL has the pecul1ar quality of being mag-
netic-that is, of being attracted and influenced by
a force railed magnetism. If you should walk around
your home and touch different things with a mag-
net. you would be surprised at the large number of
them that would prove to contain iron. They would
TWO KINDS OF IRON COMPOUNDS
IRON FORMS TWO KINDS OF COMPOUNDS. IN FERROUS
SALTS, EACH IRON ATOM HAS REPLACED TWO HYDRO-
GEN ATOMS. IN FERRIC SALTS, EACH IRON ATOM HAS
REPLACED THREE HYDROGEN ATOMS. GREEN FERROUS
SALTS EASILY OXIDIZE INTO RED-BROWN FERRIC SALTS.
range in size from the car in the garage and the re-
frigerator and stove in the kitchen to the nails in the
walls and the n<>edles and pins in your motJ1er"s
sewi ng box.
RUSTING OF IRON
The moment you step outdoors and look around.
you will be e,en more amazed. Skyscrapers and
MOISTEN A WAD O F FI NE STEEL
WOOL WITH VINEGAR (TO SPEED UP
ACTION). WEDGE IT IN BOTIOM OF
A GLASS. INVERT GLASS IN
PIE PLATE OF WATER. IN A
FEW DAYS, WATER HAS
RISEN IN GLASS. IRON HAS
REACTED WITH OXYGEN
AND MOISTURE TO FORM
RUST-{Fe
1
0
1
)
1
3H
1
0.
MAKING A FERRIC SALT
TEST FOR IRON SALTS
1 IN ONE TEST TUBE, DI LUTE SOME FERRIC
CHLORIDE SOLUTION WITH WATER.
2 IN ANOTHER, DILUTE SOME OF THE FER-
ROUS CHLORIDE SOLUTION WITH WATER.
SET UP APPARATUS FOR MAKING CHlORI NE
(SEE PAGE 35). I NTO BOTILE B POUR FER-
ROUS CHLORIDE SOLUTION YOU HAVE JUST
MADE. THE CHLORINE TURNS THE GREEN
FERROUS CHLORIDE (FeCI
1
) INTO A BROWN
FERRIC CHLORIDE (li'eCil).
3 TO EACH, ADD A FEW DROPS ==:=Q
OF SOLUTION OF TEASPOON
POTASSIUM FERROCYANIDE IN
50 ml WATER. FERRIC SALT MAKES
A DEEP BLUE PRECIPITATE OF
PRUSS IAN BLUE. FERROUS SALT &_t:==T:.
MAKES LIGHT BLUE PRECIPITATE.
68
MAKING A
F RROUS SALT
POUR HYDROCHLO-
R C ACID OVER STEEL
WOOL. HYDROGEN IS
SET FREE AS STEEL
WOOL DISSOLVES. FIL-
TER THE SOLUTION.
2 LIGHT-GREEN FI L-
TRATE CONTAINS FER-
ROUS CHlORIDE (FeCI
1
) .
iron production.
The iron is driven out of its ore (mostl y Fe
2
0
3
)
in huge furnaces. Each furnace can make as much
as 1,000 tons of iron at one time from 2,000 tons of
ore, 1,000 tons of coke, and 500 tons of limestone.
A blast of hot air is forced through the mh.-ture. The
coke burns with great he-at Lo carbon dio:\"ide. This,
with more coke, forms carbon monoxide, and this,
in turn, reduces the iron oxide to metallic iron. In
chemical language. this is what happens:
C + 0
2
- C0
2
plus heat
C02 + C- 2CO
+ 3CO - 2Fe + 3C0
2
At the same time, the limestone combines with
various impurities t o form a glass-like compound
called "slag. " This is removed when the w]Jite-hot
iron is poured out into moulds and cooled into bars
of " pig iron."
The pig iron is brittle because it contains close to
5 per cent carbon. To turn it. into steel, the carbon
must be burned out. until only from .5 to 1.5 per cent
remains. This is done either by t he Bessemer process
(named for au Englishman, Hem-y Bessemer) or by
the open-hearth process. The finished steel is molded
into " ingots" and shipped to manufacturing plants
all over the country.
In chemical experiments, t,hE' most. commonly used
iron compound is the iron sulfate (ferrous sulfate,
7H
2
0 ) - also called "green vitriol " and
"copperas." Don't. let. the last name mislead you-
it has nothing Lo do with copper but. comes from
an old French word, cotzperose.
FROM FERROUS
SALT TO
FERRIC
I
u.
I
i
)
1 DISSOLVE % TEASPOON FER-
ROUS SULFATE IN 50 ml WATER,
ADD A FEW CRYSTALS OF SODI-
UM BISULFATE TO KEEP THE SO-
LUTION SOUR.
IRON HYDROXIDES
AND CARBONATE
2 ADD HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
s-OLUTION, LIGHT- GREEN FER-
ROUS SULFATE SOLUTION TURNS
REDDISH-BROWN. H
1
0
1
HAS OX-
IDIZED FeS0
4
TO SULFATE

69
1 TO SOLUTION OF TEASPOON FERROUS SULFATE
ml WATER, ADD SOLUTION OF SODIUM HYDROX-
IDE. PURE FERROUS HYDROXIDE IS WHITE. BECAUSE OF IM-
PURITIES, YOU GET DIRTY-GREEN PRECIPITATE OF Fe(OH)
1
,
SOON OXIDIZING TO BROWN FERRIC HYDROXIDE.
2 TO ANOTHER PORTION OF FERIROUS SULFATE SOLU-
TION ADD SODIUM CARBONATE SOLUTION. PURE CAR-
BONATE MADE WITH NO OXYGEN PRESENT IS WHITE-
BUT YOU GET MUDDY, WHITISH-GREEN PRECIPITATE OF
FERROUS CARBONATE, EVENTUALLY TURNING INTO FER-
RIC HYDROXIDE.
CoPPER IS ONE of the few metals found free in na-
ture. That is why it was used long before historic
times for weapons and ut-ensils. The main trouble
with it was its softness. This was remedied when
some early coppersmith discovered that copper and
tin (also found free in nature) melted together formed
an alloy that was much harder than either of the
two metals. This alloy gave its name to more than
two thousand years of human history - the period
called the "Bronze Age.
A great number of weapons from the Bronze Age
have been found in Greece. When they were dug out
of the ground, t hey were covered with a green "rust. "
This deposit was called verdigris -literally "green
of Greece" (from old French, rert de Grece). It
sists of basic cupric carbonate - the same compound
you will see on a bronze statue or a copper-clad
church spire e;.;-posed to wind and weather.
Copper became especiall y valuable less than a
hundred years ago when a satisfactory method for
producing a steady fl ow of electricity was invented.
After sil ver, copper is the best conductor of electrici-
ty. Today, the most import.ant use for copper is for
electrical purposes. I t serves t o bring the current
from the place where it is produced to the place
where it is t o be used (although, within recent years,
some aluminum bas taken its place for high-tension
70
THE GREEK AND TROJAN WARRIORS FIGHTING BEFORE
THE GATES OF TROY USED SWORDS AND SHIELDS OF
BRONZE-AN ALLOY MADE UP OF COPPER AND TIN.
wires). You will fmd copper in the wiring in your
own home and in every electrical gadget you use.
Copper makes two kinds. of salts. In cuprous salts,
one copper atom has taken the place of one hydrogen
atom; in cupric salts, one copper atom has taken the
place of two hydrogen atoms. Cuprous salts (such
as cuprous chloride, CuCI) are colorless, while cupric
salts (such as cupric sulfate, CuS0
4
are bright
blue in color.
MOST IMPORT ANT USE
OF COPPER TODAY IS
FOR ELECTRIC WIRING.
MAKING COPPER COMPOUNDS
DISSOLVE 10 g COP-
PER SULFATE IN 100
ml WATER. POUR 10
ml INTO EACH OF
FOUR TEST TUBES.
1 Oi'o SODIUM
HYDROXIDE SOLU-
TION PRECIPITATES
DIRTY-BLUE CUPRIC
HYDROXIDE
(Cu(OH),).
WITH AMMONIA
YOU ' ll ALSO GET
Cu(OH)
2
, BUT THIS DIS-
SOLVES IN MORE AM-
MONIA WITH DEEP BLUE
COLOR.
3 SODIUM CAR-
BONATE SOLUTION
GIVES BLUE-GREEN
CUPRIC CARBON-
ATE PRECIPITATE.
4 WITH HYDRO-
GEN SULFIDE,
BROWNISH-BLACK
PRECIPITATE OF
CUPRIC SULFIDE.
{ 1 LET CUPRIC HYDROXIDE (IN EX-
IfERIMENT ON TOP OF PAGE) SET-
TLE. THEN POUR OFF LIQUID. ADD
HYDROCHLORIC ACID UNTIL All IS
DISSOLVED. ADD SMALL PIECES OF
COPPER WIRE. HEAT TO BOILING.
COPPER SULFATE IN
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
WATERFREE (ANHYDROUS)
CUPRIC SULFATE SHOWS IF
WATER IS PRESENT I N A
LIQUID BEING TESTED.
1 CRUSH A FEW
CUPRIC SULFATE
CRYSTALS. HEAT
WHILE STI RRI NG
UNTIL THEY HAVE
......__ _ TURNED INTO A
WHITE POWDER.
2 SHAKE UP A LI TTLE ANHYDROUS
CUPRIC SULFATE WITH CARBON TET-
RACHLORIDE. NOTHING HAPPENS.
3 ADD ONE DROP OF WATER.
SHAKE. BLUE CRYSTALS FORM.
C
COPPER
U Element 29.
Atomic wt.:
63 . 54. Density:
8.97. Soft metal of
reddish color. Eas-
ily rolled and
drawn into wi re .
Next to silver,is the
best conductor of
electricity.
2 POUR A FEW DROPS OF THE HOT SOLU-
TION INTO A LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER.
YOU GET A WHITE PRECIPITATE. WHEN YOU
DISSOLVED CUPRIC HYDROXIDE IN HCI, YOU
MADE CUPRIC CHLORIDE WHICH IS SOLUBLE
IN WATER. BY TREAIING THiS WITH METALLIC
COPPER, YOU GOT CUPROUS CHLORIDE, IN-
SOLUBLE IN WATER.
REPLACING COPPER WITH IRON ,..------,
71
1 DROP SEVERAL CLEAN NAILS
INTO A SOLUTION OF COPPER SUL-
FATE. LEAVE FOR HALF AN HOUR.
NAILS ARE NOW COATED WITH
ALLIC COPPER AND THE SOLU-
TION CONTAINS FERROUS SULFATE.
METALS CAN BE ARRANGED IN A
REPLACEMENT SERIES. ANY METAL
IN THE SERIES WILL DRIVE OUT AN-
OTHER METAL BELOW IT AND TAKE
ITS PLACE IN THE SALT.

SERIES
POTASSIUM
SODIUM
CALCIUM
MAGNESIUM
ALUMINUM
ZINC
CHROMIUM
IRON
NICKEL
TIN
LEAD
COPPER
MERCURY
SILVER
PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER IS MALLEABLE-
THAT IS, IT CAN BE HM\-
MERED INTO ANY SHAPE
DESIRED. SILVER SMITHING
IS AN ANCIENT ART.
A
SILVER
g Element 47.
Atomic wt.:
.
107.880. Density:
1 0.54. Soft, white
metal with bright
luster. Easily ham-
mered out and
drawn into wire.
Best known conduc-
tor of electric:i ty.
SILVER
SILVER TARNISHES WHEN IT IS EX-
POSED TO SULFUR. PLACE A FEW
CRYSTALS OF SODIUM THIOSULFATE
("HYPO" ) ON A SILVER COIN. HEAT
UNTIL HYPO MELTS. WASH. HYPO
HAS LEFT STAIN OF BROWN-BLACK
SILVER SULFIDE.
SILVER- LIKE COPPER and gold- is found free in
nat ure and was t herefore known to man long before
he learned t,o ax-tract met.als from their ores.
Pure silver has one drawback- it is almost as
soft as copper. That's why most silver is alloyed with
copper t,o make it harder. Sterling silw r-a famous
alloy used for j ewelry - contains 7.5 parts copper to
92.5 parts silver. Only % of American silYer coins
is silver - the rest is copper.
When )'OU take a snapshot , J'OU get yourself in-
volved in a series of complicated, chemical processes
-all of them hav-ing to do with silver. It is hard
to believe t hat the blacks and grays you see when
you look at a photograph are various concentrations
of metallic silver .
REMOVING TARNISH FROM SILVER
1 LINE BOTIOM OF CUSTARD CUP WITH ALUMINUM
FOIL. PLACE TARNISHED COIN ON FOIL. POUR CUP HALF
FULL OF WATER. ADD 1h TEASPOON SODIUM CARBON-
ATE. BOIL GENTLY. TARNISH VANISHES.
-l.-YOU CAN USE THIS METHOD FOR CLEANING SILVER-
WARE. PLACE SILVER TO BE CLEANED IN ALUMINUM TRAY.
ADD WATER AND SODA. BRING TO A BOI L. THE SILVER
BECOMES SHINY AGAIN.
1 TO 5 ml SILVER NITRATE (AgN0
1
) SOLUTION,
SILVER
COMPOUNDS
GET 5 g SILVER NITRATE IN YOUR LOCAL ADD SODIUM HYDROXIDE SOLUTION. YOU GET
1 2

-


i4
.,-:. .. - -,--:-;
/ J
.'( ........


":#--:'<..
..
':">'-ll-

.........

.--
..
DRUG STORE. DISSOLVE IN 50 ml WATER. DARK-BROWN PRECIPITATE-NOT OF HYDROXIDE,
3
-
'l y.
' :;; .

