THE GOLDEN BOOK OF

CheJm:ll.s1try Exper:ll.Jmen1ts
How to Set Up a Home LaboratoryOver 200 Simple Experiments
BY ROBERT BRENT
ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY LAZAR US

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GOLDEN PRESS

NEW YORK

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U sed by Chem.:lsts

Add, 8 h~ d rogerJ.-eont8 i n i ng co m pound

t h a t relea ses h ydro ge n io ns in solu t io n.

Element : a s ubs ta nce t h a t co n ta ins onl y

o ne kin d of a to ms .

Organic chemistry: t he chernisfry uf

t h e ca rbo n co m po u n ds .

AlIo}- , a m a teri a l ma de up 0 )"combining

t wo or m or e m et al s.

Equation' a complete d escri p t ion o f a

che mica l rea d io n h y th e usc of s ymbol s,
formul a s, a nd s ig ns .

O."id"t iun: t h e process h)" wh ich 8 su b_

s ta nce co mb in es with oxygen .

.-\ nal}~ i ", breakin g do wn a co m po u n d

in to 1"'-0 o r m ore su bsta nces .

Anh )'drous , fre e Crom wa te r.

Atom : t h e sm a lles t u ni t o r a n cle men t
th at Ca ll e n te r in to th e m akin g o f a
c he mica l com po u nd.
Atomic weight : th e weigh t of an a to m
com pa red with t he weig ht of a n oxy ge n
a tom se t at 16.

Ba"e: a co mpou nd conta ining th e h yd ro xid e gro up ( OH).

Catal p ;! : a s ubs ta nce that help s in a

c he mical re a c tio n without it.-;eIr b ein g

cha nged.

E,'aporation: the chan ging of a su bsta nce into vepor , al so the proce ss of rcmovi ng wa ter b)' h ea lin g.
F iltrate : a liquid o b tain ed b )' filtrat io n.
Filtration: the p roce s s of s traini ng a
liquid from a solid t hro ugh po ro us material, usuall y filt er p a per.
Formula : a gro u p of s y m bols an d n u m-

be rs giv ing th e composi tio n o f a compound .

1I )'drate : a compou nd co n t a in ing loo sely
bo u nd wa te r o f hyd rat ion ( wa ter of
crys talliza ti on) that can be driv en off
b)" heat ing.

P re cipitat e : a n insol uble solid Corm ed

in a solu tio n b )' c hem ica l reaction .
R adi cal: a gro up o f a tom s t h a t be h a ' -e
che m ica ll y a s a s ing le atom .
Rea ction: a ch e m ica l change.
Reduction: remo val o f oxygen : th e opposlte of ox ida tion.
S a lt : com po u nd (o t h er th a n wa ter )
Ic rrn ed b )' t h e re a ct ion o f a n a cid a n d
a base.
S a t u ra t e d s o l u ti o n : a solution th at
co n ta ins t he m a ximum a mo u nt o r solute
u n der the co nd itions .

or

Chemical chang e : a change of a s ubsta nce into anoth er sub stance h a ving
differen t p roperties.

H)dro."ide ; a compoun d th at contains

th e h ydroxyl (OH ) ra d ica l.

Soili b ili t ): th e n u mbe r

gra m s of a
solu te need ed to mak e II sa tu ra ted solu tion in 100 grams of solv e n t,

Chemhlr)': II branch o f scie nce d ea ling

Ion : a n elec trically charged ato m o r

gro up o f a to ms ( ra d ica l) .

S ol u t e : tbe su bs ta nce d issolved in a

solven t.

.'\l alleahle : ca pable of be in g h am me red

or ro lled in to a thi n shee t.

Solution: a non-set tlin g m ixture o f a

solute in a so h 'en t.

-'latter: a n )-tiIing t hat take s lip s pa ce

a nd h a s weight.

S oh e n t : a liqu id in whi ch a sol ut e is

d is.."Oh -cd .

-'Ictal: a n e le me nt t ha t is a good co ndu ct o r of clect ri "i t )-. h ilS lu s te r, an d

whose ox id e Corm s a ba se with wa te r,

S u h li m a t io n : a p roce ss b y whi ch a !'OJill is t urne d in to va po r a n d 81?ai n coole d

into a solid witho u t p a ssing throu gh a
liq u id st age.

with the com position s of substa nces a nd

th e changes that can be m ade in t hem .
C o m b us t io n : burni ng ; a che mica l
cha nge th at p rodu ces bea t a nd ligh t .
Co m po u m l , a s ubs t a n ce co nsist ing o f
t wo or m ore different k in d s o f atoms in
d efini te proportio ns b )' weigh!.
Cry.stal: a solid in whi ch a toms or mole cul es are a r ra n ged in a defini te p a tt ern,
Density , t he weigh t o f a liq uid o r a
solid in gra ms pe r c m S o r mi llilite r.
Di stillate : a liqui d th at h a s be e n tu rn ed
int o ,-apor a n d again coo led in to a liquid.
Di stillation : th e p rocess o f pr oduci ng
a di stillat e.
Ductile: ca pab le of be ing dra wn out into
a wire.
Elect rol ysis , breakin g d ow n a s ubs tance
b )' p a ssi ng an electric c urrent thro ug h it .
Electeofyte s a s ubs ta nce t ha t , wh en in
a sol u tio n o r wh en melted , will cond uct
an elec tric c u rr e n t.

--'tetalluid: a n elem ent t h a t h a s p rope rt i~,; o f bo th met al s a n d no nm etals.

:\lhtllre : a mi ngli ng of s ubs ta nces n ot
co mbine d ch emicall y.

S u b s cri p t : a s ma ll n u meral indi cating

t h e n umb e r of ato ms o f a certa in ele me n t
in th e formula o f a compo u nd .

-'Iolecular we i~ht: t he s u m o f th e
a to m ic ...-ei gh ts o f th e a to ms tha t mak e
up a m olec ule of 6 co m po un d .

S u bs t a nce : an y s pec ific ki nd o f m aHe r

whe t he r elemen t , t'Om po u nd , or mi x ture.

:\Ioleculc : the sm a lles t u nit o f a co mpound t ha t c aa exist in the Cree sta te.
::'Ii"eutrali2ation: th e rea c ti on o f an a cid
a nd a b ase to give a salt a n d wa ter .
Xonmctab a n ele me nt th at is a poor
conduc tor of elec t ri cit y, does no t have
lust e r, a nd wh ose oxide form s a n acid
whe n combined wit h wa te r.

S p n hul : a letter or t wo le tters repre sen ting one a tom of an cl eme nt.
S )' lIth e si ;;: t he makin g u p of a co mpound fro m sim ple r co mpou n ds o r f ro m
elemen ts ; t h e o pposi te o f anal ysis.
Valen ce : t he n u mber of hy d rogen a toms
w h ich o ne a to m o f a n ele men t can d isp la ce oc wit h wh ich it can u n ite.

co p p e r

o
lin

Contents

Fe

-:

.- - -

--\HUT CHD IIST RY IS

~ [ETALS

SoDIlJ~1 .' XD P OTASS JU:'\! . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 58

\\' ORDS USED B Y C HE m51'S

_.........
T HE hlPORTneE OF CII.," STRL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

....
-I

C .UCIL")I - FO R BUlLDI:"G ... . . . . ...... .. .

C HE UlSTS OF TH E P .\ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Let 's

YOUR

1I 0~I E

SElTI:'\G UP YOUR Hosre

ALU~IL"" .m -

LABORATORY

EQUl P~lE:\"T FOR C UElliSTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

L.-\ B OR U ORY . _

CO \ IP ARE Two ~I ET.-\Ls . .. . . ....... . .

tx ABUl'i O...........CE .. . . .... . . . . .

:\h:"'-G.\ XESE- ~I EnL OF

COPPEA -

Y ESTE Ao .n -,

;\1.,:.. - ".
Ie ox
Toner

SILYEA -

O:"'-E

":\"OBLE" :\h:r.-\Ls .

WE L" 'E IX

10

2\1.-\KI:"iG ApP.\R.nu s FOR EXPERI~E.'IS .. _. _ 12

ScIE:\iIFiC :\1 E.-\SUREME::\i S . . _. 14
CORRECT LUJOR..-\T OR 'i TECH:oiIQUES. _ . . . 1 6

_'- AGE O F
OF

~IOR E

T ilE SCI ENT IFIC APPROA CH

THE

ABOUT

COLOAS .. . . .

60
62
6-t
66
68
-:0
72

FOR ~ [{;LAS

Y .U"'iCES xx u F O AUUL.-\S ... . . . . .. .. ... ..

-:1

:\ I ft. F AR.\D .-\Y' S C .\;m LE . . . . . .... _ . . . . . . . . 18

You -

SClE...., .ISTI .

ELEllE."\'TS,

. . . . . . . . . . _ . _ . . . . . . . . . ~O

Coneouxos, axn

.:\I LXTUR F.5 .. ... . 22

Tn e

WAT ER AND GASES

OUR :\I OST htPORTA..'\'T CmlPOl;::"O

W ATE R OXyG . -

T HE BHE.-\TH OF L WE

I1TDROGE:"i -

C.lliBOH ymUT ES -

8-t
88

C ...au oxvt.rc A CID s . .. . .. ... ... .. .. . .. ... .. 90

F .\TS .\ :"'- 0 OILS FO A E :'iERGL
92

_.. 32
FRIE ;'Ii D 1........m F OE . .. ... .. .. .. . . 3-t

SoAP

axn

SO W .\hKL...... G .. . . . . . . .. .

P ROT EI:'iS - THE Booy- BUlLDDOG FOODS . . . .

FOR ~ IULAS

9-t
96

Cciaoro...L DISPERSIO:xS .. . . . . . .. .. ... . 100

l"\.'TljRlI.L .\ :"'- 0 A RTI F'lCH L FIBERS . ... . . . . 102
P L.-\s TI CS - A \ IO DER.-x G U..'iT . . .. . . . . . 10-t

36
ELE~IE::'\IS . . . . . 38

C HEmc.\L SnORTIU.:"'-O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE PERIODIC T ABLE OF THE

S WE ET .' XD B L \.........D

:\1.,::,\""\, KI:"'-DS 01" ALCOHOLS . .. . . . . . . . . .. .

Coasouxos

CIID IICAL

\1 1LL1O:" CmIP01J:'i"Ds. 76
78
C .'RBO:S CO:'>IPOU:...-OS . . . 80

A LoT OF' H YDROC.\ ABO:sS .. . ...... ...... 82

26

C_,"BOX DlOxlOE _____ ______________________ 30

C HLORI;'liE -

C IlE~ IISTRY
..\

C UE m STR Y OF C .'RBO:" CO:'>IPOU:,\"])S . . . . .

T HE FOAU1.1"-S OF'

2 -l

LIGHTE ST OF ALL . _ . . ... .. . . 28

X ITnOGE:-i .-\.."\'"0 I TS

ORGANIC
Er.eusxr OF

C .\ RBO:'i -

ACIDS. BASES. AN D SALTS

Tue

~1",sTERIES OF SOLUTIO ;'IiS . . . . . . . . . . .. . .

W OR..lil:"'-G

40

C H E~ IICA L ~IATH EMATl CS

42
W ORKJ :"'- G WITH B.\S ES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -t3
SALT S - CIIl'JIIC.u.s OF \I A:"'-'" U SES . . . . ... . 46
WITH A CIDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

WO RKI :" G OUT C HEmc.' L EQ U.\ T IO:"S .. . . ... . 106

T HE F UTURE OF CHE.\ IISTRY

NOS~If-.'TALS

W H .-\T' S AIIE...U> L..... C HEl llSTRY?

YIOLET OA Bno wx s . . . . . . ..... . . -t8

S l."LFlJR A;'Ii D ITs CO.\IPOU",,"DS
50

. . . . . . . 109

10 0l:"'- E -

S ILICO:'; BORO:" -

Tne

E LE~IE:'\"T

You

S TEP

ox

WH ERE TO

5l

Cosmox

GET CITE:'>I1c-u-<; .\ :"'- 0 EQU1P:'oIE;'IiT . . 110

C UE m c .\LS

ax 0

TH EIR FO"-"I UL\ s .... 111

I :sD Ex .... . ... . . . . . . ... . . . . ... . . . . 112

F L"TUlI E HOCKET-POWE A EL E:'>I E l'iT ? . 5 6

D~~I

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I

EVERY HOME KITCHEN IS A CHEMICAL LABORATORY .-: . ,

CooKINC AND CLEANING ARE CHEMICAL PROCESSES.

The Importance of Chemistry

THERE IS HA RDLY 8

bo y or a girl ulive who is not

arc aU che mical products and the ways In which

your bo dy turns th em into mu scles and bones and
ner ves and bruin cells aTC some of th e grea test of all
che mical mysteries.
The clot hes you wear, t he books you read , the
medicine you take, t he hou se in which ) -O U live all these are products of che mistr y. So is the famil y
car - the metal in it , th e rubber on which it rolls.
th e gas t hat moves it.
N at ure itse lf is a t remendous chemical labo rat ory.
Everyt hing in nature is forever passing through
che mical changes. Here on eart h , pla nts and an imals

keenly interested in finding out about thin gs. And

that's exactly what chemis try.. is : F IND ING OUT
ABUUT T HINGS - finding out what things are
mad e of and what changes th ey undergo.
'\\n at things~ Any thing ! EWT)" t hing!
Take a look around )"OU . AU th e things you seeand lots of th ings you can't see - have to do with
t he science of chemis tr y .
Let's start wit h yourself. T he air you breathe is
a mixture of chemical substances and the process of
breathing is a chemical reacti on. T he foods ) "OU eat

==~=====~=======d~~
---=-=
-INSEa SPRAYS MEAN
HEALTHIER LI VESTOCK.

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CHEMISTRY PROVI DES fUEL FO R
All KINDS O F TRANSPORTATION.

PURI FICATION OF WATER

grow, die , and deca y: rock s crac k a nd cr umble under

the influence of air and water. In th e universe, new

stars are formed, others fade. Th e sun th at gin's us
heat and light and energy is a flaming furn ace of
chemical processes that will eventu ally burn itself
out, billio ns of years from now.

Chemistry is one of th e most import ant of all sciences (or human welfare.
Chemist ry means th e difference be t ween poverty
and sta rva tion and the ab undant life. Th e pr oper
use of chemistry makes it possible for farmers to feed
the world's ever-Increasing population. for engineers

..

to develop new mea ns of tra nsporta t ion an d commu nica ti on that will bring the peo ples of the world

OIL IS THE BASIS fOR COUNTlESS CHEMICAL PRODUa S.

closer together. for doctors to cure t he diseases of

mankind. for manufact urers to produce th e thousa nds of it ems t ha t are necessary for better and
richer living .
And t his is only the beginning ,
Wi t hin recent years, scient ists ha ve succeed ed in
penet rating into the inner most secrets of chemical
subst a nces a nd have begun to make use of the t remendous force t ha t lies hidden in them . T his atom ic
power opens up amazing possib ilities for t he futur e.
You will live in a world in whi ch chemi stry will
become eve r more important. T o un derstand t hat

D:
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ATOMI C ENERGY FOR
THE fUTURE

laws on which modern chemist ry is based and to lea rn

world it is necessary to un derstand the truths a nd
how chemists of the past unrav eled them.
T his book will help you get thi s insight - not
alone b )' your rea ding it . but also b ) ' your conscien- "_'._; .. ..
tiously doing the experiments descr ibed a nd learning "~
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what each of them has to tell you.

II

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PAPER AND PRINTERS'

INK ARE MADE WITH
HElP Of CHEMISTRY.

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5

UNITED STATES IS THE W ORLD'S

LEADING PRODUC ER O f STEEl.

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care about what happened or why it happen ed. It

was only about 2,500 yea rs ago that phil osophers
began to wonder about what things were made of
and what happened when a thing changed into something else.
Around 400 B. C. , in Greece, a thinker b y 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 st ick mentioned above. It gave off
so. ob viously, the st ick had to contain fire.
flre
It sizzled - which meant th ere was water in it. It
smoked - and smok e would be some kind of air. It
left ashes - and ashes are earth, as certainly everyone should kn ow.
E veryo ne - 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 which he cal led alamos - something that cannot he cut further.
But Demoeritus didn't get w ry far with his idea.
The greatest Greek philosopher of the day, Aristotle,
held out for the four elements. And becau se of his
great reputation thi s fal se idea governed the thinking
of scient ists for tw o th ousand years - because no
one dared suggest that he kn ew better than th e gre at
Arist otle!

sublimate

capp~

SYMBOlS USED BY ALCHEMISTS

C hemists of the Past

c-c

;\1....Ny THOUS."-'~D years ago, an early ancestor of

yours pu shed a sti ck into the hot lava flowing from
an erupting volcano. The st ick burst into fire. He
held it up as a torch. It gave off light and heat and
finally turned into ash es.
This ancient man might be considered the world 's
first chemist. He had actually taken a subst ance
called wood and had, by a chemical process called
combustion or burning, turned it into something else.
The discover y of the use of fire was the first great
step leading toward modern chemistry. Fire n-ade it
possible to turn raw foodstuffs into edible meal s, to
bake shaped cia )" into pottery, to make gla ss, to
drive metals out of their ores.
For thousands of years people were chiefly interested in the results of what they did - they didn't

.JL
/

BRONZE-AGE MAN WAS ONE

Of THE EARLIEST CHEMISTS .

PARACHSUS TOLD HIS PU

PIlS TO USE EXPERIMENTS.
DEMOCRlTUS INSI STED THAT
MAITER CONSISTS Of ATOMS .

BOYLE INVESTIGATED G ASES

AND BROKE OLD TRADITIONS.

In the meantime', scien tis ts of Arabia began work

in a subject t hey called alc-hemy - from Arabic ai,
th e. a nd kimia , pour ing together. They mixed things
and boiled and disfillr-d a nd extrac ted in the hope,
some day, of finding a wa y of making GOLD! They
di scovered a great number of things not previously
known , developed many so und la borator y methods,
and gave t he science of che mistry its nam e - hut
t he)' neve r created t he slightest speck of gold. Nei t her did a grea t number of European alchemists.
For hundreds of ):ears che m istry made little beadwa)". Then, in 1525. a Swiss doctor and scien t ist
spoke up. He ha d t he im posin g name of Theophrast us Bombast us P e ra celsus von H ohenheim. He cha llenged his st udents to tear up t heir books with the
old theori es that had been deve loped through reasoning only and to find out for themselves through erperim enls whether a scientific t heory was rig ht or
wrong. But only a few peopl e paid attention t o him .
More t han a hundred years passed before a n E ngl ishman, R obert Boyle, in 1661. succeed ed in killing
ofT the old idea of the four elemen ts. H e did it h)"
estahlishing that there are man)' elements - substa nces t ha t cannot he formed b)' other substa nces
a nd cannot be broken int o other substances.
Anot her hundred years went b)' . T hen , at the t ime
of the Am erican R evolution. the d ay finally dawned
for modern chemist ry.

A Swede. Karl Scheele. and an Englishman, J oseph

Priestley, discovered oxygen . and a Frenchman, Antoine La urent La voisier , explai ned t he t rue nature
of burning lind made up the firs t scientific listing of
all known elements - tw en t y-eight at the ti me.
Within a few years, more elements were found.
With t he help of electricity, an English chemist ,
Humphry Davy, in a single year bro ugh t to ligh t
six new met al s - a mong th em sodium, po tassium,
calcium, a nd magnesium.
Twenty years later, in 1828, a not her important
break-through occurred. A Gennan chemist, Friedrich Wohler, working in his la boratory produced a
che mica l, urea, that had never befo re been ma de
outsi de the bo dy of a living animal.
More and more t hings were happening. New elements were discovered. new chemi cals crea ted. The
advances in chemist ry grea tly influenced indu str y,
agricultu re an d med icine.
And t hen. in 1898, the Polish-born ~ lari e C urie
and her French hu sband, Pierre, d iscove red the "miracl e element." radium, This opened up a whole new
age in c hemist r y.
Wit hi n t he last fifty yea rs, chemistry ha s moved
forward wit h giant steps. Bu t not a single one of
these ste ps would have bee n po ssible wit hout t he
dedicated work of the chemists of the pa st who laid
the foundation on whi ch modern chemist ry rest s.

._-"

PRIESTLEY USED H EAT Of

SUN TO PRODUCE OXYGEN.

DAVY BROUGHT ELECTRICITY

INTO CHEM ICAL RESEARCH.
LAVOISIER GAVE THE RIGHT
EXPLANATION OF BURN IN G .

MARIE CURIE AND HER HUSBAN D DISCOV ERED RADIUM.

REGULAR LABORATORY WARE

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beakers

Florence
f1a5k

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watch
glon

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evaporati ng
dish

wire gauze with

a sbe stos center
utility d amp

graduated cylinders

cla y-ste m triangle

funnel

ring support

crucible o nd lid

support
sla nd

filter paper

El][Uiprncl1lf

for Cheoostry

IMPROVISED EQUIPMENT FOR HOME LAB

sc rewtc p con
1 p int

Soxa of the greates t discoveri es in ch emistry were

made by scient ists who had no special equipment
but simply used whatever was at hand.
In you r home lab experiments it will pa y yo u
to follow th e exa mple of th f'sf' ('a rly chr-mists. P ut
your imagination to work . Use whatever suita ble
equipment you can find around the ho use (as suggested in column to th e right) and hu~.. only what is
absolutely necessary (as sho wn below). Some items
may he purch ased in a local d rugstore or scientific
suppf .. shop . If not, ) ' OU ca n buy them fro m one of
the su ppliers listed. on pa ge 11O.
Lat er on - if you Teall)" get excited about chemist ry - you rna)' want to use you r pocket money for
some of th e lab equipment shown on page 8.

ma yonn aise
ior 4Dz.

water
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, ,
':'"

olive jar
2 oz.

LABORATORY WARE FOR HOME LAB

plestle
funnel

(
test tub es, Pyrex
16 mm x1 50 mm

cus tard cup

wide-mouth
bo ttle, .4 oz .

red ond
bl ue
litmus
poper

'-.-/

:';::/EF,\
"~

rubbe r sto ppers

numb ers 00 to 6

~,

tria ng ular file

ink bott le
olcoh ol b urner

med icine
d ro pper",,, ,,-/ ,

glass tubing
5 mm ou tside diam ete r

stands made
of clothes
hanger wire

rubber tubing

JI." inside diameter

9

"

IN A REGULAR LAB,
EVERYTHING HAS ITS
PLACE AND IS NEAR
A T HAN D. A IM TO
KEEP YOUR OWN LAB
AS W El l O RGAN IZED.

-./

S ettin g U p Your H om.e L abor ator y

BOX TO HOLD HO ME
l AB CA N BE M A DE
f ROM PLYWO O D. KEEP
BOX l O CKED W HEN
NOT IN USE AS A PRO
TEOIO N fO R YOUNG
ER CHILDR EN .

wastepo p e r
b asket

,":.r

IT I S possible t ha t you may be p erm itted to work.

at t he kitchen table when t his is not in use. But it
is far better if you haw a place where you will not
be disturbed and whe re ~..ou can st ore yo ur eq uipment - a corn er in your room , or in th e basement
or t he garage.
These are the things you'll need in your lab :
Work 'Tnble, An old, st urdy table will do. Cover
it with a plastic t op t o protect th e wood .
Water Su p ply. If you have a faucet nearb y,
fine . Otherwise, ma ke a siphon boule (p age 11).
Waste Di sposal. If you can dump your waste
direc tly into t he kitchen dra in (;\,OT into t he sink),
you are all righ t. If not , collect it in a pla st ic pail
to be th rown out when you're finished.
Source of Heat. I n t he regular laboratory, sp ecial ga s burners are used . In t he home lab, you can
usc a burner for denatured alcohol. Have a shallow
metal pan und er t he burner for fire safety .
S t orage. If th ere's no one around t o dist urb you r
chemicals and eq uipment, an open shelf is OK.
Otherwise, use a box t hat can be lock ed up.
Con t ainers. Keep chemicals in glass jars and
bottles. LAB EL T HE:\ l ALL CL EARLY.
S t a n ds. Xl ake your own test tube st and as well
as stands for holding glassware for hea tin g.

siph on
bo ttle

L-'-

1
plastic
pail fo r '-_ _--'
waste

10

YOU CAN MAKE A SIMPLE TEST TUBE

STANO fROM A SALT BOX_ CUT OUT
SIDE AND USE CUT-OUT SECTION TO
KEEP TEST TUBES LINED UP STRAIGHT.

If YOU DO NOT
HAVE RUNNING
WATER IN YOUR
LAB, MAKE SIPHON
fROM A I-GAllON
BOTTLE. START
SIPHON BY BLOWING THROUGH
l-SHAPED GLASS
TUBE. SPRING
CLOTHES PIN
REGULATES
WATER now,

REGULAR LAB STANO fOR

TEST TUBES CAN BE PRODUCED FROM STRIPS Of
1f.l-INCH WOOO_ souow
PATTERNS BelOW TO MAKE
TWO SIDES AND THREE
HORIZONTAL PIECES. DRILL
HOLES. ASSEMBLE WITH
THIN TACKS.

tt

F'~

8"
cui lipstick
contoiner al
dotted line

use half
of Thermos
bottle cork

6 ....

y,

ffrjJ
...

1 1
:

. ..

<:.-.

make 2

of

c.. '.-. .
.~ ". _-~- : .:

t=:::J

= =

the,~

'"

-'

=>

make 2 of these-cut

I... 3" -~ I
ane along dotted line
7%"
- -~ I
1+---'-

I+-MAKE AN ALCOHOl BURNER FROM INK

BOTTLE, THERMOS BOTTLE CORK, AND LIPSTICK CONTAINER. BUY WICK AT A HARD_
WARE STORE.

3 112"

-' ~ 1

USE A PAIR Of PLIERS FOR MAKING

THESE STANDS FROM CLOTHES HANGER
WIRE. ALSO MAKE THE FUNNel STAND
IllUSTRATED ON PAGE 9.

t
4"

1 ~"

,,
I

J"
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.

11

om

- --+1

I "'=':':5=o:m:.:.:_~

E
u

l<=
"' =~~
_ ' <E- 5

9om

i i.

cm '_-+l

t
"

.,

No. 5

f iRST DECIDE ON
APPARATUS YOU

Will NEED. THE N

fIGURE OUT SIZES

Of PARTS. THESE
ARE THE PARTS
FOR THE SA FETY

GAS GENERATOR
O N PAGE 29.

No. 5

i1

Making Apparatus for Experiments

.\IOST of you r chemica l experiments yo u will perform
in t est t ubes and jars. But occa siona lly you will need
a n a ppa ra tus - a device co nsisting of bottles and
stoppers. glass and rubber t ubing.
A good chemist t akes prid e in his apparatus. H ('
makes it wit h great ca re - not just for looks but .
more impor tant , for safel y. An apparat us t ha t leaks
flam mable gas can be very dan gerous.
Before you sta r t t o put a n apparatus t oget her.
make a simple drawing of it so that you will kn ow
wha t it will con sist of. Th!'D get c ut the various parts
you will need to put it together.
T o ma ke an appara tu s, you nero t o kn ow how to
15 mm

17 mm

=
No. 00

No. 0

19 mm

cut a glass tube. how to bend it , and how to draw

it to a jet point. Sre page 13.
It is wise to use glass t ubes of one d iam eter a ni)',
wit h rub ber t ub ing to fit. Glass t ubes of an outside
diameter of 6 millimeters lit snugly into t he holes in
t he usua l ru bbe r stoppers. R ub ber t ubing of an inside diam eter of ;M~ fits UH r the 6mm glass t ubes.
To det er mine t he right size stoppers to use in t he
bot tl es of yo ur app ara tus. measure th e mouths of
th e bottles against the stoppers shown below in
ac t ual size. Order stoppers b ~' number. Keep a selectio n of different sizes on hand.
F(,II"w the " a fp l y prp('llulillll S 011 pa .C'''

2.4 mm

20 mm

27 mm

26 mm

0=

No.1

In.

No. 2

No.3

16 mm

18

No.4

No.5

Il,..

10

mm

13 mm

14 mm

THESE AU THE ACTUAL SIZES O F RUBBER STOPPERS. BY

MEASURIN G THEM AGAINST YOU R lAB WARE YOU Will

mm

20

"1m

KNOW W HICH TO ORDER. No. 0 FITS THE 16 mm TEST

TUBE. N o.5 f iTS .4-0l. W IDE.MOUnt BOTItE.

12

CUnlNG GLASS TUBES

FIRE GLAZING
CUT EDGES
._~

use triangular file

-....

---

ROUND THE ROUGH EDGES OF CUT

TUB E BY ROTATING IN flAME. THIS
IS CAllED " f iRE GlAZING."

MAKING JET POINT

<-

->

thumbs under mark

he al fo r aboul 1 Vz inches

fire glaze lip

~

push thumb s a way from you

-,--

~ --

MAKE SINGLE SCRATCH WITH fI LE-DO NOT " SAW:'

1 HEAT SECTION OF TUBE EVENLY W HERE YOU WANT

TO fORM JET POINT, BY ROlliNG IT IN THE flAM E.

HOLD TUBE WITH BOTH HANDS, THUMBS BElOW MARK.

WHEN SOFT, PUll SLOWLY. CUT APART WHEN HARD.

SNAP TUBE JNTO TWO PJECES WITH A QUICK JERK.

BENDING GLASS TUBES

100

POOR BEND

hot he r ;

~ ::..

"""".......
H' AT THAT PART

TU BE EVE NL Y
W HERE YOU WANT TO
BEND IT, fOR ABOUT
TWO INCHES, BY ROLL ING AND MOVING
THE TUBE BACK
AND fORTH.
WHEN GLASS IS
FT, REMOVE fROM
FlAME_ BEND QUICK
lY. HO lD UNTIL THE
GLASS HARDENS.

Q1D
((

bend qui ckly

POOR BEND

10 0 hoi here

IF HEATED TOO
MUCH, THE TUBE
W Ill f LATTEN
OR " BUCKLE,"

""-

13

Scicntihc M c asUJrc m.e nts

1:-; SCIE:'iCE, the met ric system is preferred oyer our usual sys tem. lt is much easier to work wit h when once yo u have lea rn ed
it - for inst ead of d ividi ng or mult iply ing by 12 or 32 or 16
to go from one unit t o the next , you simply move t he decimal
point. Ju st remember t hese two things :
1. That the names of t he basic units are meter for lengths,
liter for volumes, grams for weight s - ab breviated to m, I,
and g (wit hout a peri od a l ter th em).
2. That 1000 of a kind are called kilo ; 100, hekto; 10. deca :
1/ 10 is called dccl : 1/100, ccnt i; 1/ 1000, milli.

.' .....

METRIC UNITS OF LENGTH

1000 m eters [m ]
1 kilometer lkml

METRIC UNITS OF VOLUME

10 0 0 cubic cen ti me te rs
1 liter (II
(c m ~ or ccl
10 0 0 milliliters (mil
lite r {I!
1 liter (I)
1.06 qu a rts (liq uid)
0.946 liter (I!
1 q uo rt (liqu id !

1 meter 1m)

= 10 0 0 millime te rs (mml

1 m eter 1m)
39.37 inches
2.540 ce nt imeters {em ]
1 inch

METRIC UNITS OF WEIGHT

10 0 0 grom s {gl
1 kilogr a m {kgJ
1 g ram {gl
10 0 0 millig ra ms lmgl
1 g ram (g J
0 .035 ounce s ovoird upais
28 .350 g ram s (g J
1 oun ce a voirdupo is

=
=

cubic centimele r
~

em' =1,c=
milliliter

ml

--Ma king a Mo del

of a Cubic
Ce ntimete r

BOTTO M LINE Of FIGURE

TO THE RIG HT IS I DECIMETER (1 dmJ OR 10 CENTIMETERS PO em) OR 10 0

M ILLIMETERS (10 0 11'111'1).

FRONT SURFACEO F f IG URE

IS 1 SQUARE DECIM ETER (1

dm'l O R 100 SQUARE CENTIMETERS It 00 em'l.

VOlUMEOF WHOlE f iGU RE
IS I CUBIC DECIMETER (1

dm' l OR 10 00 CUBIC CEN.

1 cubic decimete r

= 1 liter = 10 00 cubic; ce nlimele n = 10 00 millilileu

Tl METERS (1000 (m' O R

1000

eel all.

100 0 ann.

LITERS 11 000 11'111 all. I lITER

(I I). 1 r WATER W EIG HS
1 KILOGRAM (1 kg }.

I'

II

, I

I ' I 11 I

II

1
I

I '

II

'j

ce nti me te r
ruler
inch
ruler

MAKING A HAND BALANCE

~
ex-

CAN AT SIDE. CUT THE

PANS WITH TIN SNIPS.

) jf-

FOR MANY
PERIMENTS YOU

USE PATTERN BElOW

TO MAKE BEAM WITH
TONGUE ATTACH ED.
CUT CAREFUllY W ITH
TIN SNIPS. FOLD BEAM
LENGTHWISE. PUNCH
HOLES WITH NAIl.

MAKE THE TWO PANS FOR

THE HAND BAlANCE FROM
TOP AND BOTTOM Of A
FRO ZEN JUICE CAN OPEN

.".

NEED TO W EIGH

YOU CAN USE CO INS TO

CHEMICALS. f OR

GD

---

THIS, MAK E A
HAND BALANCE.

ride r

Go.

2.5 9

~EQ = 5

.I

-I

"

WEIGH 2.5 s. 59. 7 .5 g . 10 s.

ETC. FOR SMAllER WEIGHTS,
CUT A TIN STRIP TO WEIGH THE
SAME AS A NICKEl. THE N CUT
IT IN FOUR 1 9 AND TWO .5 9

11 I 1 1

YOUR 6- TEST TUBE HOlDS

22 ml. YOU CAN USE IT FOR
ROUGH MEASUREMENTS:
TUBE NOT QUITE f Ull IS 20
ml, NOT QUITE HALf FUll 10
mi. fOR SMAllER AMOUNTS,
COpy THE RULER TO THE
RIGHT AND ATTACH IT TO
THE SIDE OF A TEST TUBE
WI TH SCO TCH TAPE fOR
MEASURING ",I's.

Il

OV ER ONE ARM OF
THE BEAM.

,
s

(JI.

" ~I

ASSEMBLE BALANCE

BALANCE HOR )
ION TAll Y. PUT
SMAll -erose- CUT
fROM TIN CAN

:5}

pallern for bar and

9
8

Sco tch

A GRADUATE 1$ USED FOR

MEASURING LIQUIDS.

BEAM DOES NOT

10

WEIGHTS.

MAKING A GRADUATE

AS SHOWN . IF

r-

lope

....:!

