Education with a Boom
Ethyl Cyanoacrylate By Marcus Taylor There was once a time when we were not all glued to our tablets, smart phones, games consoles or laptops (yes, such a time did exist and not as far back as you might think). Even though TVs and games consoles were still popular, many children (and their eager or... Continue Reading →
Lactic Acid By Marcus Taylor January is the month of new starts, new years and new resolutions. Following on from the Christmas holidays, feelings of guilt from eating and drinking too much lead many of us to begin (or at least promise to begin) doing more exercise. This might include walking more, going for runs... Continue Reading →
Molecule of the Month: Christmas Special By Marcus Taylor However you choose to celebrate Christmas, there is no doubt that chemistry is fully involved. For many of us, Christmas day begins with presents as we tear off wrapping paper made from cellulose and held together with a thin, sticky layer of polypropylene. Every shake of... Continue Reading →
On the surface, the periodic table may seem nothing more than a giant list of names. A register where scientists can keep a record of all the elements and show them off to the world or a boring piece of art, used in science classrooms for decoration rather than for any practical use. Such a... Continue Reading →
There are a hundred cool experiments you can do with bubbles. They are beautiful and easy to make and just so much fun that we've all played around with them at some point. My favourite thing about them is when the bubbles catch the light and show up full of rainbows and swirls. To try... Continue Reading →
We all love to decorate our homes and make everything nice at Christmas. Some people like tinsel. Some people like a star on the top of the tree. That's all fine - but what I never understand are the decorations that are made of a slice of orange with some smelly stuff shoved into it.... Continue Reading →
Baubles look so boring stuck on a tree... I wondered whether we could make one fly! Watch this video and you'll see that the air stream the 'out' hose of a vacuum cleaner really can make a bauble fly. I can put my hand through the stream, too, and the bauble stays flying. https://videopress.com/v/FZelkB79?controls=false&preloadContent=metadata How... Continue Reading →
In yesterday's X-Peri-Mas we used surface tension to move coloured liquids across a liquid surface. We broke the surface tension of water using soap and the colours flew away from the soap. I tried to explain at the end about how the force on the colours is more of a pull from the water than... Continue Reading →
This is often known as tie-dyed milk because it will end up looking like we have dyed the surface of the milk with some beautiful colours! We will see colours run away repelled by a drop of soap! Yes, I made a forest of laser cut Christmas trees... I made a whole bunch to send... Continue Reading →
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