.,_ l;1<>


6
72
BUT OF SILVER OXIDE.
2 TO 5 ml AgNO, SOLUTION, ADD AMMONIA.
PRECIPITATE OF SILVER OXIDE DISSOLVES WHEN
YOU ADD MORE AMMONIA.
3 TO 5 ml AgN0
1
SOLUTION, ADD TABLE SALT
(NaCI) SOLUTION. CHEESELIKE PRECIPITATE IS SIL-
VER CHLORIDE (AgCI).
4 TO PART OF AgCI PRECIPITATE, ADD AMMONIA .
SILVER CHLORIDE DISSOLVES.
5 TO ANOTHER PART OF AgCI , ADD SODIUM
THIOSULFATE SOLUTION. AgCI DISSOLVES.
6 PLACE REMAINING AgCI IN THE SUN. IT TURNS
VIOLET FROM METALLIC SILVER.
In making a photographic film, the manufacturer
spreads an emulsion of gelatin that contains silver
bromide (AgBr) over a transparent sheet of cellulose
acetate. When the silver bromide is exposed to light,
a certain amount of it gives up metmlic silver (AgBr
- .Ag + Br). :\l ore of this silver is brought. out in
the developing bath. When fully developed, the film
is placed in a fixing bath which removes aU unexposed
silver bromide. After washing and have
a photographic negative in which t he white parts
you photographed appear black and the black parts
appear white.
To make a natural-looking picture, you place the
negative on a piece of photographic paper and go
through a similar procedure, as above, of exposing,
developing, fixing, washing, and drying.
MORE THAN 150
TONS OF SILVER ARE
USED EACH YEAR IN
MAKING FI LM FOR
THE MOVIES.
PHOTOGRAPHY IN-
VOLVES A WHOLE
SERIES OF CHEMI-
CAL PROCESSES.
PHOTOGRAPHING WITHOUT A CAMERA
2 FIX THE LEAF PRINT IN A SO-
LUTION OF 1 0 g HYPO IN 1 00 ml
WATER. AFTER FIVE MINUTES,
WASH IN RUNNING WATER.
1 FROM A COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER, GET A
FEW SHEETS OF " PRINTING-OUT PAPER," A SLOW
PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER. IN THE SHADE, PLACE SHEET
ON PIECE OF PLYWOOD, SENSITIZED SIDE UP. ON
TOP OF IT, LAY A LEAF AND A SHEET OF GLASS.
HOLD IN POSITION WITH SPRING CLOTHES PINS.
EXPOSE TO SUN UNTIL PAPER IS BLACKISH-VIOLET.
3 DRY THE PRINT
IN THE AIR ON TOP
OF NEWSPAPER .
WHEN DRY, FLATTEN
PRINT IN A BOOK.
73
0
0
TRACE EACH OF THE CIRCLES SHOWN ABOVE ONTO
CARDBOARD. PUNCH HOLES AS INDICATED. USE AS PAT-
TERNS FOR CUITING CIRCLES OF CONSTRUCTION BOARD.
USING PATIERNS AT LEFT, CUT OUT SEVERAL CIRCLES
OF CONSTRUCTION BOARID IN VARIOUS COLORS.
PUNCH THE HOLES NECESSARY TO INDICATE VALENCES.
Valences and F orm.ml as
As You HA. VB studied the chemical formulas in the
text, you will have noticed that one atom of hydro-
gen combines with one atom of chlorine (HCl), two
.hydrogen atoms with one atom of oxygen (H
2
0 ),
and three hydrogen atoms with one atom of nitrogen
(l'/Lf3).
The capacity of one atom t.o hold on to other atoms
is called its valence (from Latin valentia, strength).
74
No atom has a lower valence than the hydrogen
atom, so we use hydrogen as our starting point and
give it a valence of I. Two hydrogen atoms combine
with one m:ygen atom- that gives ox-ygen a valence
of 2. Nitrogen bas a valence of 3. Two oxygen atoms
combine with one carbon atom t.o make COt. Carbon
has a valence of 4.
The chart on page 75 shows some of the common
THESE DIAGRAMS SHOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU
BURN CARBON AND TEST FOR C0
2
ONE CARBON
ATOM (WITH FOUR POSITIVE VAlENCES) COMBINES
WITH TWO ATOMS OF OXYGEN (EACH WITH TWO
NEGATIVE VALENCES) TO FORM ONE MOLECULE OF
C0
2
(ARROW POINTING UP INDICATES THAT THIS IS
A GAS). ONE MOLECULE CARBON DIOXIDE COMBINES
WITH ONE MOLECULE CALCIUM HYDROXIDE TO FORM
ONE MOLECULE OF CALCIUM CARBONATE (ARROW
POINTING DOWN INDICATES THAT IT IS A PRECIPI-
TATE) AND ONE MOLECULE OF WATER.
PUT Y.- " BRASS CLIPS IN HOLES SHOWING POSITIVE VA-
lENCES. HOLD THEM IN PlACE WITH SCOTCH TAPE.
WRITE THE NAMES OF THE ElEMENTS WITH CRAYONS.
valences for making up formulas. of the items
are elements, but some of them arc 'radicals- that
is, groups of atoms that hang together in chemical
reactions, such as the ammonium radical ();H
1
) that
behaYes as a metal, and the sulfate radical (80
4
)
that goes into the making or salts.
that some Yalences haYe plus ( +) signs,
others have minus (- ) signs. you make up
the formula for a compound, there must be the same
number of pluses and minuses. with one
SULFUR HAS SEVERAl VALENCES. IT HAS A VALENCE
OF -2 IN H1S, OF +4 IN S0
1
, AND OF +6 IN SO,
AND IN SULFURIC ACID (H
1
S0
4
). IN MAKING THE CIR-
CLE FOR SULFUR, YOU CAN SHOW THESE VALENCES
WITH TWO EMPTY HOLES AND SIX BRASS CLIPS.
INSTEAD OF USING ONE SULFUR CIRCLE AND FOUR
OXYGEN CIRCLES TO INDICATE A SULFATE, YOU CAN
MAKE UP A SINGLE CIRCLE TO STAND FOR THE SUL-
FATE RADICAL (S0
4
) WITH TWO NEGATIVE VALENCES.
75
SOME COMMON VALENCES
Positive Valences Negative Valences
Item Valence Circle Item Valence Circle
Ag +1 A Cl -1 A
AI +3 c I -1 A
8
+3 c N -3
B
c
+4
c 0 -2
B
Co +2 B s -2 c
Cu
+1+2 B
Fe
+2+3 8
H
+1
A
K +1 A
Mg
+2
B
Mn
+2 B co, -2 B
No
+1 A NO, -1
A
s +4+6 c OH - I A
Si
+4 c
so, -2 B
NH
4 +1
A so. -2
8
plus (H- ) and o:\ygen with two minuses(O--)would
not fit together- you need H
1
to combine with 0.
Similarly. C with+ 4 (C++++) takes two 0, each
with -2 (0--). in order t o balance.
To get a clear understanding of chemical formulas,
make a set of atom models as shown on
these pages. With these models you will be able to
figure out how compounds are made up and what
happens in the Yarious chemical reactions you will
caus> in your >xperim>nts.
To THE OLD RO:llA.NS, carbo meant coal- a black
rock that would burn. To the modern chemist, car-
bon is an element found in all living things- plants
and animals - and in many dead things. It is hidden
in the whitest sugar and the reddest rose and the
greenest apple, in hundreds of thousands of com-
pounds produced by nature and in many thousands
more created in the laboratory.
The soot from a smoking candle is almost pure
carbon. So is also the graphite that forms the "lead"
of your pencil and the diamond in the jeweler's win-
dow. The coal that we use for fuel contains from 80
to 90 per cent carbon- the other 10 t.o 20 per cent
is made up of various substances from which a
great number of important and valuable chemical
compounds are made.
All the coal we mine deep underground today is
made up of the remains of plants that grew around
three hundred million years ago - huge tree ferns,
giant club mosses and horsetails. They thrived in
the hot, humid climate, died and tumbled to the
ground. During the ages they were covered by other
dead trees and by layers upon layers of mud. Even-
tually, pressure and heat turned them into coal.
PRESSURE AND HEAT TURNED TREES AND OTHER PlANTS INTO THE COAL WE USE TODAY.
76
C
CARBON
Element 6.
Atomic wt.:
12.011. Found in
nature as diamond
(density 3.52), as
graphite (density
2.25), and as cool.
Diamond burns in
oxygen, cool in air.
THREE FORMS OF CARBON
GRAPHITE IS A SOFT FORM OF
CARBON. IT FEELS SLIPPERY.
bituminous coal
ANTHRACITE IS ALSO CALLED HARD COAL. BITUMINOUS COAL IS SOFT COAL. LIGNITE IS BROWN COAL.
GRAPHITE IS A SOFT FO:RM OF CARBON. IT FEELS SLIPPERY. DIAMOND IS THE HARDEST SUBSTANCE KNOWN.
DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION
IN REGULAR DISTILLATION (SEE PAGE 61), A
CHEMICAL IS PURIFIED. IN DESTRUCTIVE OR
DRY DISTILLATION, THE SUBSTANCE IS BRO-
KEN INTO SEVERAL DIFFERENT CHEMICALS.
for dry distillation of
wood, whiUie twig into
slivers, or use wooden
matches without heads.
~
'"
for dry distillation of cool, crush lump
of bituminous coal into powder.
CARBON IN
SUGAR
B
tf\l FILL TEST TUBE 1j4 FULL OF COARSELY POWDERED BITUMINOUS COAL (OR
\ifooD SLIVERS). PLACE SMALL WAD OF COTION AT MOUTH OF TEST TUBE.
CLOSE MOUTH OF TUBE WITH STOPPER WITH L-SHAPED GLASS TUBE DRAWN TO
A JET POINT. PLACE TUBE HORIZONTALLY IN HOLDER. HEAT COAL (OR WOOD).
AFTER A WHILE, DENSE FUMES DEVELOP. THEY CAN BE IGNITED AT JET.
COTION WAD DISCOLORS FROM TAR CONDENSING AFTER BEING DISTILLED.
STOP HEATING. REMOVE STOPPER. BRING MOISTENED LITMUS PAPER TO
OUTH OF TUBE. IF YOU DISTILLED COAL, RED LITMUS TURNS BLUE FROM AM-
MONIA (A). IF YOU DISTILLED WOOD, BLUE LITMUS TURNS RED FROM ACETIC
ACID (8). COAL HAS TURNED TO COKE, WOOD HAS BECOME CHARCOAL.
YOU CAN PROVE PRESENCE OF
CARBON IN THE FOOD YOU EAT
BY HEATING SMALL SAMPLES OF
CHEESE, BREAD, MEAT, SUGAR.
BE SURE TO DO THIS OUTDOORS
TO PREVENT EXPERIMENTS FROM
SMELLING UP THE WHOLE HOUSE.
HEAT 1 TEASPOON CANE SUGAR IN A CUSTARD
CUP. FIRST, SUGAR MELTS. THEN IT TURNS BROWN
-IT " CARAMEliZES." NEXT IT GIVES OFF THICK
VAPORS THAT CAN BE IGNITED. FINALLY, A PURE
FORM OF COAL REMAINS.
RUB A LUMP OF SUGAR
WITH CIGARETIE ASHES
(TO ACT AS CATALYST).
IGNITE. DIP TEST TUBE
IN LIME WATER. HOLD
OVER BURNING SUGAR.
FILM OF CALCIUM CAR-
BONATE SHOWS C0
2
IN FLAME-PROVING
THAT THERE IS CARBON
IN SUGAR.
77
IT WAS ONCE BELIEVED THAT ORGANIC
COULD BE PRODUCED ONLY BY liVING ORGANISMS.
THE CHEmSTS of about two hundred years ago di-
vided all compounds -very neatly into two groups-
organic and inorganic. The organic compounds were
those by living organisms - that is, plants
and animals. The inorganic compounds were made
up of dead things- rocks and minerals, wat.er and
various gases. No organic compound, these chemists
insisted, coiud ever be produced artificially - they
required the force we call "life" for their creation.
And then, in 1828, a German chemist, Friedrich
Wohler, completely upset this idea..
Ln his laboratory, Wohler had mixed ammonium
sulfate((l\i"H
4
)
2
S0
4
) and potassium cyanate (KCNO),
expecting to get ammonium cyanate. Aft.er evapo-
rating, he analyzed the compound he had made. To
his amazement he discovered that it was not am-
monium cyanat-e at all, but urea - a compound pro-
duced in the kidneys of living animals, including
man. The atoms of the ammonium cyanate molecule
had rearranged themselves into a urea molecule.
NH, CNO had turned into (NH
2
)
2
CO.
IN 1S28, FRIEDRICH SUCCEEDED IN MAKING AN
ORGANIC COMPOUND' ARTIFICIALLY IN HIS LABORATORY.
A few years later, another organic compound-
acetic acid- was made artificially. And then the lid
really blew off. More and more products of plant and
animal life were put together- synthesized - in the
laboratory. And as if this were not enough, chemists
began producing organic compounds that were not
even found in nature.
It became clear that the old meaning of organic
chemistry no longer was right. And so, the definition
was changed. Today, organic chemistry is defined as
"the chemistry of the carbon compounds. " This defi-
nition is almost, but not 100 per cent, correct. The
metallic carbonates, for instance, are still considered
to be inorganic compounds, and carbon dimdde and
carbonic acid are regarded as being both organic and
inorganic.
You may t,Jrink it odd that a whole branch of
chemistry should deal with the compounds of a sin-
gle element. But you will not be surprised at all when
you eA-perimenting with a few of the close to
1,000,000 carbon compounds.
78
HYDROCARBONS CONTAIN TWO ELEMENTS ONLY: FEIN ATOMS TO THEIR MOLECULES ARE GASES. OTH-
CARBON AND HYDROGEN. HYDROCARBONS WITH ERS WITH MANY ATOMS ARE LIQUIDS AND SCUDS.
ALCOHOLS MAY BE CONSIDERED HYDROCARBONS CARBOHYDRATES ARE IN MANY OF OUR MOST VAL-
IN WHICH A HYDROGEN ATOM IS REPLACED BY OH. UABLE FOODSTUFFS AS STARCH AND SUGARS.
ESTERS IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY CAN BE COMPARED
TO SALTS IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. FATS AND OILS
e
Ccutot
on
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS ARE NAMED FOR THE CARBOXYl
GROUP-COOH-FOUND IN THEIR FORMULAS.
OTHER CARBON COMPOUNDS-IN ADDITION TO
THE MAIN GROUPS IllUSTRATED ABOVE, THERE ARE
79
Candy
ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ESTE.RS. THESE ARE THE
"SALTS" OF GLYCERINE AND FATTY ACIDS.
Oil
of
Winter
,, ....
PROTEINS ARE COMPLEX COMPOUNDS THAT CON-
TAIN CARBON, HYDROGEN, OXYGEN, NITROGEN.
NUMEROUS OTHER KINDS OF CARBON COMPOUNDS.
MANY HAVE VERY COMPLICATED FORMULAS.
H
H
H
H
H
H
methane, CH
4
H
ethane, C1H,
H
How IS IT POSSIBLE for carbon to make so many dif-
ferent compounds of such tremendous That
was one of the great questions facing chemists during
the last century.
It was easy enough to explain carbon dioxide. Car-
bon has a valence of 4, oxygen of 2 - the formula
had to be C0
2
It was also easy toeA-plain the mole-
cule of the simple hydrocarbon methane (CH
4
). But
bow explain compounds consisting of two atoms of
carbon and six of hsdrogen (C
2
H
6
, ethane), or two
atoms of carbon and four of hydrogen (C
2
H
4
, ethyl-
ene), or two of c-arbon and only two of hydrogen
(C
2
H
2
,
A German chemist and professor, Friedrich August
Kekule, came up with the solution. The answer was
quite simple:
Wbile the atoms of most elements "hook on" to
the atoms of other elements according to their val-
ences, the atoms of carbon "hook on" to each other
as well. To understand this, write out carbon atoms
80
H H
H
H
H
ethylene, C1H .. acetylene, C1H1
with four lines to indicate the valence bonds, but
arrange the lines in these three different ways:
-c- -c =c=
Then hook them together, two by two, in these t hree
different ways:
= c-c_ =c=c= -c:::c-
Now add a hydrogen atom to each of the free bonds
- and there you have the formulas for the three
hydro-carbons- ethane (C,H
6
), ethylene (C
2
H
4
),
and acet:ylene (C
2
H
2
):
H"-.. /H H""- ........-H
H-C-C-H H-C=C,H H-C=C-H
H/ "-H
So far so good. But there were still many carbon
compound formulas that would not line up in this
kind of arrangement. CJI
6
, for instance- benzene,
an important hydrocarbon obtained by distillation
of coal.
Again, it was Kekule who offered the explanation.
This time it came to him in a dream. He had been
KEKUU'S
H