,
,

read a t botto m
of hollow
{calle d minisc.d

la ngue for hond balance

.-.. _-------------- - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - -- - - - - - - ---- --- - ---- - - - - - ----- - - --------- --_.----0

,,,
0

,,

,,

;,

,,
,,
,,
,

,
,,,

,,
,

paltern for support for hand balance

t tack

paper clip

fF="':l>

15

\\~
0

PLACE USED EQUIPMENT TO THE

S DE FOR CLEANING W HEN EXPERI
MENT IS COM PLETED.

S ET O U T A LL T HE
EQUIPMENT AN D THE
CHEM ICALS YOU NEED

.-, "; :.

L
'"

l'
""

~ '==: ~ ~ n

4 MAKE
NOTES OF
YOUR
FINDINGS ,

lL

READ INSTRUOIO NS
REFUllY BEFORE START.
IN G EXPERIMENT.
..,;

' ~~

_'d'd'd

\ ~ ::;_~ " %l
~

I,

'--

Correct Lahoratory Techniques

l x YO UR home laborator y, t hree consider a tions are
of t he grea tes t importance: SAF ET Y, X1::..\TXES5.
and E..\:,,\CTXESS.
SAFhiY - AU the expe riments in this book are
sa fe when done in the correct laboratory way as
sho wn on these pa ges.
Treat chem icals wit h respect . N ever taste anything unless specifically told to do so. If there a n'
younger children in t he Family. lock up your chemicals whe n yo u a re not work ing wit h them.
Protec t yo ur clc tbes with a pla st ic a pron.
Be careful with fire, Wh en you use your al cohol
burner, have a m etal pan under it for safet y.

:\"EATXESS - Gel the habi t of lining up eq uipm ent and chem icals yo u need on one side a nd placing
uSN.! item s on t he opposite sid.. - keeping the space
Is-tween them r-lear for rour expe riments.
Pul c hem icals away and clr-an glassware as S(MlO
as you have finished an exper iment.
E..'\..\ CT:'IESS - Label all be t tles and jars containing chemicals dearly and co rrec tl y.
Wh ere amoun ts of chemica ls are not given. use
the sm allest amount t ha t will tell yOIl what you want
to know.
Observe the chemica l rea ctions ca refully a nd make
complete not es of them as you go along.

PLAY SAFE WH EN YOU PUT A CLASS TUBE IN A STOPPER.

PROTEO YOUR HAN DS BY WRAPPING TOWel AROUND
THEM. MOI STEN G LASS TUBE AND STOPPER WI TH WATER,
THEN PUSH THE TUBE INTO THE STOPPER WI TH A SCREW.
DRIVER MOTION.

W HEN YOU MA KE AN APPARATUS FOR A CHEMICAL EX.

PERIMENT. MAK E SURE THAT All CONN EOIONS ARE AIR.
TICHT , USE THE RIGHT SIZE STOPPER FOR MO UTH OF
CON TAINER, GLASS TUBES THAT FIT SNUG LY INTO THE
STOPPER HOlES, AN D TIGHT -FITTING RUBBER TUBIN G .

16

MAK E IT A HABIT
TO READ A LABEl

TRAIN ED CHEMISTS NEVER PUT

STOPPER O F BOTTLE ON DESKTHEY KEEP IT IN ON E HAN D.

YOU HAVE
THE RIG HT
CHEMICAl.

1 TAKE STOPPER O FF BOTTLE

W ITH YOUR LEFT HAN D.

U\ KEEP

\ -,

STOPPER IN THE LEFT

HX'N O W HilE YOU POUR FROM
THE BO TTlE IN YOUR RIGH T,
W ITH TH E LABEL f ACIN G UP.
THEN REPLACE THE STOPPER.

v,

IN W EIGH ING OUT A DRY

CHEMICAL, PLACE EQUALSIZED TISSUE PAPERS O N
EACH PAN OF THE SCALE.
ROl L JAR BETWE EN fiN G ERS OR TAP IT GENTlY
WITH YOUR IN DEX FIN GER.

USE A G LASS ROD TO

DIRECT TH E STREAM
W HEN POURING A
UIO FROM ON E CON TAIN ER TO ANOTHER.

uo.

..
,-;;,

WHEN HEATING A tl QUIO IN A TEST

TUBE, HOLD TUBE W ITH A HO LDER.
KEEP THE TUBE MOV ING . DO NOT
HEAT BOTTOM O F TUBE-CON _
TENTS MAY "BUMP" AND SQUIRT
OUT. NEVER POIN T MOUTH OF TEST
TUBE TOWARD YOURS el F OR TO WARD ANYON E eus.

0_ , 0-,
~ .

WHEN HEATING A SOLID IN A TEST TUBE,

PLACE THE TUBE IN A STAND AND MOV E
THE FLAME O F YOUR BURNER BACK AND
FORTH TO HEAT THE CONT ENTS EVENLY.

DO NOT BRING TE ST
TU BE UP TO YO UR
NO SE fOR SMELti NG .
IN STEA D, WAfT THE
ODORS TO W ARD YOU
WITH YOUR HAN D.

USE A TEST TUBE BRUSH FOR CLEANING TEST

TUBES. RINSE IN COLO WA TER.

17

Mr. Faraday's Candle

Ix TIIE wint er of 1859, :'.li chael F arad ay , a great
Brit ish scient ist. gave a number of lectures for yo ung
people. The talks dealt with one subject only : th e
featu res or " phenomena" of - a candle!
" There is not a law," Faraday t old his liste ners .
" under which an y part of t his un iverse is governed
which does not come into play and is touched upon
in t hese phenomen a, There is no be tter, there is no
more open door by which ) "OU can enter into th e
st udy of natural philosoph y th an b)" considering th e
ph enomena of a candle." He then set out to pro ve
his point by light ing a candle and demons trat ing all
the processes invol ved.
In burning a candle ) "011 sta r t with a SOLID substance t hat t urn s, first , into a L IQ UID, then into a
GAS (or, more correc tly, into a gas-like vapor). The
melt ed candle grease is held in a level posit ion b)'
GRAVITY yet seem s to defy gra vity by rising in t he
wick by a force calle d CAP I LLAR Y ACTIOX I n
burning. th e candle prod uces EiXE RGY in the form
of LI GHT and HE AT . At th e same time, it goes
into C HE:\ IICAL REACTIO.:\S t ha t reveal what
it is mad e of.
As you enter th e stu dy of che mistry, )- OU can do
no better t han t o repeat for yourself some of t he
expe riments that :\Ir. F arad ay demonstrated t o his
)'o ung audi ence.
MAKE A GAS WORKS
FROM A CANDLE BY
HOLDING A G LASS
TUBE, DRAWN TO A
POINT, IN THE FlAME
A N D LIGHTING TH E
VA PORS AT THE END
O F TUBE.

PLACE A BURNING CANDlE IN THESUN AND CATCH

THE SHADOW ON A PIECE O F W HITE 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 CONS ISTS OF BURNING
PA RAFFIN VAPORS .
BLOW OUT THE CANDLE, THEN
QU ICKLY BRING A LIGHTED
MATCH IN TO THE VAPORS .
CANDLE IS AGAIN IGN ITED.

YOU CAN ACTUALLY LEAD

THE VAPORS FROMA BURNING CANDLE THROUGH A
BENT GLASS TUBE INTO A
WAT ER GLASS . IF LEFT
ALONE, WHITISH VAPORS
COND ENSE INTO A SOLID.

18

,:1"

CANDLE CONTAINS
HYDROGEN
A CANDLE FORMS WATER WHEN IT BURNS. ONLY
HYDROGEN BURNI NG IN OXYGEN FORMS WATER.
HOlD A COLD GLASS FOR A fEW MOMENTS OVER
BURNING CANDLE. DEW FORMS ON THE INSIDE.

BY W IPING FINGER INSIDE THE GLASS YOU CAN

M KE DEW flOW TO GETHER INTO WATER DROPS.

CANDLE CONTAINS CARBON

.\'

', .

l .;;::-."g ... ,$

PLACE PIECE O F W IRE

SCREENING OV ER
f lAME, SCREENING
COOlS THE f lAME
AND SOOT FORMS .
THE SOOT IS CARBON.
WHAT PART Of THE ~i1:~ ~:B
flAM E IS HOTTEST? "" \ ,
TO f iND OUT, PUSH
PIECE O F CARDBOARD SIDEWAYS INTO flAME.
OUTSIDE O F FlAM E SCORCHES A SOOTY RING .

CRUSH A fEW ICE CUBES

AND SPRINKLE THEM WITH
SALT. WRAP IN ALUMINUM
FOIL HOlD OVER BURN ING
CANDLE. WATER DROPS WILL
FORM ON THE OUTSIDE OF
THE FOIL

WHAT YOU FOUND OUT

HEAT

11,000 C)
,
water
""-- vapor

(H.D)
LIGHT
11 ce ndte-

\",

powe rl

WA~

ANOTHER
TO SHOW THAT
CAN DLE CO N
TAINS CARBON
IS TO PROVE
THAT CARBON
D I OX IDE I S
FORMED W HEN
CANDLE BURNS.

..

i. ,

(~
I

_~..

LIQUID

1 PL ACE fUN NEL OV ER flAME. HOlD

HTED MATCH IN HOT AIR f ROM fLAME.
MATCH GO ES O UT IN THIS AIR.

!2 PLACE TEST TUBE OVER FUNN EL AND

UECT HOT AIR. POUR LIME WATER INTO
TUBE AND SHAKE. LIM E WATER G ETS
CLOUDY FROM CARBON DIOXIDE.

19

SOLID

00

"

--/'" -;..--... ..':.

~ .. \

"

Y ou-Scientisf!
What remained had La be purified by various processes whi ch the Curies had to invent themselves.
Aft er t wo years of ba ck-breakin g work t hey reached their goal. One nigh t th ey went to t he shed in
which the y had been working. T hey opened t he door
and stepped in with out putting on t he ligh ts. All
around th em, the containers that held the solut ions
of the new substa nce glowed in t he dark ! T hey had
discovered a ne w element - rad ium - a million
t imes more act ive th an uran ium .

IN 1896. a young Poli sh che mist , .M arie Curie. and

her French hu sband. P ierre. decided to find out why
a cer tain uranium ore called pitchbl end e gave off
ra ys th at were mu ch stro nger t han th e uranium conlent of th e ore cou ld explain.
They secured a whole to n of po wde red a re from
a mine in northern Bohemia a nd set to work . First
th e powder had to be boiled with strong acids to
ext ract the m yste rious substance hidden in it. T hen
the solution had to be filt ered a nd bo iled down.

i.

,_ .!r
.,--SOLUTION-STlR WATER INTO THE
MIXTURE OF SALT AND DIRT. THE WATER W ILL DISSOLVE THE SAtT BUT NO T
THE DIRT. YOU NO W HAV E THE SALT
IN " W ATERY SOLUTIO N:"

op e n e nd
plac e in funne l

DECANTATION-LET DIRT-MIX ED
SALT SOlUTION STAN D UNTIl MO ST
OF THE DIRT HAS SETTLED. THEN POUR
OFF THE LIQ UID. THIS PRO CESS IS
CAllED ""DECANTATIO N .""

20

fiLTRATION l - THE LIQUID 15 PROBABLY STILL MURK Y. TO CLEAR IT, IT

N EEDS TO BE FILTERED BY LETTING IT
RUN THROUGH FILTER PAPER IPAPER
TOWELIN G WILL DOl.

1 MIX THOROU GHLY O N E TABLESPOON OF DIRT AN D

O N E TEASPOON OF ORDINA RY TABLE SALT. N OW DECIDE THAT YOU W AN T TO EXTR ACT THE SALT FROM THIS
MIXTURE AS EARN ESTlY AS THE CURIES DECIDED TO EXTRACT THE MYSTERIOUS SUBSTANC E FROM PITCHBLENDE
- W ITH THE EXCEPTION THAT YOU KNOW W HAT YOU
ARE AFTER.

Why tell again the storv of t he diseoverv of

ra di um a Because it contains all the features tha t
show th e nature of the true scientist.
Curiosity first. The Curies were curious about th e
mystery that lay in that greyish-black powder. They
became obsess ed wit h a desire to find out - not in
th e hope of gaining money or fame but to est ablish
a scientific t ruth .
Before starting th eir work , the Curies gathered all
the known facts abou t th e material wit h whic h th ey
were to work . To thi s kno wledge they added th eir
own imagination, figuring out th e me thod t he)" had
to use to arrive at th e resul t they were seeking.
For th e next two years th ey lit erall y slaved in the
dr afty shed th at was th eir laborator y.
Aft er they had made their discovery, the Curies
made their meth od of extractin g rad ium kno wn to
th e world so that ot her scientists could check and
test wha t th ey had done.
As an example of the scient ific meth od the Curies
used , let us follow in their footsteps - but wit h a
much simpler p roblem:

.2 G ET THE FACTS TO GETHER. DIRT IS "DI RTY," SALT IS

W HITE. DIRT PARTICLES ARE O F MANY DIFFERENT SHAPES,
SALT CON SISTS OF TIN Y CUBES . DIRT DOES NOT DISSOlVE
IN W ATER, SALT DOES.
3 NEXT FIGURE OUT A SUITABLE WAY OF SEPARATING
THE TWO SUBSTANCES. O N THE BASlS OF WHAT YOU
KN OW YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEPARATE THEM WITH
A PAIR O F TINY TW EEZERS-BUT IT WOULD PROBABLY
TAKE YOU A YEAR TO DO IT. OR YOU COULD DISSOlVE
THE SALT IN W ATER AN D SEPARATE THE SOlUTIO N FROM
THE INSOlUBLE DIRT.
4 YOU DECIDE ON THE SECOND W AY, USING THE
STEPS SHOWN O N THE BOTIOM OF THESE PAGES. IN
DO ING THIS, YOU DO W HAT THE CURIES DID IN EXTRACTIN G RADIUM AN D LEARN , IN THE PRO CESS, THE
IMPORTANT LABORATORY TECHNIQUE S O F SOlUTIO N,
DECANTATION, FILTR ATION , EVAPO RATION, AND CRYSTALLIZATION.
S FINALLY, YO U CHECK THE RESULT. THE WHITE SUB.
STANC E LEFT AFTER EVAPO RATION SHO ULD BE SALTBUT IS IT? IT LOOKS LIKE SALT. IT TASTES LIKE SALT. BY
CHEMICAL TESTS YOU CAN PROVE THAT IT IS SALT.

B y using the same procedure in all other experiment s in thi s book you are learnin g the meth ods
th at real scientists follow in their work - yo u are
becoming a scientis t yourse lf.

=--~.~.~
>

FILTRATION 2-FOlD FILTER PAPER

AS SHOW N O N O PPOSITE PAGE AND
FIT IT IN FUNNEL POU R LIQ UID O NTO
FIlTER PAPER. C LEARED LIQU ID IS
CALLED .. FILTR ATE."

EVAPORATION-THE FILTRATE CO NTAINS THE SALT. THE SALT CAN NO W

BE FREED BY REMO VIN G THE W ATER
BY BOILIN G IT A WA Y. THIS IS KNOWN
AS "E VAPO RATION."

21

CRYSTALLIZATION _AS W ATER IS

REMOVED, THERE IS TOO UTILE OF
IT LEFT FOR THE SALT TO STAY IN
SOlUllON . THE SALT MA KES ITS APPEARANCE AS TINY CRYS TALS.

Element s, C ompounds, and Mix tures

I N ALL yo ur experiments in ch emistry, )"OU will he
dealing with " matter."
M auer is an yt hing tha t takes up room and has
weight (or "mass" ). An iron ba r is matter - it takes
up room and is heavy , as you Ye T)' well know . Water
is matte r ---.. it takes up room when )"OU fill a pail
with it . and a full pail weighs plenty. The air around
)"OU is matter - it takes up lots of room; it may not
seem very heavy, yet the ea rt h's atmosphere presses
down on every square inch of your body with a
weight of almost fifteen pounds.
Matter has three dist inct forms. Iron. for insta nce, is a SOLID . Water is a LIQUI D. Air has
the form of a GAS.
I f ~iO U should take iro n and divide it again an d

aga in until ) 'O U couldn 't divide it any fur th er, ever y
tin)' particle would still be iron. A thing that consists
of one kind of matter ani)' is called an ELE:\ IEl\'T.
Take wa ter, on the other hand. You will learn to
break wate r up into two kinds of matter - each of
them an element . A thing in which two or more elements art" combined chemically is called a CO.:\fPO UJXD_ In a compound th e proportions of the different elements that make it up ar e always exact ly
th e sa rne.
Air also consists of different kinds of matter, but
th ey are not romhinr-d chemically - th ey are simply
mixed together. When you make a .:\IIXTURE. you
can mix the ingredients together in any proportions
that suit you.

MAKING A COMPOUND

TWO ELEMENTS AND A MIXTURE

MI X TO GETHER 2 9 O F flO WERS O f SULf UR

AND 3.5 9 O F IRO N f iLINGS. PLACE M IXTURE
IN A DAMA GED TEST TUBE. HEAT. SHO RTLY
A CHEMICAL REACTION TAKES PLACE.
THE MIXTURE GLOWS AND BLACK
I RO N SULf IDE f O RM S. THIS
CANNOT BE SEPA RA TED
INTO SULFUR AND IRON
A S IN PREV IOU S
TESTS.

POWDERED SULFURAND IRON CAN BE MIXED

TO GETHER IN ANY PROPORTIONS AND
AGAIN SEPARATED.
DRAG A MAGNET THRO UG H THE SULFUR-IRON MIXTURE.
THE MA GNET W ill PICK UP THE IRO N PARTICLES.
2 POUR HYDROCHLORIC ACID O N SOM E O f THE M IXTURE
IN A TEST TUBE. IRON DISSOlVES, SULfUR DOES N OT.

22

ELEMENTS ARE SUBSTANC ES THAT CONS IST OF ON E

KIND O F MAn ER ONLY. THEY CAN BE DIVIDED INTO

METALS

METALLOIDS

~al, m;n~.

~ ~n
";''fIi!:
~
*~~
.:~
,.n"' -

METALS, M ETALLOIDS {M ETAL. lIKEl, NON METALS. SEV

ERAL OF THE NONMETALS ARE GAS ES.

an timony

'1
siver

copper

COMPOUNDS IWITH A FEW EXC EPTIONS} ARE THO SE

THAT DO NOT CONTA IN THE ELEMENT CARBON.

BASES

SALTS

OTHERS

,.-~"

SUlFURIC

soc

~
~iodi n e

silico n

COMPOUNDS-INORGANIC. ALL COMPO UN DS

CONSIST O F TWO OR MORE ELEMENTS. INORG ANI C
ACIDS

NONMETALS

WA,

fi'I

ItTOI<)

t Oillf

ACID

CARBON COMPOUND5-0RGANIC. ORIGINALLY,

COMPOUNDS MAD E BY LIVIN G THING S IPLANTS AN D

ANIMA LSI W ER E CALLED "ORGAN IC." TO DAY ORGAN

IC CHEMISTRY COV ERS THE CARBON COM POUNDS.

HYDROCARBONS, ALCOHOLS, ORGANIC ACIDS, ETC.

A
L

CASOLiNE

'0

,i

MIXTURES CAN CONSIST O F ELEMENTS OR COM-

LO IDSI CON TAIN TINY PA RTICLES. STILL O THERS ISOLUTIONS) ARE OF SAME STRUCTURE THROUGHOUT,

POUNDS. SOME MIXTURES ARE COARSE. SOM E (COL-

GRAINY MIXTURES
rock

c:;;;;;;,

COLLOIDS

SOLUTIONS

~'IIY
~~
4} lnd~l
a
~

~
egg wh .ile

ink

~.

iN '

23

""'" _
".;- :--;;.

~ -~

o
WATER CVCLE

Water-Our Most Illlpor tant COlllpound

is the most important or all chemical
compounds. Without it , there would he no lire - all
human beings and all animals would thirst to deat h.
and all plant life would wilt and die.
Fortunately, water is also the most common compound in t he world . Almost t hree q uarters of t he
earth's su rface is covered by water. T his water is
forever traveling. I t is turned into invisible vapor
by evaporation (rom oceans and lak es and growing
YE S. W .-\TER

WATER AS A SOLVENT

THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNO ION OF WATER IN

CHEMICAL EXPERIMENTS IS AS A SOlVENTTHAT IS, A LIQ UID IN WHICH CHEMICALS MAY

BE DiSSOLVED. FIND OUT BY AN EASY EXPERIMENT WHETHER HEATING THE WATER HELPS IN

thi ngs. Whe n cooled. the vapor forms douds of tiny

water drops. Furt her cooling makes the drops fall
to eart h as ra in or snow tha t fill up rivers and lak es
an d oceans an d continue t he water cycle.
Che mists usc na ture' s mct hod to produce chemIcallv pu re water. They t urn ordi nary tap wate r into steam by boiling. then turn th e s team bac k into
wat er by cooling. This proc ess is called distillation
and th e water is called distilled water.
WATER AS A CA TA LYST
WATER HELPS BRING ABOUT MANY
CHEMICAL REACTIONS W ITHOU T IT
SELF ENTERING INTO THEM. A SUB.
STANC E TH AT AC TS TH IS WAY IS
CALLED A CATALYST.

...

DISSOLVING A CHEMICAL.

rc-- -"

warm
w ale r
~

'---'

DROP 1 TABLE.

SPOO N W ASHING
SODA IN 112 GLASS
Of CO LD WATER.
STIR. PART Of THE
SODA DISSOLV ES
SLOWLY.

2
cold wa ter

hot wc te r

REPEA T WI TH
HO T WATER. SODA
DISSOLVES QUICKLY.
HOT WATER IS USU
ALLY fASTER THAN
CO LD fOR PREPARING A SOLUTION.

PLACE I TEASPO O N DRY BAKING

POWDER IN SMAll JAR . ATTACH W IRE TO
CANDLE. LIGHT CANDLE AND LOW ER IT
INTO JAR. CANDLE GOES ON BURNING.
NOW POUR WARM WA TER ON THE
BAKING POW DER. A CHEMICAL REACTION
MAKES THE POW DER FOAM. THE GAS RE
LEASED IS CARBON DIOXIDE. IT MAKES
CANDlE flAME fLICKER AND GO OUT.

ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER
ELEORICITY CAN BE USED TO BREAK WATER APART

MATERIALS fOR EXPERIMENTS

INTO THE TWO ELEMENT S O F W HIC H IT CONS ISTS

AN ORDINARY FLASHLIGHT BATTERY W ILL GIVE

YOU MA TERIALS YOU NEED FOR EXPERIM ENTS
ON THIS AND SEVERAL FOLLOW ING PAGES .

- THE GASES HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN .

YOU CAN GET THE REQUIRED ElECTRICITY FRO M THREE
OR FOUR ORDINARY FLASHLIGHT BAnERIES . YOU WILL
ALSO NEED TWO PIECES OF INSULATED COPPER W IRE
AND TWO " el ECTRO DES" MADE FRO M CARBON RO DS.

r
~
~.S:::O
.;~~' I "l.3. .

~arb~" rod

Making Electrodes
1 SCORE THEMIDDLEOF THE
CARBON ROD FROM AN OLD
flASHLIGHT BAnERY. USING
A FILE. BREAK THE ROO INTO
TWO PIECES.

1 OPEN UP B"TTERY C"SE CAREFUllY W ITH"

C"N OPENER " NO CLEAN THE l lN C CASING.

2 BARE THE WIRE FOR r

AT EACH END O F TWO 18 "
LEN GTHS OF IN SULATED W IRE.
TIE ONE BARED WIRE AROUND
EN D OF EA CH O F CARBON
ROO HA LVES.

SCRAPE CARBON RO D CLEAN W ITH DULL kN ifE .

ORY OUT THE MOIST BLACK POWDER. W HICH

IS MOSTlY MANGANESE OIOXIDE. STORE IN J" R.

THROW REMAINING P"RTS OF THE B" TTERY AWAY .

"
Performing the Electrolysis

bared wire
~

. -;.. insclc te d wire

~

BI N D ELECTRI C I AN ' S TAPE FI RMLY

AROUND CARBON
RODS SO THA T N O
WIRE IS EXPO SED.

e l e clr~~!a " 'S tape

~-"=,,,

Se"ing up Electrolysis
WATER IS A POOR CO N DUCTOR O F ELECTRICITY- SO YOU
DISSOLVE 1 TABLESPO O N OF
WASH ING SODA IN 1 PINT OF
WATER AND Fill A WATER
GLASS AND TWO TEST TUBES
W ITH THIS SOLUTION. THEN
SET UP THE APPARATUS AS
SHOWN AT RIGH T.

.c .

._ -

0"

"

SLIP THE TO P OF A CARBON el ECTRODE UP

I TO EACH O F THE TWO TEST TU8ES.
2 BIN D THREE-OR, BETIER, FOUR- FLASHLIGHT
BATIERIES TOGETHER W ITH ADHESIVE TAPE, TO P
OF ONE TOUCHING BOTIOM OF THE NEXT.
3 W ITH ADHESIVE TAPE FASTEN THE BARED END
OF THE W IRE LEADIN G FROM ONE CARBON ROO
ELECTRODE TO THE TOP OF THE FIRST BAn ERY.
,'4 TAPE THE BARED EN D O F THE WIRE FROM THE
OTHER elECTRODE TO BonOM OF LAST BAnERY.

AS SOON AS CONNECTION IS MADE. AIR BUBBLES

BEGIN TO COLLECT IN THE TWO TEST TUBES-ABOUT TW ICE AS FA ST IN O N E AS IN THE O THER.

-. .,
::;:

-a dh e si~ e lope

"
TEST FOR

HYDROGEN

TEST FOR
OXYGEN

broom- ~I-V'n::r----'slraw
.'

"
~

WITH YOUR THUMB, CLOSE THE MOUTH OF THE TEST

BE FIRST FILLED WITH GAS . LIFT THE TUBE OUT OF THE
WATER, MOUTH DOWN.
2 BRING LIGHTED MATCH TO THE MOUTH O F THE TUBE.
CONTENTS BURN W ITH A SOFT " PO PI" THIS IS THE TEST
FOR HYDROGEN.

. 6:1_
1

...-1 t:)~

. . "1~

' I ~.
~

1 WHEN SECOND TUBE IS fULL

OF GAS, CLOSE ITS MOUTH W ITH
YOUR THUMB. LIFT THE TUBE OUT
O F THE WATER WI TH MOUTH UP.
2

LIGHT

BROOM STRAW.

BLOW OUT THE FlAME. BRING

THE GLOWING END DOWN IN
THE TEST TUBE. GlOWING EM.
BER BURS TS IN TO BRIGHT FlAME.
THIS IS TEST FOR OXYGEN .

OXYGEN
AIR-21

% OXYGEN

~-;-:'=.-;;;:-::;::::::::o>-~",,;::::;;::::~

.. 0

~.

OXYGEN _ ~ _

0Eleme
X Y G
n t Ii:8N.

Atomic wt" 16 .
Colorle n, odorlen
gos , supp ort ing
co mb ullion (burning). 1.1 we ight of
err. Slightly soluble
in woler-3 vol ume s in 100 vol umes ot 20 C. O xyg en is the most
common e lement on

..

Oxygen-The Breath of Life

I F YOU could hold your breath for a few
minutes so that no air could get int o your
lungs, you would die.
For thousan ds of years, people have
known that no human being can live
without air . But it was not until Karl
Scheele. a Swedish chemist , in 1772, and
J oseph Priestley. an Englishman, in 1774,
discovered and described oxygen that
people knew that it is the oxygen in the
air th at is import an t to life.
Bot h of th ese scientists discovered tha t
thin gs burn more fiercely in pure oxygen
th an the y do in th e mixture of oxygen
and other gases ra iled "air."
In the lab, oxygen is produced by driving it out of certa in oxygen-conta ining
compounds. A good one to use in the
home lab is hydrogen peroxide. You can
get it at a drug store in a 3% solutio n.
Hydrogen peroxide is related to water,
Water. as you know. consists of 2 parts
of hydrogen to 1 part of oxygen. You
could write i t : Hydrogen 2 -0x)'gen I.
T ha t's pretty much what chemists do except that t hey abbrev iate the names to
initials, use small numb ers, and don't
bother about th e number L Th e formula
becomes H 20 .

H ydr ogen peroxide contains 2 parts of

hydrogen to every 2 parts of oxygen. How
would yo u write it in cb em lcellen gua ge )
H 20 2 ~ You're perfectly right!
H 20 2 becomes water (H 20 ) and gives
off oxygen (0) when you throw a cata lyst
into it. For a catalyst , you can use t he
manganese dioxide from an old flashligh t
battery (page 25).

IT'S A LONG STEP fROM THE DIS

COVERY O F O XYGEN IN 1772 TO
ITS PRESENT-DAY USE IN INDUS
TRY AND HOSPITALS, AIRPLANES
AN D SPACE SHIPS, AN D FOR SEND
ING SATelLITES INTO O RB IT.

26

;c-

~.:::,

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.

..,

.~

'"

/ .i

,if Il l

.J':.
2

\)

.2 A MOMENT LATER,
CANDLE GO ES OUT.
WATER RISES IN JAR TO
REPLACE OX YGEN USED.

MAK ING A SMALL AMOU NT

Of OXYGEN
fILL JAR % fULL OF 3 Y. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. ADD PINCH Of MANGANESE 0 1.
OXIDE FROM FLASHliGHT SAnERY ISEE
PAGE 251. TEST fOR OXYGEN WITH
GLOWING BROOMSTRAY/, EMBER GLOWS
BRIGHTER AND MAY SURST INTO FLAME.

o
o
o

MAKING OXYGEN IN
THE HOME LAB

r - - - -- '"

1 TO COLLECT OXYGEN, YOU N EED A "PNEUMATIC TROUGH."

THIS IS A DEEP, WATER- FILlED TRAY WIT H METAL "SRIDGE:'

:2 FIT som e W ITH STOPPER W ITH L.SHAPED GLASS TUBE AND

RUSSER TUBE LO NG ENOU GH TO REACH HOlE OF SRIDGE.
3

Va

Fill Bon LE V~ FUll O F 3Y. HYDRO GEN PEROXIDE, ADD

TEASPOON Of MANGANESE DIOX IDE. PUT THE STO PPER IN .

!II fill JAR WITH WATER AND PLACE IT UPSIDE DOWN ON THE
BRIDGE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE OXYGEN BUSBLES INTO IT
AND nus IT BY fORC ING OUT AND REPLACING THE WATER

'..

....

~.

oxyge n is slightly
he avie r than a ir
-so keep mouth
of ja r up

5 WHEN JAR IS fULL OF OXYGEN, SLIDE A GLASS PLATE UN DER OPENING (O R PUT STOPPER IN IT)- TURN JAR RIGHT SIDE
UP-QUICKLY, TO PREVENT THE OXYGEN FROM ESCAPING.

MANY MATERIALS BURN IN OXYGEN

1 ATIACH TUFT O f STEel WOOL TO WIRE. HEAT
TO RED HEAT OVER ALCOHO L BURNER. LOW ER INTO
JAR OF OXYGEN . IRON SURSTS INTO flAM E.

-,

..
,.,.'

. .

~
,

2 PLACE SMALL PIECE OF SULFUR. IN CROOK OF

BENT STRIP OF TIN CUT FRO M CAN. IGNITE SULFUR.
W ITH MATCH. LOW ER. IN TO JAR. OF OXYGEN . SULFUR SURNS W ITH A BRILLIANT, BLUE LIGHT.

27

" SRIDGE" fOR. "PNEUMAT

IC TRO UG H" MADE fR.OM
2Yz STRIP Of TIN CAN .

of A ll
HnlROGE.'"\ is the lightest element in existe nce - YJ. ..
th e weight of air. For this reason 0 0 1' of its early
uses was for filling balloons. The first man-carrying
gas balloon was sent up by the Frenchman. Jacques
Charles. in I i83. The danger of using an explosive
gas for . this purpose was demonstrated in 1937 in
the Hindenburg disaster, when th e hydrogen-filled

HENRY CAVENDISH, WHO DISCOVERED HYDROGEN IN 1766,

HAD NO IDEA OF THE ASTONISHING FORCE OF HYDROGEN
WHEN RELEASED IN A BOMB.

If

Zeppelin dirigible exploded on arriving at Lakehurst,

New Jersey, after a trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
Thirty-six people lost their lives.
Hydrogen is one of the most imp ortant of all th e
elements. It is found in all living things - your own
body is approximately 10 per cent h ydrogen. Water.
as you know, is part hydrogen . So is the food yo u
eat, the milk you drink, th e clothes you wear, and
such common, everyday things as gasoline and fuel
oil and cooking gas.
In the home lab , )'O U can make hydrogen by adding st rips of zinc from a flashlight battery to h ydrochloric acid which consists of h ydrogen (II) and
an other gas called chlorine (CI). The zinc form s a
comp ound (ZoCl 1) with th e chlorine and sets the
hydrogen free (III) '

HYDROGEN FORMS WATER WHEN IT BURNS

1 Fill TEST TUBE 3,4 FUll OF HYDRO- CHlORIC ACID. ADO A COUPLE
OF ZINC STRIPS. BUBBLES OF HYDROGEN FORM IMMEDIATELY.
2 CLOSE TEST TUBE WITH RUBBER STOPPER WITH GLASS TUBE
DRAWN TO JET POINT . COVER APPAIIATUS WITH A TOWEL.

3 PLACE EMPTY TEST TUBE OVER GLASS TUBE. AFTER 1 MINUTE,

TEST THIS TUBE FOR HYDROGEN WITH LIGHTED MATCH. IF TUBE
" BA RKS, " PUT IT BACK. AFTER ANOTHER MINUTE, TRY AGAIN. WHEN
SOFT " PO P" TELLS YOU GAS IS PURE, LIGHT JET.
4 HOLD A COLO GLASS OVER HYDROGEN FLAME. DEW COVERING
THE INSIDE OF THE GLASS SHO W S THAT WATER IS FORMING.

HYDROGEN IS liGHTEST
GAS KNOWN
) FIll A POP BOnlE 1J~ FUll OF HAlFAND-HALF MIXTURE OF HYDROCHLORIC
ACID AND WATER. DROP IN HALF A DOZEN
ZINC STRIPS. LET NO flAME COME NEARI
2

1
b

. ..
0

<>

'

FIT BALLOON ON MOUTH OF BOTTLE.

3 WHEN BAllOON IS INflATED, TIE

OPENING WITH STRING AND REMOVE
FROM BOnLE. IF PERMITTED, BAllOON
Will RISE TO CEILING INDOORS . OUT.
DOORS, IT WILL SOAR UP IN THE SKY.

28

lJ

MAKING HYDROGEN IN THE LAB

/ - -.2 JSET UP PNEUMATIC TROUGH AS ON PAG E

27.1~~=?I
.,
o

I MAKE THE SAFETY GAS GENER

ATOR DESCRIBED ON PAGE 12.

7.

o
o

o
C-

FILL BOTTLE A
% FULL OF MiXTURE Of EQUAL
PARTS Of HYDROCH LOR I C ACID
A ND WATER.

f
J

.11,

----~44

PLACE , - LAYER OF SMAll PEB BLES ON BOTTOM

OF BOTTLE 8 . DROP ZINC STRIPS ON TOP OF PEBBLES.
FIT STOPPERS AND TUBES AIRTIGHT.

HYDROGEN

El e m en t 1 .

Af. wt . 1.00B

Colorle ss. ederless

ond c o mbUltible
gal. Highl y explelive in mllllures
w i th oir , 1/1 4
we i gh t o f a ir .
Slig hrly soluble in
wa fe r- l .B volumes in 10 0 volumes 01 20 C.

5 POUR A CID FRO M BOTTLE A INTO BOTTLE B,

OR FORCE IT OVER BY BLOWING IN TUBE C.
6

CLOSE TUBE OF BOTTLE A W ITH CLOT HESPIN .

7 A S SOON AS HYDRO G EN STARTS TO BUBBLE UP THRO UGH WATER

IN PNEUMATIC TROUGH , CO ll ECT SOM E IN WATERflllED 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_
8 W HEN YOU HAVE MADE THE EXPERIMENTS YO U WANT, CHANG E
SPRING CLOTHESPIN f ROM RUBBER TUBE OF BOTTLE A TO RUBBER TUBE
O F BOTTLE B. HYDRO GEN FORCES AC ID fR OM BOTTLE B BACK INTO A.
WHEN ACI D NO l ONGER. TO UCHES ZIN C, REACTION STOPS.

,LATING JAPE WITH HYDROGIN

IN M IXTURES WITH AIR, HYDROGEN IS HIG HLY
EXPLOSIV E. FOLLO W SAFETY RULES BELOW.
MAKE O N LY SMALL AM OUNTS OF HYDRO
G EN IN THE HOME LAB. A 4-0 1 . GENERATO R
BO TTLE W ILL GIVE YOU ALL THE HYDRO GEN
YOU N EED. MAK E ALL CONNECTIONS A IRTiGHT.
TEST HYDROGEN FOR PURITY BY COLLECTING
A TEST TUBE FULL OF IT AND BRINGING A LIGHTED MATCH TO MOUTH OF TUBE, AS SHOWN
O N PAGE 25 . HYDRO GEN M IXED W ITH AIR EX
PLO DES W ITH A SHARP " BARK." PURE HYDRO
G EN BURNS W ITH A QUI ET " PO P."

i!
WHE N YOU KNOW FRO M TESTING SAM.
PlES OF GAS COLLECTED IN TEST TUBES
THAT HYDROGEN IS PURE. fILL SMAll JAR
WITH IT. 11FT JAR O UT Of WATER, MOUTH
DOWN. BRING liGHTED CANDLE UP INTO
JA R. HYDROG EN BURNS AT MO UTH O f
JAR. CANDLE GOES OU T.

KEEP FlAME AWAY FRO M YOUR MA IN GEN

ERATO R BOrnE.
IG N ITE HYDROGEN ONLY f RO M TEST TUBE
G ENERATOR DESCRIBED ON O PPOSITE PAGE,
AND THEN ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE TESTED IT
FOR PU RITY.

29

"

Carbon D ioxide

'~

You H.-\'f"E already learned in experimenti ng with a

burning candle that when something containing carbon burns in the air, a gas, carbon dioxide (CO,),
is formed. This is one of the most importa nt gases
for hum an life. The reaso n is t hat green plan ts, in
sunligh t , ar e able to take t he carbo n out of the carbon dioxide in th e air and, by combining it with
oxygen and hydrogen from water and with various
minerals in th e soil, produ ce all the vegeta ble matter
that humans and anim als eat.
You cannot see the CO2 in the air - but you can
see it when it has been cooled and compressed into
a solid block of " dry ice." Wb en d lssolved in water
(H 20), carbon dioxide (CO,) Corms a weak acid
(H ,CO,) . You know th e ta ste or this acid from soda
wat er - the bubbles are CO2 being set free.
Carbonic acid combines with man)' metals to
make "car bonat es." You can dri ve the CO, out or
most carbonat es with the help or a weak acid - even
with vinegar , which is diluted acet ic acid .

-......_- ~- CARBON DIOXIDE CYCLE

PLANTS

o we

TAK E IN
c.uOON
DIOXIDE

0"
OXYGEN

MAKING A FIRE EXTINGUISHER MODEL

LIQUID CARBON DIOX-

IDE IS USED IN FIRE EXTIN G UISHERS.

.'

PUSH A SHORT GlASS TUBE

ITH 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.

_ -c- -

----- ---

rti

Fill BOTTLE HALF FULL OF MIXTURE OF I PART VINE

R AND 1 PART WATER. PUT IN THE STOPPER.

.~
3

.
.,.
~- _ ;

CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

CO NTAIN SOlUTIO N OF BAKIN G ., _
SODA AND A BOTTLE OF SULFURIC ACID. WHEN TURNED UP
SIDE DOWN, THE CHEMICALS MIX
AND FORM CARBON DIO XID E
WH ICH FORCES O UT THE WATER.

f1
"

.. .

c:::::...

=~

30

'

/'
/

HO LD STOPPER FIRM
l Y IN PLACE WITH TWO
FINGERS. TURN BOnlE
UPSIDE DOWN. THE CO ,
FORMED BY M IX ING
VI N EG A R AND SODA
DRIVES WATER OUT IN
POWERFUL JET.

CO

CARaON

FEATURES OF CARBON DIOXIDE

COl IS HEAVI ER THAN AIR AND
DOES NOT SUPPORT BURNING .
YOU CAN PROVE BOTH POINTS;

2 DIOXIDE
Co mpound .

Molecu lo r wI U .
Co lo rless, o do tleu

MAKING
LIME
WATER

go s. Does nol burn.

DOIl5 no l s u pp o rl
combustion (burning).

1.5 29 weigh t of a ir.

f a irly soluble in we tet_SS vol u me s in
10 0 volumes 0 1 20 C.

~
STIR 1 TEASPO O N OF
HYDRATED LIM E INTO
1 PINT Of WATER .

LET STAND UNTIL tiME SINKS TO THE

B TTOM. f iLTER LIQU ID INTO A BOTTLE.
CLOSE BOTTLE TIGHTLY.

PLACE 1 TEASPOON OF BAKING SOD A IN A PITCHER. POUR

A SMAll AMOUNT OF WHITE VIN EGAR O VER THE SODA.
2

HANG A liGHTED CAN DLE IN A JAR BY A WIRE. POUR THE

RBCN DIOXIDE FORMED IN THE PITCHER INTO THE JAR THE

W AY YOU W O ULD POUR WATER. W HEN THE CA RBON DIO XIDE
REACHES THE TOP OF THE CAN DLE, THE flAME GO ES OUT .

MAKING CO.

BURNING PRODUCES CARBON DIOXIDE

HANG BURN ING CANDlE IN JAR CONTAINING A
fEW ml liM E WATER. CO VER TO P WI TH A GlASS
PLATE. WHEN CAN DlE HAS GONE O UT, SHAKE
LIME WATER UP W ITH THE AIR. M ILKINESS PROVES
THAT CO. HAS BEEN PRO DUCED.

FROM MARBLE

.. ' ,II

,
BREATHING PRODUCES CO.
BREATHE THRO UG H GLA SS TUBE INTO
LIME WATER IN TEST TUBE. LIME WATER
G ETS M ILKY. THIS SHOWS THAT BREATHIN G IS A BURNING PRocesS.

IN LABORATORY. CARBON DIOX ID E IS USUALLY MADE

FROM MARBLE CHIPS AND DILUTED HYDROCH LORIC

ACI D 11 PART ACID TO I PART WATERI. PLACE CHIPS

ON TOP OF PEBBLES IN YOUR GAS GENERATOR, THEN
PROCEED AS FOR MAKING HYDROGEN (PAGE 291.

31

NITROGEN

N
N ITRO GEN GOES INTO
BOTH FERTILIZERS AND
EXPLO SIVES.

('::-

~;r ~
V'
I~
/
'
:
~
~
'\ (,x; I', /17,: _

~i (?i \ ~ 'J ,"/f

LA' GE-SCALE PRODUCTIO N O F ICE.

li~

\~\"

DRY AMMO NIA GAS JS USED INTH E

Ele menl7 .
At .wl. 14.0GB.
ColorleH , ederless
go s. Doer; not burn.
Does no t sup p ort
combustion (burn.
ing). . 967 weight
of eir, Slightly soluble in wate r-I .S
v o lu mes in 10 0
vets, at 20C.

~r:<'I I \)
,,~: ~~~~\~~,~~~f~( N i r-ogen and Its C ompounds

....:.:..., , '\: ~

,-t :~\~

"- "'~x- ~~'

._"
. ,~'

~l.~
\. .

, .' t") / ' .

' ~?

.,

WHEX YOU b urn an ything in t he ai r, only a bout onefift h of the air goes int o chemical combina tio n with
----..' __".." .-- - . . .
what you are burning. T he rest (except for a small
-"'- .
fraction) does not enter int o t he process. I t is a gas
called ni trogen (1\") - the mos t abundant free eleNITROGEN FROM THE ATMOSPHERE
ment on earth.
F~~~~~~~" I % RARE GASES :"
Nitrogen is wha t you mi ght call a " la zy" element.
It
does 110 1 help in b urni ng II OT does it burn if you
"' A ~ G ON
,. EO N
t r y to ignite it. It is only a t high temperatures an d
~ n p'ON
78% N ITROGEN
under great pressures t hat a chemist ca n make niXEN O"
IlElIU.....
t rogen com bine wit h a not her element. h ydrogen. t o
Al SO, cc-. Il, O
for m ammonia gas (X II J ) . from which other nit rogen
2 1 % OX YGEN
compounds can be made .
Yet. in na t ure, ti ny bact eria on the roots of cerREPEAT CANDLE-BUR NING EXPERIMENT O N PAGE 27.
ta in plants ca n t ak e nitrogen from t he air a nd make
UNUSED GAS IS ALMO ST ALL N ITROGEN-WITH SMA LL
it combine with oxygen and minerals in t he soil in to
PERCENTAGE O F RARE GASES AN D CARBON DIO XIDE.
" nitra t es." And that is of t remendous im port a nce t o
all of us - for all pla nts need nit rat es if t hey are to
t hrive. If plan ts do not gel nitrates na turally. the
m ust add t hem to his soil in the form of some
farmer
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
ki
nd
of
fer tilizer.
IN A WELl .VENTIlATED
110t ha ve m uch sa ti sfact ion out of wor kYou
will
ROOM , HE AT EQ U AL
AMO UNTS O F SALTPETER
ing with nit rogen itself, but yo u will find it in ter AND SOD IUM BISULFATE
est ing to deal with some of its com pounds - espeIN DR Y TEST TUBE. IN A
cially with a mmonia ga s C\ llJ). You will also wa nt
MOM ENT. A BROWN G AS
to ha ve a look a t one of the half dozen combina t ions
FORMS. IT IS NITRO G EN
nit rogen mak es with oxygen , t he brown gas called
DIOXIDE. DO NOT IN HALE
nitrogen dioxide (i'iO:) .
- o AS IS VERY IRRITATING .
- ~

" - '"

- --

' \, "'. '\'\

,~.~ .

~-

)'

'y-.-?.../

~"'" "~ _" ~,~ ~~~-: -: ._ ~_

- .~.

32

NH

AMMONIA

3Compound.

Molec ular
we ig ht 17. Colorless ga l with
slrong, penetrating
odor. 596 we igh t
of a ir. Hig hly 101uble in watel70,000 '1oh. in 100
'lo Is. 01 20 C.

PRODUCING AMMONIA
SIMPLEST WAY OF PRODUCING
AMMONIA IS TO GET IT FROM iTS
SOLUTION AS HOUSEHOLD AM MON IA .

~~:,1,1,

r. .,
~
.

1 -n-

FILL PINT CAN ONE QUAR TER FUll OF

HOUSEHOLD AMMONIA. FIT STOPPER
WITH 6- GLASS ruat IN OPENIN G.

,',

PLACE TEST TUBE OVER GLASS TUBE.

HEAT CAN OVER LOW flAME. TEST
TUSE IS FUll Of AMMON IA WHEN
MOIST, RED lITMUS PAPER HELD AT
ITS MOUT H TUR NS BLUE.

SOLUBILITY OF
AMMONIA
REMOV E A fi llED
TEST TUBE fROM

: ,.

,I

'-

"

GAS GENERATOR
CAN, MO UTH
DOWN . C LOSE
MOUTH Of TUBE

W ITH THUMB. OPEN

TUBE UNDER W A
TER. AMMONIA DIS
SOL V ES EASilY.
WATER RUSHES IN
AND nus TUBE.

~. -

..

THE AMMONIA FOUNTAIN

AMMONIA'S EXTRAORD INARY SOLUBILITY CAN BE
SHOWN IN A SPECTACULAR DEMONSTRATION .
1 MAKE UP APPARATUS AS SHOW N IN ILLUSTRATION.
Fil l IT W ITH WA TER . ADD 5 DROPS O F PHENOlPHTHAL
EIN SOLUTION.

MOIST, RED
LITMUS PAPER
TURNS BLUE

FILL DRY, EMPTY BOITlE WITH AMMONIA FROM

GENERATOR CAN . KEEPING BOTTLE UPSIDE DOWN.
PLACE IT f iRMLY ON TOP STOPPER Of APPARATUS.

IN AMMONIA.

MAKING AMMONIA FROM

SAL AMMONIAC

3' BLOW INTO LSHAPED GLASS TUBE TO DRIVE A FEW

DROPS O F WATER UP INTO THE UPPER BOTTLE.

1 ON A PIECE Of PAPER, MIX 1 PART Of SAL AMMONI AC WI TH 2 PARTS O F HYDRATED LIME. ADD A fEW
DROPS OF WA TER. DROP MIXTURE INTO A TEST TUBE.
PROVIDE TUBE WITH STOPPER AND L-SHAPED GLASS
TUBE. THEN HEAT OV ER lOW FlAME.

4 SUDDENLY. WATER SPURTS FROM LOWER BOITLE

UP INTO UPPER BOITLE IN A FOUNTAIN THAT TURNS
PIN K AS AMMONIA REACTS ON PHEN OlPH THALEIN.

THE WHITE SMOKE

MYSTERY

COLLECT AMMON IA IN DRY TEST TUBE. TEST IT WITH

1I MUS PAPER AND fOR SOLUBILITY.

MOISTEN INS ID E Of
II. W ITH SMAll AMOUNT
O F HYDROCHLO RIC ACID .
POUR EXCESS ACID BACK
INTO ITS BOITL E. COV ER
JA R WI TH SQUAR E OF
CARDBOARD.

Fill ANOTHER JAR WITH AMMON IA. PLACE

UPSIDE DOWN ON CARDBOARD.

HOLD ON TO AMMONIAflllED JAR AND

P II CARDBOARD AWAY. IMMEDIATELY. BOTH
JARS Fill WI TH " SMO KE" OF TINY AMMONIUM
CHLORIDE CRYSTALS.

33

.,

"
ydrochlori
acid

'' ' - ' ' '

CI

CHLORINE
Element I ?
Atom ic wI.

3 5. 4 57. Green ish -ye llow, suffoca ting gas. Com bi ne s a c ti ve l y

w ith many elemenu . 2.5 weig ht
of a ir. Fairly solubl e in waler 226 vels. in 100
volumes at 20C.

C hlorine- Friend and Foe

a gas of great importance. " 'e wouldn' t
be certain of safe drinki ng water in our cit ies if it
weren't for ch lorine - a small amount of it in t he
water kills t he dangero us germs that may lurk in it.
Ch lorine is also used extensive ly in blea ching ;
Chlorine is a friendly gas when it is used correctly.
But it is dangerous when used im properly because
it affects th e lungs. As a "poison gas" it cau sed many
casualt ies in World War I.
C HLORG\""E I S

You can produce chlorine as a greenish-yellow gas

b y driving it out of one of its compounds - hydrochloric acid (IICn, which con sists of hydrogen (H)
and chlorine (Cl), or a common laundry bleach
(" Clorox" or ot hers), which is a solut ion of sodi um
hypochlori te (N aCIO).
H a ve a bottle of diluted household ammonia (90%
wa ter, 10% hou sehold ammonia) on hand. Sniff this
if yo u get t oo strong a whiff of chlo rine.

NOTE: Perform these e x p e riments eut-ef-deers o r b e fore an open w indow. Be careful not to breathe fumes .
MAKING TEST PAPER
FOR CHLORINE

CHLORINE FROM
HYDROCHLORIC ACID

CORN
STARCH

~t ~~
,'.

"

MIX .5 9 (l,~ TEA SPO O N) STARCH W ITH 30 ml

WAT ER . BRING TO BOIL. DISSOlVE IN MIX TURE
A SMALL AMOUNT O F POTASSIUM IOD IDE (AS
MUC H AS TWO GRAINS OF RICE). DIP STRIPS
O F FILTER PA PER IN M IXTURE; THEN DRY THEM.

1 Put .5 9 (Va TEASPO ON) MANGANESE DIOX IDE IN TO

TEST TUBE. ADD 3 ml (Va TEST TUBE) UN DILUTED HYDRO
CHlORIC ACID. HEAT GENTLY. CHLORINE FORMS. WAFT
A UTILE CAREFU LLY TO W ARD YOU FOR A SNIFF.
TEST GAS BY HO LDING MOIS TENED STARCH-IO DIDE
PAPER AT MOU TH OF TUBE. PAPER TURNS BLUE.

34

. .--

MAKING CHLORINE IN THE HOME LAB

,,

MAKE APPARATUS SHOWN AT

RIGHT. POUR 1 INCH Of LIQUI D
BLEACH (CLO ROX) INTO BonLE A.
BonLE a IS EMPTY. Bo n LE C HAS
WATER IN W HICH % TEASPOON LY E
IS DISSOlVED.

"

.' ~

3 CHL O RI NE GAS
FORMS AND FILLS a.
LYE WATER IN BOTTl E C ABSORBS EXCESS
OF CHLORINE G AS.

d,,/I ' JJ'1\"\\\\

TAKE STOPPER OUT

OF BonLE A. DROP IN
'h TEASPOON SODIUM
BISULFATE (SANI.FLUSHj.
REPLACE THE STOPPER.

Sani
Flush

.-

~8

W HEN REAOION SLOW S

ADD MORE SOD IUM BISULFATE

EXPERIMENTS WITH CHLORINE

...--=-r:~
<ACHLOR INE REACTS
VIGOROUSLY W ITH 1(11 , .
MOST OTH ER ELE
M ENTS. IT [S PAR '-..
TICULA RLY ACTIV E
~
- -:r
WITH H YDRO GE N
AND MANY HYDRO
GEN COMPOUNDS .

')

-~ ~,
1 .

"= :

...------

LOWER A BURNING CANDlE INTO

A BOTTlE O F CHLORINE G AS. A
DENSE SMOK E O F CARBON IS
FORMED. THE CHLOR INE COMBINES
WITH THE HYDROGEN O F THE CAN
DlE AND SETS THE CARBON [N IT
FREE AS SOO T.

NOTE, EACH TIME YOU Rt

MOVE THE GASCOLlECT
ING BOrnE I fOR EXPERI
MENT, CONNECT BOTILES
A. AND C TO PREVENT
CHLORINE FROM GmJNG
OUT
E ROOM.

CHLORINE W ILL COMBINE

';/ ?:

DIR ECTlY WITH SEV ERAL _

~
M ETALS. IRON AC TUALLY ;.-~

<-

BURNS IN CHLORIN E GASI \~

TO SHOW THE SOLUBILITY Of CHLORINE,

POUR A SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER INTO
A CHLOR INE FIllE D BOITLE. CLOSE THE
BOTTl E MOUTH WITH YOUR PALM .
SHAKE. THE CHLORINE DISSOlVES AND
THE BonLE STICKS TO YOUR PALM FROM
THE SUCTION CREATED.
CH LO RIN E HAS
GR EAT USE IN
BLEACHIN G COTTON AND LINEN
AND WO OD
PULP. YET IT IS
NOT THE CHLO RINE THAT PERFORM S T HE
BLEACHING .

"';;;=,; p"
.r ) ,')

1 FILL A BonLE WITH CHLORINE GAS. HANG

IN IT (FROM A CORK OR fROM A PIECE O F CARDBOARD) A STRIP O F DRY, BRIGHTlY COLORED COT
TON CLOTH. NOTHING HAPPENS. COLOR OF
CLOTH IS NOT AffECTED.

~
~ J~~:'''''' '
FASTEN A SMALL WAD O F
STEel WOOL TO A PIECE Of
W IRE. HEAT IT W ITH A MATCH
AND LOW ER IT INTO CHLO_
RINE.fI LLED BonLE. A HEAVY
BROW N SMO KE O F I RO N
CHLOR IDE POURS OUT.

MO ISTEN THE CLOTH AND AG AIN HANG IT

IN THE CHLORINE. SOON THE COlORS fADEONLY TRULY " FAST" COLORS REMAIN . CHLORINE,
IN CONTACT WITH WA TER, COMBINES WITH THE
HYDROGEN AND lIBERATES OXYGEN. THE LIBERATED OXYGEN DOES THE BLEACHING .

35

Chemical Shorthand
SO F AR YOU ha ve experimented with oxyge n and

hydrogen , carbon dioxide an d nit rogen , and chlorine ;

yo u ha ve al so separa ted wa ter into the tw o elements of which it consists, and ha ve com bined the
t wo elem ents iro n an d s ulfur into a chemical compo un d. In laking notes of your expe riments yo u are
cer tain to have learned that it is mu ch qu icker to
write " H " than " hydrogen," a nd easier to write
"C0 2 " than " ca rbo n dioxid e." B efore long, it will
seem the sim plest and most logical thing in the world
to use t hese abbreviations of the names of the different elements rather than the full names.
Yet it took chemi sts hundreds of years before the y
settled on this un iform method of writing out their
chemical formulas.
In th e ea rly da ys of ch emistry no one bothered to
do m uch writ ing about it. But it became necessary
for the alc hemi sts t o wr ite down their expe rim ents
- how else could they retrace their steps in case they
act uall y hit upon the gold they were seekingc They
inv ented a whole line of complica ted symbols that
only they could understand.
As chemists delved deeper a nd deeper int o the
mysterie s of matter it became more an d more important for them to write out their experiments in
such a wa y that all othe r chemists would kn ow what
the)' were tryin g to explain .
The first to in vent a usable system was J ohn Dalton , an En glish scienti st. The inventi on was almost
forced upon him.
In his st ud y of chemist ry he had become con vin ced
that all che mical reac t ions could be explai ned in
terms of the t iniest possible part of one elemen t reacting wit h th e tiniest po ssible part of another. These
particles he called "ato ms." The smalles t possibl e
part of the compound that resulted he called a " compound a to m"- t oda y we call it a "molecule."
T o explain his " at omic t heory" Dalton made use
of circl es, each with a marking to indicate a specific
element. These circles ser ved to explain Dalton's
theory but they were too difficul t to work with to
show complica ted.chemical reactions.
.A Swedish che mist , Jons Jakob Berzelius, worked
out a simpler system - the sa me system scientists
use today.
For his symbols he took the first letter of the Latin
name of each element - C for " ca rbo ," S Cor "sulfur ." Wh ere t wo names start ed with the sa me letter,
he added a small letter to one of th e symbols t o

/
,

,,
THE ALCHEMISTS USED FANCIFUL FIGURES TO
REPRESENT THE CHEMICALS WITH WHICH THEY
W ORKED.

E9 o 8
0 0])
sulfur

h ydrogen

oxygen

amm onia

magnesium

carbon dioxide

JOHN DAltON SUGGeSTED

MARKED CIRCLES TO INDICATE

DIFFERENT ElEMENTS.

LtbE~~~~~~;;
[

""

corb o

aurum

(corb o n)

(gold\

H
hYdrogenium
JO N S JAKO B BER-

zeuus DEVELOPED
THE SYSTEM USED
TODAY,IN WHICH
THE NAME S Of
ELEMENTS ARE
ABBREVIATED.

36

distinguish t he two elements from each other - he

used Ca for " calcium," for instance, to distinguish
it from carbon (C) .
But Berzeli us went an impo rtant ste p fur t her.
B~; t hen th e French chemist, J oseph Lo uis Proust,
had discovered t hat whe never clemente form compounds th ese are always of a wry definite composit ion - th e " La w of Definit e Composition." Water
molecules, for exa mple, always conta in th e same
number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. And Dalton
had found that whe n two elements combine in different way s they do th is in simple proportions - th e
" Law of M ultiple Proportions." One atom of carbon
an d one ato m of oxyge n make carbon mon oxide ; one
atom of carbo n and t wo atoms of oxygen mak e carbon dioxide.
To describe t hese things in a simple way Berzellus
made each of his sym bols stand not only for a specific
element but also for its rela tive weight as compa red
to t he weight of other elem ents-e-fts "ato mic weight."
T o show the compositio n of a compound he simply
put toge t her the symbols for t he elements into a
"formula"- CO.lI CI, FeS, and so on." CO" then not
onl y meant that one ato m of ca rbo n and one a tom
of oxyg en combine to mak e one molecule of carbon
monoxide. hut also t hat 12 weight units of carbon
(l2 being the atomic weigh t of carbon) combine with
16 weight un its of oxygen (16 being the atomic weight
of oxyge n) to form 28 weight un its of t he compo und
car bon monoxide .
WhE'n a compound contain ed severa l ato ms of the
same element Berzelius indicated this by placing a
number in front of th e symbol. It was later found
necessary to cha nge th is to a smaller number , called
the syma "subscript," placed at the lower righ t
bol - H 20 , CO 2
In recent years it has been necessar y to change
Dalton 's idea of an atom as bein g th e smallest indivisible parl of an element. Nowadays we have
machines. such as th e cyclotron, th at ca n bombard,
or "smas h" atoms into st ill smaller parte-cneutrons.
and electri cally charged protons and electrons. Accord ing to tod ay's atomic t heory proton s and neutrons form th e nu cleus of th e atom and elect rons
whirl aro und th e nucleus with such tremendo us
speed t hat th ey seem to form a " shell" around it.
But even with our new idea of an a tom, Dalton's
main th eory is st ill useful for expla ining cbemicul reaction s, and Berzelius' method is s till th e sim ples t
"short hand" method any scienti st has eve r devised
for writing th em down.

AN ATOM MIGHT lOOK LIKE A BAll SUCH AS THIS If

YOU ENLARGED IT A BilliON TIMES. THE " SHELl" IS
NOT SO LID-IT CONSISTS Of ElECTRONS MOVING SO
fAST THAT THE'( SEEM TO FORM A SOLID SHEll .

If YOU COUlD SLOW DOWN AN ENLARGED CARBON

ATOM YOU MIGHT SEE TWO Of ITS ElEQRONS TRAVelING AROUND THE NUCLEUS IN AN "INNER SHEll " AND
FOUR MORE WHIRliNG AROUND IN AN " O UTER SHelL"

or

37

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.

FRO~ TIlE earliest times people ha ve tried to explain

what " matter" was made of. :\105t early philosophers agreed that "matter" was mad e up of wh at
t hey called " elements:' But t heir idea of an " element " was quite different from wha t we mean b~,
th at word today.
The early Greek philosophers th ought the ent ire
uni verse was composed of only four basic substances :
fire, eart h, water, and air. T his explan ation ma de
sense at the time and was not seriously challenged
for many cent uries.
The old Romans actually knew nine of the substa nces we call elements today. They called th em,
of course, by their Latin names (t he sam e we use
today in chemical symbols): carbo (car bon - C),
sulf ur (5) , aurum (gold - Au), argentum (silver

c-

FO R MORE THAN A THO USA N D YEARS PHILO SO PH ERS

INSISTED THAT All SUBSTANCES WERE MADE UP OF FOUR
elEM ENTS: FIRE THAT WAS DRY AND HOT. EARTH THAT WAS
HOT AND MOIST. WATER THAT WAS MOIST AND COlO.
AIR THAT WAS COlO AND DRY. WE KNOW BETTER NOWI

H
1
Hydr ogen
1 .008

o
2

I A

2 LI

H.

lithium
6 .940

N.
Neon
20.183
Argon
39.944

K,

x.

M.

12

Ca lcium
40 .08

37 5,

Rubidium
85.-48

5. C.

55
(e5ium
132 .91

. 0 F,
222

223

21

'0 Barium 50

57.71
lonthonons

Titanium
47.9

39 Z,
Yttrium
88 .92

Rad ium
226.05

22 y

89-103
Actinon,

HI

23 C,

.,

Niobium
92.91

72 To

Hafnium
178 .50

M.

2. M.

'2

Molybdenum
95 .95

73 W

7.
Tungsten
183 .86

VII A

C hramium
5 2.01

Tantalum
180 .9 5

INERT
GASES

'H E ELEMENTS

VI A

Vanadium
50.95

'0 Nb

Zirconium
91 .22

0'

TABLE
V A

IV A

Scandium
44 .9 6

3. Y

. 7 Ra

Francium

III A

Strontium
87.63

137.36

Radon

PERIODIC

'HE

20 5,

19 Co

Xenon
13 1.3

Magnesium
24 .32

Potas sium
39 . ,

30 Rb

Kryp ton
83.8

R.
7

11

Sodium
22.991

18 K

Beryllium
9 .0 13

10 No

Helium
4 .003

II A

THE MODERN PICTURE OF AN ATOM HAS A NU

(lEUS IN THE CENTER. CONSISTING OF PROTON S {pi AND NEUTRONS (n). WITH ELECTiONS
IN RINGS AROUND IT.

Technet ium

99

Ruthen ium
10 1.1

7 5 O.

R.

ALKALI

METALS

01
La
57 C.
59 Nd
00 Pm
5. P,
RO WS RUNN ING FROM LEFT TO
, .... ltOdy",iu'"
Lanthanum
Neodym ium Promethium
Cerium
RIGHT ARE CALLED PERIODS . COl1AO.92
U4 .27
13B .92
140.13
UMNS RUNNING FROM TOP TO
93
90 Po
91 U
89 Tb
92 Np
BOnOM ARE CAllED G ROU PS. THE ... Ac
Neptunium
Protactinium
Actinium
Thor ium
Uranium
ELEMENTS W ITHIN A G ROU P HAVE
237
227
232 .0 5
231
238 .07
MANY TRAITS IN COMMON .

,<5

38

Iron
5 5. 85

.3 R.

"

Rhenium
186.22

20

25 f.

Mongone5e
54.94

70

Osmium
190 .2
ALKAliNE
EARTH
METAlS

5m

02

Samarium
150.35

P.

9.

Pluton ium

2.2

MANY SCIENTISTS HAD

NOTICED THAT If YOU liNE
UPTHE ELEMENTS ACCORDING TO ATOMIC WEIGHTS,
CERTAIN CHEMICAL TRAJTS
OCCUR PERIO DICAllY. THE
RUSSIAN SCIENTIST, DMITRI MENDELEEff. ON THIS
BASIS DISCOVERED THE PE_
RIOD IC lAW AND DEVEL
O PED THE PERIO DIC TABLE.

Ag), ferrum (iron - F e), cuprum (copper - Cu},

stannum (lin - Sn), plumbum [lea d - Ph), hydrargyrcun (mercur v-c-Hg).
B)' 1800, thirty-four elements bad been discovered .
Wit hin t he next ten years, t hirteen more had been
added and had been gh..en mad e-up La tin names among them natrium (sodi um - Na), kalium (potassium - K ), an d alum inium (al uminum - AI). B y
the beginning of th e twentieth cent ury, eighty-four
elements were kn own .
Today the number ha s reached 102 - th e last len
man -mad e, produced by splitting the ato ms of other
clements. Wit hin a shor t time, Elemen t 103 will
pro bably be discovered .
In t his table you w ill find list ed the 102 elements
that are known today. Each ele-ment is described b)'
its chemical sym bol , its atomic number, its full name,
and its ato mic weigh t.

.... . - . . . ...._ ..."

A YOUNG ENGLISH SCIEN

TIST, HENRY MOSELEY, PERfECTED THE PERIODIC TABLE. HE DISCOVERED THE
lAW Of ATOMIC NUMBERS
AND ARRANGED THE ElE
MENTS ACCORDING TO
THE ELECTR IC CHARGE
fO UND IN THE NUCLEUS.

magnesium

c hlori ne

III B
THE NUMBER Of PROTONS IN AN ATOM IS ITS
ATOMIC NUMBER. AN ATOM ALWAYS HAS THE
SAME NUMBER O f PROTONS AND ELECTRONS.
HYDROGEN IS THE SIMPLEST Of ALL ATOMS.

5 C

B
Boron
10.82

unbon
12.011

AI

VIII
C.

27 HI

2 B Cu

Cobolt
58.94

Rh

Nickel
58 .71

4. A.

4 5 Pd

Rhodium
10 2.9 1

I,

Pa lla dium
106.4

77 Pt
Iridium
192.2

29 Zn

Copper
6 3.54

47 Cd
Silver
107 .8 8

7 B Au
Platinum
195.09

.3 Gd

Europium

15 2
Am

.4 Tb

Gadolinium
157 .26

95 Cm

4B In

Ca dmium
11 2.41

H.

.5 Dy

Terbium
158 .93

Dysprosium
162.51

97 Cf

9. Bk

15 5

lea d
207 .21

NON
METALS

f luorine

19
Chlorine
35."'57

34 B,

33 5.

Selenium
78 .96

35
Bromine
79 .9 16

.3

52 I

51 T.

Antimony
121.76

17

CI

Sulfur
32 .066

Arsenic
74 .91

B2 BI

Bl Pb
Thallium
204.39

METAL.
l OIDS

Tin
118 .7

B F

Oxygen

Phosphor us
30 .975

50 5b

49 5n

I. I.

7 0
Nitrogen
14.008

32 A.

VII B

VI B

Ge rmanium
72 .6

Indium
114 .8 2

BO T'

Silicon
28 .09

31 G.

Ga llium
69 .72

Mercury
200 .6 1

197

HEAVY
, METAtS

Eu

79
Gold

30 Gu
Zinc
65.38

V B

14 P

13 51

Aluminum
26. 98

II B

I B

IV B

Iodine
126 .91

Tellurium
127.6 1

B3 P.