BENZENE
RING
/;
c
'
H=C
c c:==H
H

c=C c
=H

I
c

H
AUGUST KEKULE HIT UPON THE
STRUCTURE OF THE BENZENE MOLE-
CULE IN A DREAM. A SNAKE SEEMED
TO Wf-IIRl IN A RING BEFORE HIS
EYES. BY ARRANGING THE SIX CAR-
BON ATOMS IN A RING, THE PROB-
LEM WAS SOLVED.
IN A CARBON ATOM (A), THE FOUR VALENCE BONDS
POINT AWAY FROM THE CENTER (NUCLEUS) TOWARD
THE CORNERS OF A TETRAHEDRON-A FIGURE MADE
UP OF FOUR TRIANGLES. IN MODELS OF CARBON ATOMS,
VALENCE BONDS ARE SHOWN BY RODS (B).
TWO LABORATORY MODELS
SHOWING THE METHANE
MOLECULE.
working all day with long lines of organic formulas.
In the eYeniog he dozed before the fire. In his dream,
the lines of formulas turned into snakes, twisting and
t'.vining - until suddenly one of the snakes grasped
its O'lnl tail and whirled around in a ring. This dream
gave Kekule the clue: t he carbon atoms in benzene
I',
I ....
I ',
I ',
I "
I ',
....
FOR HOME-MADE MODELS OF ' ,
CARBON ATOMS, MAKE UP ',
TETRAHEDRONS FROM CARD- ',.
BOARD, USING THIS PATIERN. ,
FOLD AT DOTIED LINES. TAPE ,,."'
WITH SCOTCH TAPE. , ""
I
I
I
I
represent
. hydrogen aloms
YOUR OWN MODEL OF
METHANE MOLECULE.
bang together in a ring, each atom using three of its
bonds to hang on to the atoms next to it, wit.h one
bond free lo hook onto a hydrogen atom.
Starting from these very simple formulas, modern
scientists can figure out the most complicated chemi-
ca] formulas.
YOU CAN THINK OF THE BENZENE RING
AS SIX MONKEYS HANGING ON TO
EACH OTHER WITH ONE OR TWO
HANDS, HOLDING BANANAS IN THEIR
FREE HANDS.
THIS IS THE WAY THE BENZENE MOL-
ECULE LOOKS WHEN IT IS CON-
STRUCTED FROM PARTS USED TO
MAKE UP LABORATORY MODELS FOR
DEMONSTRATION.
THIS IS HOW THE BENZENE MOLE-
CULE WILL LOOK WHEN YOU P'
TOGETHER FROM HOME-MADE
BON ATOMS. YOU CAN DO
WITH SCOTCH TAPE.
81
FRACTIONATING
OF OIL
THE FIRST JOB OF
THE Oil REFINERY
IS TO SPliT UP THE
OIL INTO THE PARTS
(OR FRACTIONS) OF
WHICH IT CON-
SISTS. THIS IS DONIE
IN TALL TOWERS.
THE Oil IS HEATED.
THE VAPORS RISE
IN THE TOWER.
THE LIGHTEST FRAC-
TIONS-GAS AND
GASOliNE-GO
, TO THE TOP, FOL-
LOWED BY KERO
SENE, FUEL OIL, LU-
BRICATING OILS,
' WAX, ASPHALT.
CR
A Lot of Hydrocarbons
THE FAMILY CAR st.ops at the service station.
"Fill 'er up!" The attendant pours what may be
a hexane-septane-octane-nonane mh.-ture into the gas
tank. "Check your oil, Into the engine goes
another hydrocarbon mixture- possibly along the
line of C
2
oHu-C%,HH-C
22
H
4
6 And soyou take off-
on hydrocarbon tires. Yes, gasoline, motor oil, and
rubber are all hydrocarbons - compounds that con-
tain only hydrogen and carbon.
A great number of hydrocarbons come from pe-
troleum (crude oil). Coal and natural gas provide
several others. lvlany more are produced by nature
-natural rubber, turpentine, camphor, to mention
a few. Even the red coloring of tomatoes and the
yellow of carrots are hydrocarbons.
One of the remarkable things about hydrocarbons
lUBRICATING , h , , ib} mb' f th , b
OILs lS t at 1t lS poss e to co me some o ose Wlt
small molecules into others with larger ones (as in
making synthetic rubber), as well as to "crack" those
with large molecules into others with smaller ones
(as when a he.avy oil is " cracked" into gasoline). But
that is only the beginning. By replacing one or more
hydrogen atoms with hydroxyl groups (OH) or car-
boxyl groups (COOH) or chlorine atoms (Cl), for in-
stance, it is possible to build up more complicated
compounds- which cam. then be built up further and
further. And that is exactly what chemists are doing
today- giving us medjcines and dyes, plastics and
ASPHALT explosives, and countless other things.
82
1 HAMMER LUMPS OF
BITUMINOUS COAL INTO
A COARSE POWDER. FILL
FUNNEL WITH IT. BRING
FUNNEL INTO LARGE JAR.
2 TURN JAR UPSIDE
DOWN. FILL JAR WITH
WATER. PLACE A WATER-
FILLED TEST TUBE OVER
FUNNEL. IN A FEW DAYS,
TUBE IS FILLED WITH
METHANE.
METHANE--CH
4
2
IN THE LABORATORY, METHANE IS MADE BY HEATING
WATER-FREE SODIUM ACETATE WITH "SODA LIME."
TO MAKE SODIUM ACETATE, ADD WASHING SODA
lh CUSTARD CUP VINEGAR UNTIL NO MORE C0
2
IS
GIVEN OFF. EVAPORATE MIXTURE AT LOW HEAT TO GET
WHITE POWDER OF SODIUM ACETATE.
MIX 5 g SODIUM ACETATE (CH
2
C00Na), 5 g SODIUM
HYDROXIDE, AND 5 g CALCIUM OXIDE. DROP INTO TEST
TUBE. SET UP APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING GAS AS
SHOWN BELOW. HEAT TO MAKE METHANE:
CH,COONa + NaOH CH
4
+ No
2
CO,
NAPHTHALENE--C
1
,H
1
WRPENTINE-
C.,H ..
~ ~ t i i i i l ~ ~ NAPHTHALENE IS USED IN MAKING MOTH BALLS.
" NAPHTHALENE CAN BE PURIFIED BY SUBLIMATION.
TO DEMONSTRATE THIS, CRUSH A COUPLE OF MOTH
BALLS. HEAT THEM IN A CUSTARD CUP. FIRST THEY
MELT, THEN GIVE OFF VAPOR. PUT JAR FILLED WITH
ICE WATER OVER CUP. NAPHTHALENE SffiLES ON
BOTTOM IN LEAFY CRYSTALS.
CRACKING OIL
POUR A FEW ml HOUSEHOLD
Oil IN TEST TUBE. PLACE
WAD OF STEEL WOOL NEAR
MOUTH OF TUBE. CLOSE IT
WITH STOPPER THAT HAS A
GLASS TUBE WITH JET TIP.
HEAT STEEL WOOL A LITTLE
LATER, ALSO HEAT THE OIL
OIL IS CRACKED INTO GAS
THAT BURNS WHEN IGNITED.
POUR A LITTLE TURPENTINE INTO A
BOTTLE CAP. PLACE A SMALL WICK IN IT.
83
PLACE BOTTLE CAP ON PIECE OF PAPER.
IGNITE TURPENTINE. IT BURNS INCOMPLETE-
LY, GIVING OFF A BLACK SMOKE OF CARBON
WHICH YOU CAN COLLECT IN A JAR.
MUCH OF THE SUGAR WE USE IS MADE BY
THE JUICE OF SUGAR BEETS AND SUGAR CANE.
SUGAR IS BOILED-DOWN SAP OF SUGAR MAPLE TR

.,.. -- . .,.-._-
--- .--. - ..---:c---
Carlbohydlrates--Sweet aJL1LJ Bland
UsuALLY, when we talk about "hydrates" we mean
chemicals that contain water. But when we talk
about carbohydrates we mean organic compounds of
carbon, hydrogen, and OX)' gen in which the propor-
tion between hydrogen and oxygen is the same a'> in
water (H
2
0 ) - that. is, l'.d ce as much hydrogen as
ox-ygen. And so we find that have 22
atoms of hydrogen and 11 atoms of ox.-ygen to 12
atoms of carbon CCnH
22
0
11
), or 12 hydrogen and 6
THE SWEETNESS OF FRUITS AND
BERRI ES COMES FROM A MIXTURE
OF TWO KINDS OF SUGAR CALLED
FRUCTOSE AND GLUCOSE. THESE
SUGARS ARE MADE IN, THE GREEN
LEAVES OF THE PLANT AND SENT
INTO THE FRUITS FOR STORAGE.
84
oxygen t o 6 carbon (C
6
H
12
0
6
) . or 10 and 5 to 6 car-
bon atoms (C6H,
0
0s).
Carbohydrates are produced by plants by a re-
markable process called -phot osynthesis - ''putting
Lhings L.ogether with t he llelp of light." \\'hen green
leaves are exposed t o sunlight, t he chlorophyll in
them combines the hydrogen from water with carbon
dioxide from the air, while setting o:xygen free-
along this line:
6H
2
0 + 6C0
2
+ sunlight ...... C
6
H
12
0
6
+ 602 t
Carbohydrates are of tremendous importance to
all of us. make up a large part of our food
supply in the form of sugars and starches. Another
carbohydrate called cellulose helps to clothe us (cot-
ton, linen) and shelter us (wood).
SGGARS -Most of Olil' sugar comes from sugar
beets or sugar cane. The juice is pressed out, cleared,
fil tered, and eYaporated. The result is pure, white
crystals of a sugar with t he chemical name sucrose
(CuHnOu) .
Another sugar ealled glucose (C
6
Hu0
6
) is found
in ripe fruit.s, often in the compan:y of still another
sugar of the same formula called fructose (C
6
Hn0
6
) .
These two sugars can be made in the laboratory by
treating t he more complicated sucrose wi th an acid.
The sucrose picks up water ana splits into glucose
CnH220u + H20 - C6R u0 6 + C6H
12
0
6
(sucrose) (glucose) (fructose)
(CONTJ"Xl,;"ED ON PAGE 86)
TEST FOR
GLUCOSE
SU G A R
A GERMAN SCIENTIST, HERMAN FEHLING, THOUGHT UP THE TEST
FOR GLUCOSE THAT HAS HIS NAME. FOR THIS TEST, TWO SOLU-
TIONS ARE REQUI RED. THEY ARE MIXED JUST BEFORE USE.
FEHLING A. DISSOLVE 5 g COPPER SULFATE IN 70 ml WATER.
FEHLING B. DISSOLVE 7 g SODIUM HYDROXIDE IN 70 ml WA-
TER. IN THIS SOLUTION, DISSOLVE 25 g ROCHELLE SALT (SODIUM-
POTASSIUM TARTRATE) FROM YOUR LOCAL DRUG STORE.
USE FEHLING TEST TO FIND OUT IF DIFFERENT SWEET-
TASTING FOODS CONTAIN GLUCOSE SUGAR: CORN SYRUP,
MAPLE SYRUP, MOLASSES, HONEY. ALSO TRY JUICES OF
VARIOUS FRUITS: PRUNES, ORANGES, LEMONS, BERRIES.
SEVERAL CONTAIN GLUCOSE AND GIVE RED PRECIPITATE.
SUGAR IN MILK (LACTOSE) GIVES Cu
2
0 PRECIPITATE.
SUCROSE
TO
GLUCOSE
DISSOLVE 1 g CANE SUGAR IN 10 ml WATER IN A
ST TUBE. ADD I 0 DROPS HYDROCHLORIC ACID.
HEAT GENTLY FOR A FEW MINUTES WITHOUT BOILING.
HEAT FEHLING SOLUTION IN ANOTHER TEST TUBE.
ADD A FEW ml SUGAR SOLUTION. HEAT AGAIN. YOU
GET RED PRECIPITATE. GLUCOSE HAS BEEN FORMED.
,
85
HEAT A MIXTURE OF
2 ml FEHLING A AND
2 ml FEHLING B I N
A TEST TUBE. ADD A
FEW DROPS OF SOLU-
TION TO BE TESTED.
HEAT AGAIN. RED PRE-
CIPITATE OF CUPROUS
OXIDE (Cu
2
0) SHOWS
GLUCOSE IS PRESENT.
TEST CANE SUGAR WITH FEHLING. YOU DO NOT
GET RED PRECI PITATE. CANE SUGAR IS NOT
GLUCOSE BUT ANOTHER SUGAR CALLED SUCROSE.
MAKING SUGAR CANDY
IT IS EASY TO MAKE LOLLIPOPS.
OVER LOW HEAT AND WHILE STI R-
RING, DISSOLVE % CUP SUGAR IN
2 TABLESPOONS WATER AND 2 TA-
BLESPOONS LICHT SYRUP. THEN
CONTINUE HEATING WITHOUT STIR-
RING UNTIL A SAMPLE DROPPED
INTO COLD WATER FORMS BRIITLE
THREAD. SPOON OUT TABLESPOON-
FULS ONTO A SHEET OF GREASED
ALUMINUM FOI L. PUSH STICK I N
EACH BLOB. REMOVE WHEN COLD.
STARCHES - Starch is dist ributed in most plant
parts. It is a carbohydrate with very large molecules.
Take a look at its formula:

At first glance
it looks quite simple. But note t hat little x - i t
stands for " any number of t imes." A single molecule
of starch may weigh 6,000 times as much as a single
molecule of glucose.
You can break this polysaccharide ("many-sugar")
into the monosaccharide ("single-suga1") glucose by
t reating it with an acid.
CELLULOSE is the building material of the plant
world. It makes up t he cell walls of leaves and stalks,
.
A GROWING PLANT IS THE
MOST ASTONISHING CHEM-
ICAL FACTORY ON EARTH.
THE GREEN SUBSTANCE IN
LEAVES-CALLED CHLORO-
PHYLL-WITH THE HELP OF
SUNLIGHT IS ABLE TO COM-
BINE WATER (TAKEN IN BY
THE ROOTS) WITH CARBON
DIOXIDE FROM THE AIR
(TAKEN IN THROUGH THE
LEAVES) TO FORM SUGAR
FI RST AND THEN STARCH.
wood and fibers. Cott on is 95 per cent cellulose. The
paper on which this book is printed is specially
treated cellulose. So is t he cellophane around
candy and the rayon that goes into ladies' dresses.
For more about cellulose in nat ural fibers and rayon,
see pages 102-103.
EXPERIMENTS WJTH PHOTOSYNTHESIS
1 POT UP A NASTURTIUM OR GERANIUM PLANT AND
PLACE IT IN THE DARK FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS.
THEN FASTEN STRIPS OF BLACK PAPER ACROSS BOTH
SIDES OF ONE OR MORE LEAVES. NOW EXPOSE THE
GROWING PLANT TO THE SUNLIGHT FOR TWO HOURS.
2 PICK OFF A LEAF. REMOVE BLACK PAPER STRIPS.
DIP IN BOILING WATER FOR A MOMENT TO KILL
THE LEAF. THEN DROP IT INTO DENATURED ALCOHOL
IN A CUSTARD CUP. PLACE CUSTARD CUP IN A POT
OF BOILING WATER. AS ALCOHOL GETS HOT, IT EX-
TRACTS THE CHLOROPHYLL FROM THE LEAF. KEEP
LEAF IN ALCOHOL UNTIL All CHLOROPHYLL IS OUT.
3 PLACE LEAF IN IODINE TEST SOLUTION. PARTS
EXPOSED TO SUN TURN BLUE. THIS PROVES PRES-
ENCE OF STARCH. UNEXPOSED PARTS BECOME BROWN.
86
PREPARING STARCH
IT IS A SIMPLE MATIER TO
GET STARCH FROM POTATOES.
JJ PEEL A COUPLE OF POTATOES. GRATE
TAEM UP ON FINE SIDE OF GRATER.
PLACE POTATO PULP ON DOUBLE LAYER
OF CHEESE CLOTH. FOLD UP AND TIE. DI P
lEST FOR STARCH
SOLUTION FOR TESTING STARCH CAN BE
MADE BY DILUTING 5 ml REGULAR TINC-
TURE OF IODINE WITH 45 ml WATER.
OR YOU CAN MAKE IT BY DISSOLVING A
FEW IODINE CRYSTALS (FROM EXPERI-
MENT ON PAGE 48) IN A SOLUTION OF
1 g POTASSIUM IODIDE IN 50 ml WATER.
IODINE GIVES A BLUE COLOR TO STARCH.
LET STARCH SETTLE IN
POT. POUR OFF MOST OF
WATER. POUR REST INTO A
JAR FOR FURTHER SETTLING.
EXPERIMENTS WITH STARCH
TO MAKE 1 PER CENT STARCH SOLUTION
' --:;
-::::::