B5

B4 AI

Bismuth

Polonium

Astat ine

209

210

210

RARE
,1
I

EARTH
METALS

UNSTABLE
elEMENTS

70 Lu
71
H.
.B Tm
.9 Yb
'7 E,
Ytterbium
Lutetium
Holmium
Erbium
Thulium
173 .04
174 .99
16.4 .94
168.94
167.27

9. E

101 H.
100 M y
102
Mende levium Nobelium
fe rmium

99 Fm

Ame ricium

Curium

Berke lium

Californium

'"

247

249

Einsleinium

249

254

39

25.

25.

25 1

1 103

The lVlysferies of Solutions

.
\

I ,;// "

SVANTE ARRH ENIUS DEVELOPED THEORY TO EXPLAIN HOW SOlUTIONS CONDUCT El ECTRICITY.

<C__

.:-~ _ .

IN HIS EARLY EXPERIMENTS, SVANTE

ARR HENIUS US ED A SIMPLE SETUP.
YOU CAN EASILY REPEAT SOME OF HIS

EXPERIM ENTS IN YOUR OWN LAB,

USING FLASHLIGHT BATTERI ES.

FRO~ TH E earli est day s. scientists experimenti ng

with ch emist ry have worked with solutions. The
liquid th ey used (or making a solution (usuall y
water) th ey called the " solvent." The chemical dissolved was t he " solute."
When chemists began to use elect ricit y as one of
their too ls, t hey discovered that differe nt solutions
behaved in different ways . The solution in water of
a great num ber of chemicals - sugar among th em
- did not let electricity p ass t hrough. T hey were
" non-conductors." Some chemicals, on t he other
band, conducte d electri cit y very easily. They were
good conductors - "electrolytes."
In 1874 a Swedish scientis t named. Svan te Arrhenius developed a th eory to help explai n the mysterious beha...tie r of solutions. He was only 25 years
old at the time.
His idea was that when a chemi cal that condu cts
electricit y is dissolved in water, each molecule is
broken up - "dissociated" - in to electrically charged atoms or groups of ato ms. These atoms or grou ps
of atoms Arrhenius called " ions" from a Greek word
th at mean s "to wander." His new t heory came
to be called. "Arrheni us' theory of ionizati on."
When table salt (sodi um chloride. NaCl), for instance. is dissolved in water, it ionizes into positively
charged sodium ions (1'\8+) and negatively charged
chlori ne ions (Cl-j . These ions " wan der" about in
all directions until an electric curre nt is applied. to the
soluti on. Wh en that happens, the negativ e ions ru sh
to t he positive pole. the posit ive ions to the negat ive
pole. It is th e ions t hat cond uct t he current through
the solution,
The reason th at non-cond uctors do not conduc t
electrici ty is t hat they do not dissocia te into ions.
Arrhenius' theory of ionization helped explain a
great number of things th at have puzz led. ch emists.
His theory has been modified somewhat oyer th e
years but in most respects holds true tod ay.

nSTING CONDUCTIVITY OF SOLUTiONS

.-

SET UP THE SAME APPARATUS

AS ON PAGE 25. ADD FLASHLIGHT BULB TO END OF ONE
WI RE. TR Y DIFFERENT SOlU
TIO NS IN GLASS. SO ME CON.
oucr ElECTRICITY AND BULB
LIGHTS UP, OTHERS DO NOT
AND THE BULB DOES NOT
LIGHT UP,

SATURATED SOLUTIONS
A SATURATED SOLUTION IS O N E
IN WHICH N O MORE OF THE
CHEMICA L WILL G O IN SO LU
TION AT THAT PA RTICULAR TEMPERATURE.

'. .

:r POUR 20 ml WAT ER O F ROOM

TEMPERATURE INTO A CUSTARD
CUP. ADD 6 9 SALTPETER (POTASSIUM N ITRATE). STIR. All THE SALT
PETER DISSOlVES.

.-

SAlT
~ETU

2 ADD 3 9 MOR E SALTPETER .

STIR. SOME O F THE ADDED SALT.
PETER DOES NOT DISSOLVE. CLEAR
LIQUID IS SATURATED AT ROOM
TEMPERATURE. (AT 20 C.. 6.3 g
KNO J MAKES SATURATED SOLUTION IN 20 ml WATER.)

r<-- ~"""

;<q!,~

PLACE CUSTARD CUP O VER ALCOHOL BURNER. ADD 10 9 MORE SALT

PETER. SOON All SALTPETER IS DISSOLVED. AT HIGH ER TEMPERATURES
IT TAKES MORE SOLUTE TO MA KE A SATURATED SOlU TION . (AT BOlliNG,
20 ml HJO DISSOLVES ~9 II SALTPETER.)
TAKE SOlUT ION OFF FIRE. AS IT COOLS, MUCH OF THE SALTPETER
COMES O UT AS CRYSTALS BY SLOW CRYSTALLIZATION. LIQUID IS AGAIN
A SOLUTION SATURATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.

BEHAVIOR OF SOLUTIONS
CRYSTALLIZATION
YOU CA N FOllOW
CRYSTALLIZATION O F
MgSO . IN TEST TUBE,
H EAT M IXTURE O F
5 ml WATER AND 1
TEASPO ON EPSOM
SALT UNTIL SALT DIS
SOLVES. POUR HOT
SO LU TIO N OV ER
PA NE OF GL A SS
CLEANED W ITH DE.
TERGENT. CRYSTALS
M A KE NEEDLE-LIKE
N ETWORK.

SO LUTION HA S LOWE R
FREEZIN G POINT THAN
THE SOLVENT USED.
IN TR AY W ITH IN DIVIDUAL
ICE CUBE CUPS, POUR WATER
INTO EACH CUP. IN ON E, DIS
SOlVE 1 PINCH O F SALT, IN
N EXT 2 PINCHES. AN D SO ON.
LEAVE ONE W ITHOUT SALT.
PLACEIN FREEZING COMPARTM ENT. CUPS LE AST SALTED
fREEZE FIRST.

M A N Y CHE MIC AL S
FO RM CRYSTALS O F
DI STINCT SHA PES. ~
FeSO."7H J O

MAKING SOLUTIONS
MAK E 50 ml GRADUATE FIRST: M EASURE 50 ml WATER
INTO A N ARRO W JAR, USING 10 ml TEST TUBE GRADUATE SHO WN ON PAGE 15. MAKE A MARK AT 50 ml LEVEl.

SO LUTION HAS HIG HER BOI LING

PO INT THAN THE SO LVENT USED.
W ITH (ANDY THERMOMETER,
DETERMINE AT WHAT POINT
WATER BOILS. ADD 1 PINC H
OF SALT. WHAT IS BOILING
POINT NOW? ADO MOR E
SALT. READ AGAIN .

lOY. 11 0 PER CENT) SOLUTION : MEASURE 040 ml WA TER INTO A CUSTARD CUP. ADD 5 9 O F THE CHEMICAL.
STIR. (TO MAKE IT DISSOlVE QU ICKER, YOU MAY WANT
TO HEAT THE WATER SLIGHTlY.) POUR SOlUTION INTO
50 ml GRADUATE. ADD WATER TO THE 50 ml MARK.
2 % SOLUTION: MEASURE ~O ml WATER INTO CUSTARD
CUP. ADD 1 9 OF THE CHEMICAL STIR TO DISSOlVE.
POUR INTO 50 ml GRADUATE. ADD WATER TO 50 mi.

41

HOW DO YOU KNOW AN ACID?

Working" Tith Acids

ACIDS TASTE SOUR.

ADD .5 ml HYDRO CHLORIC ACID TO 15

ml WATER. DROP .5
DROPS Of MIXTURE IN
GLASS O F WATER. DIP

lW PP.O-

FING ER IN THIS HIGH-

CHt.OR
AUt>

l Y D ILUTE D AC ID .
TA STE DRO P O N FIN.

GER TIP.

ACIDS ACT WITH

INDICATORS.

PLACE DROP O F DILUTED HYDRO

CHlORIC AC ID ON STR IP O F BLUE
lITMUS PAPER. THE COlOR CHANGES

AC I DS have ma ny t raits in common. They taste

sour. T h ey change t he color of certain plan t substances- which arc called " indicat ors." They contain hydrogen (II) th at can he replaced by a metal.
T he y ne utralize bases.
But what i an acid ? Earlier, t he " acidic" t rai ts
were used to define an acid. But with the modern
und erstanding of t he at om , a different definition is
used . You will rem ember that th e nucleus of an atom
contai ns positively charged protons. Acids in solution liberate protons as ions (H+) . And so we say
t hat an acid is a subs tance that will give up - or
"dona te" - pro tons to another substa nce. Acids are
" pro ton donors." T he foremost acid s used in indu stry
are s ulfuric acid (H 2SO I ) , nit ric acid (Hl\ OI) , and
hydroc hlor ic acid (He l) .
The first two - sulfuric acid and nitric acid should NEYER be used in th e home lab . The)' are
much too DA NGEROUS. The)" destroy the skin and
might blind you if you got th em in the eyes . (Wherever a chemical experime nt would ordinarily call for
sulfuric acid, th is book uses sodium acid sulfate N aHSO ~ , sodi um bisulfate, "S am-Flush" : wherever
(CON TINUED ON PAGE 4-1 )
HOME-MADE INDICATORS

TO RED.

ACIDS ACT

METALS.

".
PLACE A STRIP Of ZINC IN
A TEST TUBE. POUR A FEW
ml

HYDRO CHLO RIC

AC ID

CUT UP OR GRATE A
RED CABBAG E LEAf .
DROP IN HOT WATER.
STEEP FOR Y2 HOU R.
PO UR OFf LIQUI D. USE
AS IND ICATOR.

ON IT. ZINC DISSOlV ES,

Sm lNG THE HYDROGEN
OF ACID FREE.

.-.'

ACIDS NEUTRALIZE
BASES.

=~"","'T~:~~~'

.'

<h"'A
"eJ

0J~
I~

COLOR 2 mi l YE SOLUTION
ITH A DROP O f PHENO L.

viole t

~~
"r:;;.
~
~8

I :

blueberrie s

MAN Y flOWERS AND FRUITS CO NTAIN COLO RING

MATTER W HICH YO U CA N EXTRACT W ITH HOT WATER
AND USE AS AN INDICATOR FO R ACIDS A ND BASES.

PHTHALEIN SOlUTION.
2

e lde rberries

POUR lNTO .5 ml HYDRO CHLO RIC

10. THE PINK COLOR DISAPPEARS.

42

Working VV~th B ases

HOW DO YOU KNOW A BASE?

BASES taste brackish. The y change the color of

"indica tors.' T he)' con tai n a com bi na t ion of oxygen
and h~..drogcn a to ms called "h ydro xyl" (OI l) . They
neu tralize aci ds.
But wha t is a ba sc ~ When a ba se is disso lved in
wa ter it liber a tes negat ively charged hyd roxyl ions
(0 1-1-). \\'1(,0 a base is neutralized. these ions tak e
on - or "accc pt't-c- pos itively charged proto ns from
an other subs tance. A base is a substan ce t hat will
accept and combine with protons fro m anot her substance. Ba ses a rt" " pro ton accepto rs." The mos t important bases a re s odium hydroxide (v lye," ~aOH ) .
ammonium hydroxide ("'a mmonia," :"1I 4 0 H ). and
calcium hydroxide (vsteked lime," Ca (OH ) J.
The first of these - sodium hydroxide - is used
in many households to clean sluggish drains and to
keep sinks from Slo pping up (" D rano")' l"SE IT
WITH GRE:\T CARE in your e xperime n ts . Do
nol lauch lye' fluk es wit h your fingers and do not
get th e solutio n on your skin - it di ssolves the natur al oil. It is particularly danger ous t o get I)-{' in
your eves. If ) -O U get lye on yo u, dilute it quickly
wi t h LOTS OF WATER .

BASES TASTE BRACKISH .

DISSOLVE 5 9 (I TEASPOON) LYE IN 50 ml

W A TE R. DR OP 5
DROPS O F SOLUTION
IN GLASS OF WATER.
DIP FINGER IN THIS
HIGH LY D IL U TE D
BASE. TASTE DROP
ON f IN GER TIP.

NoOH
10 ,"/.

BASES ACT WitH

IND ICATORS.

(CO:-;TI NUED 0:-; PAGE -IS)

LABO RATO RY INDICATORS

PLACE DROP O f LYE SOLUTION ON

RED LITMUS PAPER. THE COLOR INSTANTLY CHAN GES TO BLUE.
ADD TINY LUMP O F f AT
TO 5 ml LYE SOLUTION.
HEAT GENTLY. fAT DIS
SOLVES TO fORM SOAP.

BASES ACT WITH

fAT.

U TMU S PAPER IS MO ST
COMMO N LY USED IN DICATOR. AN ACID TURNS BLUE
LITM US RED. BASES TURN
RED lIT MUS BLU E.

pHYDRIO N PAPER
IS MORE EX Aa
IN DICATOR fOR
ACIDS AND BASES.

!I

W HITE PHENOLPHTHALEIN
TURN S PIN K W ITH BASES.
GET SMA LL AMO UNT f ROM
DRUG STORE. DISSOLVE A
PINCH (O.05 9) IN 50 ml
DENATURED ALCOHOL.

BASES NeUTRALIZE
ACIDS .

1 TO 2 ml DILUTED HCI ADD

A SIN GLE DROP OF PHENOLPHTHALEIN SOLUTIO N.
POUR INTO 5 ml LYE SOLUTION .
E M IXTURE TURNS A BRILLIANT PINK.

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS CONTA INING ACIDS

..
.

,.

- '

ORANGE

L IME

TOMATO

. ~

. .-

Acids-C ontin ued.

ACID FROM
NON~MET ALLIe
OXIDE

IG NI TE A SULFUR CANDL E lO R A
TIN Y HEAP OF flOWERS Of SUL
FURl ON A PIECE Of TIN. HOLD
MOISTENED BLUE lITMUS PAPER
OVER flAME . SULFUROUS ACID
FORMED TURNS IT RED.

nitric add would be called for. t his book produces

it in a mixture of a nitra te, Kl\" OJ' a nd sodium bi sulfate.)
Hydrochloric add is used in man y households un der the name of " muriat ic acid ." Whe never you use
hydroch loric acid in 8 11 experiment: VSE IT WITH
GREAT CARE. If any of it gets on you. di lut e it
quickly with LOTS OF WAT ER. Or neutralize it
with bicar bonate of soda (but not if in the eyes }.

ACID FROM A SALT

blue litmus turns

red from odd.

SALT

pH SYSTEM IS A WAY OF DESCRIBING THE RELATIVE

ACIDITY OR ALKALINITY Of A SOlUTION. PURE WATER

'.
SET UP A PPA RATUS A S SHOW N .
INTO TEST TUBE A DROP MI XTURE
Of '14 TEA SPOO N TABLE SALT AND
If} TEASPOON SODIUM BISULFATE.
HEAT. HYDROGEN CHLORIDE PRO
DUCED TURNS MOISTENED BLUE UTMUS REO. ADO 2 ml WA TER TO TEST
TUBE B. SHAKE. RE SULT IS WEAK
HYDROCHLORIC ACID.

IS NEUTRAL WITH pH7. THE LOWER THE NUMBER BEl O W 7, THE MORE ACID THE SOlUTI ON. THE HIGHER

HYDROCHLORIC ACID

SULFURIC ACID

8 ]

l3

LITMUS
RED CABBAG E
PHENO LPHTHALEIN

Rr0~

SALI VA

BORIC ACID

MILK

I re

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS CONTAINING BAS ES

~, ,,

..,

~ ",

,I

EJ

SCOURING
PQWO ER

LIME

lV~rR

,
\

MMON IA

BASE FRO M
METALLIC OX IDE

Bases-Contin1UleJ.
You can also neutralize it with vinegar (but not it
in the eyes) .
Ammonia is a common household cleaning liquid,
Ammonia should also be handled with care and
should be washed olT quickly ir you get it on you .
Also watch )'our nose when you work with ammonia.
It has a very strong smell.
Calciu m hydrox ide is a whit e powder. You will
use it in a great number or experi ments.

\'---'-'-"-'":- , PLACE A LUMP OF LIME (QUICKLIME.

CALCIUM O XIDE) IN A CUSTARD CUP.
ADD AS MUCH LUKEWARM WATER AS
IT W ILL A8S0R8, liME HEATS UP. GIVES
OfF STEAM. CRUM8lES IN TO POWDER.
OF SLAKED liME (CALCIUM HYDROXIDE).

BASE fROM A SALT

IN A CUSTARD CUP, DISSOLVE 1
TEASPOON SAL SODA (W ASHING
SODA. SODIUM CAR80NATE) IN
50 ml WATER. HEAT SLIGHTLY. ADO
SLAKED LIME MIXED WITH WATER.
STIR. CHEMICAL REACTION PRO
DUCES SO DIUM HYDROXIDE AND
CALC IUM CAR80NATE . filTER .
CLEAR UQUlD CONTAINS THE SO
DIUM HYDROXIDE (LYEI. THE ,cAL
CIUM CAR80NATE IS HELD 8ACK
8Y THE FILTER.

re d litmus tu rns
blue from bole.

rIc

THE NUM8ER A80VE 7. THE MORE ALKAliNE THE SOLUTION. WHEN YOU KNOW AT WHAT pH AN INDICATOR

e-~
\ "' OJ.\ 1/

SEA WATER

CHANGES COLOR, YOU CAN DETERMINE THE ACIDITY

OR ALKALINITY OF THE SOLUTION YOU ARE TESTING.
MILK OF MAGNESIA

BORAX

r-BICARBONATE O F SODA

~l

AMMON IA

LIME WATER

~
RED CABBAGE
Lt

Salts- C henilcals of M any U ses

WHAT H.U'P E..... s

when yo u neu tralize an acid with a

base or a base wit h an add~ The hydrogen atoms
(H + ions) of the add combine wit h th e h)"droxyl
groups (0 11- ions) of the base to form water, and
the metal ato ms of the base combine with what remains of the acid to form a salt. Or simply:
BASE plus AC ID turns into
WATER plus SALT
T his. for example, is what happens when you neutralize sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid :

NEUTRALIZATION IS USED

EXTENSIVELY IN CHEMICAL
ANALYSIS IN A TECHNIQUE

CALLED TITRATION.

....
e

'

' . OlI

TO DETERMINE THE UNKNOWN STRENGTH

+ lID

Hall

OF A BASE, THE CHEMIST DROPS INTO IT The result is water and sodium chloride - ord inary
FROM A LONG TUBE-A BURffiE-AS MUCH tabl e sa lt which has give n its nam e to other subACID Of KNOWN STRENGTH AS IS NECES stances of a similar na tu re.
SARY TO NEUTRALIZE IT. BY CHECKING ACID
Of all the sal ts used in ind ustry, tabl e salt (XaCI)
USEe HE FIGURES STRENGTH O F BASE.
and washin g soda (1'\a,CO I ) are of grea tes t impor1 FOR A TRY AT TITRATION, MIX A
tance" Xu merc us other chemi cals are prod uced from
FEW ml O F HO USEHOLD AMMONIA
them. Our wa)' of life would be completely disrupted
WITH 40 ml WATER. ADD A DROP OF
PHEN OLPHTHALEIN. THIS W ill COLOR
if our country's industry did not have enough of
THE MIXTURE A DEEP PINK.
these two salts.
2 PO UR 10 ml DILUTED HYDROCHLORIC
:\I an y other salts are necessary for our well-being.
to INT O M EASURING TUBE. POUR SOME You'll probably find at least half a dozen differen t
OF THIS ACID INTO THE AMMONIA UNTIL
salts used dail y in your hom e - in cooking and
CO LOR HAS AtMQST VANISHED.
baking, in gardenin g, for cleani ng.
~ PICK UP A FEW ro l
In your chemica l experimen ts you'll be working
OF THE M EASURED
with
two classes of sa lts : normal salls (such as .l'\aCI,
j .# ACID IN AN EYE CROPPER (PIPETT E) . DROP l'\ a,C01 KI ) which contain no free hydrogen or
ACID SLOWLY INTO hydroxyl ions, and acid salls (such as 1\aHS0 ,
1
THE AMMONIA MIX) which con ta in replaceabl e hydrogen.
l"aHC0
1
TURE UNTIL COLOR IS
Some of t hese salts dissolve easily in water - all
COM PLET ELY GON E.
RETUR N ACID NOT t he nit rates (salts of nitric acid) an d most of t he
USEe TO MEASURING chlorides (salts of hydrochloric acid). .:'I Ian)" sal ts,
TUBE. YO U NO W
3
KNOW HO W MANY on the other hand, are insolub le - most of t he ca rml ACID YOU HAD TO bonates (salts of carbonic acid ) and most sulfides
6
USE TO NEUTRA LIZE (salts of hydrosulfuric acid).

THE AMMONIA .

HOW THE NAMES OF SALTS ARE MADE UP

fORMULA AN D
NAME O F ACID

THE ACID
SUl f URIC ACID
NITRIC ACID
CARBON IC ACID
ACETIC ACID

H, SO.
HNO.
H.CO,
HC,H.O.

HYDRO G EN
HYDR OG EN
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN

fO RMULA AND
NAME O f SALT

SUlfATE
Na, SO. SODIUM SULFATE
NITRATE
N aNO. SODIUM NITRATE
CARB ONATEN a,CO , SODIUM CARBONATE
ACETATE
N aC,H,O. SO DIUM ACETATE

HYDR OCHLORIC ACID HCI

HYDR OSULfURIC ACID H,S

HYDROGEN CHLORIDE
HYDROGEN SULFIDE

NoCI
Na,S

SUlfUROUS ACID
N ITROUS ACID
CHl O RO US ACID

HYDROGEN SUl fi TE
HYDRO GEN NI TRITE
HYDRO GEN CHlOR ITE

N a,SO, SODIUM SULfIT E

Na NO , SODIUM NI TRITE
Na CIO , SODIUM CHLORITE

H.SO ,
HNO ,
HCID ,

SO DIUM CHLORIDE
SO DIUM SULFIDE

REMEMB ER : -Ie ACIDS fORM -ATE SALTS;

HYDRO. -Ie ACIDS FORM . IOE SAlTS; -OU5 ACIDS FORM IYE SAlTS
. _._ .=:.--

- ~

46

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS CONTAINING SALTS

8ani
Flush

EPSOM

..-..

CJ

-,SALT

" ...- .....

SAL'f
DIFFERENT WAYS OF PRODUCING SALTS
DROP

zu-c

SALT FROM METAL

OXIDE AND ACID

STRIPS

I NT O A TEST T UBE.
PO UR IN A COU PLE
O f ml HYDRO CHLO RIC
AC ID. THE ZIN C DISPLACES THE HYD RO G EN O F THE AC ID TO
FORM A SALT IlnCI1 1
W ITH THE CHLORINE.

SALT FROM

METAL AND
ACID

PLACE 1 TEASPOO N CA LCI UM

OX ID E (Q UI CKLIM E) IN A
GLASS. A DD HYDRO CHLO RIC

ACID WHilE STIRRING. THE

QU ICKliME DISSOLVES IN THE

ACID, fORMING CA LCiUM

CHLORIDE AND WATER.
1 DISSOLVE 5 9 EPSOM SA LTS (M AG N ESIUM SULFATE) IN 20 ml.
WATER . BR ING TO BOIL

TWO SALTS fROM

TWO OTHER SALTS

DISSOlVE 5 9 SO DA
IN 20 ml WARM WATER.
PO UR IN TO HOT EPSO M
SALT SOlUTIO N.

SALT FROM ANOTHER

SALT AND ACID

3 FILTER T HE M ILKY
M IXTURE. THE FILTRATE
CON TAINS SODIUM SUlFATE. MAGNES IUM CARSONATE IS RETAINED SY
FILTER.

Q)~

J,..

DROP PI ECES OF CHALK , MARBLE, OR OYS -

TER SHEllS (ALL O F THEM CALCIUM CARBONATES) IN A fEW ml HYDROCHLOR IC

ACID. RESULT IS CA LCIUM CHLORIDE AND
CARBON IC ACID (WHICH BREAKS UP INTO
CARBON DIOX IDE AND WATER).

3
THERE ARE man y ways of producing a salt in additi on to neut ralizat ion.
When you made iron sulfide direc t ly from th e t wo
elements iro n and sulfur, you prod uced a sal t :

Fe

ba se and a salt to form a new base and a new salt :

Ca (OH)2 + Na ,
-- 2;\' aOH + G8
A salt and an acid ofte n form another salt and
anot her acid :
CaCO l + 2H
a
+ H 2COl (H 20 + CO2)
T wo soluble sal ts ma y also form t wo other saltsone of the m insoluble :

'Wh en you caused zinc metal to react with h ydrochloric acid. you made a salt:

Zn +2

n 2 + H2

When you made sodi um hydroxide, you used a

Na
47

+ .:\1

Iodine-Violet

I ODI:O;"E I S an interesting element to experime nt with.

It is easily dri ven ou t DCits compounds as beauti ful.
vi olet fum es t hat t urn into greyish- black, metalliclookin g cry stals on cooling . These cry stals ca n be
further purified b)" t urning t hem in to vapor aga in.
an d agai n cooling t hem into crysta l form . This process is called " sublimation."
You are pro ba bly famili ar wit h th e 2% alcoholic
solut ion of iod ine kn own as " t inct ure of iod ine." It
is found in almost every home medicine cabinet and
is used as a d isinfectant for wounds. Iodin e has many
other uses - in photography an d in the prep aration
of various medicines and dyes.
Iodine has th e bad habi t of staining pract ically

I O D I N E
Ele me nt 5 3 .
At.wt. 126 .9 1.
G rClyblClck cr y stols of CI peculior
odor. Sublimes with
violet celer, Co m.
bine s directly with
me tols o nd non me tcls . It h c s 0
deni ity of 4 .9 .

Brown?

0]['

IODIZED
SALT

IODIN

".

everything wit h which it comes in contac t with a

brown stain th at won't come off in washing. T ha t's
why it is ad visable to have sodium t hiosulfate photographer' s fixing salt , "h)"po" - ar ound when
you work with iodine. Hypo in solution forms a
colorless compound with iodine.

8. careful not to breathe fume s,

MAKING IODINE

DROP HAt F A DOl EN IC E CUBES

A JAR. ADD A lITI lE WA TER.
PLACE JAR AS A uo ON TO P Of
CUSTARD CUP. THE ViOl ET f UMES
S ETn E ON BOTTOM OF JA R AS
GR AYISH BLAC K, SHINY IODINE
CRYSTALS.

IN A PYREX CUSTARD CUP

TOGETHER 2 g POTASSIUM
IODIDE, 2 g MANG ANESE DIOX
IDE,.4 9 SO OrUM BI SULFATE. HEAT
MIXTURE G ENTlY. SOON VIO LET
FUMES EMERGE.

_..

"

SCRAPE IOD INE CRY STALS O FF BOTIOM OF JAR.

KEEP THEM IN SMAll, TIGHTlY CLOSED BOTIlE

/j

SOLUBILITY OF IODINE

. .

.._...-

L-..--,

.. '

1=

Ii=.

II

~
L-- . , .

...

TO TEST SOLUBILITY Of
IODINE, DROP A fEW CRYSTALS IN EACH O F fOUR TEST
TUBES. ADD SOLVENT AND
SHAKE TUBE.

;oJ

hardly any
iodine
d issolves
when put in
plai n wa ter.

Iodin e
diss olves in
water If yau
add pota ssium iod id e.

iodine
makes violet
sa lullon In
ca rbon tet rach lor id e.

iodine
dissol ves
With brown
co lor in
a lco hol.

--

IODINE FREED BY CHLORINE

TH E CH LO RIN E IN
LIQUID BLEACH ALSO
FREES IOD INE. ADD
A COU PLE O F DROPS
TO SOLUTION OF A
FEW POT A S SIUM
IO DIDE CRYSTALS IN
10 ml WATER.

o.

.'

-.

...

SET UP APPARATUS AS DESCRIBED O N PAGE 35 WI TH THIS

EXCEPTION : IN BOTTLE I , MAKE SOLUTION OF lh g P0TASSIUM IO DIDE IN 40 m l WATER. AS CHLO RINE BUBBLES
THROUGH THIS SOLUTION IT TURNS BROWN FROM THE
FREED IO DIN E. W ITH MORE CHLORINE IT CLEARS AGAIN
W HEN COLORLESS IO DIC ACID FORMS.

MAKING
~?_.:.H:.:
Y D R O G E N IODIDE

--

IODINE BY OXIDATiON

MIX A FEW CRYSTALS lAS

MUC H AS A PEA} OF P0TASSIUM IODIDE W ITH V.
TEASPOON SODIUM BISULFA TE. PLAC E STRIPS Of
WETTED lITMUS PAPER AT
THEMOUTH OF TUBE. HEAT
GENTlY. IO DINE IS RELEASED. ALSO HYDROGEN
IODID E-AN ACID THAT
TURNS BLUE t1TMUS RED.

DISSOLVE A FEW CRYSTALS OF

POTASSIUM IO DIDE AND A FEW
GR.AINS OF SODIUM BISULFATE
IN 5 ml W ATER . ADD HYDROGEN
PEROXIDE. SHAKE . TH E FREE
IODINE COlORS LIQ UID BROWN.

STARCH TEST FOR

IODINE

RlMOVING
IODINE STAIN
PAINT PAPER W ITH IODIN E. DISSOLVE A FEW CRYSTALS OF SODIUM
THIOSULFATE ("HYPO") IN WATER. PAINT W ITH THIS SOLUTIO N OV ER
THE BRO W N CO LOR. YOU W ILL GET W HITE LETTERS AS HYPO fORMS
COlO RLESS CO MPO UN D W ITH IO DINE.

PlE:'::::=::::::::::!!!

SHAKE UP A PINCH O F STARCH WIT H

COLD WATER IN A TEST TUBE. ADD TO
HOT WATER. BRIN G TO A BOIL. COOl .
POUR DROP O F M IXTURE INTO 10 mt
WATER. ADD DROP O F IO DINE SOLUTION . BRIG HT BLUE COlOR RESULTS.

49

...

1=::1

MOST OF OUR SUL

FUR IS PRODUCED
BY DRI VIN G IT O UT
~ 0 F THE G ROUNO
IN MELTED FORM BY
__ A PROCESS INVENT ~
ED BY HERMAN
~ .. -....

...--::,:::;.,.

-_~--:::::::

-~_~

- - '" ...-

"""'1P'\f;,~
"
_ -,~~
,

= ~SCH.

\\3~~~1Int~~.i~8,--~_-~_:~~_- _
.,,~- -

-c-.

SULFUR
El e me nt 16 .
At omi c wt.:
3 2.066 . Density :
2.07. Yellow crystals . Insolubl e in
w o le r . Melts 01
119 C . Boils 0 1
4"" C . Burns in
a ir with blue fla me.

Sulfur and Its C OInpounds

I N THE old days, sulfur was called "brimstone"
(" burni ng stone" - from an old word . brennen, to
burn). Wh cn it burned with a blu e flam e and a suffocating smell, people were certain that th e devil
himself was aro und.
Until fai rly recentl y. most sulfur came from the
volcanic Italian islan d of Sicily. But today. America
produces most of t he world's sulfur. About a hundred years ago, b ig deposits were found in Loui sian a.
seve ral hundred feet underground . T he problem of
getting it up was solved in 189-1 in a very clever way
by a young German emigrant, Herman F ra sch. He
pip ed superheated wate r underground to melt the
sulfur, th en forced th e melted s ulfur to th e top wit h
compressed air.
Su lfur itse lf is used for many purposes. By a process called " vulcanization" it turns sticky. gummy
raw ru bbe r into elast ic ru bber usable for auto mobile
tires an d other rubber produ cts. Sulfur also goes
into such things as matches and gunpowder and
medical prep arations.
B ut b y far th e grea tes t use of sulfur is in th e preparation of sulfuric acid (H ~S04) ' This acid enters
into t he
(CONT I NUED ON P AGE 52)

SOME
SULFUR
USES

sulfur ca ndl e

flowers of sulfur

SULfUR CAN USUALLY BE BOUGHT IN THREE DiffERENT

fO RMS: AS STICK SULFUR. SULFUR CANDLES. AND AS A
POWDER [flO W ERS Of SUL fUR). UNDER M ICROSCOPE,
SULfUR POW DER PRO VES TO BE RHOMBIC CRYSTALS.

50

MAKING MONOCLINIC
CRYSTALS OF SULFUR

""'.

WHEN YOU MELT SULFUR, IT

GOES THROUGH FOUR STAGES:
1. IT FIRST MELTS INTO A WATERY,
STRAWCOlORED LIQUID.

2. IT NEXT BECOMES SlOW-FlOWING, CARAMEL.BROWN .

3 . IT TURNS AlMOST SOliD.

.t. IT BECOMES LIQUIDAGAIN AND

BOILS WITH YELlOW VAPOR.

.=

.'

0"

HEAT Ih TEST TUBE FUll Of

FLOWERS Of SULFUR TIll IT IS
MElTED WITH LIGHT COlOR .
POUR MELTED SULFUR INTO A DRY FJLTER. AS SOON

AS CRUST fORMS ON TOP, OPEN UP FILTER PAPER.

YOU Will SEe THAT SULfUR HAS FORMED TINY

NEEDlElIKE CRYSTALS.

j
1 MAKE A MOLD FROM A NICKEL BY ATIACHING
A WALL OF SCOTCH TAPE AROUND THE EDGE OF IT.

'I

f ill TEST TUBE 1JJ FULL OF flOWERS OF SUl

f R. MELT G ENTLY HIGH ABOVE fLAME . POUR INTO
MOlD. WHEN COO LED YOU HAVE A PERFECT CAST.

PLASTIC SULFUR
1 MElT 'h rear
TU Be POWDERED
SULf UR. CONTI NUE
HEATING . SOO N IT
NO LONGER FtOWS.
YOU CAN TURN TUBE
UPSIDE DOWN WITH O U T ANYTH IN G
COMING O UT.

2 HEAT THE THICK

ENED SUtfUR fURTHER
UNTl t IT nows fREEtY AGAIN . THEN POUR
THE DARK ftUI D INTO
COLD WATER. IT TURNS
IN TO A PLASTIC MASS.
IN A f EW DAYS THIS
AGAIN BECOMES YEtLOW SULfUR.

o.

PRECIPITATED

SULFUR

DISSOLVE A fEW CRYS

TALS Of HYPO ISODIUM
THIOSULfATE) IN V2
TEST TUBE WATER. ADD
I DRO P Of HY D RO
CHLORIC ACID. SOON
UQ UID TURNS MilKY Of
EXCEEDINGLY f iNE PAR
TICLES Of SULfUR.

-.
51

SULFUR

DIOXIDE
FOR

BLEACHING

1 ATTACH WIRE TO SMALL BOTTLE CAP. FILL THE BOTTLE CAP

HALF FU LL O F SULFU R POWDER. LIGHT THE SU LFUR.
-2 LO WER BURNING SULFUR INTO A JAR. JAR FILLS W ITH FUMES
O F SULFU R DIOX IDE. AFTER A fEW MOMENTS, COVER THE JAR
W ITH G LASS PLATE TO EXTINGUISH SULfUR.
-,3 LIFT G LASS PLATE. DROP INTO JAR APPLE PEELINGS AND MO ISTEN ED. BRI GHT-COLO RED flOWER. COV ER AGAIN WIT H GLASS
PLATE. IN A SHORT WH ILE, COLORS HAVE BLEACHED.

Be careful not to breothe fumes.

MAKING
SULFUROUS

ACID

1JlUuJr-Co:urbnued

('

LIGHT SUl fU R IN BOTTLE CAP. lOWER BURN ING SU LfUR INTO JAR.
W HEN JAR IS f Ull O f f UMES. REMOV E SULfUR . AD D A f EW ml WA_
TER. SHAKE. AS SO. DISSOLVES IN
WATER IT FORMS A WEAK ACIDSULFURO US ACID, H.SO z TEST FOR
ACID W ITH BLUE LITMUS PAPER.

SULFUR

DIOXIDE
FROM
A SALT ;

H,O+ SOs --

..,r.;~~"{J

<-

DISSOLVE 'h TE ASPOON HYPO {SODIU M THI O SUL .

FATE) IN 40 ml WATER. ADD A fEW ml
H YDR O CHL ORI C
AC ID. SULFUR DIOXID E AND PRECIP.
ITATE O f SUlfUR
RESULT.

SUlfUR

SO2 ~~~~~~d~

Molec ula r wt. 64 .

Colorl ess ga s with

a c h oking od o r.
Does not burn nor
suppo r t c om b uslion. 2.2 weight of
ai r. Highly soluble
in wote r- 3 ,93 7
yah . in 10 0 veh.
01

H 2S0 ~

H ydeogen S u I6de -~l an)' sulfur compound s haw

unpleasant . pen etrating sm ells. Some of these com pounds have ve r y complex mo lecu les - just imagine
a sk unk producing a ch emica l with this formula:
CH sC H ,CH ,C H 2S H! T he s mell of r otten eggs. on
t he ot he r ha nd , com es from the simple compound
hyd rogen sulfide (H ,S) .
H ydrogen sulfide is used in chemical analysis to
det ermine what m etals are found in a cer tai n substa nce. It co mbines with m etal s into salts (sulfides)
that can be disting uished from ea ch o ther by t heir
colors and by t he wa )- the y r ead with acids and
ot her chemica ls.

production - directly or ind irect ly - of practically

eve ry manufact ured article we use toda y. It is used
in refining gasoline, in making steel an d paper . fiber s
and films. pla stics and explosives, and thousands of
other chemica ls.
S u lfu r Di oxid e - The first step in mak ing sulfuric
acid from sulfur is t o burn the s ulfur.
Wh en b urn ing in t he air. ea ch atom of sulfur ta kes
on two a toms of oxyg en to m ake o ne molecule of
sulfur dioxide gas (5 0 2) ,
By a special , complicated process. sulfur di oxid e
ca n be forc ed to take on another oxyg en at om a nd
form sulfur t rioxide (5 0 s). Wi t h water, this mak es
sulfur ic acid :

20 C.

52

NOTE: Perform these experiments outofdoors or be

fore an open window. Ie careful not to breathe fumes.
HYDRO.

HS
2 ~~~ ~~~

pound . Mole cula r

wi. 34 , Colorl ess
ga s with odo r of
rotten eggs. Burns
with a blue flame
10 form SOl' 1. 17
weight of ai r. f a ir
ly soluble in wcte r
-25 B veb . in 100
vo rs. a t 20 C.

HYDROGEN SULFIDE
IS AN IMPORTANT LAB
TO OL FO R CHEMICAL
ANA LYSIS .

HYDROGEN SUlfiDE
HAS SMELL O F
ROITEN EGG S

r;:~
- --:
<,
.
~ ,.:,:

.
"
-

- :-"J

- -

i.l

DROP INTO A DRY TEST TUBE 'I~

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 TU BE INTO THE SOlUTION.
HEAT TEST TU BE WITH SULFUR MIX
TURE. HYDRO GEN SUL FIDE BUBBLES
INTO TEST SOLUTION. IF THIS CON
TAINS SALT OF O NE O F THE HEAVY
METALS, A PRECIPITATE WILL FORM. ~::jjqr-:7

HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM FeS

AFTER A FEW MOMENTS.

IGNITE HIS AT JET TIP. IT
BURNS WITH SOl SMELL.

MAKE IRO N SULFIDE AS DESCRIB ED

ON PAGE 22 . BREAK THE TEST TUBE
liN A PAPER BAG}. CRUSH THE feS
WITH A HAMMER. DROP SMAll PIECES
IN ANOTHER TEST TU BE. BY ADDING
HYDROCHLORIC ACI D YOU MAKE HIS.

EXPERIMENTS
WITH HIS

il PUT STOPPER WITH GLASS TUBE

WITH JET POINT IN TEST TUBE IN
WHICH YOU MAKE HIS. MO iSTEN A
SILVER COIN. HOLD IT IN HIS STREAM
ING OUT O F JET. IT TURNS BLACK
FROM SILVER SULFIDE.

" ':':)-', >.

3, HOlD COlD GLASS PLATE IN

HIS FlAME. BECAUSE OF INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION. SULFUR IS
SET FR EE. YOU CAN ACTUAllY
"DRAW" WITH THE HIS f lAME.

1-=

THE COlOR OF THE SUL FJDE FORMED WHEN YOU LEAD HIS
INTO A SOLUTION CONTAINING A SALT O F A HEAVY METAL
WILL HELP TElL YOU WHAT METAL IS FOUND IN THE SALT.

o
o

--

o
CdS

CoS

Z.S

00
M.S

53

-.

MAKING CEMENT

,-

>

IU

J! ,

i \i' \ - ~
',
\

obout 27 '"/. of lhe

eerth's crust.

us. The glass of our windows an d the glasses Crom

which we drink ar e silica tes. So are th e glazes on
our cups and th e ena mel on our b athtubs. Most

----'

>

* "

Sitcon- T he Elem.enf 'You Sfejp On

S ILlCO:-; (from t he Latin silez. flint ) is the second
most ab undant eleme nt on earth - after oxygen.
Whet her yo u are walking on sand or clay, rock or
cement, alm ost half of wh at you're s tepping on is
silicon.
Silicon is found in nature in combination with
O),~..gen (mos tly the dioxide, SiD,) and in different
silicates (salts of various silicic acids) .
With few excep ti ons, silicon compounds are insoluble in wate r. And that is a good thing for all of

-<~,, :

..

Element U .
Atom ic wt . :
28 .09 . Density :
2.4. Dork"llroy me-

ollygen . Forms

..

..

-.',
..... .. . ..

r.S!I~s:;;IL;:;,:;;icO~N~~~'\~~
lalliclooking cryslois or brownish
powder. Burns in

"

"

glass and man y glazes are made b;y fusing together

sand (SiO:), limestone, and soda.
T he silicates of sodi um a nd potassium disso lve in
water. A concentrated solution of sodi um silicate
(Na:SiO s) is sold in hardware stores under t he name
of waterglass. It is used as a glue, for firepr oofing
wood an d for preservi ng eggs.
Wit hin recent Tears . che mists have developed a
whole line of new silicon compounds called silicones .
Some of t hem are ell-like. Some look like putty
("SiUy P utt),"). Still ot hers are rubber-like. P ap er
and clot h ca n be mad e wa ter-repellent b)' being
t reated wit h suitable silicones.
MINERALS AND PRECIOUS STONES
MANY ARE SlllCON O XIDES OR SlllCATES.

agate

..

---

MAKING SILICIC ACI;:D

-' ,
MAKING
SILICON

DIOXIDE

"'OR

OlUlllt .

WATER Gl.l55

4CID

IN ONE GlASS, DILUTE 20 ml WATERGlASS WITH 20 ml WATER.

IN ANOTHER, MIX 10 ml HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND 10 Inl WATER.
PlAC E SOME OF THE GEl ON A M ETAL
JAR LID. HEAT. THESILICICAOD IH.SiO.l
GIV ES UP WATER (H.O) AND TURNS
INTO A GRAYISH-WHITE POWDER O f
SILICON DIOXIDE (SiC.) .

POUR THE TWO MIXTURES AT ONE TIME INTO A THIRD GlASS.

jIJ

STAND SPOON UPRIGHT IN THE MIXTURE WHlCH. ALMOST IMMEDI-

ATELY, TWINS INTO A JEllY I"GEt" SO SnFF THAT SPOON STANDS BY

ITSElf AND YOU CAN TURN THE GLASS UPSIDE DOWN.

MAKING
WATER.
GLASS

WEAKNESS OF

SILICIC ACID

.'

_
.

c==~

SILICIC ACID IS SO W EAK THAT CARBONIC

ACID (HleC,) DRIVES IT OUT OF WAT E R- 'o"je:~==
GLASS. MA KE THE COl BY POURING HY '
DROCHLORIC ACID OVER MARBLE CHIPS.
1 IN A TEST TUBE, MI X 1 9 OF THE SILICON
DIO XIDE YOU MADE, 2 9 LYE INoOH), AND 5 ml
W ATER. HEAT CAREfULLY. MOVING TUBE.
A FTER FILTERING, YOU WI LL HAVE A CLEAR
SOlUTION Of SODIUM SILICATE lNo.SiO. I.

MAKING SILICATES
t DILUTE 5 ml WATERGl ASS
{ o,S iQ .} WITH 5 ml WATER.
DISSOlVE SMAll CRYSTAL Of
COPPER SULFATE IN W ATER.

"GROWING" A SILICON "JUNGLE"

IN A PINT JAR, PLACE Y,.INCH LAYER
Of SAND. POUR ON TOP O f THIS A
MIXTURE O F EQUAL PARTS Of WATER.
GLASS AND W ATER. PLACEIT IN A SPOT
WH ERE IT W Ill NOT BE DISTURBED.
DROP IN CRYSTALS OF VARIO US SALTS
YOU MAY HAVE: IRON SULFATE.
PER SULfATE. ALUM. EPSOM SALT. THE
CRYSTALS SEND UP "SHOOTS." IN A
f EW HOURS, YOUR SJLlCATE " JUNGLE"
IS FULLY " GROWN."

coe-

ADD A FEW DROPS TO THE

ATERGLASS TO GET PRECIPI

TATE Of COPPER SILICATE.

55

"
-v-

lB~jI'~jljl-Future

Rocket-Power ElcIllcnt?

LES..C; THA:S A h undred ~..ears ago , a mineral culled

borax. containing the element boron, was carted out
of Death Valley in Californ ia by t wenty-mu le team s
- abo ut the slowest t ransportati on you can think of.
Someday, boron ma y be put in zip-fuels for space
missiles - the fast est form of t ransportation imagi nabl e. Boron has the a bility (as does carbo n) to

BORAX BEAD TEST IN CHEMICAL AtotALYSI5

-..

..~~~

combine with hydrogen in a number of ways. Wh en

these bo raues or boron hyd rides burn. t hey develop a
tremendo us amount of power..
Boron can be isola ted as a ha rd . brownish-bl ack
powder . I ts carbon compound . boron ca rbide (B ,C) .
is almos t as bard as diam ond .
But you ar e proba bly more familia r wit h boro n
-;

N
I),
~~
I ~

~~R:L~~~~UM _. ~
I

"~

GLASS TU BING

~~N~~J

~
. "

l " '~~

,W

FORM l ooP

~~~~D

i: l.-;.-,

'.j ,.;?/ ACTUAlSIZE

POINT.

~...-:

""

?::;;>-::;_ =::--.;:

'- ~__

~r

MElT
NICHROME

MAKE BLOWPIPE BY DRAW.

-; ~'
INC GlASS TUBING INTO
..............c-, 1~ POINT.

'. /

EJ --

I N T H E TIPOF
THE fl AME, THE

~~~~z~~ ~:T~~
IN THE TEST SAM

2"is B~~:,oE COl

CERTA IN M ETAL OX IDES, FUSED INTO A "BEAD"

OF MELTED BORAX, PRO DUCE DISTINCT COLORS
BY WHICH TI-lE METALS CAN BE RECOGNIZ ED.

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 Hel P Of A BLOWPIPE.
STUDY THE COlOR OF BEAD, HOT AND COOLED.

\
56

hoi

cold

IRON
COPPER

0
0

N ICKEL

MANGAN ESE

COBALT
CHROM IUM

hot

cold

0
0
0

0
0
0

T he glass indust ry uses large q uant ities of borax

for makin g boron-alumi nu m-silicate glass. You know
this kind of glass by its t rade name, P yrex . Kitchen
ut en sils and laboratory ware mad e of Pyrex glass
have the great advantage over ordina ry glass th at
the)' can be placed dir ectly on t he fire and do not
br eak so easily when they are subj ected to sudden
heating or cooling.

t hrough t wo of its compounds which are found in

alm ost every household: boric acid (H,BO,) , used as
a mild an tiseptic. and borax (sodium tetraborate.
N a,B tO;'lOII,O), used for cleaning purposes and as
a wat er softener.
Borax has a great number of uses outsid e th e home.
It is used for soldering. for producing certain kinds
of soap. and for makin g other boron compounds .

MAKING BORIC ACID

IN A CUSTARD CUP. ADD
9 BO RAX TO 15 ml WATER.
BRIN G TO BOIl. STIR UNTIL
BOR AX IS DISSOlVED.

1-

,\

1/~ 1)
~ij V

~-'-'-(

ADD" ml HY
OCHLORIC AC ID
TO HOT BORAX SOLUTION. STIR. RE
MOVE fRO M f iRE.
aORIC ACID CRYS
TALlI ZES OU T AS
SOLUTION COOLS.

POUR CONTENTS O f CUSTARO CUP INTO A filTER . WHEN

f iLTRATE HAS RUN OFf, WASH
aORIC ACID REMAINING IN FIL
TER W ITH A SMALL AMOU NT O F
COlD WA TER TO REMOVE NaCI
ALSO fORMED IN THE PROCESS.
SPREAD OUT f ILTER TO l ET
BORIC ACID CRYS TALS DRY. USE
fO R EXPERIMENTS ONLY.

TESTS FO R
BORIC ACID

"
DRO P A FEW CRYSTALS O F BORIC
ACID IN A CUSTARD CUP. ADD A
COUPLE ml DENA TURED ALCOHOL.
IGNITE. STIR WI TH G LASS ROD.
BO RIC ACID GIVES GREEN EDGES
TO THE FLAMES,

MAKING
BORIC OXIDE
YEllOW TURMERIC IN DICATOR PA
PER TURNS BRO WN WITH aO RIC
ACID. YEllOW COLO RIN G MAnER
IN TABLE MUSTARD IS TURMERIC.
TO MAKE TEST PAPER. DIP STRIPS
O f PAPER TO WELIN G IN MUSTARD.
W ASH M USTARD OfF. DRY STRIPS.

HEAT BORIC ACID IN AN OlD

TEASPOON , IT GIVES Off WA
TER AND TURNS INTO SYRUPY
MASS O f M ELTED aORIC OX.
IDE (B.O,I WHICH YOU CAN
DRAW INTO THREADS W ITH
GLASS ROD.

57

S OdiUlll and P ot assiUlll

":"', ,-, I

.' /

I '\

\ Ii " :

Na

I'

NATRIUM
Elemen t 11 .
Atomic WI.:
22 .991. Densi ty :
0.97 . {English: Sodium) Silve r-wh ite
mel af , can be cut
w ith knife. Oxid ize,

" SALA RY" COM ES fROM S AURJUM

-

THE WAGES PAID IN SALT TO

ROMAN SOLDIERS.

closed

end o f
lube

J~
~~
~
~"

Tue S..\ LTS of sod ium and potassium have been used
for thousands of years in making soap and glass and
for a great number of other purposes.
Sodium chloride (N aCl) is the most common sodlurn salt - it is t he chemical th at makes ocean water
"salty." Plants growing in th e ocean take up so
much of t he sodium t h at peop le along the seacoasts
of t he world used to burn dri ed seaweed to secur e
"soda ash" (sodium carbonate, NatCOs). I nlan d
plants, on t he ot her hand , pick up potassium from
t he soil. Inland peop le boiled out wood ashes in large
pots to get " pota sh " (potassium carbonate, KleO s)
In 1807. the British scienti st, H ump hry Da v")',
succeeded in isolating the metals found in these salts.
T hey prayed to b e wax-soft and silvery. He called
t hem sodium (from sod a ash) and potassium (from
potash). These are still their Engli sh names. B ut in
chemical formulas they are referred to as natrium
(Na) an d kalium (K) - from abbre....lations of t he
Arabic names of t he ashes : nairun and at qili (alkali).

in c ir, Rea cts with

wete r , Burns w ith
yellow flClrne .

CRYSTALLIZING
SALT BY

EVAPORATION

1 DISSOLV E 19 9 TABLE
SA T (Noel) IN 50 ml HOT
WA TER . BOil SOlUTIO N.
STIRRING WITH GLASS TU Be

MAKIN G ACID SALT fR O M NORMAL SALT

W ITH TOP END SEALED (TO

REDUCE "BUMPING"}. UNTIL

HALF THE WATER HAS BEEN

fA::
W ==~ij'4rf:if
l

l-

EVAPORATED. SALT FORMS

FINE CRYSTALS.

2 POUR CLEAR UQ UI D INTO LA RGE PIE PLATE. PLACE

IN SUNNY W INDOW FOR WATER TO EVAPORATE SLOWLY. THE CRYSTALS FORMED WI LL BE MU CH LARGER.

=c

r~l
Ii

MAKING NORMAL SALT

enI

<i "

FROM ACID SALT

SODIUM SULfA TE IS PRODUCED

BY HEATING SODIUM ACID SULf ATE WI TH SODIUM CHLORIDE.

THE ACID CARBONATE {NaHCO . 1 IS MADE

BY LEADIN G CO, TO NORMAL CARBONATE
(N a, CO . I
I MAK E SATURATED SOlUTION BY SHAKIN G 3 TEASPOON S WASHING SODA IN 30
ml COOL, BUT NOT COlD, WATER. FILTER IT.

IN A TEST TUBE, HEAT

A MIXTUR E O f 2 9 SO
DlUM ACID SULFATE (SO .
DIUM BISULFATE) W ITH
1 9 TABLE SALT (NoCI). "l;;~.~:;!~~IIi.
HYDROGEN CHLORIDE 1
IS SET FREE AND SODIUM SULFATE IS FORMED:
No HS04 + NaCl __
HCI + Na,S04

2 SET UP APPARATUS FOR MAK ING CO, AS

SHOWN ON PAGE 31. LEAD CO, INTO SODA
SOLUTION FOR 10 MINU TES. THEN SET ASIDE.
SHORTlY NaHCO. CRYSTALS APPEAR.

58

K A LI UM

El e me nt 1 9.
Ato mic wI.:
39 . 10 0 . De nl il y:
0 .87. (Eng lish: Poloni um) Silverwhile meta l, so sofl
it con be cut with
kn ife. O.idiul in
a ir . Reads w ith wa te r, Burft$ with yiolet Rome.

>..

- :=-:

II ~ ' ~ ,

i "II 'I
I,

PIONEER WOMEN MAD E POTASH

FROM W OOD A SHES.

~'

.. I \

.!

"
,,\.

NITRATE TO
NITRITl

HEAT 1J:z TEASPOON

..

'- . ,.

WHEN YOU HEAT POTASSlUM N ITRATE, IT

GI V ES U P OX YG EN

TASSIUM NITRITE:

MAKING
POTASH

AN D BECOMES PO 2KN0

STI R U P SEVER"'l TE...

SPOONS O f FRESH WOOD
"'SH ES WIT H W ...RM W ...TER.
SKIM OFF WOOD REMAINS.

2KNO.

+ 0.

SALTPETER AT BOT

TOM O F A TEST TUSE

UNTIL IT MELTS. DROP
I N TO THE TUBE A
PEA -SI ZE LUMP O F

SULFUR. IT BURNS
W ITH BRILLIAN T BLUE

filTER TH E M IX TURE OF
A HES AN D W ATER. COllECT
FILTRATE IN A CUSTARD CUP.
EVAPORATE MOST OF W"'TER.
THEN COOL TO PERMIT KICO I
TO CRYST...l llZE OU T.

....

_..... <sac,

~-,. ~.

- -~

FLA ME . DO SAME

s... u-

EXPER IMENT WI TH

nTU

HEAD O f MATC H,
CHARCO A L BIT.

FLAME COLOR TEST FOR SODIUM AND POTASSIUM

,J

THE COMPOUND S Of CERTAIN METALS G IVE

DISTINCT COLORS TO A fL AME. DIP Ni CHR.OME WIRE IN Hel TO CLEAN IT. HEAT IT.
THEN DIP l OOP IN COM POUND AN D HOlD
IN FlAME.

.'
I. , I

""'~_ l\l

..<----- --SOD IUM COMPOUNDS G IVE

THE FlAME A BRIG HT
RED COlOR . POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS G IVE VIOLET FlAME.

reuow-

59

,'II

/!;
\l' I"

-'-_ 7

TO SEE VIOlET COlOR OF POTASSIUM IN M IXTURE W ITH

N o , US E BLUE G LASS TO
SCREEN O UT YELLOW OF No .

Calciurn- for Building

ST.-\I\"D UP STR_-\IG IIT. You can do it be cau se your
bones cont ain calcium. Te ll a ma son to put lip a
br ick h ouse. He can do it wit h morta r cont aining
calcium . T ell a ma st er builder to build a monument.
He will make it from marble - calcium again. T ell
a h en to " go lay an egg: ' She can do it if she gets
enou gh calcium in her feed to make th e shell.
Calcium carbon ate (CaCO s) is th e star ting point
for most calcium compounds - and for other che micals as well. It is found in nature in cliffs an d mountain ranges in th e form of chalk and limest one and
marble. And it makes up th e shells of d am s and mu ssels and billions of tin y sea creat ures.
Calcium carbo na te is alm ost insoluble in water.
But if the water contains carbon dioxide . some goes
in solut ion as calci um bicarbonate (Ca(HCOsh).
This explains the formations in our famous limeston e
cav es. Rainwater containing carbon dioxide seeped
throu gh the ground and dissolved a small amou nt
of limest one. In falling from th e cave ceiling and
drying, the drops ga ve up HsO and CO, and left
CaCO s behind. T he minute deposit s of fallin g drops
during thou sands of years created the st alact ites
hanging from th e roo f of th e caws and the st alagmites rising from th e floor.
A widespread min eral called gyps um is th e sulfate of calcium . In this. each molecule of sulfate has
t wo molecules of water attached to it (CaSO. 2H,O).
When gypsum is heated , it loses three quarters of its
water and becomes plaster of P ari s (2CaSO, H,O).
Wh en you mix pla st er of Paris and water. it again
takes on th e f ull am ount of H 20 and hardens into
a h ydrate sim ilar to the original gyps um.
The na me of calcium was given t o t he metal hidd en
in limestone by its discoverer, H umphry Davy. It
comes from calx, th e old Latin nam e for lime.

" THE WHITE CUFFS Of DOVER" CONSIST OF ALMOST

PURE CALCIUM CARBONATE IN THE FORM Of CHALK.

STALACTITES AND STALAGMITES ARE

UNDERGROUND DEPOSITS OF CaCO .

~':";: -, ~ ~

marble

"-=------ \

'''\

-:~-~,\-. \1'
f', .

'-~

A~ --

EA SHEllS, CORAL, LIMESTONE.

MARBLE ARE All CALCIUM CARSONATE.

' ., j ~':~.;

--..

WHEN WATER IS ADDEO TO LUMPS Of QUICKLIME ICoOI.

THEY CRUMBLE INTO A WHITISH POWDER OF SLAKED OR
HYDRATED liME (Ce{OH}.). (SEE ALSO PAGE 45 .)

WHEN LIMESTONE IS HEATED IN KILNS,

IT lOSES CARBON DIOXIDE AND TURNS
"-=~- INTO QUICKlIME-CAlCIUM OXIDE.

60

<,

'-

TESTING HARDNESS OF WATER

MAKE TEST SOLU

nON B DISSOlVING
I iii SOAP FLAKES IN 20
ml DENATURED ALCO
HOL. FILTER .

-<:

-"" '",

r~"T)

~I
~ . ~~' ~

2 FILL A SLENDER JAR

LF FULL OF WATER
TO BE TESTED. AOO 10
. ._ _ DROPS f. SQAI'; SOLUTION : CLOSE MOUTH
Of JAR, SHAKE VIGOR.
OUSLY. CHECK AMOUNT
OF FOAM.

SOFT TAP
WATEl 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.

~~

DISTILliNG
WATER
~

.,

o
o

water to be :.'.'
d istilled is
in this con

M AKIN G " HARD" WATER

ice cubes
in water
for cooling
can upside
down--boltom
removed
rubber stopper
with glau tube

SET UP GAS GENERATOR AS SHOWN ON PAGE

. BonLE A CONTAINS H'IbROCHLORIC ACIO. IN
BonLE a. PLACE MARBLE CHfps ON TOP Of PEBBLES.
POUR ACID ON MARBLE CHIPS TO MAKE CO .

."'"
~'-\~~J

dist he
illed
weter
re .::

LEAD THE CARBON DIOXIDE INTO UME WA TER.

URNS MI LKY THROUGH FORMATION Of CeCO J
CONTINUE LEADING CO, IN TO MILKY SOlUTION,
KINESS DISAPPEARS. INSOlUB LE CeCO J HAS BEEN
TURNED INTO SOLUBLE CeIHCO.lz . THIS IS THE SUB.
STANCE THAT MAKES MOST HARD WAT ER " HARD."

IN THE SCIENTIFIC l ABORATORY, All IMPURITIES ICAL.

CIUM CARBONATE AND SULFATE. AND O THERSl MUST
BE REMOVED FROM WATER TO BE USED AS SOLVENT,
THIS IS DONE BY EVAPORATING THE WA TER AND
CONDENSING THE STEAM. YOU CAN MAKE A DIS
TILLATION APPARATUS FROM TWO PIN TSIZE CANS.

CASTING WITH PLASTER OF PARIS

PLASTER O F PARIS 12CeSO.'H, O j IS USED
IN POUCE WORK FOR MAKING CASTS O F
TRACKS. MIX PLASTER W ITH WATER UNTil

PRECIPITATED
CALCIUM
CARBONATE
1 WHEN MARB LE CH IPS
HAVE DISSOlVED IN ACID IN
BOTTLE B IN EXPER IM ENT
ABOVE. POUR SOlUTION INTO
CUSTARD CUP, HEAT,
2 WHEN HOT. ADD SO LUTION Of 2 TEASPOONS
WASHING SODA IN 50 ml
WATER, YOU GET A HEAVY
WHITE PRECIPITATE Of CAL
CIUM CARBONATE.

61

"

TAKE .-\ LOOK at the period ic t a ble of clem en ts on

"
f~O;:;~~~~;;~_
< .

HOLD
2-INC HUMPIECE
O F MAGNESI
RIBBON WITH A PAIR
OF PlIE RS. IGNI TE IT. . \ J
IT BURNS W ITH A . ~. :

"

4"'
I ~

WHITE ~~g~'

FL
AM
E. MT,IX ASHES :.: ., .:..,....,
'Rl
LLlAN
(MgOI WITH WATER. I , '

CUT SLIVER O F ZINC.

HOlD IT IN FlAME. IT

TEST MIXTURE WITH

RED lITMUS PAPER.

BURNS WITH BLU ISHGREEN flAME TO ZINC

OXIDE. InD IS YEllOW
WH EN HO T, W HITE

' J.
~" W HEN
;t

Ii

,.

REACTION
WITH
ACIDS

COOl.

pages 38-3Q I n column IrA you find the metal magnesium , in column lIB th e metal zinc. The fact that
the t wo families in which the)' are found bot h heve
t he Roman numeral II would indi cate t hat t hey are
related. But t he fact that t hey are in separate " subgroups" would suggest t hat t he)' differ in cer ta in respects . That is exa ctly the case.
In their compounds they are very mu ch alike. One
atom combines wit h one atom of oxygen to form the
oxide (MgO and ZnO), and one atom replaces two
atoms of hydrogen in forming a salt ~ lgCI , and
Znel" for instance). But in some of thei r rea ctions
t hey do not behave alike - as you will learn .
Before world War II, ma gn esium had little use
- mainly in flash photography beca use it burns wit h
a blinding, white light. But t he metal became important when lightweight planes were neededmelted t ogether wit h other metals it form s an " alloy "

s.

REPLACEMENT OF COPPER

copp er

wire

...-----,

...-----,

IB

11i-,]
."

c uS o ~

'}-T:::"'<;~
.......
BOTH METALS REACT WITli WEAK AC IDS, EVEN WITH
VIN EGAR-Mg W ITH COLD VINEGAR, Zn W ITH HOT.

- .
. ';' '<.' l~

:~l:~;:'-

:I DISSOlVE 4 9 COPPER SULfATE IN 40 ml WATER.

POUR HALf Of THE SOlUTIO N OVER STRIPS OF MAGNESIUM, THE OTHER HALf OVER SLIVERS Of ZINC.

POUR SOlUTION O F 1 9 SODIUM BISU LfATE IN 10

m WA TER ON Mg AND In . Mg REACTS FAST, I n SLOW LY.
NOW TO UCH ZINC W ITH A COPPER W IRE. REACTION
SPEEDS UP, CAUSED BY ELECTRIC PROCESS.

COPPER IS fORCED OUT AND Mg AND Zn GO INTO

O LUTION . If ENO UGH METAL IS USED, THE BLUE COlOR
DISAPPEARS. Mg S0 4 AND ZnS04 ARE COlOR LESS.

62

MAGNES I U M
Element 1 2.
Atomic wt. : 2.4.32 .
Density: 1.7 5 . Silve r -w hite me tal.
Ductile, ma llea ble .
Reacts wi th bo iling
wete r. Burns in ai r
with v e ry b rill ion t
w hite light.

Mg

Zn

Z INC
Element 30.
Ato mic w I. :
6 5 . 3 8 . Den iily :
7 . 1. Blu ish-whit e
meta l. Ductile and
mo tleoble. Dii lils
when healed 10
bo iling . Can be
mo de 10 bu rn with
bluish flame .

fi

that is ligh t ye t very st rong. Some magn esium compounds are used in medicine : mi lk of magnesia (Mg
(0 1-1)2) and Epsom salt (MgSO{7 H 20) .
Zinc has bee n used for ages t o coat iron pails an d
pipes to prevent them from rust ing - " galvanized
iron." Zinc is also a part of many alloy s (Germ an
silver and bra ss) a nd is impo rt a nt in t he making of
dry-cell ba tteries.

1/

1/

MAKING THE CARBONATES

MAKING THE HYDROXIDES

1 ADD SODIUM HYDRO XIDE SOlUTION TO SOlU TION

O F MAGNESIUM SUL FATE. W HITE Mg(O Hh FORMS.
ADD SMAll AMO UNT O F NaOH SOLUTIO N TO DI
LUTED TINNERS' flU ID {lnCl, I. In {OHh IS FORMED. ADD
MORE NaOH. PRECIPITATE DISSOLVES WI TH FORMATION
OF SODIUM IINCATE (Na,ln 0 ,1.
ADD AMMONIA (AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE) TO MAG
N ESIUM SUL FATE SOLUTION . AGAIN Mg (OHh FORMS.
ADD SMALL AMO UNT O F AMMONIA TO DILUTED TIN
NERS' FLUID. I n{OHh FORMS. ADD MORE. THE Zn(OH),
DISSOLVES, FORMING COMPOUND WITH N H, .

Zn AND Mg

WITH HaS

/ ..\;3l7

t DISSOLVE 2 9 EPSOM SALT {MAG N ESIUM

SULFATE, MgS0 4 "7H.0} IN 20 ml WATER.
GET fROM HARDWARE STORE SMAll BOT.
TlE O f "TINNERS' flUI D." THIS IS A STRONG
SOLUTION O F I INC CHLORIDE. DILUTE 5ml O F
flU ID WITH 15 ml WATER.
3 MAKE SOLUTION OF 5 9 WASHING SODA
(SODIUM CARBONATE) IN 50 ml WA TER. AD D
SOME OF THIS SOLUTION TO THE OTHER TWO.
IN BOTH JARS YOU WI LL GET A HEAVY WH ITE
PRECIPITATE. IN THE Mg JAR, THIS IS NORMA L
MAGNESIUM CARBONATE (MgCO.I . IN I n JAR,
CO. IS SET fREE AND BASIC I INC CARBONATE
Il n(O H). ,lnCO . 1 RESU LTS.

1 SET UP HYDRO GEN SUl f IDE APPARATUS SHOWN ON PAGE 53 .

lEAD HYDRO GEN SULfIDE (H.S) INTO DilUTED TlN N ERS' flUI D
( nCI. l . YOU GET A W HITE PRECIPITATE O f InS.
3 lEAD H.S INTO SOLUTION O F EPSOM SALT (MgS0 41 . HERE
A SO YOU GET WH ITE PRECIPITATE. BUT NO T O f MAGNESIUM
SUl f iDE. THIS REACTS W ITH THE WA TER TO MAKE Mg(OHI .

63

-,

A lum.ill.Ulu-ill. A hu ll.rlall.ce

-..
-

~-

.-;

--

H. C. .0RSTED O F DENMARK DISCOV

ERED A LUMIN UM IN 1825. CHARLES
HALL OF THE UN ITED STATES FOUND '

A CHEAP WAY OF PROD UCIN G IT

IN 18 86.
....

-- .

AI

ALUMINUM

Elem ent 13 .

A t om ic wt .:
26 .98 . Den u t y , ~""~ ~
2.70. Silve r-white --"'\.,:~.~

. -...

me lr;J1; d uctile, ma l-

lecble, a ble 10 ta ke
o high po lish. Am.

l~~~~

~.~~

" , - . _..

...

IT IS AL.\IO ST im possibl e to imagine our world without aluminum. Almost everyw here ) 'OU look yo u see
item s made of this silver-white mel al - from the
pols in the kit ch en to the airp la nes n~iing ov er head.
Although alu minum is the most a bundant metal
on ear t h , no one had eve r seen it until 1825 when a
Danish scient ist, Han s Christ ia n ,0rsted, isolated it
from aluminum chloride (AIe l.). For a number of
yea rs al umin um was so expe nsive that it was ronsidered in class wit h gold a nd silver, T he solid alu minum ca p placed on t op or t he Washington M on ument
in 188' was firs t put on public display so t ha t e veryone could ha ve a look a t such a grea t rarity. Tw o
GROWING ALUM CRYSTALS

ph oteric. Wi ll burn

in oxyg e n with
white fla me.