=
-=
D WATER. STIR 1fz g STARCH IN 5 ml COL
ADD 45 ml MORE WATER. BRING
WHilE STIRRING, THEN COOL S
I
:
TO 1 0 ml 1 PER CENT STARCH
SOlUTION ADD 10 DROPS HY-
DROCHlORIC ACID. BOIL FOR
2 MINUTES. TEST THE RESULT
WITH FEHliNG SOLUTION. YOU
GET RED PRECIPITATE THAT
SHOWS PRESENCE OF GLUCOSE.
UNTREATED STARCH SOlUTION
DOES NOT REACT WITH THE
FEHLING SOLUTION.
87
TO BOIL
{
I
I
\
OLUTION.
I
I

:
;
:
'
cc:. c=
i--:
,...--- r--


-
-
I=
c= F"
I=
I=


oQ - ,
"
LINE UP FIVE TEST TUBES, EACH CONTAINING 5 ml
WATER AND 1 DROP IODINE TEST SOLUTION. IN AN-
OTHER TEST TUBE, ADD 2 DROPS OF SALIVA (SPIT-
TlE) TO 5 ml STARCH SOLUITION. PLACE THIS IN
GLASS OF WARM (NOT HOT) WATER. WITH 2-MINUTE
INTERVAlS, DROP 3 DROPS SALIVA-STARCH MIXTURE
INTO A TEST TUBE WITH IODINE SOLUTION. SHAKE.
COLOR GETS LESS AND lESS BlUE. SAliVA DIGESTS
THE STARCH AND TURNS IT INTO A SUGAR, MAlTOSE.
JUST A FEW OF THE
THOUSANDS OF ITEMS
THAT CONTAIN ETHA-
NOL OR ARE MANUFAC-
TURED WITH ITS HELP.
To PEOPLE, alcohol is the strong stuff in beer,
wine, and hard liquor. But to a chemist, this is just
one of many alcohols.
Alcohols may be considered hydrocarbons in -which
one or more hydrogen (H) atoms are replaced by
hydroxyl (OH) groups. Their names are made up
from the names of the hydrocarbons to which they
are related by gh-ing these an "-ol" ending. In this
way, methane, becomes CH,OH, methanol
(also caJied methyl alcohol); C
2
H
6
, ethane, becomes
C
2
H
5
0H, ethanol (aJso known as ethyl or grain al-
cohol); and so on. l\Iethanol (CH
3
0H) was originally
called wood alcohol because it -was made by the de-
structive distillation of wood. It i.s very poisonous
and is therefore used to "denature" ethanol, making
this unfit for drinking.
Ethanol (C
2
H
5
0H) is produced today, to a great
e:ll.-tent, in the same way in which it was made thou-
sands of years ago, by a process called fermentation.
In this, the tiny plant cells of yeast are made to grow
in the solution of a simple sugar, such as gl ucose
(C
6
H
12
0
6
). In growing, the )east cells give off a sub-
stance called zymase. This acts as a catalyst. and
turns t he glucose into ethanol and carbon dioxide:
2C2HsOH + 2C02 t
The ethanol is finally separated from the 'vaLery
liquid by distillation.
Glycerol (C
3
H
5
(0H)
3
) is still another alcohol
which you probably know better under the name of
glycerin. Glycerol may be considered a product of
propane (C
3
H
8
) in -which not one but three H atoms
have been replaced by OH.
THE " FAMILY TREE" OF ETHANOL-WITH SOME OF ITS CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.
,
STYRENE
ETHYLENE
- GLYCOL
DIETHYL ETHER
...
-
ACETONE
CELLULOSE ACETATE
IODOFORM
ACETALDEHYDE -
ACETALDEHYDE
CYANOHYDRIN ---
ACETIC ANHYDRIDE -
-
-.
88
SYNTHETIC RUBBER
PLASTICS
- OXALIC ACID
EXPLOSIVES
BUTYL ALCOHOL
CHLOROFORM
PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM
TEXTILE FIBERS
PROPIONIC ACID
VINYL ALCOHOL
ACETANILIDE
METHYL ALCOHOL-
METHANOL
flame
METHANOL CAN BE PRODUCED BY DRY DISTILLATION OF
WOOD. FILL A TEST TUBE ONE THIRD FULL OF SLIVERS
OF WOOD. HEAT. LEAD VAPORS THROUGH L-SHAPED GLASS
TUBE INTO TEST TUBE IN MIXTURE OF WATER AND ICE.
ETHYL ALCOHOL-
ETHANOL
ETHANOL I S
PRODUCED BY
THE FERMENT A
TION OF SUGAR
MTHYL SALICYLATE
CRUSH AN ASPI RI N
TABLET. MIX WI TH
~ TEASPOON SODIUM
BISULFATE. HEAT.
DROP A FEW DROPS
OF METHANOL (OR
DENATURED ALCOHOL)
ONTO HOT MIXTURE.
YOU GET SMELL OF
WINTERGREEN OIL-
METHYL SALICYLATE.
IN A PINT BOTILE MIX 1 ~ CUP CORN SYRUP WITH
1 CUP WARM WATER. ADD Y2 PACKAGE YEAST THAT
HAS BEEN SOFTENED IN LUKEWARM WATER. PLACE BOT-
TLE IN A WARM SPOT. SHORTLY THE LIQUID BEGINS
TO BUBBLE. LEAD THE GAS INTO LIME WATER. GAS IS
CO,_. IN A FEW DAYS, GAS DEVELOPMENT SLOWS DOWN.
FI LTER HALF OF THE FERMENTED LIQUI D I NTO A
1-PI NT SCREW-TOP CAN. SET UP APPARATUS FOR
DISTI LLATION AS DESCRI BED ON PAGE 61 WITH THE
EXCEPTION THAT HEATING IS DONE ON A WATER BATH
MADE FROM HALF A QUART CAN WITH WATER. DISTILL
OFF A FEW ml ETHANOL AT LOWEST POSSIBLE HEAT.
v/
IODOFORM FROM
ETHANOL
TO A SOLUTION OF 1 g
POTASSI UM IODIDE IN 5
ml WATER ADD IODINE
CRYSTALS TO GET DARK
BROWN COLOR. ADD 5 ml
l
ETHANOL. ADD 10% NoOH
SOLUTION UNTIL COLOR
DISAPPEARS. HEAT GENTLY
TWO MINUTES. LET COOL.
THE YELLOW PRECIPITATE
o IS IODOFORM-CHI,.
ETHYL ACETATE
FROM ETHANOL
IN A TEST TUBE, MIX 3 ml
ETHANOL WITH 2 g SO-
DI UM BISULFATE AND 3 ml
WHITE VINEGAR. HEAT IT
GENTLY. SNIFF CAREFUL-
lY. THE SOUR SMELL OF
VINEGAR HAS TURNED
INTO THE FRUITY SMELL
O F ETHYL ACETATE
(CH,COOC
1
H
5
) . IT IS A
MUCH-USED SOLVENT.
89
r::f" I
CHLOROFORM FROM
ETHANOL
MIX 5 ml ETHANOL WITH
5 ml SODIUM HYPOCHLO
RITE SOLUTION ("CLO-
ROX"). HEAT MIXTURE
A
GENTLY FOR A FEW MO-
MENTS WITHOUT BOILING.
THEN SNIFF CAREFUllY.
YOU GET THE PECULIAR
SWEETISH ODOR OF CHLO
ROFORM. THE C
1
H
5
0H HAS
cp BEEN TURNED INTO CHCI
1

TANNIC ACID, USED FOR
TANNING, IS FOUND IN
THE BARK OF A NUMBER
OF TREES AND IN GALL
APPLES ON OAK TREES.
CITRIC ACID GIVES
THE TART TASTE TO
CITRUS FRUITS-LEM-
ONS, LIMES, GRAPE-
FRUITS, AND ORANGES.
ACETIC ACID IS WHAT
MAKES VINEGAR TASTE
SOUR. VINEGAR MEANS
"SOUR WINE." THAT IS
WHAT IT USED TO BE.
SALICYLIC ACID GOT
ITS NAME FROM SAUX,
LATIN FOR WILLOW. IT
WAS FIRST MADE FROM
BARK OF WILLOW TREES.
Carhoxylic Acids
CAN You THil'\"K of anything more refreshing than a
glass of cold lemonade on a hot summer's Or
anything better than cranberry sauce for adding a
tangy taste to the Thanksgiving
The tartness of lemonade and cranberry sauce
comes from organic acids.
These acids are found ready-made in nature in
great numbers. Some of them occur as free acids
(citric acid, tannic acid, malic acid), others as esters
(products of acids and alcohols, such as fats and oils
and the flavors of many fruits and the odors of many
flowers). Still other of the.se organic acids are pro-
duced by the action of bacteria (acetic acid from
wine or cider, lactjc acid when milk turns sour, bu-
tpic acid in rancid butter).
Some organic acids can be extracted directly from
the plant parts in which they are found. But to get
them in pure and concentrated form it is usually
necessary to turn them into sodium or calcium salts
and then free the acids from the salts with a stronger
acid. Many of the acids which were formerly ob-
tained from plant parts can now be made artificially
in the'laboratory.
Organic acids have one thing in common. They
all contain a combination of one carbon atom, one
oxrygen atom, and one hydroxyl group (OH). This
COOH combination, called a carbmryl group (from
a joining-up of the words carbon and hydroxyl),
bas given the organic acids their scientific name, car-
boxylic acids. When these acids form salts it is the
H in the carbox-yl group that is replaced by a metal,
as, for instance, when CH
3
COOH (acetic acid) forms
CH
3
COONa (sodium acetate).
MALIC ACID IS fOUND IN MANY
UNRIPE FRUITS-GREEN APPLES,
PLUMS, CURRANTS, AND A GREAT
NUMBER OF OTHERS. NAME COMES
FROM LATIN MAWS-APPLE TREE.
OXALIC ACID ORIGI-
NALLY CAME FROM THE
WOOD SORREL PLANT-
OXALIS. NOW IT IS
MADE ARTIFICIALLY.
90
FORMIC ACID IS THE
HIGHLY IRRITATING
ACID THAT ANTS (FOR-
MICA) PUMP INTO YOU
WHEN THEY BITE YOU.
ACETIC ACID
VINEGAR
YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE
SODIUM ACETATE (ON PAGE 83).
VINEGAR IS DILUTED ACETIC ACID. SEVERAL OF ITS
SALTS-ACETATES-CAN BE MADE FROM VINEGAR. USE
LIME FOR MAKING THE CALCIUM SALT-{CH,C00)
2
Co.
A\ FILTER SOLUTION TO REMOVE UNDISSOLVED CALCI-
1}11. OXIDE. FILTRATE CONTAINS CALCIUM ACETATE.
t'i\ WARM 50 ml WHITE VINEGAR IN A CUSTARD CUP.
}:?j)D CALCIUM OXIDE UNTIL NO MORE DISSOLVES.
EVAPORATE SOLUTION UNTIL ALMOST DRY. DO NOT
ERHEAT-IF YOU DO, THE ACETATE BREAKS UP
INTO CALCIUM CARBONATE AND ACETONE (CH,COCH,).
YOU CAN AGAIN DRIVE ACETIC
ACID OUT OF ITS CALCIUM SALT.
MIX CALCIUM ACETATE WllH AN
EQUAl AMOUNT OF SODIUM BI-
SULFATE. PLACE IN DRY TEST
TUBE. HEAT GENTLY. YOU GET
SHARP ODOR OF ACETIC ACID. J
MOISTENED BLUE LITMUS PAPER / ~ ~ ; = : : : ~ ~
AT MOUTH OF TUBE TURNS RED.
SALICYLIC ACID
1 SHAKE UP 1 g SALICYLIC
ACID WITH 10 ml WATER. IT
DOES NOT GO INTO SOLUTION.
2 ADD 1 0 PER CENT NoOH
SOLUTION BY THE DROP UN-
TIL ALL SALICYLIC ACID IS
DISSOLVED. YOU NOW HAVE A
SODIUM SALICYLATE SOLUTION.
3 WITH IRON SULFATE, SODI-
UM SALICYLATE GIVES RED-
BROWN FERROUS SAliCYLATE.
4 A FERRIC SALT GIVES WINE-
RED FERRIC SALICYLATE.
5 COPPER SULFATE GIVES THE
G'REEN COPPER SALICYLATE.
91
TANNIC ACID
TANNIC ACID IS
FOUND IN TEA.
1 BOIL % TEASPOON TEA IN
50 ml WATER. THEN LET IT
STAND TO STEEP AND COOL.
POUR OFF THE CLEAR LIQUID.
DISSOLVE A CRYSTAL OF
IRON SULFATE IN 5 ml WA-
TER AND ADD TO THE TEA.
YOU WILL GET A BLACK PRE-
CIPITATE OF IRON TANNATE.
PHENOL FROM
SALIffiiC
ACID
IN A DRY TEST TUBE, MIX
A SMALL AMOUNT OF SALI-
CYLIC ACID WITH AN EQUAL
AMOUNT OF CALCIUM OXIDE.
HEAT GENTLY. REMOVE TUBE
FROM HEAT. SNIFF. YOU GET
THE ODOR OF PHENOL-ALSO
KNOWN AS CARBOLIC ACID.
COCONUT
Fats and Oils for Energy
SoME OF THE FOOD you eat. is used for your growth,
some of it for giving you the energy to do all the
things you want to do. Much of t his energJ comes
from carbohydrates (sugars and starches). The rest
you get from fats - the most concentrated energJ
foods available.
All fats are esters, that is, combinations of fatty
acids wi th the alcohol, glycerol (glycerin). Some fats
(butter, lard) are solid at usual room temperature,
others are liquid (olive oil, corn oil). But when heat-
ed, t he solid fats melt , and, 'vhen cooled, the liquid
fats turn solid.
Liquid fats can be turned completely into solid
fats by a process called hydrogenation. In this, more
hydrogen atoms are added to t heir molecules with
the help of a That is how vegetable short-
enings and margarine are made. The liquid olein in
peanut, cottonseed, and soybean oils is made to pick
up hydrogen and become a solid fat known as st earin:
(CnHuC00)3CaHs + 3H2 - (Cu II3s C00)3C3Hs
(olein) (stearin)

e
- ;.