, .-:

~~

MAKE A SMAll AMOUNT

O f ALUMI NUM POWDE R BY
FILING IT OFF AN OL D Al U

MINUM POT. SPRINKLE IN

FLAM E TO MAKE SPARKS
O f BURNING ALUMIN UM.

DISSOLVING

1 C U T A LUMINUM
FOil IN SMAl l STRIPS.
DROP THEM IN A UTILE
DI LUTED HYDROCHLOR.
IC ACID . HYDROGEN IS

RELEASED; ALUMINUM
CHLORIDE IS FORMED.
~ DROP STRIPS OF
AlUMINUM FOlL IN 10 -/.
NoOH SOLUTION . HY
OROGEN IS FREED AND

SOD IUM A LUM INATE

[N o AIO . 1 IS fORM ED.

I HEAT WATER UNT I L IT IS SLIGH TlY MOR E TH AN LUKE

WARM. STIR INTO IT POTASSIUM A LUM OR AMMO NIUM
A LUM UNT IL NO MORE DISSOLVES. POUR LIQ UID O ff
UNDISSOlVED A LUM. SET ASIDE TO COOl.
2 WHEN CRYSTALS HAVE fORMED, PICK OUT LARCEST
ONES. ADD TO SOlUTION A S M UCH MORE ALUM AS IS
REPRESENTED BY THE CRYSTALS YOU REMOVED. HEAT
CENTlY AGAIN UN Ti l ALL IS DISSOlVED. COOl.
3 POUR COOLED SOLUTION INTO N ARRO W GLA SS. TIE
THREAD TO LARG EST CRYSTAL VO U PICKED. HAN G THIS
IN SOlUTIO N FRO M A PENCIl. PLACE IN Q UI ET SPOT.
l ET THE CRYSTAL GROW fO R A WEEK O R MORE.

years later, a 22-;yea r-old America n che mist, Charles

~Iartin Hall, invented a way of producing aluminum
cheaply fr om aluminum oxide (AlzO z). Since th en
alumi num has become one of the most popular of all
metals - mostl y becau se of its lightness.
The min eral bau xite (AlH O z, AI(OH )z) is our mai n
source of aluminum. But aluminum is also found in
nature as oxide and in man y com plex silicates . Clay,
for insta nce, is an alum inum silicate.

Tw o things about al uminum will interes t you as a

chemist. One is th at alu minum is an " am photeric"
element, whic h mean s t ha t it ca n form not only a
base (Al(OIl) s), but also an acid (HAlO z). T he other
is that aluminum s ulfate (AlZ(SOI)Z) has the abilit y
to combine with potassium sulfate ( K zS O ~) and ammonium sulfate ((N H 1hSOI) int o beautiful cub ic
crysta ls of double salts called " alums"- KAI (SO ~h'
12H zO and NH 1AI(SOlh 12H 10.

MAKING ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE

-- - -

.. --- =

I-

WITH

<,
: =? ! :~~

r~~--:..::,_'---~
~-- -~r.~

.>\W

9M1MONI!

~~
--.::>

----

0"

ALUM

WATER

CLEARING

.....

G) DISSOlVE I 9 l 'l~ TEASPOON) ALUM IN

10 ml WATER. ADD A LITTLE 10/. Na OH
SOLUTION. YOU GET JELLYL1KE ALUMINUM
HYDROXIDE. THIS WILL DISSOlVE IN MORE
NaO H TO FORM SODIUM ALUMINATE.

PO\W'REJ)

ALUM

" - ..

~-.
"~
---S;~~.
-

"'...

02:

1 POUR WATER INTO A PINT JAR AND STIR INTO IT 1 TABLESPOON EARTH FROM THE GARDEN OR FROM A FLOWER POT.
2 IN ANOTHER JAR, MA KE A SIMILAR MI XTURE. IN THIS, DISSOlVE '14 TEASPOON ALUM. ADD 1 TEASPOON AMMONIA. DIRT
SETTLES FASTER IN THIS JAR THAN IN THE FIRST JAR .

~ AMMONI A ADDED TO ALUM SOlUTIO N

G~ES ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE. BUT THIS
DOES NOT DISSOLVE IN MO RE AMMONI A.

ALUM AND SODA

3
,

1-

1 TO 'I.e TEASPOON OF ALUM IN 20 ml

ATER, ADD lf~ TEASPOON SODA IN 20
ml WATER. PR ECIPITATE SHOULD BE CAR
BON ATE.:..::.:..sUT IS IT?

G'l f iLTER THE PRECIPITATE. WASH IT RE-

;~~~;r~:;;:~~---_.~~'_-i,P3!ATEDLY
BY SQUIRTING
TER INTO IT
AFTER WASHING , BRING PRECIPITATE

INTO A TEST TUBE. ADD HYDROCHLORIC

ACID. NO CO 2 IS FORMED. THIS IS NOT
A CARBONATE. ALUMINUM HAS NO CARBON ATE. ALUM MA KES ALUMINUM HY
DROXIDE W ITH SODA.

65

MANGANESE
DiOXIDE TO
MANGANESE
SULFATE

MANGANESE
SULFATE TO
MANGANESE
HYDROXIDE

Semi
!f3,sh
!'l.tJ<6A.
.... 5<$

DIOXIP

1 IN A PYREX CUSTARD CUP, MIX 2 9 MANGANESE DIOXIDE, 6 9 SOlUM BISUlFATE, AND 10 ml W ATER. 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 IMnSO.1 AND SO DIUM SULFATE.

3 INTO HALF OF THE MANGANESE SULFATE SOLUTION YOU HAVE MADE. POUR
10 ,,/. SOLUTION OF NaOH UNTIL N O
MORE PRECIPITATE FORM S. W HITISH
Mn(OHla O XIDIZES INTO BROWN MnOIOHJ.

M anga n ese-Met al of M a n y Colors

:M ETALLIC :ll.-'u~ G .\...~ ESE

and ha ve alread y used in a grea t number of your

chemical experi ments.
T he compo un ds of mangan ese come in almost any
color you can think of: black and brown, white and
pink and red . violet an d green. In working wit h
th ese compoun ds . your fingers and glassware ma y
get brown. You can get rid of this stain easily with
diluted hydrochl oric acid . Rinse th oroughly wit h
water afterwards.

h as no use by itself. But add

up to 15 per cent of it to steel an d t he result is an
alloy - " manganese steel" - so hard that it is s uitabl e for ma chin e p arts that arc exposed t o a lot of
rou gh wear.
The most common ore from which mangan ese is
extra cted goes under the name of "pyrolusite." This
is nothing but your old fri end mangan ese dioxide
(i\In02) which yo u found in )our flashlight batter y

EXPERIMENTS WITH POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE

KMnO. WILL GI VE YOU AN IDEA OF SMALLN ESS OF MOLECULE.

1 DISSOLVE

'12 9

POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE IN 5 0 ml WATER. THIS GIVES A SOlUTI ON OF 1 TO 100, OR 1/100.

,'

DILUTE 5 ml OF THIS SOLUTION WITH 45 ml WATER. YOU

OW HAVE A SOLUTION O F 1 TO 1,000, OR 1/1 ,000 .
AGAIN,.5 ml TO 45 ml WATER FOR SOLUTION 1/10,000.
4

AGAIN, S ml TO 45 ml WATER FOR SO LUTION 1/100,0 00 .

S AGAIN, 5 ml TO 45 ml W ATER FOR SOLUTION 1/1 ,00 0,0 00.

COLOR YOU STill SEE IS CAUSED BY THE PRESENCE OF MO RE
THAN 60 0,0 00,000,0 00,000 ,000 MO LECULES OF KMnO .

--: :~~:

0
0

'"

"-

--

0
0
0

o'
<,

-, ,-..
0
0
0

o'

.!'<::.:::

0
0
0

,;

0
0

"-

"-

66

REDUCING KMnO.
PLACE A FEW CRYS
TAtS OF POTASSIUM
PERMANGANATE ON
BOTTOM OF A TEST
TUBE. DROP A FEW
DROP S O F HYDRO CHLORI C ACID ON
THEM. THE KMn0 4 IS
REDUCED (THAT IS, IT
GIVES UP OXYGEN). IT
OXIDIZES HCI AND
SETS CHtORINE FR EE.

.'

THE EXPERIMENTS ALO NG THE

TOP OF THESE PAGES SHOW
HO W IT I S PO S SIBLE TO
MOV E FRO M O NE CO M
POUND TO ANOTHER.

MANGANESE
CHLORIDE TO
MANGANESE
SULFIDE

MANGANESE SULFATE TO
MANGANESE CARBONATE

MANGANESE
CARBONATE
TO

It

MANGANESE
CHLORIDE

Mn

MANGA.
N E 5 E
Element 25.
Atomic .....1., 54.9.( .
Density , 7 .4,(. suvery -g ray metal
.....ith feddilih tinge .
Reach .....ith ..... cte r.
hli compoundli wilh
oxygen range f rom
boseli 10 adds.

!
5

4 "IN TO SECOND HALF Of

SOLUTION. POUR SOLUTION Of
.( 9 SODIUM CAR80NATE IN 10
ml WATER. WHITE PRECIPITATE
IS MnCO

lET MANGAN ES E CARBONATE

POUR LIQUID Off PRECIPITATE. ADD HYDROCHLORIC ACID BY
THE DROP UNTIl- DISSOLVED. RESULT
IS MANGANESE CHLORIDE IMnCl a).

srme,

6 SET UP APPA
US FOR MAKING HY
OROGEN SULFIDE ISEE PAGE S3}. POUR
SOlUTION OF MnO. INTO TEST TUBE.
DilUTE IT IF NECESSARY. LEAD HIS INTO
IT. YOU GET MANGANESE SULFIDE.

DISSOLVE A FEW CRYS

TA LS O F POTASS IUM
PERMANGANATE IN
WA TER . ADD TINY
AMOUNT OF SODI UM
81SUIFATE ITO MAK E
SOLUTION SOURI . POUR
IN A UTIL E HYDRO GEN
PERO XIDE (HaO.) . COLOR DISAPPEARS AND
OXYG EN IS liB ERATED.

1 DISSOLVE I 9 SO DIUM HYDRO XIDE IN 50 ml WA TER. ADD A CRYSTAL OF POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE

TO GIVE THE SOLUTION A liGHT REO COlOR.
~

POUR THE REO SOLUTION INTO A f ILTER. WATCH

E fiLTRATE. IT IS GREEN INSTEAD Of REO. PASSING
THROUGH FILTER PAPER HAS CAUSED KMn0 4 TO BE
REDUCED TO POTASSIUM MANGANATE (KaMnO.I.

.-----
2
1 DISSOLVE A SMAll CRYSTAL Of IRON
SUlfATE (fERROUS SULFATE. FeSO.1 IN HALF
A TEST TUBE FULL OF WATER.
~ DISSOLVE A COUPLE OF KMn0 4 CRYSTALS
N HALF TEST TUBE OF WATER.

3 POUR PERMANGANATE INTO IRON SALT.

GREEN FERROUS SULFATE IS OXIDIZED TO
BROWN FERRIC SULfATE IFeaISO.}.I_

67

~i "",
"

:j
~I

,'

'

w, Liye

III all

A ge of 11'011

IRO::\: ~I EnL ha s the pecu liar q ual it y of bein g magnetic - t ha t is. of be ing a ttracted a nd influen ced b~v
a Iorre called ma gnetism. If ) "011 should walk a rou nd
your horne a nd touch differe nt things with a magnet. you would be surprised a t th e la rge number of
th >1II th a t would prow t o conta in iron . They would
range in size from th e ca r in th f" garage and the refrigerator a nd stove in the kitch en to t he nails in th e
wall s a nd th e nM'dl"s and pins in your mother's
sewing box.
T Ilt' moment yun ste p ou tdoors an d look around .
you will be even more a mazed . Sk yscrapers an d

TWO KINDS OF IRON COMPOUNDS

IRON FORMS TWO KINDS Of COMPOUN DS. IN FERROUS
SALTS, EACH IRON ATOM HAS REPLACED TWO HYDROGEN ATOMS. IN f ERRIC SALTS, EACH IRON ATOM HAS
REPLACED THREE HYDRO GEN ATOMS. GREEN fERROUS
SALTS EASILY OXIDIZE INTO RE[}.BROWN FERRIC SALTS.

RUSTING OF IRON

MOISTEN A WAD O f fiN E STEEL

WOOL W ITH VINEGAR (TO SPEED UP
ACTION). WEDGE IT IN BOTTOM OF
A GLASS. INVERT GLASS IN
PIE PLATE OF WATER . IN A
FEW DAY S, WATER HA S
RISEN IN GLASS. IRO N HAS
REACTED W ITH OXYG EN
AND MO ISTUR E TO FORM
RU ST-{Fe1 0 . I.3H 1 0 .

MAKING A
FERROUS SALT
POUR HYDRO CHLO R C ACID OV ER STEEL
WOOl. HYDROGEN IS
SET f REE AS STEE L
WOOL DlSSOl VES. r n .
TER THE SOLUTION .
2 LIGHT -G REEN ru TR ATE CONTAINS f ERROUS CHLORIDE (FeCt. l.

MAKING A FERRIC SALT

2

[,
I ,~

-~

TEST FOR IRON SALTS

IN ONE TEST TUBE, DILUTE SOME f ERRIC
CHLORIDE SOlUTION WITH WATER.
IN ANOTHER, DILUTE SOME O f THE f ER-

= =;![IF=(j'!!'F''',>

ROUS CHLORIDE SOlUTION W ITH WAT,~'~'~

,
TO EACH, ADD A f EW DROPS
SET UP APPARATUS FOR MAKING CHLORINE
f SOLUTIONFEOF
TEASPOON
(SEE PAG E 35). INTO BOTTLE B POUR fERPOTASSIUM
RROIf.CYAN
ID E IN
ROUS CHLORIDE SOLUTION YOU HAVE JUST
50 ml WATER. fERRIC SALT MAKES
A DEEP BLUE PRECIPITATE Of
MAD E. THE CHLOR INE TURNS THE GREEN
fERROUS CHLORIDE (FeCI.l INTO A BROWN
PRUSSIAN BLU E. fERRO US SALT fk,==~-!.g=~
fERR IC CHLORIDE (f eCI,I.
MAKES LIGHT BLUE PRECIPITATE.
""'~~~====~

68

~
'~'~:"

~
.~~~
- - --- ' -. -I~!tli~~
L,,;
:71 i,'!i1
-"----"""-~",'
,."", -.'-'-'.:.~'
- ~I;"'' '"E
"" ~
-C:O:-'~~-=-_
,-=
~'=S~~1=.~~ ~ .... . ... 4 __---.....-..;
~51~ ~~~---::~
--::_-~:..-_~~-<"~
__

-~~-'='-~=~,
1
K.. 1'- 1
~

to"J- ~
~ ---",-,-

- . -=, 0"" -3

.~

..

.J

"--:

~ .. ! I" ---~

_~

"_.;......._- -..... _~

-s..r. . :S. ~ "';;::~~ ;''{,,'-..'<;':I ~ - _~_-=:.,:~

/'

-n..

-~- _

~~---=-

__

\~
-----....;;

~.:-:, .,-.-----:-

-- ~

"

~:.:.:; ~ -_--"?':'-__ '(' ::'~

~i~~_~",~_~~~:J;e~"::~i - ; 'C;~'-:~

" ,- 'T'- ~'- - --_ I " ""'"~-'<:--' O " ' ,,,,==

:. ..
I

- -~-- ,::~ ~_0~ - ~ ," --, -~~~~~--=--~~"t -' -d;$i~ ~

-:- - ;: r~~:~~::-:.;~ =:-=):_~"S3?~.?-"-~~:~~~

-~~-~':~r~JI

""""" ~'';;":oo<,::.:;~:~~._~~~ '~~!l-

brid ges.
- all of t hese dep end on Iron (in till:' form uf s teel)
for t heir existence,
We a re wry lucky t o han' , in America, not only
large a mou nts of iron ore b ut also large a mounts of
(he coal fro m which La ma k e the coke that goes in to
iron production.
The iron is d riven out of its ore (mostly FetO!)
in huge fu rnaces. Ea ch furn ace ca n mak e as m uch
as 1,000 ton s of iron a t one t ime from 2,000 ton s of
are. 1,000 ton s of coke , an d 500 ton s uf limestone.
A blast of hot air is forced th rou gh the mixture. T he
coke burns wit h great heat to ca rbo n dioxide. T his,
with more coke, forms carbon monoxide. an d th is.
in turn. reduc es t he ir on oxide to metallic Iron . In
chr-mical la nguage. this is what happens :

... _

.::::~ ~~~
~
-_.. ~~~~~~
. .,..-.;--

--

FROM FERROUS

SALT TO
FERRIC

,. '"

II, 0,..
I' A
[
~~
J ~ --c...::::::::(=0vu'--1

I I

C + O, ~ COt plus heat

CO, + C- 2CO
Fe,O! + 3CO - ... 2Fe + :lCOt
At t he sa me tim e, t he limestone combines with
va riou s impurit ies to for m a glass-like compo und
ca lled "slag." T his is rema n d whr-n th r- white-hot
iron is poured out in to mou lds and cooled into bars
of "pig iron."
The pig iron is brittle br-cau so it contains d ose to
5 per cent ca rbon. To turn it into steel. t he carbon
mu st be b urn ed out until only from .5 to 1.5 per cent
remains. This is done either by the Bessemer process
(named for an En glishman, H enr y Bessemer) or by
the op en-hea rth process. The finished st eel is molded
into " ingots" and ship ped t o manufacturi ng plants
all over t he country.

-cs . . . ."

':::, -II ' I

,~. '.:: '

r-

......-...:;:-

II G:

'---.)

DI SSOlVE

TEASPOON FER_

ADD HYDRO GEN PEROX IDE

~ b LU Tl O N _ LIG HT-G REEN FERROUS SULFATE SOLUTION TURNS

REDDISH-BRO W N. H.0 1 HAS OXI DI ZED FeS0

IRON HYDROXIDES

V~

ROUS SULFATE IN 50 ml WATER.

ADD A FEW CRYSTALS O f SODIUM BISULfA TE TO KEEP THE SOLUTION SOUR.

TO FERRIC SULFATE

IFe2 (SO..I.I

AND CARBONATE

10"/.

NaOH

TO SOlUTIO N OF lh TEASPO O N fERROUS SULFATE

50 ml WAT ER. AOD SOLUTIO N OF SODIUM HYDROX-

IDE. PURE f ERROU S HYDROXIDE IS WH ITE. BECA USE O F IMPURITIES. YOU GET D IRTY-GREEN PRECIPITATE OF Fe{OH)

In chemica l experiments . tlw must commonly wwd

iron compo und is the iron sulfa te (ferro us sulfa te,
FeSO I 7H,0) - also calle d " green vitriol " and
"copper as." Don't le t the last nam e mislead yo uit has no thing La do with copper bu t comes fro m
an old French word , coupe rose,

SOON OXIDIZING TO BROWN FERRIC HYDRO XIDE.

2 TO ANOTHER PORTION OF FERROUS SULFATE SOLUr rO N ADD SODIUM CARBONATE SOlUTION. PURE CAR.
BONATE MADE WIT H NO OXYGEN PRESENT IS WH ITEBUT YOU GET MUDDY, WH ITISH-GREEN PRECIPITATE OF
FERRO US CARBONATE, EVENTUAllY TURNING INTO FER RIC HYDRO XIDE.

69

--- .~

-- --,..---

THE G REEK AN D TROJAN WARRIORS FIGH TIN G BEFORE

THE GA TES OF TRO Y USED SWO RDS AND SHi ElDS O F
BRONZE- AN AllOY MA DE UP O F CO PPER AN D TIN .

\
wires). You will find copper in t he wir ing in yo ur
own hom e and in every electrical gadget yo u use.
Co pper makes t wo kinds of sa lts . In cupro us salts,
o ne copper a to m ha s taken the plac e of o ne h ydrogen
at om ; in c upr ic salts. one co pper a tom has ta ken t he
place of tw o hydrogen atoms. Cu prous salts (such
as c upro us chloride , CuC I) are colorless. whi le cupric
sa lts (s uch as cupric sulfat e. c usa ~ . 5H~a) are br igh t
blu e in color.

COP!Per-~stcrday, TOIla y
C O PPE ll IS O:\ E of t he few met al s found free in natun' , T ha t is wh y it was used long before hist oric
t imes Cor wea pons and ut e nsils. The main trouble
wit h it was its so ft ness. T his was r emedied when
some ea rly coppers mit h disco vered th at COPP f'f and
t in (also found [n'(' in nature ) melted together form ed
an alloy th at was m uch ha rder t ha n either of the
t wo met al s. This alloy gave its name t o more than
two thousand years of hum an hist or y - the pe riod
called the " Bro nze Age."
A great number of w{"upons from the Bronze Age
ha ve br-en found in Gre tce. Wllen th ey were d ug out
of the ground, th ey wer e r-ovr-n-d wit h a gree n " ru st."
T his deposit was called verdi gris -c- Htcral ly " green
of Greec e" (fro m old F rench , cert de Grece)_ It co nslats of ba sic cup r ic carbonate - t he same compo und
you will see on a bro nze s ta tue or a copper-dad
chu rch spire exposed to wind and weat her.
Copp er becam e esp ecia lly va luable less than a
hundred yea rs ago when a sa t isfac tory me t hod for
producin g 11 st eady flow of electricit y was in ven ted .
Afte r silve r, copper is the bes t cond ucto r of electricity. T oday, th e most imp ortant usc for copper is for
elect rical pu rposes. It serves to bring the current
from the pl ace where it is produ ced to the place
where it is to be used (alt hough, wit hi n recent years,
some aluminum ha s t a ken its pla ce for high-tension

-~~.~

MOST IMPORTA NT USE

OF COPPER TODAY IS
FOR ELECTRIC W IRING .

70

MAKING COPPER COMPOUNDS

,
r'

..

f.

:),

j :------...1...-==-"'
t.;;.

!I

L-

"--'-'

=
,I

I,

II

.....

-"-

,f

DISSOLVE 10 9 COPPER SULFATE IN 10 0

ml WATER. POUR 10
ml IN TO EACH OF
fO UR TEST TUBES.

6'1

~_

-;;I

'=

r.

10,,/.

SODIUM
SO LUTION PRECIPITATES
DIRTY-BLUE CUPRIC
H YDRO X ID E
(CuIO H1 J l

~DROXI D E

1J
U.

'-' p

~ WITH

AMMON IA
YOU'LL ALSO G ET
Cu{O H1J BUT THIS DIS.
SOLVES IN MO RE AM .
MO N IA W ITH DEEP BLUE
COLO R.

.........

. SODIUM CAR
BONATE SOLUTION
GI VES BLUE-GREEN
CUPRiC CARBON.
ATE PRECIPITATE.

-9.,

~ WIT H HYDRO
GEN SULFIDE.
BROWNISH-BLACK
PRECIPITATE O F
CUPRIC SULFIDE.

COPPER

CU

Element 29.
Alom ic WI.:
63 .5.4 . Den sity:
8 .97. Soft meto l of
reddish color. Eos
j ly rolled ond
d rown into wire .
Ned to silver,is the
best co nd uct o r of
e lectricity .

FROM CUPRIC
SALT TO
CUPROUS
SALT

1 LET CUPRIC HYDROXIDE liN EXPERIMENT ON TOP OF PAGEl SETTlE. THEN POUR OFF LIQUID. ADD
HYDROCHLORIC ACID UNTIl ALL IS
DISSOLVED. ADD SMA LL PIECES OF
~~~ii~ "-. COPP E R WIRE. HEAT TO BOILING.

POUR A FEW DROPS OF THE HOT SOLU

t i ON INTO A LARGE AMO UNT OF WATER.
YOU GET A WH ITE PRECIPITATE_ W HEN YOU
DISSO LVED CUPRIC HYDROXIDE IN HCI. YOU
MA DE CUPRIC CHLO RIDE WHI CH IS SOLUBLE
IN WATER. BY TREATIN G THiS WITH METALLIC
CO PPER, YOU G OT CUPROUS CHLORIDE. IN
SOLUBLE IN WATER_

COPPER SULFATE IN
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS

REPLACEMENT
SERIES

WATERFREE (ANHYDROUS)
CUPRIC SULFATE SHOWS IF
WATER IS PRESENT IN A
LIQUID BEING TESTED

CRUSH A FEW
CUPRI C SU LFA TE
CR YSTALS . HEAT
~
WH I LE ST IRRIN G
,
UNTIL THEY HAVE
~
_
TURNED I N TO A
~ WHITE POWDER.
SHAKE UP A lITILE ANHYDROUS
CUPRIC SULFATE W ITH CARBON TET.
RACHLORIDE. NOTHING HAPPENS.
;I

ADD ONE DROP O F WATER .

AKE. BLUE CRYSTALS FORM.

71

DROP SEVE RA L CLEAN NAILS

INTO A SOLUTION OF COPPER SULFATE. LEAVE FOR HA LF AN HO UR.
NAILS ARE NOW COATED W ITH
ALLIC COPPER AND THE SOLUTION CONTA INS FERROUS SULFATE.
METALS CAN BE ARRANG ED IN A
REPLACEMENT SERIES. ANY METAL
IN THE SERIES WILL DRIVE OUT AN O THER METAL BElOW IT AND TAKE
ITS PLACE IN THE SALT.

POTASSIUM
SODIUM
CALCIUM
MAGNESIUM
ALUMINUM
ZINC
CHROMIUM
IRO N
NICKEl

TiN
LEAD
CO PPER
MERCURY
SILVER
PLATINUM
GOLD

Silver-One of the "Nohle" Metals

SlLYER- LIKE COPPER an d gold - is found free in
nature and was th erefore kn own to man long before
he learned to ext ract metals from th eir ores.
Pure silve r ha s one drawback - it is al most as
soft as copper. That's why most silver is alloyed with
copper to mak e it harder. Sterling silver - a fam ous
alloy used for j ewelry - cont ains 7.5 parts copper to
92.5 p ar ts silver. Only Ko of Amer ican silver coins
is silver - the rest is cop per.
Wh en you t ak e a snapshot, yo u get yourself involved in a series of complicated , chemica] pr ocesses
- all of th em haying t o do with silver. It is hard
to believe that th e blacks and grays yo u see when
you look at a ph otograph are va rious concentra tio ns
of metallic silver.

S ILV ER IS MAtLEABlETHAT IS, IT CAN BE HAMMERED INTO AN Y SHAPE

DESIRED. SILVER SMITHING
IS AN ANC IENT ART.

Ag

SILVER

Element 47.
Atom ic wt.e

107 .880. Densit)':

10.54. Soft, while

REMOVING TARNISH FROM SILVER

metal with b right

lust er. Eosily ho m-

I LINE BOTTOM O F CUSTARD CUP WIT H ALUMIN UM

ro ll. PLACE TARNISHED COIN O N FOIl. PO UR CUP HALF
FUll O F WATER. ADD V. TEASPOO N SODIUM CARBON ATE_ BOI L G ENTlY . TARNISH VAN ISHES.

mere d out and

drown into w ire.
Besl know n condu ctor of elect ricity.

YO U CAN USE THIS METHO D FOR CLEAN ING SILVER.

W ARE. PLACE SILVER TO BE CLEAN ED IN ALUMINUM TRAY.
ADD WATER AN D SODA. BRING TO A BOIl. THE SILVER
BECOM ES SHIN Y AGA IN .

'~. ".,. , ;

t
\
I .~

II

;+1

~
--_"

I~

'\

"

TARNISHED SILVER
SILV ER TARNISHES WH EN IT IS EX _ '
POSED TO SULFUR. PLACE A FEW
CRYSTALS OF SODIU M THIO SULFATE
{" HYPO" l O N A SILVER CO IN. HEAT
UNTIl HYPO MELTS. W ASH. HYPO
HAS LEFT STAIN O F BROW N.BLACK
SILVER SULFIDE.

SILVER
COMPOUNDS

G ET 5 9 SILVER NITRATE IN YOUR LO CAL

DRUG STORE. DISSOlVE IN 50 ml WATER.

1 TO 5 ml SILVER NITRATE (AgNO JJ SO LUTIO N,

ADD SODIUM HYDRO XIDE SOlUTION. YOU G ET
DARK-BROW N PRECIPITATE_NOT OF HYDRO XIDE,
BUT OF SILVER O XIDE.

TO 5 ml AgN O . SOlUTIO N, ADD AMMON IA.

PRECIPITATE OF SILVER OXIDE DISSOlVES WHEN
YOU ADD MO RE AMMONIA.

3 TO 5 ml AgN O. SOlUTION, ADD TABLE SALT

(No CI) SOlUTION . CHEESELIKE PRECIPITATE IS SILVER CHLORIDE (AgCl).
4 TO PART OF AgCI PR ECIPITATE, ADD AMMONIA.
SILVER CHLORIDE DISSOlVES.
5 TO ANOTHER PART OF AgCI, ADD SODIUM
THIOSULFATE SOLUTION. AgCl DISSOlVES.
6 PLACE REMAINING AgCI IN THE SUN. IT TURNS
VIOLET FROM METALLIC SILVER.

72

I n making a photograp hic film, t he ma nufac t urer

spreads an em ulsion of gelatin that contains silver
bromide (AgBr) over a transparent sheet of cellulose
aceta te. When th e silver bromid e is exposed to light ,
a certain amount of it gives up metallic silver (AgBr
- Ago + Br). ~I ore of t his silver is brought ou t in
th e develop ing bath. When fully developed, the film
is placed in a fixing ba th which removes all unexposed
silver bromide. After washing and drying, ~i OU have
a photographic nega tive in which the white p arts
you phot ographed appea r black and th e black parts
appea r whit e.
T o make a natural-lookin g pict ure, yo u pla ce th e
negative on a piece of photographic pap er and go
through a similar prccedure .es above, of exposing,
developing, fixing, washing. and drying.

MORE THAN 1 5 0
TONS Of Sil VER ARE
USED EACH YEAR IN
MAKING filM fOR
THE MOVIES.

-,

PHOTOGRAPHY IN
VOlV ES A WHOLE
SERIES Of CHEMICAL PRO CESSES.

PHOTOGRAPHING WITHOUT A CAMERA

2 f IX THE lEAf PRINT IN A SO

LUTIO N Of 10 iii HYPO IN 100 ml
WATER. AFTER fiVE MINUTES,
WASH IN RUNNING WATER.

1 f ROM A COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER, GET A

f
SHEETS OF " PRINTINGO UT PAPER," A SLOW
PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER. IN THE SHADE. PLACE SHEET
ON PIECE OF PLYWOOD. SENSITIZED SIDE UP. O N
TOP O f IT. LAY A lEAF AND A SHEET OF GLASS.
HOlD IN POSITION WITH SPRING CLOTHES PINS.
EXPOSE TO SUN UNTIl PAPER IS BLACKISH-ViOl ET.

3 DRY THE PRINT

IN THE AIR ON TOP
OF NEWSPAPER .
WHEN DRY. FLATTBN
PRINT IN A BOO K.

73

o
o
o
A

c
USING PATIERNS AT lEFT, CUT OUT SEVERAL CIRCLES

Of CONSTRUCTION BOARD IN VARIOUS COLORS.

,.

.~

o
TRACE EACH OF THE CIRCLES SHOWN ABOVE ON TO
CARDBOARD. PUNCH HOLES AS INDICATED. USE AS PATTERNS FORCUTTING CIRCLES OF CONSTRUCTION BOARD.

PUNCH THE HOLES NECESSARY TO INDICATE VALENCES.

Valences and F or m u l as
As YO U HAVE st udied the chemical formulas in th e
text, yo u will have noticed that one atom of hydrogen combines with one atom of chlorine (Hfll}, two
hyd rogen atoms wit h on e atom of oxy gen (HJO),
and three h ydrogen atoms with one atom of nitrogen
(N Il,).
The capacity of one ato m to hold on to other atoms
is called its valence (from Latin ealentia, strength) .

No atom has a lower vale nce than the hydrogen

atom , so we use hydrogen as our sta rt ing point and
give it a valence of 1. Tw o hydrogen at om s co mbine
with one oxygen ato m - th at gin'S oxygen a val ence
of 2. Nitrogen ha s a valence of 3. Tw o oxygen a toms
combine with one carbon atom to make CO,. Car bo n
ha s a valence of 4.
The char t on p age 75 sho ws some of th e common

. .n.~
~Q

THESE DIAGRAMS SHOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU

BURN CARBON AND TEST FOR CO . ONE CARBON
ATOM IWITH FOUR POSITIVE VALENCES} COMBINES
WITH TWO ATOMS OF OXYGEN lEACH WITH TWO
NEGATIVE VALENCES} TO FORM ONE MOLECULE O F
CO. (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 CARBON ATE {ARRO W
POINTING DOWN INDICATES THAT IT IS A PRECIPI
TATE) AND ONE MOLECULE OF WATER .

74

SOME COMMON VALENCES

Negoti ve Va lences

P05itive Volen cu
Yol en ce

Circl e

Item

veteece

Ag

+1
+3
+3
+4
+2

CI

-1

-1

0
5

-3
-2
-2

CO,

-2

AI

Co
C,

F.

PUT %- BRASS CLIPS IN HOLES SHOWING POSITIVE VALENCES. HOLD THEM IN PLACE WITH SCOTCH TAPE.

C ircle

Item

+1+2
+2+ 3

No

+ '
+1
+2
+2
+1

NO,

-I

+ 4+ 6

OH

- 1

5i

+4
+1

SO,

SO.

- 2
-2

K
Mg
Mo

NH.
WRITE THE NAMES OF THE ELEMENTS WITH CRA YONS.

plus ( H '-j a nd oxyge n with two minuses (O - - ) would

not fit together - you need H I t o combine with O .
Similarly. C wit h + -l (C+ ++ +) ta kes two O. each
wit h - 2 (0 - -) , in order to bala nce.
To get a clear understand ing of chemic al for mulas,
ma ke yo urself a se t of a tom mod els as shown on
t hese pages. Wit h these mod els you will be a ble to
figur e out how com pounds are made up a nd what
happens in the va rious chemic al reactions ) -OU will
ca use in your exper iments.

valences for ma king up formu las. :\Ios[ of the it ems

are elements, but some of them are "radicals' - t hat
is, grou ps of atoms tha t ha ng toget her in chemical
reacti ons, such as t he ammoni um radical (:'\ H 1l that
behaves as a met al , an d the sulfate ra dical ( SO ~)
that goes into the making of salts .
No t ice t ha t some valences have plus ( + ) signs .
ot hers ha ve minu s (-) signs. wb en ~'ou ma ke up
the form ula for a compo und , t here m ust be the same
number of pluses a nd minuses. H yd rogen with on..

~
\V

o
o

SULFUR HAS SEVER AL VALENCES. IT HAS A VALENCE

Of - 2 IN HIS. Of + ~ IN Sal' AND Of + 6 IN SO.
AND IN SUL FURIC ACID IHaSO.I. IN MAKING THE CIR.
ClE fOR SULFUR. YOU CAN SHOW THESE VALENCES
WITH TWO EMPTY HOLES AND SIX BRASS CLIPS.
INSTEAD Of USING O NE SULFUR CIRCLE AND fO UR
OXYGEN CIRCLES TO INDICATE A SULFATE. YOU CAN
MAK E UP A SINGLE CIRCLE TO STAND fOR THE SULFATE RAOlCAl ISO.J WITH TWO NEGATI VE VALENCES.

75

,
\

.,

.:'

.,

A LANDSCAPE IN THE COAL AGE, APPROXIMATELY THREE HUNDRED MILLION YEARS AGO.

T o TH E OLD R Oll.\J....S, carbo meant coal - a black

rock that would hurn. To the modern chemist , carbon is an element found in all living things - plants
and animals - and in man y dead things. It is hidd en
in th e whitest sugar and th e reddest rose and th e
greenest apple. in hundreds of thousands of compounds pr oduced by nature and in man y th ousand s
more created in th e la borator y.
The soot from a smoking candle is almo st pure
carbon. So is also the gra phi te t hat form s the "lead"
of your pencil and the diamond in the je weler's window. The coal that we use for fuel contains from 80

t o 90 p er cent carbo n - the oth er 10 to 20 per cent

is made up of va rious substa nces from which a
great number of important and valuable che mical
compo unds are made.
All the coal we mine deep und ergrou nd toda y is
m ade up of th e rem ain s of plants that grew around
t hree hundred million years ago - hu ge tree ferns.
giant club mosses and horseta ils. T hey thrived in
the hot. humid climate, died and tumbled to the
ground. During th e ages th ey were covered by other
dead t rees and by la yers upon layers of mud. Ev entu ally , pressure and heat tu rn ed them into coal.

PRESSURE AND HEAT TURNED TREES AND OTHER PlANTS INTO THE COAt WE USE TO DAY.

76

CA R BO N
E le m e nt 6 .
At om ic wI . :
12.011 . Fo und in
na lu re a s dia mond
(density 3 .5 21. 0 5
grophit e lde ns ity
2.25), a nd as cool.
Dia mond burn s in
oxyge n, coa l in air.

THREE' FORMS OF CARBON

rough

GRAPHITE IS A SOFT fORM O f

CARBON. IT FEELS SLIPPERY.

diamond

",- --."

1 . --

.....'

. "

\'"'"' ,\ ! ~

\'-- lp

lignit~

~
uses of graph ite

nr

bituminous cool

~~:monds ~
'/
I

~
~~

\ ~. .,

ANTHRACITE IS ALSO CAllED HARD COAL BITUMINOUS COA L IS SOFT CQAL. LIGN ITE IS BROWN COAL.
G RAPHITE IS A SOFT fORM OF CARBON. IT FEELS SLIPPER Y. DIAMOND IS THE HARDeST SUBSTA NC E KNOWN.

DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION...._ - - - - - -, /

"

IN REGULAR DISTIlLATION {SEE PAGE 6 1}, A

fo r d ry distillatio n of
wood , whittle twig into
slive rs, o r use wooden
matches without heads.

;:.:....::;;=:- -

CHEMICAL IS PURIFIED. IN DESTRUCTIVE OR

DRY DISTilLATION, THE suaSTANCE IS BRO
KEN INTO SEVERAL DI Ff ER ENT CHEMICALS. (}",J<:;l.~",,-r'r-~

A
for dry distillation of coed, crush lump
of bituminous coot inlo powder.

"

"
V.

f ILL TEST TUBE

=::::=:::>

fUl l Of COARS elY POWDERED BITUMINOUS COAL lOR

000 SliVERSl . PLACE SMALL WAD Of COTTON AT MOUTH OF TEST TUBE.

CLOSE MOUTH Of TUBE W ITH STOPPER W ITH L-SHAPED G lASS TUBE DRAWN TO
A JET POINT. PLACE TUBE HORIZONTAllY IN HOlDER. HEAT COAL lO R WOOD].
AfTER A WHILE, DENSE f UMES DEVelOP. THEY CAN BE IGNITED AT JET.
COTTO N WAD DISCO LORS f RO M TAR CONDE NSING AfTER BEING DISTILLED.
STOP HEATING.
MOUTH Of TUBE. I f
MONIA (AI . If YOU
ACID tB). COAL HAS

CARBON IN
SUGAR

REMOVE STOPPER. BR ING MOISTENED lITMUS PAPER TO

YO U DISTillED COAL, RED lITMUS TURNS BLUE fROM AM
DISTillED WOOD, BLUE lITMUS TURNS REO fROM ACETIC
TURNED TO COKE, WOOD HAS BECOME CHARCOAl.

YOU CAN PROVE PRESENCE OF

CARBON IN THE FOOD YOU EAT
BY HEATING SMAll SAMPLES OF
CHE ESE, BREAD, MEAT, SUG A R.
BE SURE TO 00 THIS OUTDOORS
TO PREVENT EXPER IM EN TS FROM
SMELLING UP THE WHOlE HOUSE.

.....

HEAT I TEASPOON CANE SUGAR IN A CUSTARD

CUP. fiRST, SUGAR MELTS. THEN IT TURN S BROWN
- IT " CA RAM ELIZES." NEXT IT G IVES Of f THICK
VAPORS THAT CAN BE IGNITED. f iNALLY, A PURE
FORM O F COAL REMAINS.

, - ~

i~

RUB A LUMP OF SUGAR

W ITH CIGAR
ASHES
ITO ACT AS CA TALYST).
IG N ITE. DIP TEST TUBE
IN LIME WATER. HOLD
OVER BURNIN G SUGAR .
fiLM O F CA LCIUM CAR.
BONAIE SHOWS CO.
IN flAME -PROVING
THAT THERE IS CARBON
IN SUGAR.

erre

77

..

~ '-' - _

IN 1B2B, FRIEDRICH W t:lHLER SUCCEEDED IN MAKING AN

ORGANIC COMPOUND'ARTIFICIAllY IN HIS LABORATORY.

IT W AS O NCE BELIEVED THAT ORGANIC COMPOUN DS

COULD BE PROD UCED ONLY BY LIVING ORGA NISMS.

T h e Che:rillsfJrY of Carbon C mllJPounJs

THE CHEMISTS of about two hundred years ago divid ed all compounds ve ry neatly into two groupsorganic and inorganic. The organic compounds were
those produced by living organisms - that is, plants
and animals. The inor ganic compounds were made
up of dead things - rocks and minerals. water and
various gases. No org anic compound, these chemists
insisted, co~ld ever be produced artificiall y - they
required the force we call " life" for their creation.
And th en , in 1828, a German chemist, Fri edrich
Wohler, completely upset this idea.
I n his laboratory, Wohler had mixed ammonium
sulfate (NH .)zSO.) and potassium cy an ate (KCNO),
expect ing to get ammonium cy an ate. After eva porating, h e analyzed the compound he had made. To
his amazement h e discovered th at it was not ammonium cyan ate at all, but ur ea - a compo und produ ced in the kidneys of living animals, including
man. The atoms of the ammonium cyan ate molecule
had rearran ged th emselves into a urea molecule.
NH . eNO had turned into (N H,)zCO.

A few years later, an other organic compound aceti c acid - wa s made artificially. And then th e lid
really blew off. :i\lore and mor e products of plant and
animal life were put together - syn t hesized - in the
laborator y. And as if thi s were not enough, chemists
began producing organic compounds that were not
even found in nature.
It becam e clear that the old meaning of organic
chemist ry no lon ger was right. And so, th e definition
was changed. T oday, organic chemi stry is defined as
" the chemistry of th e car bon compounds." T his definition is alm ost , b ut not 100 per cent , correct. The
metallic carbonates, for instance, are still considered
to be inorg anic comp ounds, and carbon d ioxide and
carbonic acid are regarded as being both organic and
.morgamc.
.
You ma y think it odd that a whole branch of
che mistry sho uld deal wit h the compounds of a single element. But yo u will not be surprised at all when
yo u sta rt experimen ting with a few of the close to
1,000,000 carbon compounds .

78

HYDROCARBONS CONTAIN TWO ELEMENTS O NLY :

CARBON AND HYDROG EN. HYDROCARBON S WITH

FEW ATOMS TO lHEIR MOLECULES ARE GA SES. OlH

ERS WllH MAN Y ATOMS ARE LIQUIDS AN D SOU DS.

ALCOHOLS MAY BE CONSIDERED HYDROCARBONS

IN WH ICH A HYDROGEN ATOM IS REPLACED BY OH.

CARBOHYDRATS ARE IN MANY OF OUR MOST VALUABLE FOODSTUFFS AS STARCH AND SUGARS.

;:
W'N

fR JR

l8 t:.v-'.

Al< o ~o'

m.,r

....

Gly <l"

S~.o,

~.I

'

L:

( Ia _ _

0;,

;.~

~"

'""~
O il

'"

...

"'- - -.-

?.:

...

",

~
....

e
....

tr@L

O il

'"

4
-..
~

?,

(J-~

ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ESTERS. THESE ARE THE

" SALTS" OF GLYCERINE AND FATTY ACIDS.

CARBOXYLIC ACIDS ARENAMED FORlHE CARBOXYL

GROUP-COOH-FOUND IN THEIR FORMULAS.

ViU _

Cottoa

.~.

ESURS IN ORGAN IC CHEMISTRY CAN BE COMPARED

TO SALTS IN INO RGANI C CHEMISTRY. FATS AND O ILS

~
G:
ea

r0 ..

"

Wia ' ..._

. fMa

PROTEINS ARE COMPLEX COMPOUNDS THAT CONTAIN CARBON, HYDROGEN, OXYGEN, NITROGEN.

'"

OTHER CARBON COMPOUND~N ADDITION TO

THE MAIN GROUPS ILLUSTRATED ABOVE. THERE ARE

NUMEROUS OlHER KINDS OF CARBON COMPOUNDS.

MANY HAVE VERY COMPLICATED FORMULAS.

79

The FOJrltllDJlllnaS of CaJrbon

Ho w IS IT PO SSIBLE for carbon t o make so many differe nt compounds of such t remendous variety~ That
was one of the great questions facing chemists during
the last cent ury.
It wa s easy eno ugh t o exp lain carbon dioxide. Carbon has a valence of 4, oxyge n of 2 - the formula
had t o be CO 2 It was al so easy to explain t he molecule of t he simple hydrocarbon methane (CH ,). B ut
how expla in compounds con sist ing of two atoms of
carbon a nd SLX of hydrogen (CzH ., ethane) , or two
atoms of carbon and four of hydrogen (CzII h ethylene) , or two of car bon and only two of hydrogen
(CZH h acetyl en e)~
A German chemist and professor, Friedrich August
Kekule, came up with the solut ion. T he answer was
q uite simple:
Wh ile t he a toms of m ost elements "hook on " to
the atoms of ot her elements according to t heir va lences, the atoms of carbon " hook 0 0" to each other
as well. To understand t his, write o ut carbon atom s

Cmu pounds

wit h four lines to indi cate the va len ce bonds, but

arrange the lines in these t hree different ways :
-C- - C = = C =
T hen hook the m toge ther, two by t wo, in t hese th ree
different wa ys :
- C -C= =C=C= -C=CNow add a hyd rogen atom to each of t he free bonds
- and there ) "O U have t he formul as for the t hree
hydro-carbons - e thane (CfH fi) ' ethylene (Cf H I ) ,
a nd acetylene (C fH f ) :

H"

/ H

H/

' H

1I<, _C H
11- C H

H-C-C- H

H-C _C -H

So far so good. But there were st ill many carbon

compound formulas that would not line up in this
kind of arrangement. C6H s, for in stance -benzene,
an impor tant hydrocarbon obtained by dist illation
of coal.
Aga in, it wa s K ekuIC wh o offered t he explanat ion.
This ti me it came to h im in a dream. H e had bee n
H

KEKUU'S

BENZENE
RING

I; -,

H~ C

C =H

~i

~C

\\ I

C =

H
A UGUS T KEKUlE HIT UPON THE
STRUCTURE OF THE BENZENE MOlECULE IN A DREAM. A SNAKE SEEMED
TO W HIRL IN A RING BEFOR E HIS
EYES. BY ARRANGING THE SIX CAR
BON ATOMS IN A RING, THE PRO Bl EM WAS SOlVED.

80

,- ,
I
I

'

,,
,

"

"

'

" ,
,

fOR HOMEMADE MODELS OF

CARBON ATO M S, MAKE UP
TETRAHEDRONS FROM CARDBOARD, USING THIS PATTERN.
fOLD AT DOTTED LINES . TAPE
WITH SCO TCH TAPE.
I
_/

IN A CARBON ATOM (AI, THE fOUR VALENCE BONDS

POINT AWAY f ROM THE CENTER (NUCLEUS) TOW ARD
THE CORNERS O f A TETRAHEDRON-A FIGURE MADE
UP O f fOUR TRIAN GLES. IN MO DELS O f CARBON ATOMS,
VALENCE BON DS ARE SHO WN BY RODS (B).

,
,
,

-/

.................
...
... ...
... ...

sma ll circles
repr esent
.hyd rog en ctcms
TWO LA BORATORY MOD ELS
SHO WI NG THE METH A NE
MO LECULE.

working all day with long lines of org anic formu las.
In t he eve ning he dozed before t he fire. In his dream ,
the lines of formulas turned into snakes, tw istin g an d
twi ning - until suddenly one of t he snakes grasped
its own t ail and whirled around in a ring. This dream
gave Kekule t he clue : t he carbon ato ms in benze ne

YOU CAN THINK Of THE BENZENERING

AS SIX MO NKEYS HANGIN G ON TO
EACH O TH ER W ITH ON E OR TWO
HANDS, HOlDIN G BANANAS IN THEIR
FREE HAN DS.

YOUR OWN MOD EL OF

METHANE MOlECULE.

han g toget he r in a ring, each atom using t hree of its

bo nds to hang on t o th e atoms next to it , with one
bond free to hook onto a hydrogen ato m.
Start ing from t hese very simple formu las, modern
scient ists ca n figure out t he most complicated che mica l formu las.

THIS IS THE WAY THE BENZENE MO LECULE l OOK S W HEN IT IS CON STRUCTED FROM PARTS USED TO
MAKE UP LABORATORY MO DELS FOR
DEMON STRATIO N.

81

THIS IS HOW THE BENZENE MOLECULE WIll LOOK WH EN YOU P'

TO GETHER FROM HOME-MADE
BON ATOMS_ YO U CAN 00
WITH SCOTCH TAPE.

--

A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE FIRST OIL WELL IN PENN-

SYLVANIA, Oil fiELDS ARE fOUND IN SEVERAL STATES.

A L ot of Hydrocarhons
THE F.ulILY

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 DONE

IN TALL TOWERS.
THE Oil IS HEATED.
THE VAPORS RISE
IN THE TOWER.
THE LIGHTEST FRACTION S-GAS AND
GASOLINE-GO
TO THE TOP, FOLLOWED BY KERO

LUUlCATING
O ilS
~

SENE, fUEl OIL, LU-

BRICATING OILS,
WAX, ASPHALT.

-IASPHAlT

82

CAR

stops at the service station.

"Fill 'er up !" The attendant pours what may be

a hesane-septene-octanc-nonane mixtur e into the gas
tank . " Check your oil, mist er )" Into th e engine goes
an other h ydrocarbon mixture - possibly along the
line of C2oHu-CuH wC21lIu. And so you take afron hydrocarbon tires. Yes, gasoline, motor oil, and
rubber are all hydrocarbons - compounds that contain only hydrogen and carbon.
A great number of hydrocarbons come from petroleum (cr ude oil). Coal and natural gas p rovid e
several ot hers..Many more are p roduced by nature
- natural rubber, turpentine, camphor, to mention
a few. E ven th e red coloring of tomatoes and the
yellow of carrots are hydrocarbons .
One of the remarkable things about h ydrocarbons
is that it is possible to combine some of those with
small molecules into ot hers with larger ones (as in
making syn th et ic rubber), as well as to "crack" those
with large molecules into ot hers with smaller on es
(as when a heavy oil is " cracked" into gasoline). But
that is only the beginning. By replacing one or more
hydrogen at oms wit h hydroxyl gro ups (0 11) or carboxyl groups (COOH) or chlorine at oms (CI). for instance, it is possibl e to build up more comp licated
compoun ds - which can then b e built up fur the r an d
further. And th at is exa ctl y wha t che mists are doing
t od ay - giving us med icines and dyes. pla sti cs and
explosives, and count less ot her things.

HAMMER LUMPS OF
BITUM INOUS CO AL INTO
A COARSE POWDER . Fil l
FUNN EL W ITH IT. BRIN G
FUN NEL INTO LARGE JAR.

MnHANE-CH..

.:::1:

-;:~

2 TU RN J AR U PSI D E
DOWN . FIl l JA R WITH
WATER. PLACE A W ATER FIllED TEST TUBE OV ER
FUNN EL IN A FEW DAYS.
TU BE IS FIL LED W ITH
METHANE.

-.,iJ
- .'

\IllITE

, VINEGAR

,
IN THE LABORATORY, METHANE IS MADE BY HEATIN G
WATERFREE SO DIUM ACETATE WI TH "SO DA LIME."
TO MAKE SODIUM ACETATE, ADD WASHING SODA
Y2 CUSTARD CUP VIN EGAR UNTIl NO MO RE COt IS
GIVEN O FF. EVAPORATE MIXTURE AT l OW HEAT TO GET
WH ITE POWDER O F SODIUM ACETATE.
MIX 5 9 SODIUM ACETATE (CH1COONlJ). 5 9 SODIUM
HYDROXIDE, AN D 5 g CALCIUM OXID E. DROP INTO TEST
TUBE. SET UP APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING GAS AS
SHOWN BelO W . HEAT TO MAKE METHANE:
NaOH _ CH.. + NlJtC O t
CH1COONa

.,

NAPHTHALENE~I .H .

IURPENTINE_

NAPHTHALENE IS USED IN MAKING MOTH BAllS .

C.. H..

NAPHTHALEN E CAN BE PURIFIED BY SUBLIMATION .

TO DEMONSTRATE THIS, CRUSH A COUPLE OF MO TH
BAllS. HEAT THEM IN A CUSTARD CUP. FIRST THEY
~~::\I~:J M elT, THEN GIVE O FF VAPOR. PUT JAR FillED WI TH
ICE WATER OVER CUP. NAPHTHALENE SmlES ON
BOTTOM IN l EAFY CRYSTALS.

CRACKI NG O il

-'"

- v..v.

~ >r_

POUR A FEW ml HOUSEHOlD

Oi l I N TEST TUBE. PLACE
WAD OF STEel W OOL NEAR
MOUTH OF TUBE. CLOSE IT
W ITH STOPPER THAT HAS A
GlASS TUBE W ITH JET TIP.
HEAT STEEL WOOL A LITTLE
LATER, ALSO HEAT THE OIl.
OIL IS CRACKED INTO GAS
THAT BURNS WHEN IGNITED.

83

PO UR A LITtlE TURPENTINE I N TO A
BOTTLE CAP. PLACE A SMA ll WI CK IN IT.
PLACE BOTTLE CAP ON PIECE OF PAPER.
I NITE TURPENTIN E. IT BURNS INCOMPLETEtv, GIVIN G OFF A BLACK SMOKE OF CARBON
W HICH YOU CAN COllECT IN A JAR.

Carbohydr ates-Sweet and Bland

USUALLY, wh en we t alk a bo ut "hydrates" we mean
chemical s that conta in water. But when we t al k
ab out carbohydra tes we mea n organic com pound s of
carbon. hydrogen. and oxygen in which the proporti on between hyd rogen an d oxygen is the same as in
water (H,O) - th at is, t wil l' as mu ch hyd rogen as
oxygen . And so we find ca rboh-vdrat es that han' 22
a to ms of hyd rogen a nd 11 atoms of oxygen to 12
a to ms of carhon (C 12 H"Oll)' or 12 hydrogen and 6

~, ' ~t;
:r~ ~_

-se-

"

THE SW EETN ESS OF FRUITS A N D

BERRI ES COMES FROM A MIXTURE

OF TWO KIN DS OF SUGAR CALLED
fRUCTO SE AN D G LUCOSE. THESE

SUGARS ARE MADE IN, THE G REEN

LEAVES O F THE PLANT AND SENT
INTO THE FRUITS fO R STORAG E.

oxygen to 6 car bon (C6 H I 20 6 ) . or 10 an d s to 6 carbon a toms (C 6 H IOO~) .

Ca rbohydrat es are prod uced hy pla nts b y a remarkable process call ed ph otosynth esis - " putt ing
thi ngs together with th e help of light." Wh en gree n
leave s a re expo sed to sunlight, the chlorophy ll in
them combin es the hydrogen fro m water with carbon
di oxid e from the air, while setting oX:lgen free along this lin e:
6Il !O + 6CO! + sunligh t - C 6 II n O,
60!
Carbohydrates an- of tremendous im parlan ce t o
all of us. They make lip a la rge part of our food
supply in the form of s ugars and sta rches. Ano ther
carbohy drate called cellulose helps to clothe us (cot t on. lin en) a nd shell er us (wood) .
SUGA R S - .\ Iost of our suga r comes from suga r
hoots or sugar can e. T he j uice is pressed ou t, clea red.
filtered , and evapora ted . The result is pure. white
cr ystals of a suga r wit h the chemical na nn- sucrose
(C n H!!OI') '
Anot he r sugar ca lled glucose (C 6H n 06) is fou nd
in rip e frui ts. ofte n in t he compan y of s t ill anot her
sugar of the same formula called Fruct ose (C,H 12 0,) .
TIJ('s e t wo sugars can be made in the laboratory by
tr eat ing the more complica t ed S UC COSl' with an aci d.
TI \(' sucrose pick s lip wa ter a na splits int o glucose
and fru ctose b y a process kn own as inver sion :
C n II 220 il + H 20 - C,H 120, + C, H nO,
(sucrose)
(glucose) (fruct ose)

(CO" Tl /( UED 0 " PAGE 86)

84

TEST FOR
GLUCOSE
SUGAR

'
f

..

- - ---"

<:::5~Wl]

:'RocHHlE

COPPER

rSUl~

SA LT
HEAT A MIXTURE OF
2 ml FEHLING A AND
2 ml FEHLING B IN
A TEST TUBE. ADD A
FEW DROPS OF SOLUTION TO BE TESTED.
HEAT AGAIN . RED PRE
CIPITATE OF CUPROUS
OXIDE ICu~Ol SHOWS
G LUCOSE IS PRESENT.

A GERMAN SCIENTIST, HERMAN FEHLING, THOUGHT UP THE TEST

FOR GLUCOSE THAT HAS HIS NAME. FOR THIS TEST, TWO SOLU
TIONS ARE REQUIRED. THEY ARE MIXED JUST BEFORE USE.

FEHLING A. DISSOLVE 5 9 COPPER SULFATE IN 70 ml WATER .

FEHLING B. DISSOLVE 7 Il SODIUM HYDROXIDE IN 7 0 ml WATER. IN THIS SOlUTION, DISSOLVE 25 9 ROCHELLE SALT (SO DIUMPOTASSIUM TARTRATE) FRO M YOUR LO CAL DRUG STORE.

TEST CANE SUGAR W ITH FEHLIN G . YOU DO NO T

GET RED PRECIPITATE. CANE SUGAR IS NOT
GLUCOSE BUT ANOTHER SUGAR CALLED SUCROSE.

CANE
. SUGAR
USE FEHLING TEST TO FIND OUT IF DIFFERENT SWEETTASTING FOODS CONTAIN GLUCOSESUGAR, CORN SYRUP,
MAPLE SYRUP, MOLASSES, HONEY. ALSO TRY JUICES OF
VARIOUS fRUITS: PRUNES, ORANGES, LEMONS, BERRIES.
SEVERAL CONTAIN GLUCOSE AND G IVE RED PRECIPITATE.
SUGAR IN MILK lLAOOSEI GIVES Cu~O PRECIPITATE.

MAKING SUGAR CANDY

.,

I T IS EASY TO MAKE LOLLIPOPS.

OVER LOW HEAT AND W HILE STIRRING, DISSOLVE 112 CUP SUGA R IN
2 TABLESPOO NS WATER AND 1 TABLESPOONS LIG HT SYRUP. TH EN
CONTINUE HEATING WITHOUT STIRRING UNTIL A SAMPLE DROPPED
INTO COlD WATER FORMS BRlTILE
THREAD. SPOON OUT TABLESPOON_
FULS ONTO A SHEET OF GREASED
ALUMIN UM FOIL, PUSH STICK IN
EACH BLOB. REMOVE WHEN COLD.

-.

SUCROSE
TO

GLUCOSE

.,fn ...
d 0-

Perform this ex perl.

ment In the . kitchen.

~/1rI?~1

DISSOLVE 1 g CANE SUGAR IN 10 ml WATER IN A

T TUBE. ADD 10 DROPS HYDROCHLORIC ACID.
HEAT GENTlY FOR A fEW MINUTES WITHOUT BOlliNG.

j?

'P I I~ p .

_.L(/-~r-

HEAT FEHLING SOLUTION IN ANOTHER TEST TUBE.

A 0 A fEW ml SUGAR SOLUTION . HEAT AGAIN. YOU
GET REO PRECIPITATE. GLUCOSE HAS BEEN FORMED.

85

C arbohydrates-Continued
ST AR CH ES - Star ch is distribu ted in most plan t
parts. It is a car boh ydra te with w ry large molecules.
Take a look a t its for mula: (C 6 H 100~) . At first gla nce
it looks q uite simple. But note th at little x - it
sta nds for " a ny num ber of tim es." A single molecule
of s ta rch may weigh 6.000 tim es as m uch as a single
molecule of glucose.
You ca n b reak t his polysaccharide (vm a ny-sugar")
into the monosaccha ride C'single-sugur") glucose hy
t reat ing it with an add .
CE LLU LOSE is th e b uilding ma terial of t he plant
world. It mak es up the cell walls of lea ves a nd stalks,

A GROWING PLANT IS THE

MOST ASTON ISHING CHEM
[CA L FA CTO RY ON EARTH.

THE GREE N SUBSTA NCE IN

LEAV ES-CALLED CHLORO PHYLL- WITH THE HELP O F
SUN LIGHT IS ABLE TO COMBINE WATER (TA KEN IN BY
THE ROOTSI W ITH CARBON
DIOX IDE FRO M TH E A IR
(TA KEN IN THROU G H THE
LE AV ES) TO FO RM SUGAR
FIRST A N D THEN STARCH.

wood an d fibers. Cotton is 95 per cent cellulose. The

paper a ll which this book is printed is spe cially
treated cellulose. So is the cellophane a round ~"(J u r
candy a nd the rayon that goes into lad ies' dresses.
F or more about cellulose in na t ur al fibe rs a nd rayon,
see pa ges 102-103.
EXPERIMENTS WITH PHOTOSYNTHESIS
1 POT UP A NASTURTIUM OR G ERANIUM PLANT A ND
PLA CE IT IN THE DAR K FO R A COUPLE O F DAYS.
THEN FA STEN STR IPS O F BLACK PAPER ACROSS BOTH
SIDES O F O N E OR MORE LEAVES. NOW EXPOSE THE
G RO W IN G PLANT TO THE SUN LIGHT FOR TW O HOURS.

PICK OFF A LEAF. REMOVE BLACK PAPER STRIPS.

DIP IN BO ILIN G WATER FOR A MOMENT TO KILL
THE LEAF. THEN DROP IT INTO DENATURED A LCOHOl
IN A CUSTARD CUP. PLAC E CUSTARD CUP IN A POT
OF BOILING WATER. AS A LCOHOl G ETS HO T, IT EX
TRACTS THE CHLORO PHYlL FRO M THE LE AF . KEEP
LEAF IN A LCOHO L UNTIL A LL CHLOROPHYll IS O UT.
3 PLA CE LE AF IN IO DINE TEST SOlUTION . PARTS
EXP OS ED TO SUN TURN BLUE. THI S PRO VES PRE S
EN CE O F STARCH. UNEXPOSED PA RT S BECOM E BROWN.

86

PREPARING STARCH

TEST FOR STARCH

IT IS A SIMPLE MATTER TO
GET STARCH FRO M POTATOES.

'~

IH

.\

-r

~."
0<
.,

o ,

Ie....
Z.. /.

'l

T~:ST

SO......T I
POTA~ -

'

s'" ....

N'

sr

I OP IPI'

\
SOLUTION FO R TESTIN G STARCH CAN BE
MADE BY DILUTING 5 ml REGULAR TIN CTURE O F IO DIN E W ITH 4 S ml WATER.

--

PEEL A COUPLE OF POTATOES. GRATE

EM UP ON FINE SIDE OF GRATER.

OR YOU CAN MA KE IT BY DISSOLVING A

FEW IO DIN E CRYSTALS (FRO M EXPERI
MENT ON PAGE 4S) IN A SOLUTION OF
I 9 POTASS IUM IODIDE IN 50 ml WATER.
IODINE G IVES A BLUE CO LORTO STARCH.

r.- - - -.---

LET STARCH SETILE IN

POT. POUR OFF MOST OF
WATER. POUR REST INTO A
JAR FOR FURTHER SETIUNG .

PLACE POTATO PULP ON DOUBLE LAYER

F CHEESE CLOTH. FOLD UP AND TIE. DIP
BAG IN POT OF WATER. SQUEEZE. DIP
AND SQUEEZE UNTil MOSLSTARCH IS OUT._-,

AGAIN, POUR WATER

O FF UNTIL VERY liTTLE IS
terr. PO UR THE REST ONTO
A PLATE. PLACE IN A WARM
SPOT TILL STARCH IS DRY.

EXPERIMENTS WITH STARCH

TO MAKE 1 PER CENT STARCH SOLUTION

STIR % 9 STARCH IN 5 ml CO LD WATER.
ADD 45 ml MORE WATER . BRIN G TO SOIL
WHI LE STIRRING, THEN COOL SOLUTION.

---=

.,,

1
I-----,

---.
TO 10 m[ 1 PER CENT STARCH
SOLUTION ADD 10 DROPS HYDROCHLORIC ACID. BOIL FOR
2 M INUTES. TEST THE RESULT
WI TH FEHLING SOLUTION . YOU
GE T RED PRECIP I TATE TH AT
SHOWS PRESENCE O F G LUCOSE.
~~~f UN TREATED STARCH SOLUTION
DOES NOT REACT WI TH THE
FEHLING SOLUTION.

C"

' ~

'r--,

I I

F
f--

I--

f--

<,

LINE UP FIVE TEST TUBES, EACH CON TAIN ING 5 ml

WATER AND 1 DROP IOD IN E TEST SOLUTION . IN AN
OTHER TEST TUBE, ADD 2 DROPS OF SALIVA (SPITTLE) TO 5 ml STARCH SOLUTION . PLACE THIS IN
GLASS OF WARM (N OT HOT) WATER. W ITH 2-M INUTE
INTERVALS, DROP 3 DROPS SALIVA-STARCH M IXTURE
INTO A TEST TUSE WITH IO DIN E SOLUTION . SHAKE.
COLOR GETS LESS AND LESS BLUE. SALIVA DIGESTS
THE STARCH AND TURNS IT INTO A SUGAR, MA LTOSE.

87

""

I INc;;.

, .I

' ---- IJ ,j II
- =.. . _- I I I

,,,

CeHog""".

I I

r~=:========:;;;~'>\1'~\
~\'

P .... IN T

PLASl"I C

"",-,. '

l.--' ...... '"

S,...t h.. ic

lubber

6d~;;i'---.JL-J '~"'"~

Many JlLnds of Alcohols

To )IOST PEOPLE, alcohol is t he st rong st uff in bee r.
wine. and bard liquor. But to a chemist . this is ju st
one of DIan)" alcohols.
Alcohols may be considered.hydrocarbons in whi ch
one or more h ydrogen (H) a tom s a re replaced b~..
hydroxyl (OH) grou ps. Their nam es are ma de up
from the nam es of t he hydroca rbo ns to which th e)"
are rela ted by giving t hese an "-01" ending. I n t his
wa y, CH I' methane. becomes C HI OH , methan ol
(also called meth yl alcohol) ; e IH ethane. becomes
CIHsOH. ethanol (also kn own as ethyl or grain alcohol) ; and so on . ~J ethanol (CHsOH) was origina lly
called. wood alcohol because it was made by the destructive dis tilla tion of wood . It is very poisonous
a nd is therefore u sed to " denat ure" et hanol, m aking
this unfit for drinking.

E thanol (C,H ~O H) is produced tod a y, to a great

exte nt, in t he same wa y in whi ch it was made thou sands of years ago, by a process ca lled fermentation.
I n t his, the tin~r plant cells of yea st are made 10 grow
in th e solution of a sim ple sugar . such as glucose
(C,I1I1 O,). In growing, the yeast cells give off a s ubstan ce called zy ma se. This ac ts as a ca tal yst a nd
t urns t he glucose into et hanol an d ca rbo n dioxide :
C, H uO, - 2C, H ~OH + 2COJ
The et ha nol is Iinally separated from the watery
liquid by distillation .
Gly cerol (C .H ~(O H)I) is st ill anot her alcoh ol
whi ch vou probably know better under the name of
glycerin. Glycerol may be conside red a product of
propan e (C,H,) in which nol one but three H atoms
ha....e been re placed b y OH.

THE " FAMi lY TREE" O F ETHANOl-WITH SOME OF ITS CHilDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, AND GREAT-GRAN DCHil DREN.

.e; <

----

<,
ETHANOL

i':--

A
(GRAIN
ALCOHOL)

<,

"<,

;::====:::SYNTH ETlC RUBBER

STYRENE ;:=.
PLASTICS

ETHYLENE

_ GLYCOl

DIETHYL ETHER

~~=====
:OXAlIC
ACID
:::
EXPLOSIVES

ACETONE
AC ETIC AC ID

~====== BUTYL
~

CEllU LOSE ACETATE ':..

a_
-

IO OO FO RM
ACETALDEHYDE
_ CYANOH YDRIN -

ACETALDBiYDE

ACETIC ANH YDRIDE

88

ALCOHOl
CHLOROFORM

- PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM
- TEXTi l E f iBERS
PRO PIONIC ACID

METHYL ALCOHO LMETHANOL

METHYL SALICYLATE

melh~nol
vapors burn
with blue
Rome
METHANOl CAN BE PRODUCED BY DRY DISTILLATION OF
WOOD. FIll A TEST TUBE ONE THIRD FUll O F SLIVERS
O F WOOD. HEAT. LEAD VAPORS THROUGH LSHAPED GLASS
TUBE INTO TEST TUBE IN MIXTUR E OF WA TER AND ICE.