""
--= -

Fats and oils arc used for many other things in o
addi tion t o their use as food. Soap and candles are C;?;J DFISH ::-:.
made from fats. So are paints and varnishes, printers' - -
inks and some of the detergents. !:;!!___ -_-_
: -; -
- -. ( [(
- -- - -- \] \ - -
- ;2-_
k
- fL
- - /
.
" - :' - A'?-=- _ :-:(
/ .. .:,::, ._
... : : ... - . :- ..
: .. # ... _ : .
:. - -
EXTRACTING
FAT
SHAVE A SMALL SQUARE OF BAKER'S CHOCO
LATE OR BITTER CHOCOLATE INTO FINE BITS.
IN A CUSTARD CUP, POUR CARBON TETRACHLO-
RIDE OVER THE CUT-UP CHOCOLATE AND STIR.
RENDERING FAT
3 FILTER CHOCOLATE-TETRACHLO
RIDE MIXTURE. LET FILTRATE STAND
UNTIL CARBON TETRACHLORIDE HAS
EVAPORATED AND YELLOW-WHITE
COCOA BUTTER IS LEFT.
Be careful not to breathe fumes.
.
"RENDERING" IS THE MOST COM-
MON METHOD OF EXTRACTING FAT.
CUT UP A SMALL AMOUNT OF SUET- THE FAT
FROM A PIECE OF BEEF. DROP IT INTO HOT
WATER. BOIL WATER FOR TEN MINUTES OR MORE.
REMOVE THE RENDERED-OUT SUET. PLACE CUS-
TARD CUP IN REFRIGERATOR. AFTER COOLING YOU
CAN LIFT OFF THE FAT AS A SOLID DISK.
TEST FOR GLYCEROL
(GLYCERIN)
IN A DRY TEST TUBE ADD ~ TEA-
SPOON SODIUM BISULFATE TO 1 ml
VEGETABLE OIL AND HEAT GENTLY.
WAFT THE IRRITATING ODOR TO-
WARD YOU AND SNIFF CAUTIOUSLY.
THE SMELL IS FROM ACROLEIN
WHICH IS PRODUCED BY BREAKING
DOWN THE GLYCERIN IN THE FAT.
1
2
1 CRUSH A COUPLE OF PEANUTS. DROP THEM IN A TEST
TUBE. COVER THEM WITH CARBON TETRACHLORI DE AND
LET STAND ABOUT 5 MINUTES. POUR A FEW DROPS ON A
PIECE OF PAPER. LET CARBON TETRACHLORIDE EVAPORATE.
2 LOOK AT THE PAPER AGAINST THE LIGHT. THE ALMOST
TRANSPARENT " GREASE SPOT" IS A TEST FOR FAT.
FATTY
ACIDS
THE NoHS0
4
SETS THE
GLYCEROL FREE, THEN
IMMEDIATELY DESTROYS
I T. GLYCEROL LOOSES
WATER AND TURNS INTO
Ill-SMELLING ACROLEIN:
DI SSOLVE % TEASPOON SOAP
POWDER OR FLAKES IN 50 ml WARM
WATER. ADD 1 0 ml HYDROCHLORIC
ACID. YOU WILL GET lUMPS OF
THE FATTY ACI DS OF WHICH SOAP
I S THE SODI UM SALT-MOSTLY
STEARIC AND PALMITI C ACIDS.
STEARIC ACID IS ADDED TO PAR-
AFFIN IN THE MAKING OF CANDLES.
C,H
5
(0H)
1
~
C,H
4
0+2H
2
0
93
IN THE OLD-FASti-IIONED SOAP KETILE, ONLY A FEW
GALLONS OF SOAP COULD BE MADE AT ONE TIME.
WHE!'\""EVER YOUR HANDS get dirty, it is an easy matter to get them clean.
All you need is water and plenty of CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH!CH,CH
7
CH
2
CH
2
COONa-

for short, the

sodium salt of ste-aric acid, a substance more generally known as soap.
Soap has been used for cleaning for thousands of years. No one knows who
invented it-but the method for making it was passed down from father
to son, from mother to daughter. The early soap makers first had to burn
wood to get potash. (K
2
C0
3
-see page 59) or dried seaweed to get soda ash
(Na
2
CO;s) .This was treated with lime to make pota.."Sium or sodium hydrox-
ide (KOH or NaOH- see page 45), and this, in turn, was boiled with fat
to make soap. Very much the same method is used today - except that the
boiling is done in tremendous soap pans under steam pressure.
STRONG SOAP BUBBLES RESULT
WHEN YOU ADD GLYCERIN TO
THE SOAP SOLUTION. HERE IS
A RECIPE: 5 g SOAP, 1 00 ml
WATER, AND 10 ml GLYCERIN.
0
0
G
?
IN MODERN SOAP PANS,
SEVERAl STORIES HIGH, UP
TO 100 TONS OF FAT CAN
BE TURNED INTO SOAP.
G
0
(!)G
Q)
THIS IS THE WAY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT SOAP ACTS: ONE
END OF THE SOAP MOLECULE IS SOLUBLE IN WATER, THE OTHER
END IN OIL WHEN Oil IS SHAKEN UP IN SOAPY WATER, THE
Oil DROPS ARE SURROUNDED BY THE SOAP MOLECULES DIPPING
THE OIL-DISSOLVING ENDS INTO THE OIL THE WATER-SOLUBLE
ENDS HOLD THE OIL DROPLETS SUSPENDED.
94
MAKING SOAP
MAKE A WATER BATH BY POURING
1 INCH WATER INTO A TIN CAN.
MELT 10 g SHORTENING ("CRISCO" OR SIMI LAR
PRODUCT) IN A CUSTARD CUP ON THE WATER BATH.
2 DISSOLVE 5 g SODIUM HYDROXIDE (NoOH) IN 15
m WATER. ADD 15 ml DENATURED ALCOHOL (TO
SPEED UP THE ACTION). POUR THIS SOLUTION INTO
THE MELTED SHORTENING WHILE STIRRING. CONTINUE
HEATING AND STIRRING UNTIL A SMALL SAMPLE DIS-
SOLVES COMPLETELY IN 1fz TEST TUBE WATER. THE
SOAP MAKING (SAPONIZATION) IS THEN COMPLETED.
TESTING SOAP
AND DEHRGENTS
DISSOLVE 1 g OF YOUR HOME-
MADE SOAP IN 50 ml LUKE-
WARM WATER. ALSO MAKE
SOLUTIONS IN 50 ml WATER
OF 1 g TOILET SOAP, 1 9 SOAP
FLAKES, 1 9 SOAP POWDER,
1 g POWDERED DETERGENT,
AND 1 ml LIQUID DETERGENT.
1 POUR 1 0 ml OF THE SOAP AND DETER-
GENT SOLUTIONS INTO SEPARATE TEST TUBES.
TEST EACH SOLUTION FOR ACID AND BASE
WITH LITMUS PAPER AND PHENOLPHTHALEIN.
2 SHAKE 5 DROPS OF OIL INTO EACH SOLU-
TION. NOTE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY
THE SOLUTIONS MAKE EMULSION WITH OIL.
3 AGAIN, POUR 10 ml OF EACH SOLUTION
INTO SEPARATE TEST TUBES. ADD 5 ml LIME-
WATER TO EACH. SHAKE AND NOTICE THE
DIFFERENCE IN THE AMOUNT OF FOAM MADE
BY EACH SOLUTION IN THIS " HARD"' WATER.
95
3
3 DI SSOLVE 100 9 TABLE
S LT IN 300 ml WATER. POUR
THE HOT SOAP MIXTURE INTO
THIS SOLUTION. THE SOAP
WILL "SALT OUT" IN THICK,
CHEESE-LIKE CURDS.
TIE A PIECE OF CHEESE CLOTH OVER THE TOP
OF A JAR. POUR THE SALT SOLUTION WITH THE
SOAP CURDS INTO CHEESE CLOTH AND LET SALT SO-
LUTION DRAIN OFF. WASH THE SOAP BY POURING
TWO TEST TUBES OF ICE-COLD WATER THROUGH IT
TO REMOVE MOST OF Tr E SALT THAT'S STILL ON IT.
(i\ FINALLY, SQUEEZE OUT THE WATER AND SPREAD
"8ur THE CHEESE CLOTH TO lET THE SOAP DRY.
AT ADJOST every meal, we look forward especially
to the proteins: bam and eggs for breakfast, ham-
burgers or frankfurters for lunch, steak or chicken
for dinner. We drink milk mostly for the sake of its
proteins. Even many of our desserts are protein prod-
ucts- from ice cream t.o Jell-0.
While most other foodstuffs, such as carbohydrates
and fats, consist of carbon, hydrogen, and
CRACK AN EGG. SEPARATE WHITE FROM YOLK BY
LffiiNG WHITE FLOW INTO A CUP WHILE RETAIN-
ING YOLK IN EGG SHELL BEAT WHITE WITH FORK.
SHAKE 5 ml BEATEN EGG WHITE WITH
5 ml WATER. BRING TO A BOIL. THE
HEAT CAUSES THE ALBUMIN TO COAG-
ULATE. IT HAS BEEN "DENATURIZED."
IT CAN NOT AGAIN BE MADE SOlUBLE.
the proteins also contain nitrogen and, for the most
part, sulfur. Their molecules are "giants" compared
with the molecules of other chemical compounds.
One of them, albumin in egg, has this estimated
formula: C696Run02ooN 19oS1s
Not all proteins are edible. You would hardly think
of eating hair and nails, furs and feathers- yet
these are all proteins.(CONTil'lUED ON PAGE 99)
THE PROTEIN IN
EGG IS CAllED
AlBUMIN
96
SHAKE 5 ml EGG WHITE WITH
5 ml WATER. ADD 5 ml DENA-
TURED ALCOHOL. THE AlCOHOL
CAUSES THE ALBUMIN TO COAG-
ULATE OUT IN WHITE FLECKS.
FILL CUSTARD CUP HALF
FULL OF WATER. BRING TO
A BOIL. POUR IN THE EGG
WHITE THAT IS LEFT. IT
COAGULATES INTO A FIRM
WHITE MASS. THIS METHOD
IS USED IN COOKING. IT
IS CALLED "POACHING."
THE ITEMS ON THE
TOP OF THESE TWO
PAGES All CONTAIN
PROTEINS.
WHAT DOES ALBUMIN CONSIST OF?
DROP A SMALL PIECE OF COAGULATED EGG WHITE
INTO A TEST TUBE. COVER IT WITH 5 ml 10% NaOH
SOLUTION. HEAT. WHITE GOES IN SOLUTION.
POUR A FEW DROPS OF THE EGG WHITE SOLU-
TION ONTO A BRIGHT SILVER COIN. IN A FEW MINUTES
SILVER COIN TURNS BROWNISH-BLACK FROM SILVER
SULFI DE, PROVING THAT ALBUMIN CONTAINS SULFUR.
TEST FOR SOUD
WHITE PROTEIN
1 IN TEST TUBE, DIS-
SOLVE 1f.c TEASPOON
SODIUM BISULFATE IN
5 ml WATER. ADD Y.c
TEASPOON POTASSIUM
NITRATE. DROP IN SMALL
PIECE OF COAGULATED
EGG WHITE. HEAT.
NaHS0
4
AND KNO,
FORM HNO,-NITRIC
ACID. THIS COLORS THE
ALBUMIN YELLOW.
2 ADD HOUSEHOLD
AMMONIA. THE VEL-
TEST CHEESE. WOOL, CHICKEN, LOW ALBUMIN TURNS
LIMA BEANS THE SAME WAY. BRIGHT ORANGE.
97
1 PLACE A SMALL PIECE OF
COAGULATED EGG WHITE
ON A PIECE OF TIN. HEAT.
VAPORS SMELL OF AMMO-
NIA AND TURN WffiED RED
LITMUS PAPER BLUE. AMMO-
NIA IS NH,. ALBUMIN MUST
CONTAIN N AND H.
I
AlBUMIN IS FOUND
IN EGGS, BlOOD,
MILK, AND GRAIN.
2} CONTINUE HEAT-
II'iG. IN THE END,
CARBON REMAINS.
ALBUMIN THEREFORE
CONTAINS CARBON.
IT ALSO CONTAINS
OXYGEN.
WHAT DOES EGG YOLK CONTAIN?
Be careful not to breathe fumes.
1 SHAKE 5 ml OF THE YOLK WITH 5 ml CARBON TET-
RACHLORIDE TO FIND OUT If IT CONTAINS FAT.
2 POUR A UTILE OUT ON PAPER. LET CARBON TET-
RACHLORIDE EVAPORATE. GREASE SPOT REMAINS.
3 HEAT THE MIXTURE. YOU GET A WHITE COAGULA-
TION. YOLK AND WHITE BOTH CONTAIN ALBUMIN.
PROTEIN JN MILK
MILK IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE
OF PROTEIN. THE PROTEIN IN
MilK IS CALLED CASEIN. CHEESE
IS SPECIAllY TREATED CASEIN.
POUR 1f2 CUP SKIM MILK
(OR MIXTURE OF 8 TEA
SPOONS SKIM MILK POWDER
AND V2 CUP WATER) INTO
A CUSTARD CUP. HEAT
GENTLY UNTIL IT FEELS JUST
SLIGHTLY WARM WHEN YOU
TEST IT WITH A FINGER.
TIE A PIECE OF CHEESE
CLOTH OVER A JAR. POUR
THE CURDLED MILK IINTO THE
CHEESE CLOTH. LET LIQUID
(WHEY MIXED WITH VINEGAR)
RUN OUT. KEEP THE LIQUID.
WHAT ELSE IS IN MILK?
(i\ POUR THE VINEGAR-MIXED WHEY INTO A
tUSTARD CUP AND BRING IT TO A BOIL. YOU
WILL SEE TINY WHITE FLECKS. THESE ARE
ALBUMIN COAGULATED OUT BY THE HEAT.
FILTER THE WHEY. TEST THE FILTRATE
WITH FEHLING SOLUTION (SEE PAGE 85).
MILK SUGAR GIVES RED C u ~ O PRECIPITATE.
98
ADD ONE TEST TUBE FULL OF
WHITE VINEGAR TO THE WARM
SKIM MILK. THE CASEIN SEPA-
RATES IN HEAVY, WHITE CURDS.
FOLD CHEESE CLOTH UP AROUND
T E CASEIN. DIP THE BAG IN WA-
TER AND SQUEEZE SEVERAL TIMES
TO WASH OUT WHEY AND VINEGAR.
SQUEEZE THE CASEIN ALMOST
DRY. SPREAD OUT THE CHEESE CLOTH
TO LET THE CASEIN DRY.
MAKING CASEIN GLUE
SOFTEN 4 g CASEIN WITH 4 ml WATER.
SHAKE UP 1 g CALCIUM OXIDE IN 4 ml
WATER. POUR THE CALCIUM OXIDE MIX-
TURE INTO THE CASEIN WHILE STIRRING.
THE RESULTING SMOOTH PASTE IS AN EX-
CELLENT GLUE FOR PAPER AND FOR WOOD.
GELATIN IS A PROTEIN
1
GELATIN IS MADE FROM
ANIMAL BONES AND HIDES.
'I REMOVE THIGH BONE
FROM AN UNCOOKED
CHICKEN LEG. SCRAPE IT
CLEAN OF MEAT. DROP IT
IN A TEST TUBE. COVER
WITH 3 ml HYDROCHLO-
RIC ACID IN 12 ml WATER.
LET STAND FOR 3 DAYS.
Proteins-Continued.
You are certain to be familiar with three common,
pure proteins: albumin in eggs, casein in milk, and
gelatin.
ALBIDHN - Egg white contains around 13 per
cent albumin- from Latin albus, white.
When you shake up egg white with water, you
get what looks like an almost clear solution. But
this is not a "true" solution such as you get when
you dissolve salt or sugar- it is another kind of
"solution" called a "colloidal dispersion." For more
about colloidal dispersions, see pages 100-101.
As long as egg white is kept cool, it st.ays trans-
parent and almost liquid. But what happens when
you beat t ~ You know from frying or boiling an egg:
It hardens- coagulates- into a solid white mass
which you can not again "dissolve" in water. The
chemist's term for this change is "denaturation"-
the egg white has changed its nature.
CASEIN - Casein is another protein that goes into
your diet. Some of the casein you drink (milk), some
of it you eat (ice cream and cheese).
In cheese making, the casein is separated from the
liquid part of the milk- the whey. It is then pressed
and stored until ripe. The flavors of cheeses are caus-
ed mostly by esters created during the ripening.
99
THE DILUTED HYDROCHLORIC
ACID DISSOLVES THE CALCIUM
SALTS IN THE BONE, LEAVING
A FLEXIBLE SUBSTANCE CALLED
OSSEIN. WASH OFF THE ACID.
EXTRACT THE GELATIN IN THE
OSSEIN BY BOILING IN WATER.
FI LTER THE SOLUTION. ON COOLING, IT BECOMES
JELLY-LIKE. IT HAS TURNED FROM "SOL" TO "GEL."
GELATIN- Gelatin is a protein made from animal
skins and bones, horns and hooves.
Gelatin behaves in a peculiar manner with water.
In cold water it merely s'vells, but in hot water it
"dissolves" readily, forming a colloidal dispersion.
As long as you keep this dispersion warm, it remains
in a liquid form that is called a "sol." When cooled,
it turns into a jelly-like form called a "gel."
TEST FOR LIQUID PROTEINS
MIX 5 ml OF LIQUID TO
BE TESTED WITH 5 ml
10"/. SOLUTION OF
NaOH. ADD TWO
DROPS OF A 2"/. SO-
LUTION OF COPPER
SULFATE (I g IN 50 ml
WATER). LIQUID WILL
TURN REDDISH-VIOLET.
i';:::::::
[0
r
__r





[iii

..--v,
IN 1862, A SCOTTISH CHEMIST,
THOMAS GRAHAM, PRESENTED
HIS IDEAS ABOUT COLLOIDS.
. i
I i
1
/[//
iF
Colloidal Dispersions
WoULD YOU WALK up to a soda fountain and order
"a triple, chocolate-flavored colloidal
No? Yet that's what you do when you ask for a
chocolat-e sundae. Ice cream is a colloidal dispersion
of solids in a liquid ; so is chocolate syrup. Whipped
cream is a colloidal dispersion of air in a liquid.
It was a Scot, Thomas Graham, who explained
colloids, in 1862. He noticed that some solutions
passed through parchment paper, others didn't. He
discovered that most of those that filtered through
were of chemicals that formed crystals -he called
them "crystalloids." The others he called "colloids"
-from Greek kollodes, glue-like.
When a colloid is mixed with water, it does not
form a solution but a dispersion. In a solution, the
molecules of the dissolved chemical are too small to
be seen even with the strongest microscope. In a col-
loidal dispersion, the much larger particles can be
seen in an ultra-microscope - and you can see them
as a light effect when you pass a light beam through
the dispersion.
Colloidal dispersions can be formed by gases, liq-
uids, and solids. Eight combinations are possible:
MUDDY WATER
- - _ solid in liquid
100
UGHT BEAM IS INVISIBLE AS
IT PASSES THROUGH A SOLUTION
(Of SUGAR, FOR INSTANCE).
LIGHT BEAM IS VISIBLE AS IT
P: .(SSES 'THR0UGH A COLLOIDAL
DISPERSION (SUCH AS OF SULFUR}.
THIS "TYNDAll EFFECT" GOT
ITS NAME FROM AN ENGLISI:f
SCIENTIST, JOHN TYNDALL.
gases in liquids and in solids; liquids in gases, in
other liquids, and in solids; solids in gases, in liquids,
and in other solids. The illustrations show some of
these possibilities- you can think of many others.
The colloidal stat-e is important to life. I t is the
way in which we get most of our food, the way we
digest it, and the way the blood carries nourishment
throughout our bodies.
IN PEPTIZATtON, LARGE PARTICLES ARE BROKEN DOWN
INTO SMALLER PARTICLES Of COLLOIDAL SIZE.
SHAKE UP I 9 STARCH WITH I 00 ml
COLD WATER. IF LEFT UNDISTURBED,
STARCH QUICKLY SmLES ii"O BOTIOM.
POUR THE MIXTURE OF STARCH AND
WATER INTO A CUSTARD CUP. BRING
TO A BOIL, THEN COOL. STARCH HAS
NOW FORMED A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION.
IN EMULSIFICATION, ONE LIQUID IS DISPERSED IN AN-
OTHER. EMULSIONS CAN BE TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT.
1 SHAKE 5 ml KEROSENE AND 5 ml WATER TOGETHER
IN A TEST TUBE. LET STAND FOR A SHORT TIME. LIQUIDS
SEPARATE. THE EMULSION WAS TEMPORARY.
2 SHAKE 5 ml KEROSENE WITH SOLUTION OF 1j
2
9 SOAP
IN 5 ml WARM WATER. THEN LET STAND. LIQUIDS DO
NOT SEPARATE. THIS IS A PERMANENT EMULSION.
101
IN COAGULATION, MANY MOLECULES OF A SUBSTANCE
JOIN TOGETHER INTO PARTICLES OF COLLOIDAL SIZE .
. 1} SHAKE I 9 FLOWERS OF SULFUR WITH I 0 ml DENA-
TOR ED ALCOHOL. A SMALL AMOUNT OF SULFUR GOES
IN SOLUTION. FILTER OUT THE UNDISSOLVED SULFUR.
POUR THE ALCOHOLIC SOLUTION OF SULFUR INTO
A LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER. YOU WILL SEE A WHITE
CLOUD OF FINELY DISPERSED COLLOIDAL SULFUR.
VEGETABLE FIBERS COME FROM
PLANTS: COTION, FLAX (LINEN).
WOOL AND SILK (FROM SI LK
WORMS} ARE ANIMAL FIBERS.
ARTIFICIAL FIBERS ARE VERY POP-
ULAR: NYLON, DACRON, ORLON.
Natural and Artificial Fihers
IT woULD BE TOU GH to get along without fibers in
the modern world. Fibers are spun into thread, and
the thread is made into cloth for clothing and bed-
sheets, curtains and towels, and many other things
around the house. Fibers also go into such articles
as string and rope, rugs and auto tires. Some of t hese
fibers come from the plant and animal worlds, others
BURNING TEST FOR FIBERS
are manufactured with coal or petro-
leum for their st<lrting point.
Fibers belong in different groups of chemical com-
pounds. Animal fibers are :proteins; vegetable fibers
are cellulose. Artificial fibers such as nylon, Orion
and Dacron are very complex chemical compounds
and have enormously long molecules.
CUT HALF-INCH STRIPS
1!1!1
OF DIFFERENT FABRICS.
IGNITE EACH STRIP IN
TURN. NOTICE HOW FAB-
RIC BURNS, THE SMELL,
AND ASH LEFT BEHIND.
2 3 4 s 6 7 8
KIND FlAME SMELL ASH
1 conoN Rapid, yellow flame Like burning paper Small, fine, gray
2 LINEN Fairly fast, yellow flame Like cotton Like cotton
3 WOOL Slow, sizzling flame Like burning hair Hollow, black bead,
easy to crush
4 SILK Small, slow flame Like wool Shiny, round bead,
easy to crush
s NYLON Melts; no flame Like celery Melts to black bead,
hard to crush
6 OR LON Melts and burns Like broiled fish Black bead,
7 VISCOSE
hard to crush
RAYON
Rapid, yellow flame Like cotton Like cotton
8 CELLULOSE Rapid flame wi th small Like vinegar Black bead,
ACETATE
-
sparks; melts
--
--
hard to crush
102
CHEMICAL TESTS FOR FIBERS
RAYON IS MADE BY
"DIGESTING" CELLU-
LOSE IN CUPRAMMO-
NIUM AND THEN SET-
TING IT FREE AGAIN.
POUR 5 ml 1 0 "/. NaOH
OLUTJON INTO EACH OF
SIX TEST TUBES AND DROP
IN STRIPS Of SIX KINDS
Of CLOTH. MARK EACH
TEST TUBE SO YOU KNOW
WHAT IS IN EACH.
PLACE TEST TUBES IN
CAN OF HOT WATER.
BOIL FOR TEN MINUTES.
PLACE TEST TUBES IN
S AND. NOTE RESULT.
WOOL AND SILK HAVE DIS-
SOLVED, THE OTHERS NOT.
TRY SAME EXPERIMENT
WI TH STRONG HCI.
SILK AND RAYON DIS-
SOLVE. BUT THE WOOL
DOES NOT.
AFTER LAST WASHING,
POUR OFF WATER. POUR
WET CUPRIC HYDROXIDE
INTO A FILTER. WASH SOME
MORE. THEN LET IT DRIP.
TO MAKE CUPRAMMONIUM SOLUTION, FIRST DIS-
SOLVE 10 g COPPER SULFATE IN 100 ml WATER IN A PINT
JAR. ADD 10% NaOH SOLUTION UNTI L NO MORE LIGHT-
BLUE CUPRIC HYDROXIDE FORMS. LET STAND. POUR WA-
TER OFF PRECIPITATE. RE-FILL THE JAR WITH WATER.
AGAIN LET STAND. AGAIN POUR WATER OFF PRECIPITATE.
REPEAT THIS WASHING PROCESS HALF A DOZEN TIMES.
MAKE APPARATUS AS SHOWN
BELOW, WITH GLASS TUBE
ENDING IN FINE JET TIP. POUR
PAPER SOLUTION INTO BOT-
TLE.
SCRAPE THE MOIST CUPRIC HY-
DROXIDE INTO A GLASS. ADD STRONG
AMMONIA (27%, FROM DRUG STORE)
BY THE DROP UNTIL ALL Cu(OH)
1
HAS
DISSOLVED AND HAS BECOME DEEP-
BLUE Cu(NH,)
4
(0H)
1
THIS SOLUTION
IS CALLED " SCHWEITZER'S REAGENT."
TEAR UP 3 TO 4
PI ECES OF FI LTER
PAPER. STIR THEM
INTO THE BLUE LIQ-
UID. THEY WILL GO
INTO SOLUTION.
103
PLACE THE JET TI P JUST
BELOW THE SURFACE OF A
MIXTURE OF 1 0 ml HYDRO-
CHLORIC ACID AND 500 ml
WATER. BLOW. AS BLUE UQUID STREAMS OUT
INTO THE DILUTED ACID, IT TURNS INTO WHITISH
STRAND OF RAYON THAT SffiLES ON BOTIOM.
THE MAKING OF A TYPICAL
THERMOSETTING PLASTIC
PHENOliCS

4;1=
water
hydrogen
methyl alcohol
formaldehyde phenol
I
phenolic resins
air

'
-
-- --
coal
LEO H_ BAEKELAND WITH THE AUTO-
CLAVE IN WHICH HE MADE BAKELITE
IN HIS YONKERS, N_ Y., LABORATORY.
ABouT FIFIT YEARS ago, Dr. Leo H. Baekeland, a
Belgian-born American chemist, mixed phenol and
formaldehyde together during an experiment. Other
chemists had done this before Baekeland and had
wondered how to get the messy goo that resulted
out of their test tubes. But Baekeland had another
approach. He asked himself, ' 'What is it good
He decided to find out. The result was Bakelite -
the first successful, modern plastic.
During the year 1910,Baekeland produced less than
25 barrels of his " phenolic" plastic in a barn in Yon-
kers, N. Y. Nowadays, futy years later, close to
500 miUion pounds are produced yearly. During
those same fifty years, more than a dozen other types
of plastics were invented.
Today, plastics seem to be everywhere. You find
them in your home in flooring and wall coverings,
in table tops and chair upholstery, in TV cabinets
and telephones, in toys and games, in rigid containers
and in squeeze bottles. Much of your food comes to
you protected by some kind of plastic. They are used
in planes and trains and cars. A plastic puts the
"safety" into safety glass. Other plastics are used
for long-wearing engine parts and for electrical in-
sulation.
104
HEAT TIP OF GLASS ROD
SLOWLY IN FLAME OF AL-
COHOL BURNER. PRESS
HOT TIP AGAINST PLAS-
TIC. IT MAKES A DENT
IN THERMOPLASTIC, NOT
IN THE THERMOSffiiNG.
HOLD SMALL
PIECE OF A
PLASTIC IN
FLAME. NOTE
HOW IT BURNS.
MOST THERMOSffiiNG PLAS-
TICS GIVE OFF STRONG ODOR
BUT DO NOT BURN. MOST
THERMOPLASTICS BURN BUT
SOME OF THEM STOP BURNING
WHEN REMOVED FROM FLAME.
Plastic.s are made from a few simple raw materials
-some just from water. air, and coal, others with
the help of petroleum or natural gas, limestone and
salt. The plastic.s chemist breaks down the compara-
tively simple molecules of these materials, then
builds them up anew int-a very complex molecules.
Plastics may be divided into two main groups ac-
cording to their special properties. One group con-
sists of the thermosetting plastic.s. The.se can be
molded by heat and pressure, but can not be re-
melted and remolded. They are along the lines of egg
white which, once set by heat, stays set. The pheno-
lics and ureas are important thermosetting plastics.
The other group contains the thermoplastics.
These are soft when heated, hard when cooled, but
can be softened and hardened repeatedly. You can
compare them to sulfur and candle wax. The poly-
ethylenes, polystyrenes, vinyls, and acrylics are in
the thermoplastics ''family."
HEAT SHAPING. THERMOPLASTICS BECOME SOFT
WHEN HEATED. YOU CAN THEN SHAPE THEM AT WILL
BRING A POT OF WATER TO A BOIL. DROP IN AN
OlD VINYL RECORD. WHEN SOFT, SHAPE IT WITH
TWO LONG STICKS. IT BECOMES HARD AGAIN WHEN
IT IS REMOVED FROM THE HOT WATER AND COOLED.
1
MOLDING PLASTICS
salt
chlorine
THE MAKING OF A TYPICAL
THERMOPLASTIC
VLNYl
natural gas coke limestone
calcium carbide
ethylene

tJ
acetic
acid
acetylene


vinyl vinyl
chloride acetate
vinyl chloride-acetate
copolymer
1 CUT UP A SMALL AMOUNT
OF SOFT PlASTIC. HEAT IT IN
AN OLD TEASPOON.
2 SCRAPE SOFTENED PLASTIC ONTO
A GLASS PLATE. PRESS A PENNY INTO
IT. YOU GET A PERFECT MOLD.
105
CHEMISTRY TAKES ON A GREATER IM-
PORTANCE WHEN YOU NOT ONLY PER-
FORM AN EXPERIMENT BUT ALSO WORK
OUT THE EQUATION OF THE REACTION.
Working out Chemical E quations
You HAVE nmm a great number of experiments by
now. You have worked with gases, liquids, and solids.
You have precipitated and decanted, filtered and
distilled. As you think back over the experiments you
will discover that they fall into four main groups of
chemical reactions.
The simplest of these reactions is the DIRECT
COMBINATION. In this, two or more substances
combine to form a single more complex substance,
as when iron and sl.l!lfur form iron sulfide:
FeS
or when quicklime (calcium oxide) reacts with water
to make slaked lime (calcium hydroxide):
Ca(OH)
2
DECO!VIPOSITION is the opposite of chemical
combination. In this, a substance is broken down
into simpler substances. This was the case when you
separated the two elements found in water:
or when you made oxygen from hydrogen peroxide:
- 2H20 + 02 t
In a SINGLE D ISPLACEl\1ENT, one element
takes the place of another in a compound, as when
you made hydrogen from zinc and hydrochloric acid:
a - H2 t + Zna!
or wlien you set copper free by dropping a nail in a
solution of sulfate:
SO,- Cu J + FeSO,
106
In a DOUBLE DISPLACEMENT, the two com-
pounds change partners with each other. Think of
the time when you precipitated silver chloride from
solutions of salt and silver nitrate:
- AgCl J + NaN0
3
or 'vhen you mixed Epsom salt and washing soda:
l\IgC0
3
J + Na
2
SO,
In studying the chemical shorthand above, you
notice that, in every instance, there is an equal num-
ber of atoms of each element on either side of the
arrow that indicates that a reaction takes place. Be-
cause of this equal arrangement, these chemical de-
scriptions are called equations.
Many of these equations are scattered t hroughout
this book. Many more are found in advanced chem-
istry textbooks. But very often, a chemist bas to
work out an equation from scratch.
Let's say you want to figure out the equation for
dissolving aluminum foil in hydrochloric acid. You
write out a trial equation:
AI + HCl - AlCl + H f
But is AlCl o r r e t ~ Look at the valence chart on
page 75. Aluminum has three valence bonds, chlo-
rine only one. One AI atom therefore takes on three
Cl atoms, and aluminum chloride must be A1Cl
3
H
isn't right, either. Hydrogen exists in the free state
only in molecules containing two atoms (H
2
) . So you
change the equation to this:
AI+ HCl-AICls + H2 f
MEASURE OUT All CHEMICALS COR-
RECTLY AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS
CAREFULLY. MAKE NOTES AS YOU GO
ALONG AND WRITE DOWN RESULT
WHEN EXPERIMENT IS COMPLETED.
Now you need an amount of HCI that will give
yon Cl by t he 3's and H by the 2's. 6HC1 will do this.
So you writ-e in 6HCI and change t he rest until the
equation balances:
2Al + 6HCI - 2A1Cls + 3H2 f
Equations tell you what happens - but they tell
far more than that.
Take the simple equation:
Fe+ S -FeS
APPROXIMAR ATOMIC WEIGHTS
FOR CALCULATIONS
Atomi c
Elomont Symbol Weight Elomonl Symbol Woi;bt
ALUMINUM AI 27 MAGNESIUM Mg 24
BORON B 11 MANGANESE Mn 55
CALCIUM Co 40 NITROGEN N 14
CARBON c 12 OXYGEN 0 16
CHLORINE Cl 36 POTASSIUM K 39
COPPER Cu 64 SILICON Si 28
HYDROGEN H 1 SILVER Ag 108
IODINE I 127 SODIUM No 23
IRON Fe 56 SULFUR s 32
LEAD Pb 207 ZINC
Zn 65
This not only tells you that iron and sulfur make
iron sulfide but also that it takes one iron atom and
one sulfur atom to produce one molecule of FeS. Fur-
ther, by inserting the atomic weights for the two
elements from the chart on page 107, the equation
tells you how much iron and sulfur are needed and
how much iron sulfide you should get:
Fe+ S-FeS
56 32 56 + 32 = 88
Yon can use the atomic weight numerals t o indi-
cat-e numbers of grams or any ot her unit of weight.
By dividing by 16 you get the number of grams you
used for experiment on page 22.
Now take a more complic.at ed equation.
Let's say you want to produce magnesium carbon-
at-e. The chart of solubilities on page 108 tells you
that MgCOs is insoluble. You should therefore be
able to precipitate it from a soluble magnesium salt
- the sulfate, for instance - and soluble sodium
carbonate:
MgSO, + Na,C0
3
-MgC0
3
+ Na
1
SO,
Now you need to know how much l\IgSO
4
and how
much Na
2
C0s you need, and how much 1\IgCOs you
will get.
Before you start figuring from the equation above,
check the chart on page 108, t op right. Here you
will discover that each molecule of magnesium sul-
fate has seven molecules of water of hydration (7H
1
0 )
attached to i t, and each sodium carbonate molecule,
ON PAGE 108}
107
SOLUBILITY OF SALTS
AND HYDROXIDE'S
NITRA EXCEPTIONS.
ACET EXCEPTIONS.
Ag, Hg (MERCU-
ROUS), AND Pb.
SULFATES-SOLUBLE-EXCEPT Pb, Bo, Sr (Co, Ag
AND Hg SLIGHTLY SOLUBLE).
NORMAL CARBONATES, PHOSPHATES, SILICATES,
SULFIDES--INSOLUBLE-EXCEPT No, K, NH
4

HYDROXIDES-INSOLUBLE-EXCEPT No, K, NH
4
,
Bo. (Co AND Sr SLIGHTLY SOLUBLE.)
ten molecules of water (10H
2
0 ). These do not enter
into the chemical Ji'eaction - but )ou have to in-
clude them in the weight of the chemicals.
Vl' rite the atomic weight below each element. Then
figure the molecular weight of each compound by
adding the atomic weights of all t he at-Oms found in
the molecule.
This is what you get:
Mg S 7H
2
0+Na
2
C 0
3
10H
2
0-
24 32 16x4 7xl8 23x2 12 16x3 10x18
24+32+ 64 + 126 46 + 12 + 48 + 180
246 286
Mg C 0
3
J +
24 12 16x3
24+ 12+ 48
84
CHEMISTRY AS A
HOBBY Will GIVE
YOU MANY HOURS
OF ENJOYMENT.
Na
2
S 0
4
23x2 32 16x4
46 +32+ 64
142
17H
2
0
17x18
306
306
WATER OF HYDRATION
(WATER OF CRYSTALLIZATION)
AgNO, NH
4
AI(S0
4
)J-12H
1
0
CoCI
1
6H
1
0 NH
4
CI
(CoS0
4
)
1
'H
1
0 No
1
B
4
0
7
1 OH
1
0
CuS04SH
1
0 No
1
C0
1
10H
1
0
FeCIJ6H
1
0 NoCI
FeCI
1
4H
1
0 NoHCO,
FeS0
4
7H
1
0 NoHS0
4
H
1
0
KAJ(S0
4
)z-12H
2
0 NoOH
KNO, No
1
S04lOH
2
0
MgS04lH
1
0 Na.szo.SHzO
(When a formula contains subscripts - the small
numerals that indicate how many of a kind - be
certain t-0 multipl) the atomic weight by the number
indicated by the subscript. In cases where the for-
mula is preceded by a large number, be sure to mul-
tiply the molecular weight hy this number.)
Your .finished calculat ion tells you that 246 g (or
24.6 g or 2.46 g) of magnesium sulfate crystals and
286 g (or 28.6 g or 2.86 g) of sodium carbonate crys-
tals will give you 84 g (or 8. 4 g or .84 g) magnesium
carbonate.
When you get even deeper int-O chemical mathe-
matics you will be able to figure out the percentage
of elements in a compound for which you know the
formula, or the formula of a compound when you
know the percent-age of elements, or the numbers of
liters of a gas you prepare in a chemical reaction.
CHEMISTRY AS A
SCIENCE TRAINS
YOUR REASONING
AND OBSERVATION.
------- - -
- -- - - ------------- ----- - - - -
108
What's Ahead in Chemistry?
THE CliiDllCAL wo:-.-nERS of today are amazing
enough- but they are like nothing compared to the
wonders the future holds in store for the welfare of
all humanity.
FOOD - The fertilizers of tomorrow mil greatly
increase the crops grown on farms throughout the
world. Insect and disease-destro-ying chemicals mil
make cattle and poultry healthier and better pro-
ducers of meat, milk, and eggs. Chemicals unknown
today will make it possible lo keep food fresh 'nth-
out refrigeration in any climate.
H01\IES- The houses of the future will be built
of more durable materials than any we have today.
Floors and wall covering will last almost indefinitely.
New paints will add never-fading colors.
CLOTHING -l\Iany more man-made fibers will
be added to those we use - fibers with longer
wear; fabrics that are cool in summer, warm in win-
ter, easy to keep clean.
HEALTH- The miracle drugs of today ha.-e
wiped out diseases that ranked among our greatest
killers just a few years ago. In )'ears to come many
more diseases will disappear from the surface of the
world under the onslaught of still more effecthe
drugs created in the chemical laboratory.
TR...\ VEL- :\Iuch of the travel of the future will
be at supersonic speeds. Planes and rockets will re-
quire materials that can stand tremendous heat and
new fuels capable of producing enormous energJ.
Chemistry will provide them.
-----...&IlL.. - -- . - --..I..,;,._ ... "'""
ATOMIC ENERGY- The force hidden in the
atom will be turned into light and heat and power
for ever)day uses. Chemists of the future, working
with their brother-scientists, the phJsicists, will find
new ways of harnessing and using the atoms of nu-
merous elements- some of them unkno-wn to the
scientists of today.
Do -you want to share in the making of that as-
tonishing and promising future?
If you have enjoyed performing the e:x-periments
in this book, figuring out formulas and equations,
jotting down observations, you are the kind of per-
son who has the qualifications for making a success-
ful career in chemistry.
If you care to look further into the matter, speak
to your science teacher about it and drop a line to
one or all three of the organizations mentioned below
and ask for their pamphlets on becoming a chemist:
American Chemical Society,
1155 16th W., Washington 6, D. C.
American Institute of Chemical Engineers,
25 West 45th Street, :\'ew York 36, Y.
Manufacluring Chemists' Association,
1625 I Street , X. W., Washington 6, D. C.
But whatever ) ' OU decide for the future, keep up
your interest in chemistry as a hobby. In addition
to giving you fun and enjoyment, your chemic.al
hobby will sharpen Jour powers of observation and
reasoning and train your mind for whatever occu-
pation you decide upon for a lifework.
109
CHEMISTRY AS A LIFE-
WORK ENABLES YOU TO
CONTRIBUTE TO THE
WELFARE OF MANKIND.
Where to Get Chemicals and Equipment
A GREAT of the ex-periments in this book can
be performed with equipment found around the
house: water glasses, custard cups, jars, bottles, cans,
and funnel. For the rest, the follomng pieces of regu-
lar chemical laboratory equipment are needed:
6 test tubes. regular, 150 mm x 16 mm
3 test. tubes, P)-rex, 150 mm x 16 mm
1 test. tube brush, small
3 wide-mouth bottles, 4 ozs.
6 fl. gloss tubing, 6 mm outside diameter
3 fl. rubber tubing, inside diameter
2 :Xo. 0 rubber s toppers, one hole
1 No. 5 rubber st.opper, one bole
3 No. 5 ru'bber stoppers, two holes
1 triangular file, 4'
1 glass s tirring rod, s
1 pkg. filter paper, 12.5 em, 50 pieces
1 vial litmus pape< strips, blue
1 \iallitmus pape< strips, red
If you can not secure this equipment locally, write
to one of the companies below asking for price list
or catalog, including cost of catalog where called for.
When )ou receiYe the answer, mail your order and
the correct amount by bank check or money order.
Science Co .. 17-33 St., '\\hitest.one 57, Y.
( Price list free}
Winn Chemical Co., 124 West 23rd SL, York 11, Y.
(Catalog 25t)
Y. Scientific Supply Co .. 28 West 30th St., Xew York 1,
X Y. (Catalog 50e)
Home LahSupply, 511 Homestead Ave., :\fount Vernon,:"'\. Y.
(Price Hst. free}
Biological Supply Co., 1176 Mt. Hope A...-e., Rochester 20,
N.Y. (Catalog
A. C. Gilbert. Co., P. 0. Box 1610, New Haven 6, Conn.
(Price list free}
Bio-Chemical Products, 30 Somerset St., Delmont, Mass.
(Catalog 25t}
Laboratory Sales, P. 0. Box 161, Brighton, Mass.
(Catalog 25t}
The Porter Chemical Co., Ha.gerst{)wn, i\fd. (Price list. free}
Tracey Scientific Laboratories, P. 0. Box 615, Evanst{)n, ill.
(Catalog 25j!}
National Scientific Co., 13 Soutl1 Park Ave., Lombard, ill.
(Catalog 35)
Hagenow Laboratories, Manitowoc, Wis. (Catalog 21)
IF YOU DECIDE TO USE REGULAR LABORATORY WARE
IN YOUR HOME LAB, GET PRICE liST FROM SUPPLIER.
:-." SODIUM -;:
-.- BISULFAn :
CHEMICALS FOR HOME EXPERIMENTS ARE AVAILABLE
IN JARS OF UNIFORM SIZE, Al l PROPERLY LABELED.
WHENEVER YOU NEED a chemical for one of the ex-
periments described in this book, check the list of
common chemicals on page lll to find out. where to
buy it.
All of these chemicals are, of course, available
through chemical supply houses. The trouble is that
many of these houses do not sell to indh; duals but
only to schools and established laboratories. Also,
the chemicals usually come in a standard amount of
M lb. - or even llb. - where, in home e:.\.--periments,
you would need l ounce or less. The same is often
the case when )ou buy chemicals in a local store.
The minimum-sized packages or jars may be so large
that you couldn't possibly use up the contents in a
year of experiments. You 1nll probably also have to
repack what you actually need into glass jars of suit-
able size for efficiency and to fit your storage space.
Because of this and the inconvenience of having
to shop around, you may find it advantageous to buy
your chemicals by the kit, in uniform-sized screw-
top glass containers. Such kits are available in the
science department of hobby and model supply
stores.
Chem-Kit Ko. l contains the ten chemicals mark-
ed on the opposite page. Chern-Kit 2 contains
the t en chemicals marked 0. The kits contain suf-
ficient amounts of chemicals to perform each experi-
ment many times over.
You can also make up own set of chemicals
in amounts suitable for home e2..-periments by getting
them from one of the companies listed to the left.
Be certain to add the cost of the catalog when you
write for one and to send the correct amount when
you order.
no
Common Chemicals and Their Formulas
-
CHEMICAL NAME FOR.,llJLA ='i..UIE WHERE TO BUY
0 ACETIC ACID CHsCOOH + H20 5% solution: white vinegar Grocery

CHLORIDE
sal ammoniac Drug store
!] A .. \L\IO)lUlll HYDROXIDE .:\'fltOH + H
2
0 solution: household ammonia Grocery
27% solution: strong atnmonia Drug store
0
BORIC ACID HsB03 fboric acid Drug store
II CALCIUM CARBONATE CaCOs Fhunks: marble, limestone Builders' supplies
powder: precipitated chalk Drug store
0 CALCIUM HYDROXIDE Ca(OHh slaked lime, garden lime Hardware store
0 CALCIUM OXIDE CaO
Builders' supplies
0 CALCIUM SULFATE plaster of Paris Hardware stQre
easo. 2H20
Chemical supplies
0 CARBON TETRACHLORIDE CC4 parbon tel . Hardware store
0 COPPER SULFATE CuS0, 5H20 plue vitriol Drug store
0
FERROUS SULFATE FeSOt 7HzO !iron sulfate, green vitriol, copperas Drug store
[j GLUCOSE CoHu Oo +H, O
solution: corn syrup Grocery
0
HYDROCHLORIC ACID HCI + fltO 25% solution: muriatic acid Hardware store
0
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE H20 ! + H10 3% solution: peroxide Drug store
B
ffiON, ?.IETAL, POWDER Fe powdered iron Chemical supplies
0 )lETAL i\Ig magnesium ribbon Chemical supplies
0 SULFATE :\lgSO, 7Hz0 Epsom salt.s Drug store
II
DIOXIDE MnOz pyrolusite Hardware stQre
( Oasblight battery}
0 C
10
H
8
motb balls Hardware store
B CoH,COOC{CofftOH)J phenolphthalein Drug store
0
POTASSIIDI SULFATE l2H, O alum, potassium alum Drug store
0 POTASSIU?.I FERROCYA.'ilDE 3H20 potassium rerrocyanide Chemical supplies

POTASSIIDI IODIDE KI potassium iodide Drug store
0 !POTASSIUM
saltpeter, niter Drug store
0 POTASSIUM PER?.IA."'iGA.'iATE lCMnOt pot.assium pcrmanganate Diug store
0 ISALTCYLIC ACID CoR.OHCOOH salicylic acid Drug store
0
SILVER NITRATE Ag2'i03 lunar caustic Drug store
0 SODIIDI BICARBONATE NaHCO, baking soda, bicarb Grocery
B l s ommr BISULFATE NaHSOtH20 82% of
I
Groce f)
0 l SODIUl\1 CARDON ATE
Na
2
C0
3
10H
2
0 sal soda, crystal washing soda Grocery
Na,CO, H20 concentrated washing soda Grocery
0 SODIUM CHLORIDE NaCI salt, table salt Grocery
0 HYDROXIDE NaOH lye, caustic soda, Drano Grocery
0 SODIIDl HYPOCHLORITE )faCIO+ H
1
0 5% solution: laundry bleach,
CloroxJ> Grocery
0 SODIU)l POTASSIIDI TARTRATE XaKC4H40& -lH20 Rochelle salt Drug store
0 SODIUM SILICATE Xa,SiOs + H20 solution: water glass Hardware store
0 SODIID1 TETRABORATE borax Drug store
SODIIDI THlOSULFATE

hypo Photo store

0 SUCROSE CuHn Ou cane sugar Grocery
Q SULFUR s powder: flowers of sulfur
I Drug store
t
block: sullur candle
'
Hardware store
"'
ZL'IC, )lETAL
Zn zinc Hardware store
(flashlight battery)
0 ZDlC CHLORIDE
ZnCh + H
2
0 tinners' fluid Hardware store
Note: Chemicals marked 0 - many of t hem liquids- are most easily secured in local stores. Chemicals
marked are round in Chcm-Kit No. 1, chemicals marked 0 in Cbem-Kit. No. 2 (see opposite page).
111
Acenc acid, 90, 91
Acids, 23, 42, 43; carboxyl it, 90;
fatly, 92, 93; household items
containing, ; moking, 44; te.st
for, 43, 44; traih of, 42
Acrolein, 93
Albumi n, 97, 99
Alch;mist s, 6, 7, 36
Alcohol$, 79, 88-89
Alum, 64,65
Aluminum, 64-65; chloride . 64;
foil, 72; hydroxide, 65;
64,65
32, 33, 43; fountain, 33;
m<>king, 33; solubility of, 33;
uses ot 32
Ammonium, alum, 64; chloride, 33;
cyanate, 78; hydroxide, 33, 43
Apparatus, how to moke, 12, 16
Aristotle, 6
ArThenius, Svonfe, 40
Atmosphere, 27
Atomic ener-gy, 5
Atomic weights, 38, 39, 107
Atoms, 36, 37, 38, 39
Boekelond, Leo H-. 104
Balo.noe, hand, IS
Balloons, 28
Bos.es, 23; house.hold ilems contain
ing, 45; test for, 43, 4.5; traits
of, 43
Benzene, 80, 81
Berzelius, Jons, 36
Busemer, Henry, 69
Boro.x, 57; bead les1, 56
Boric acid, 51; te.st for, 57
B-oren, 56
Boyle, Rob,rt, 6, 7
Bronze, 70
Calcium, 60-61; bic:otOe-note, 60;
carbonate, 45, 60, 61; chloride,
47, 61; hydroxide, 45, 60;
oxide, 45, 60; sulfate, 60, 61
Candle, 18-19; contents of, 18
Carbohydrates, 79, 84-87
Cor-bon, 76; o1om, 37; ccmp:ound.s,.
23, 76-77, 78, 80-81; forms of,
77; lest for, 77
Corbon<>le, calcium, 45, 60, 61;
copper, 71; cupric, 71; f.enic:,
69; iron, 69; magnesium, 63;
mongone5e, 67; potas.sium, 59;
sodium, 58; zinc_, 63
Carbon dioxide, 30-31; cycle of, 30;
making, 30, 31: les1 for.31;
use-s of, 30
Carboxylic acids, 79, 90-91
Co.sein, 98, 99; glue from,. 98;
making of, 98
Cavendish, Henry, 28
Cellula,., 86
ChoTies, Jacques, 28
Cheese, 99
common names. 111;
formulas, 111; where to buy,
110,111
Chemistry, careers in, 109.: future
of, 109; importance, 4; what it
is, 4
Chemists, 6
Chloride., oluminum, 64; o;mmonium,
33; calcium, 47,61; copper, 71;
cupric, n; cuprous, 71; ferric,
68; ferrous, 68; iron, 35, 68;
magnC!sium, 62; monganes.e, 67;
silve-r, 72; sodium, 41, SB; zinc,
28, 47,62
Chlorine, 34-35; bleaching with,
35; ccmpound..s, 34, 35; making,
35; lest far, 34
Chloroform, 89
Cool age, 76; mining, 76
Coagulo1ion, 96, 101
Colloidal dispersion, 100
Colloids, 23, 100-101; light
tes1 for, 101
Index
Compounds, 22, 23
Copper, 70-71; carbonate, 71;
chloride, 71; hydroxide, 71;
replacement of, 62, 71;
5olicylate, 91; sulfate, 62, 71;
sulfide, 53, 71
Coppe.ras, 69
Crystallization, 21, 58
Crystals, 41, 6-'
Cuprommonium, 103
Cupric salts, 70, 71
Cuprous salts, 70, 71
Curie, Marie, 7, 20
Cu-rie, Pierre, 7, 20
Dalton, John, 36, 37
Davy, Humphry, 7, 59,60
De-c.antotion, 20
Demoaitus, 6
Detergents, 95
Dispersions, colloidal, 100-101
Distillation, de.drudive, 77;
of ethanol, 89; of water, 61
Eggs, protein in, 96-97
Electrolysis of woiE"r, 25
Elements, 22, 23, 38-39
Empedodes, 6
Emulsificction, 101
Equations, chemitol, 106-108
Equipment,. lo.boralory, 8;
im-provised, 9, 11;
where to buy, 110
Esters, 79,92
!hanoi, 88, 89
Evaporation, 21
Faraday, Joseph, 18
Fats, 92-93; extracting, 93;
test for, 93
Fehling solution, 85, 87,98
Ferrit wits, 68, 69
Ferrous salts, 68, 69
Fibers, 102-103; les1s for, 102, 103
Filtration, 20, 21
Fire extinguisher, 30
Formulas, 74-75, 106; carbon
compound.s., of common
chemicals, 111
Frodlonofing of oil, 82
Frasch, Hennen, 50
Fructose, 84
Gasoline, 82
Gelatin, 99
Glas.s tubes, bending, 13; cvtting,.
13; glazing, 13
Glycerol, 92, 93
Glossary, 2
Glucose, 84, 85
Graham, Thoma, 100
Hall, Charles, 64, 65
Hydrocarlxms, 79, 82-83
Hydrochloric odd, 34, 44
Hydrogen, 28-29; making, 28, 29;
safety with, 29; les1 far, 25, 28
Hydrogen iodide, 49
Hydrog"n peroxide, 16, 27, 67
Hydrogen sulfide, 52, 53; in chemi-
cal analysis, 53; malting, 53
Hydroxide, -43; aluminum, 65;
ammonium, 33, 43; calcium, 60,
61; cop-pe-r, 71; cupric, 71;
ferric, 69; ferrous, 69; i ron, 69;
magne.sium, 63; manganese, 66;
pota.ssium, 94; sodium, 43, 94;
solubility of, 108; zinc, 63
Hypo, 49, 51, 52, 73
lndioolars, color table, 44, 45;
homemade, 42; types of
laboratory, 43
Iodide, potassium, 34, 48, 49, 87
Iodine, 48-49; making, 48, 49;
re-moving, 49; solubility of, 48;
fest for, 49; finciure of, 48
Iodoform, 89
112
Iron, 68-69; carbonate, 69; chloride,
35, 68; hydroxide, 69; oxide, 68;
>Oiicylo1e, 91; sulfate, 69;
sulfide, 53; tannate, 91
Kalium, 59
Kekule, August, 80, 81
Kitchen as laboratory, 4
Lo.baratory, safety, 16; setting up,
10-11; techniquu, 16-17
lavoisier, Antoine, 6
Lime, 43,60
Lime water, 31
Lye, 43
Magnasium, 62--63; carbonate, 47,
63; hydroxide, 63; sulfate, 41.
47, 62,63
Mongont!$e, 66--67; carbonate, 67;
chloride, 67; dioxide, 25, 66;
hydroxide, 66; sulfate, 66, 67;
sulfide, 53, 67
Meosure-ments, 14
Mendeleeff, Dmitri, 39
Metalloids, 23
Metals, 23 (see also individual
metals); te$1s for, 53, 56
Methane, 80, 81, 83
Methanol, 88, 89
Metric syste.m, 14
Milk, protein in, 98
Minerals, 54
Mixtures, 22, 23
Moseley, Henry, 39
Muriatic acid, see Hydrocllloric
acid
Naphthalene, 83
Natrium, 58
Neu-tralization, 46
Nitrate, potassium, 32, 41, 59;
silve-r, 72
Nitric add, 42
Nitrogen, 32-33; in atmosphere, 32
23
Oil, aac:king of, 83; aude, 82;
fradionating of, 82
Oils, 92-93
Olein, 92
Orgonie: compounds, see Carbon
compounds
Orsted, Han.s c_, 64
Oxide., boric, 57; calcium, 60;
magne.sium, 62; silver, 72; zinc
1
62
OxygE"n, 26-27; in atmosphere, 27;
mo.king, 27; lest for, 25
Paracel.su.s, 6, 7
Peplhalion, 101
Periodit table, 38-39
Permangonote of p-otas.sium, 66, 67
Petroleum, 82
Phenol, 91
Photography, 73: without a
ca:mera, 73
Photosynthesis, 86
Plos1er of Pcuis, 61
Plastics, 104-105; tes1s for, 104
Potash, 59,94
Potassium, 58, 59; alum, 64;
carbona-te, 59; ferrocyanide, 68;
Rome test for, 59; hydroxide, 94;
iodide, 34, 48
1
49, 87; nitrate,
32, 41, 59, 61; nitrite, 59; per-
mongo nate, 66, 67
Pri.,stley, Joseph, 7, 26
Proteins, 79, 96-99; in egg, 96,
97; in foods, 96, 97.: in milk,
98; tens for, 97,99
Proust, Joseph, 37
Prussian blue, 68
Pyrolusite, 66
Radium, 20, 21
Rayon, 102; malting, 103
Rochelle salt, 85
Rubber, 82
Rust, 68
Safety, 16
Sal ommonietc, 43
Salicylic acid, 90, 91
Salt, table, see Sodium chloride
Saltpeter, 32, 41, 59, 61
Salts, 23, 46-47; household items
containi-ng, 47; molc:ing, 47;
names of, 46; solubility of, 108
Scheele, Karl, 7, 26
Schweilzi!T's reagent, 103
Sci.,ntific method, 21
Silicic acid, 55
Silieon, 54-55
Silicones, 54
Silver, 72-73; bromide, 73;
chloride, 72; nitrate, 72; oxide,
72; sulfide, 72
Soap, 94----95; how it ads, 94;
moking, 95; testing, 95
Soda ash, 59, 94
Sodium, 58; acetate, 91; aluminofe
1
64; bicarbonate, 58; bis.ulfate,
42, .58; torbonate, .sa, 59, n;
chloride, 41, 58; flame test for,
59; hydroxide, 43, 45, 94, 95; hy-
pochlorite, 34; salicylate, 91;
sjlicate, 5.(, 55; sulfate, 58;
sulfide, 53; tetrabo-rote, 57;
thiosulfate, 49, 51, 52, 73
Solutions, 20, 23, 40-41; behavior
of, 41; conductivity of, 40;
moking, 41; saturated, 41
Starch, 86-87; making, 87; len
for, 87
Stearin, 92
Steel, 69
Stoppers, rubber, 12
Sucrose, 84, 85
Sugars, 84-85; lest for, 85
Sulfate, aluminum, 64; c:ofcium, 60,
61; copper, 62, 71; ferric, 69;
fetrCius, 69; iron, 69; magnesjum,
41.,47, 6.2, 63; manga-nese, 66, 67;
sodium, 58; zinc, 62, 63
Sulfide, antimony, 53; cadmium, 53;
c.opper, 53, 71; cupric, 71; hydro-
gen, 52, 53; iron, 22, 53; mongo
nese, 53, 67; silver, 72; sodium,
53; zinc, 53, 63
Sulfur, 22, 50-51; casting with, 51;
form.s of, 50, 51; melting, 51;
precipitated, 51; production
of, SO
Sulfur dioxide, 52; mokfnq, 52
Sulfuric ocid, 42
Sulfurous add, 44, 52
Symbols, alchemists' , 2. 6, 36;
chemical, 36
Table salt, see Sodium chlorid"
Tannic ccid, 90, 91
Tincture of iodine, 48
Titration, 46
Turpentine, 83
Ureo, 78
Valences, 74-75; chart of, 75
Vitriol, gre-en, 69
Vulcanization, 50
Washington Monuml!nl, 64
Water, 24-25; os a catalyst, 24;
dearing, 65; composition of.,
24, 26; distilling, 61; elec-
trolysis of, 25; hardness of,
61, 95; as solvent, 24
Water of hydration, 108
Watergloss, 55
Wohler, Friedrich, 7. 78
Zinc., 25, 62 63; carbonate, 63;
chloride, 28; hydroxide, 63;
sulfate, 62; sulfide, 53, 63
More than 200 color pictures and clear, easytofollow directions
show junior chemists how to prepare a laboratory at home, how to
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experiments. In addition, there are facts about famous chemists,
their contributions, and chemistry in nature and industry.
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