CRUSH AN ASPIRIN
TABLET. MIX WITH
% TEASPOON SODIUM
BISULFATE . HEAT .
DROP A FEW DROPS
O F METHANOL l O R
1.~~r~:\\\,.1L DENATURED ALCOHOl}
ON TO HOT MIXTURE.
YO U GET SMEll OF
W IN TERGR EEN O ILMETHYl SALICYLATE.

ETHYL ALCOHOLETHANOL

ETHANO L I S
PRODUCED BY
THE FERMENTA
TlON OF SUGAR

\
IN A PINT Bo nLE MIX Y. CUP CORN SYRUP W ITH
1 CUP WARM WA TER. ADD YI PACKAGE YEAST THAT
HAS BEEN SOfT ENED IN LUKEWARM WATER. PLACE BOTTLE IN A WARM SPOT. SHORTLY THE LIQUID BEGINS
TO BUBBLE. LEAD THE GAS INTO LIME WATER. GAS IS
CO J IN A FEWDAYS. GAS DEVELOPMENT SLOWS DOWN .

filTER HALF OF THE FE RMENTED LIQUID INTO A

. PINT SCREWTOP CAN . SET UP APPARATUS FO R
DISTILLATION AS DESCRIBED 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.

~'

e-/
IODOFORM FROM
ETHANOL
TO A SOlUTION OF 1 9
POTASS IUM IODIDE IN 5
ml WATER ADO IO DINE
CRYSTALS TO GET DARK
BROW N COlOR . ADD 5 ml
ETHANOL. ADO 10-/_ NoaH
SOLUTION UNTIl COLOR
I
DISAPPEARS. HEAT GENTLY
TWO MINUTES. LET COOL.
- - :
THE YEllOW PRECIPITATE
C? IS IODOFORM--CHI.

A
I

ETHYL ACETATE
FROM ETHANOL

CHLOROFORM FROM
ETHANOL

IN A TES T TUBE, MIX 3 ml

ETHANOL WITH 2 9 SO
DIUM BISU LFATE AND 3 ml
WHITE VIN EGAR. HEAT IT
GENtlY. SNIFF CAREFUL
LY. THE SOUR SMELl O F
VINEGAR HAS TURNED
INTO THE FRUITY SMELL
OF ETHYL ACETATE
(CH.COOC.H.I. IT IS A
MUCH-USED SOlVENT.

MIX 5 ml ETHANOl WITH

5 ml SODIUM HYPOCHLO
RITE SO LUTION ("C LO.
ROX"). HEAT MIXTUR E
GENTLY FOR A FEW MO
MENTS WITHOUT BOILING.
THEN SNIFF CAREFUllY.
YOU GET THE PECULIAR
SWEETISH ODOR OF CHLO
ROFORM_THE C.HIOH HAS
BEEN TURNED INTO CHO

89

A
I

'.

- -- -

{:>

C arboxylic A cids
Cax YO U THII\"K of an ything more refreshin g than a
glass of cold lemo nade on a hot summer's day~ Or
anyt hin g better than cranberry sauce for ad ding a
tangy tas te to th e T hanksgiving dinn ed
T he tartness of lemonade and cranberry sauce
comes from organic acids.
T hese acids ar e found ready-made in nature in
great numbers. Some of t hem occur as free acids
(cit ric acid , ta nnic acid, malic acid), e thers as esters
(products of acid s and alcohols, such as fats and oils
and the flavors of many fruits an d t he odors of many
flowers). Still ot her of these organic acids are prod uced hy the action of bacteria (acetic acid from
wine or cid er, lactic acid when milk t urns sour, but yric acid in rancid butter).
Some organ ic acids can be ext racted directly from
t h e plant parts in which t h ey are found. But to get
them in pure an d concentrated form it is usuall y
necessary to t ur n them into sodium or calcium salts
and t h en free th e acids from th e salts wit h a st ronger
acid . .Many of t he acids which were form erly obtain ed from plant parts can now be made ar tificially
in t he laboratory.
Organic acid s have one thing in common. TI ley
all contain a combination of one carbon atom , one
cxygr m atom, and one h ydroxyl group (OH ). T his
COOH comb ination, called a carboxyl group (from
a j oining-up of th e words carlxm and hy droxyl),
h as given t h e organic acids their scientific name, car boxyli c acids. Wh en these acids form salts it is the
H in t he carboxyl gro up that is replaced by a metal,
as, for inst an ce, when CH sCOOH (acetic acid) form s
CHsCOONa (sodium acetate).

ACETIC ACID IS W HAT

MAKES VINEGAR TASTE
SOUR. VINEGAR MEANS
" SO UR WI NE." THAT IS
WHAT IT USED TO BE.

TANNIC ACID 1 USED FOR

TANN ING, IS FOUND IN
THE BARK O F A NUMBER
OF TREES AND IN GA tL
A PPLES ON O AK TREES.

......."

;::~:~~lI~tSALlCYLIC

ACID GO T
ITS NAME FROM SAUX,
LATIN FOR W ILLOW. IT
WAS FIRST MADE FRO M
BARKOF W IllOW TREES.

CITRIC ACID G IV ES
T H E TART T ASTE TO
C ITRUS FRUITS-LEMONS, LIMES, GRAP EFR UITS, AND ORANG ES.

.:

- '/

-s-:
--. .. ,-. i:

- -. _--- '

MALIC ACID IS FOUND IN MANY

UNRIPE FRUITS-GR EEN APPl ES,
PLU MS. CURRA NTS, AND A GREAT
NUMBERO FO THERS . NAMECOMES
FRO M LATIN MAW S- APPLE TREE.

OXALIC ACID O RIGI.

NAllY CAME fRO M THE
WOOD SORREl PLANTQXA lIS . N O W IT IS
MADE ARTIFICIALLY.

FORMIC ACID IS THE

HI GHL Y I RRIT ATIN G
ACID THAT ANTS (FOR.
MICA' PUMP INTO YOU
WHEN THEY BITE YOU.

90

YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE

SODIUM ACETATE (ON PAGE 83).

ACEtiC ACID

VINEGAR

c..o
VINEGAR IS DILUTED ACETIC ACID . SEVERAL OF ITS
SALTS-ACETATES-CAN BE MADE FROM VINEGAR. USE
LIME FOR MAKING THE CALCIUM SALT-{CH,COO),Co .
1 WARM 50 ml WHITE VINEGAR IN A CUSTARD CUP.
o CALCIUM OXIDE UNTIL NO MORE DISSOlVES.

FILTER SOlUTION TO REMOVE UNDISSOlVED CALCIOXIDE. FILTRATE CONTAINS CALCIUM ACETATE.

3

EVAPORATE SOlUTION UNTIL ALMOST DRY. DO NOT

ERHEAT-IF YOU DO , THE ACETATE BREAKS UP
INTO CALCIUM CARBONATE AND ACETONE ICH, COCH, ).

TANNIC ACID
TANNIC ACID IS
FOUND IN TEA.

YOU CAN AGAIN DRIVE ACETIC

ACID OUT OF ITS CALCIUM SALT.
MIX CALCIUM ACETATE WITH AN
EQUAL AMOUNT OF SODIUM BISULFATE . PLACE IN DRY TEST
TUBE. HEAT GENTLY. YOU GET
SHARP ODOR OF ACETIC ACID.
MOISTENED BLUE LITMUS PAPER
AT MOUTH OF TUBE TURNS RED.

SALICYLIC ACiD
1

BOIL y~ TEASPOONTEAIN

Ll

SO ml WATER. THEN LET IT

STAND TO STEEP AND COO L.
POUR OFF THE CLEAR LIQUID.

.....
.'.
'

' n ".

2 DISSOlVE A CRYSTAL OF
IRON SULFATE IN 5 ml WA
TER AND ADD TO THE TEA_
YOU WILL GET A BLACK PRECIPITATE OF IRON TANNATE_

=
2

PHENOL FROM~~~tE::L
SALICYLIC
ACID

"

t'.'

"",,' .'

.,

1 SHAKE UP 1 9 SALICYLIC
ACID WITH 10 ml WATER. IT
DOESNOT GO INTO SOlUTION .

WITH IRON SUlFATE, SOOt

SALICYlATE GIVES RED
BROWN FERROUS SALICYLATE.

2 ADD 10 PER CENT NoOH

SOlUTION BY THE DROP UNTIL All SALICYLIC ACID IS
DISSOlVED. YOU NOW HAVE A
SODIUM SALICYLATE SOlUTION.

4 A FERRIC SALT GIVESWINE.

REO FERRIC SALICYLATE.

5 COPPER SULFATE GIVES THE

GREEN COPPER SALICYLATE.

91

...........

IN A DRY TEST TUBE, MIX

A SMALl AMOUNT OF SALICYLIC ACID WITH AN EQUAL
AMOUNT OF CALCIUM OXIDE.
HEAT GENTlY. REMOVE TUBE
FROM HEAT. SNIFF. YOU GET
THEODOR OF PHENOl-ALSO
KNOWN AS CARBOLIC ACID.

BEEF

>

COCONUT

'I}

.;f::~--~::~-~~~;?~~
' ~~~ ~-!~l8-;IJJ
MOST COMMONLY SO LID AT
USUA L ROOM TEMPERATURE.

'

"

b utter

__
-

,-

- .- -~ __
suet

. ~>
. .I

F ats and Oils for Energy

See rs OF Til E FOOD you eat is used for yo ur gro wth ,
some of it for giving yo u th e energy to do all th e
th ings yo u want to do. l\I uch of t his energy comes
from carbohydrates (sugars and starches). T he rest
you get from fats - t he most concent rated energy
foods availab le.
All fats are esters , that is. combinations of Iat ty
adds with the alcoho l, glycerol (glyceric}. Some fats
(butter, lard) are solid at usual room temperature.
ot hers ar e liquid (olive oil, corn oil). But when heated, the solid fats melt, and, when cooled, the liquid
fats turn solid.
Liquid fats ca n be t urn ed completely into solid
fat s by a process called hydrogenation. I n th is, more
hyd rogen atoms are added to th eir molecules with
the help of a catalyst . T hat is how vegetable shortenings and margarine are ma de. T he liquid olein in
pea nut, cottonseed, and soybean oils is made to pick
tip hydrogen and become a solid fat known as stearin :

(C nHuCOO)IC1Hs

+ 3H, - rc., lin

CO O) IC ~ H 5

--

(olein)
(s tearin)
- ,
Fats and oils are used for ma ny other th ings in
~ ~ ..
add ition to t heir use as food . Soap and candles arc C
~DfISH3 ~
?13d{' from fats. So are paints and \ arn ishr-s, printers' - ' ~
mks and some of th e det ergents.
.. :U ,
Ei:,

----'- 1!;
i

.--*
0"

.:~ ~--:

--

Oil

_~_ ~

EXTRACTING
FAT

UO_
T. .... c h l. " d .

,
f ILTER CHOCOLATE-TETRACHLORIDE MIXTURE. LET f iLTRATE STAND
UNTIL CARBON TETRACHLORIDE HAS
EVAPORATED AND YEllOW-WH ITE
COCOA BunER IS LEfT _

SHAVE A SMALL SQUARE Of BAKER 'S CHO COLATE OR BIITER CHOCOLATE INTO f iNE BITS.
IN A CUSTARD CUP. POUR CARBON TETRACHLORIDE OVER THE CUT-UP CHOCOlATE AND STIR.

Be careful nat to breathe fumes.

RENDERING FAT
" REN DERIN G" IS THE MO ST COMMON METHOD Of EXTRAOING fAT .

CUT UP A SMALL AMO UNT Of SUET- THE fAT

fROM A PIECE O f BEEf . DROP IT IN TO HOT
WATER _ BOIL W ATER fOR TEN MINUTES O R MORE.

TEST FOR
FAT

1 CRUSH A CO UPL E Of PEANUTS. DROP THEM IN A TEST

TUBE. COV ER THEM WITH CARBON TETRACHLORIDE AND
LET STAN D ABOUT S MINUTES. POUR A fEW DROPS ON A
PIECE Of PAPER. LET CARBON TETRACHLOR IDE EVAPORATE.

REMOVE THE RENDERE[).QUT SUET. PLACE CUSARD CUP IN REfRIGERATOR. AfTER COOLING YOU
CAN urr O f f THE fAT AS A SOLID DISK.

lOOK AT THE PAPER AGAINST THE liGHT. THE ALMOST

TRANSPARENT " GREASE SPOT" IS A TEST fOR f AT.

TEST FOR GLYCEROL

(GLYCERIN)

. ...

. Ii

IN A DRY TEST TUBE ADD V4 TEASPOON SODIUM BISULFATE TO I ml /

VEGETABLE O il AND HEAT GENTlY .
WAfT THE IRR ITATING ODOR TOWARD YOU AND SNiff CAUTIOUSLY.
THE SMEll IS fROM ACROLE IN
WHICH IS PRO DUCED BY BREAKING
DOWN THE G LYCERIN IN THE f AT.

;::::=
./:.:"
r----';"

FATTY

! ,'

ACIDS

THE N oHSO. SETS THE

G LYCEROL fREE, THEN
IMMEDIATELY DESTROYS
IT. G LYCERO L LOOSES
W ATER AND TURNS IN TO
ILL-SMElliN G ACROlEIN ,
C, H. IO H), -+
C, H. O+ 2H,O

93

'.

.'

.----

.:

DISSOLVE lh TEASPOON SOAP

POWDER OR fLA KES IN SO ml WARM
WATER. ADD 10 ml HYDROCHLO RIC
ACID. YOU W ILL GET LUMPS OF
THE FAnY ACIDS Of WH ICH SO AP
IS THE SO DIUM SA LT_ M O STlY
STEARIC AN D PALMIT IC ACI DS.
STEARIC ACID IS ADDED TO PAR_
AFFIN IN THE MAKING Of CANDlES.

IIII~'IIII
IN THE OlD-FASHIONED SOAP KmLE, ONLY A FEW
GALLON S OF SOAP COULD BE MADE AT ONE TIME.

II

IN MODERN SOAP PANS,

SEVERAL STORIES HIGH , UP
TO 100 TONS Of FAT CAN
BE TURNED INTO SO A P.

\VHEo"'"EVER YOUR mxns get dirty, it is an easy matter to get th em clean .

All yo u need is water and plenty of C H 1C H 1C H 1C H,CH ,C H,CH,CH ,C H,
CH ,C H,CH,CH,CH,CHzCHzCHzCOONa - C 17H u COONa for short, the
sodi um salt of stearic acid, a substance more generally known as soap.
Soap has been used for cleaning for thousands of years. No one kn ows who
invented it - but the method for making it was passed down from father
to son, from mother to dau ghter. The early soap makers first had to burn
wood to get potash (K ZC01-see p age.59) or dr ied seaweed to get soda ash
(Na,C0 1 ).T his was treated with lime to make potassium or sodium hydroxide (KOH or N aOH - see page -15), and thi s, in turn, was boiled wit h fat
to make soap . Ver y mu ch th e same method is used today - except th at the
boiling is done in tremendous soap pans under steam pressure.

STRONG SOAP BUBBLES RE SULT

WHEN YOU ADD GLYCERIN TO
THE SOAP SOlUTION. HERE IS
A RECIPE: 5 9 SOAP, 100 ml
WATER, AND 10 ml GLYCERIN.

o
o

Q)

GQ

THIS IS THE W AY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT SOAP ACTS, ONE

END OF THE SOAP MOLECULE IS SOLUBLE IN WATER, THE OTHER
END IN OIL. WHEN O IL IS SHAKEN UP IN SOAPY WATER, THE
OIL DROPS ARE SURROUNDED BY THE SO AP MOLECULES DIPPING
THE OIL-DISSOLVING ENDS INTO THE O IL. THE WATERSOlUBLE
ENDS HOlD THE OIL DROPLETS SUSPEND ED.

MAKING SOAP

."

MA KE A WATER BATH BY POURING

1 INCH WATER INTO A TIN CAN .

...

CRISCO

DISSOLVE 10 0 9 TABLE
lT IN 300 ml WATER. POUR
E HOT SOAP MIXTURE INTO
T IS SOlU TION . THE SO AP
II "SALT OUT" IN THICK.
C EESELIKE CURDS.

-._----."

~,

M ELT 10 'iii SHORTENIN G ("CRISCO " OR SIMILAR

PRODUCT) IN A CUSTARD CUP ON THE WATER BATH.
2

DISSOlVE 5 9 SODIUM HYDROXIDE {N oO HI IN 15

m W ATER. ADO 15 ml DENATURED ALCOHOL (TO

SPEED UP THE ACTION ). POUR THIS SOlUTIO N INTO
THE MELTED SHORTENING WH ilE STIRRING. CONTINUE
HEATING AND STIRRING UNTIL A SMAll SAMPLE DISSOlVES COMPLETElY IN Y.z TEST TUBE W ATER. THE
SOAP MAKIN G ISAPONI ZATIONJ IS THEN COMPLETED.

~~

DISSOlVE I 'iii OF YOUR HOMEMADE SOAP IN 50 ml LUKE

W ARM WA TER. ALSO MAKE
SOLUTIONS IN 50 ml W ATER
OF 1 'iii TOILET SOA P, I 9 SO AP
FLAKES, I 'iii SOAP PO WDER,
I 'iii PO WDERED DETERGENT,
AND I ml LIQUID DETERGENT.

--:;:

Soap

TESTING SOAP
AND DETERGENTS

~akes

.'';';
~~

TIE A PIECE O F CHEESE CLOTH OVER THE TO P

O F A JAR. POUR THE SALT SOlUTION WI TH THE
SOAP CURDS INTO CHEESE CLOTH AND l ET SALT SOLUTION DR AIN O FF. WASH THE SOAP BY POURING
TWO TEST TUBES OF ICECOlD WATER THROUGH IT
TO REMOVE MOST O F T E SALT THAT'S STIll O N IT.
S

" ~

I I

2 SHAKE 5 DRO PS O F O IL INTO EACH SO LU

TION . NO TE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE W AY
THE SOlUTION S MA KE EMULSION WITH OIl.
AGAIN, POUR 10 ml Of EACH SOlUTION
NTO SEPARATE TEST TUBES. ADD 5 ml LIM E_
WATER TO EACH. SHAKE AN D NOTICE THE
DIFFERENCE IN THE AMO UNT O F FOAM MADE
BY EACH SOLUTION IN THIS " HARD" W ATER.

""

F'
,
r

POUR 10 ml O F THE SOAP AN D DETER

ENT SOlUTIONS INTO SEPARATE TEST TUBES.
TEST EACH SOLUTIO N FOR ACID AND BASE
WI TH lIT MUS PAPER AN D PHENOlPHTHALEIN .

FINAllY, SQUEEZE O UTTHE W ATER AND SPREAD

T THE CHEES E CLOTH TO LET THE SOA P DRY.

I-

i=;

= ,,

F'

""I

'I

1= ~ F ,

k,

IQ>
/

'-

17'

~~ ~ '-

I@

r-:-::;

J
,

<,

I@
'-.. 1-- '-...1- "-

'\
95

cheese
eggs

- - 0-' _, : _' ~_~: ~. _

- -- .--

AT .... L~toST every meal, we look forward especially

to the p roteins: ham and eggs for breakfast, hamburgers 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 product s - from ice crea m to Jell-G.
While mo st othe r foodstuffs, such as carbohydrates
and fa ts . consist of ca rbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
PROTEIN IN EGG

-----------

(/-~
_:.. --~

the proteins also contain nitrogen and, for the most

part, s ulfur. Their molecules are "gia nts" compared
with the molecules of ot her chemi cal compo unds.
One of them. albumin in egg. ha s this estimated
form ula : C n ~Hll H0 100NII DS1 S .
Not all proteins are edible. You would hardly think
of ea ting hair and nail s, furs and feathers - yet
the se are all proteins.(CO{o;TIN UED ON PAGE 99)

THE PROTEIN IN
EGG IS CA LLED
A LBUMIN

,"

SHAKE 5 ml EGG WH ITE W ITH

5 ml WA TER . ADD 5 ml DENATURED ALCOHOL THE ALCOHOl
CAUSES THE ALBUMIN TO COAG
UlATE OUT IN WH ITE fl ECKS.

CRACK AN EGG. SEPARATE WH ITE FROM YOLK BY

trrnxc W HITE flOW INTO A CUP W HILE RETAINING YOlK IN EGG SHELl. BEAT WHITE W ITH FORK.

Fill CUSTA RD CUP HA lf

f ULL OF WATER. BRING TO
A BOil . POUR IN THE EGG
WH ITE THAT IS l EfT. IT
COAGUlATES INTO A f iRM
W H1TE MASS. THISMETHOD
IS USED IN COOK ING . IT
IS CAllED " PO ACHIN G ."
SHAKE 5 ml BEATEN EGG W HITE W ITH
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.

96

THE ITEMS ON THE

TOP OF THESE TWO
PAGES ALL CONTAIN
PROTEINS.

Peanut
Bulter

1 PLACE A SMALL PIECE OF

COAGULATED EGG WHITE
ON A PIECE Of TIN . HEAT.
VAPORS SMell Of AMMONIA AN D TURN WETTED RED
lITMUS PAPER BLUE. AMMO NIA IS NH . ALBUMIN MUST
CONTAIN NAND H.

WHAT DOES ALBUMIN CONSIST OF?

ALBUMIN IS FOUND
IN EGGS, BLOOD,
MILK. AND GRAIN.

.'

."

2
DROP A SMAll PIECE OF COAGULATED EGG WHITE
INTO A TEST TUBE. COVER IT WITH 5 ml 10-/. NoOH
SOLUTION. HEAT. WHITE GOES IN SOlUTION.

2 CONTINUE HEAT.
ING . IN THE END,
CARBON REMAINS.
ALBUMIN THEREFORE
CONTAINS CARBON.
IT ALSO CONTAINS
OXYGEN.

POUR A FEW DROPS OF THE EGG WHITE SOLU

TION ONTO A BRIGHT SILVER COIN . IN A FEW MINUTES
SILVER COIN TURNS BROWNISHBLACK FROM SILVER
SULFIDE, PROVING THAT ALBUMIN CONTAINS SULFUR.

WHAT DOES EGG YOLK CONTAIN?

TEST FOR SOLID

WHITE PROTEIN

--

-~
.....-=- - _ .

;:;:::

1 IN TEST TUBE, DIS.

SOLVE V.. TEASPOON
SODIUM BISULFATE IN
5 ml WATER . ADO %
TEASPOON POTASSIUM
NITRATE. DROPIN SMAll
PIECE OF COAGULATED
EGG WHITE . HEAT .
NoHSO.. AND KNOt
FORM HNO.-NITRIC
ACID. THIS COlORS THE
ALBUMIN YElLOW.

2 ADD HOUSEHOLD
AMMONIA. THE YElTEST CHEESE, WOOL, CHICKEN, LOW ALBUMIN TURNS
LIMA BEANS THE SAME WAY . BRIGHT ORANGE.

97

Be careful not to breathe fumel.

1 SHAKE 5 ml OF THE YOLK WITH 5 ml CARBON TETRACHLORIDE TO FIND OUT If IT CONTAINS FAT.

:z: POUR A LITTLE OUT ON PAPER. LET CARBON TET

RACHLORIDE EVAPORATE. GREASE SPOT REMAINS.
3 HEAT THE MIXTURE. YOU GET A WHITE COAGULA
TJ N. YOlK AND WHITE BOTH CONTAIN ALBUMIN.

PROTEIN IN MILK

ADD ONE TEST TUBE FULL OF

WHITE VINEGAR TO THE WARM
SKIM MILK. THE CASEIN SEPARATES IN HEAVY, WHITE CURDS.

MILK IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE

OF PROTEIN. THE PROTEIN IN
MILK IS CALLED CASEJN. CHEESE
JS SPECIAllY TREATED CASEIN.

I
POUR Yz CUP SKIM MILK
lOR MIXTURE OF S TEA _
SPOONS SKIM MILK POWDER
AND Yz CUP WATER} INTO
A CUSTARD CUP . HEAT
GENTLY UNTIL IT FEElS JUST
SLIGHTlY WARM WHEN YOU
TEST IT WITH A FINGER .

------~
"
FOLDCHEESE CLOTH UP AROUND
T E CASEIN. DIP THE SAG IN WATER AND SQUEEZE SEVERAL TIMES
TO WASH OUT WHEY AND VINEGAR.
SQUEEZE THE CASEIN ALMOST
DRY. SPREAD OUT THECHEESE CLOTH
TO LET THE CASEIN DRY.

TIE A PIECE OF CHEESE

CLOTH OVER A JAR. POUR
THE CURDLED MILK JNTO THE
CHEESE CLOTH. LET LIQUID
(W HEYMIXED WITH VINEGAR)
RUN OUT. KEEP THE LIQUID.

'-1fJ'\.,-fi'<..,<:'f

WHAT ELSE IS IN MILK?

m
POUR THE VINEGAR-MIXED WHEY INTO A
~USTARD CUP AND BRING JTTO A BOIL. YOU

MAKING CASEIN GLUE

SOFTEN 4 9 CASEIN WITH" ml WATER.
SHAKE UP I 9 CALCIUM OXIDE IN 4 ml
WATER. POUR THE CALCIUM OXIDE MIXTURE INTO THE CASEIN WHILE STIRRING.
THE RESULTING SMOOTH PASTE IS AN EXCElLENT GlUE FOR PAPER AND FOR WOOD.

Will SEE TINY WHITE flECKS . THESE ARE

ALBUMIN COAGULATED OUT BY THE HEAT.

FILTER THE WHEY . TEST THE fiLTRATE

WITH FEHLING SOlUTION {SEE PAGE 851.
MILK SUGAR GIVES RED Cu~O PRECIPJTATE.

98

THE DILUTED HYDROCHLORIC

ACID DISSOlVES THE CALCIUM
SALTS IN THE BONE, LEAVING
A flEX IBLE SUBSTANCE CAllED
OSSEIN. WASH OFF THE ACID.
EXTRACT THE GelATIN IN THE
OSSEIN BY BOlliNG IN WATER.

GlLATIN IS A PROUIN
GELATIN IS MADE fROM
AN IMAL BONES AND HIDES.

1 REMOVE THIGH BONE

fROM AN UNCO OK ED
CHICKEN LEG. SCRAPE IT
CLEAN Of MEAT. DROP IT
IN A TEST TUBE, COVER
WITH 3 ml HYDROCHLORIC ACID IN 12 ml WATER.
LET STAND fOR 3 DAYS.

fiLTER THE SOlUTION. ON COOLING, IT BECOMES

JEllY-LIKE. IT HAS TURNED fROM " SOl" TO "GEl."

P roteins-Con tinued

GELAT IN - Gelatin is a protein made from animal

skins and bon es, horns and hooves.
Gelatin behaves in a peculiar man ner with water.
In cold water it merely swells, b ut in bot wate r it
" dissolves" readily, fanning a colloidal dispersion.
As long as ),OU keep tbis dispersion warm , it remains
in a liquid form tbat is called a " sol." 'When cooled,
it turns into a jelly-like form called a " get "

You are certain to be familiar with three common,

pure proteins : alb umin in eggs, casein in milk, and
gelatin.
ALBU \ IlN - Egg white contains aro und 13 per
cent albumin - from Latin albus, while,
When J OU shake up egg white with water, J OU
get what looks like an almost clear solut ion. 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 whi te is kept cool. it sta ys transparent and almost liqu id. But what happens wben
you beat it? You know from Irying or boiling an egg:
It hard ens - coagulates - into a solid white mass
which ),OU can not aga in "dissolve" in water. The
chemist's term for this chan ge is " denaturation" the egg white has cha nged its nature.

TEST FOR LIQUID PROTEINS

MIX 5 ml OF liQUID TO
BE TESTED WITH 5 ml
10 -,'. SOLUTION Of
NoOH . ADD TWO
DROPS OF A 2-/_ SOLUTION Of COPPER
SUlfATE (1 9 IN 50 ml
WATERl. liQUID W ill
TURN REDDISH-VIOlET.

CASEIN - Casein is another protein that goes into

your diet. Some of the casein you drink (milk) , some
of it rou eat (ice cream and cheese).
In cheese making, the casein is separated from the
liquid part of th e milk - the whey. It is th en pressed
and stored until ripe. The flavors of cheeses arc caused mostly by esters created during the ripening,

~-

NaOH
10%
- -'0;:

99

---:
.

.-MILK :;"::;
- .-

:~

CHEfSE
liqu id in .olid

-~
._."-

;:

r--4"
/oV,YON -

L-'-;-"-;-""",?

W....l S10

MAYONNAISE
liqu id in liquid

Colloidal D ispersions
up to a soda fountain and order
" a triple, chocola te-flavo red colloidal disperslonv a
N o? Yet that's what you do when you ask for a
ch ocolate sundae. Ice cream is a colloidal dispersion
of solids in a liquid ; so is chocola te S) T Up. Whipped
cream is a colloidal dispersion of air in a liquid.
It was a Scot. Thomas Graham , who explained
colloids. in 1862. He not iced that some solutions
passed through parchment paper, others didn't. He
discovered that most of those that filtered through
were of chemi cals that formed crystals - he called
them " crystalloids." The others he called " colloids"
- from Greek hotfoot's, 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 chemi cal are too small to
be seen even with the st rongest microscope . In a colloidal dispersion. the much larg er particles can be
seen in an ultra-micro scope - and you can see them
as a light effect when you pa ss a light beam through
the dispe rsion .
Colloidal dispersions can be formed by gases, liquids, and solids . Eight combinations are possible:
'''OULD YOU W A L K

,
BLOOD
,ol id in liquid

o
IN 1862, A SCOTTISH CHEMIST.

THOMAS GRAHAM, PRESENTED

HIS IDEAS ABOUT COllOIDS.

COLORED GLASS ~

~ .olid in . ol1d

"'....

MUDDY WATER

$olid ill liquid

!OO

--_._-

LIGHT TEST FOR COLLOIDS

!.

cone of black construction paper

"'-_ _1.2
1 LIGHT BEAM IS INVISIBLE AS
IT PASSES THROUGH A SOLUTION
(OF SUGAR, FOR INSTANCE].

-~- - -

THIS "TYNDAll EFFECT" GOT

LIGHT BEAM IS VISIBLE AS IT
THROUGH A COllOIDA~---ITS NAME FROM AN ENGlISH
DISPERSION (SUCH AS OF SULFUR).
SCIENTIST, JOHN TYNDAll .
2

~~~'--PASSES

flashlight ~

gases in liquids and in solids; liquids in gases, in

ether liquids, and in solids ; solids in ga ses. in liquids,
and in ot her solids. The illustrations show some of
th ese possibilities - you can think of many others.
The colloidal state is important to life. It is th e
way in which we get most of our food, the way we
digest it. and the way the blood carries nouri shment
throughout our bodies.

0/

(
2

IN PEPTlZATlON, LARGE PARTICLES ARE BROKEN DOWN

INTO SMAllER PARTICLES OF COLLOIDAL SIZE.

("DENAl

~
r
"L--1

; ALe

SULFUR

SHAKE UP I 9 STARCH WITH 100 ml

COLD WATER. IF LEFT UNDISTURBED,
STARCH QUICKLY SETTLES TO BOnOM.
POUR THE MIXTURE OF STARCH AND
WATER INTO A CUSTARD CUP. BRING
TO A BOIL, THEN COOL STARCH HAS
NOW FORMED A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION.

!Y'

-<::~AGULATION.

v.<~~4 ~';;IN

~~~~~~~

MANY:OlECULES Of A SUBSTANCE
TOGETHER INTO PARTICLES OF COLLOIDAL SiZE.

1 SHAKE I 9 FLOWERS OF SULFUR WITH 10 ml DENAURED ALCOHOL A SMALL AMOUNT OF SULFUR GOES
IN SOlUTION. FILTER OUT THE UNDISSOLVED SULFUR.
~

POUR THE ALCOHOLIC SOlUTION OF SULFUR INTO

LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER . YOU Will SEE A WHITE
CLOUD OF FINELY DISPERSED COllOIDAL SULFUR.

Ii.
.:.;.-~

~:;

1...IN EMULSIFICATION, ONE LIQUID IS DISPERSED IN AN OTHER. EMULSIONS CAN BETEMPORARY 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.

I,

I,
.I,
I~

1/

2 SHAKE 5 ml KEROSENE WITH SOLUTION OF Y2 9 SOAP

IN 5 ml WARM WATER. THEN LET STAND. LIQUIDS DO
NOT SEPARATE. THIS IS A PERMANENT EMULSION.

D'
101

!. !.
,

,,

,,

L '

1-'.

f=

f=

.
I

,,

i-=-=:

!l

-' .

:;<...-

:--.:

., .
=

'-

._ ~

....

-~

'-

----=

..
.

VEGETABLE FIBERS CO ME FROM

PLANTS : COTTON, flAX IlINEN).

ARTIFICI AL FIBERS ARE VERY popULAR, NYlON , DACRO N, O RLON.

Natural and Artificial Fihers

are man ufactured synt hetically with coal or petroleum for their starting point.
Fibers belong in different groups of chemical compounds. Animal fibers are p rot eins : vegetable fibers
are cellulose. Artifi cial fibers such as nylon, Orlan
and Da cron are very complex chemical compounds
and ha ve enormously long molecules.

to get along without fibers in

th e modem world. Fibers ar e spun into thread, and
th e thread is made into cloth for clothing and bed sheets, curtains and towels. an d man)" ot her things
aro und th e hou se. Fibers also go into such articles
as string and rope . rugs and auto tires, Some of th ese
fibers come from the plant and animal world s, others
IT WO ULD BE TOUGH

BURNING TEST FOR FIBERS

CUT HAlFINCH STRIPS
O F DIFFERENT FABRICS"
IG NITE EACH STRIP IN
TURN . NOTICE HO W FABRIC BURNS, THE SMEll,
AND ASH LEFT BEHIND.
KIND

COnaN

SMILL

FLAME

ASH

Ra pid, yell ow fla me

like burning pape r

Sma ll, fine, gray

lik e co tto n

LININ

f a irly fast. yellow flame

like catlo n

WOOL

Slow, siuling flame

lik e burn ing hair

Hollo w. bloc k bead.

easy 10 c rush

SILK

Small . slow flam e

like wool

Shiny, ro und bead,

easy to crush

NYLON

Melt s; no fla me

Li ke cel e ry

Melh 10 block bead,

ha rd 10 crush

ORLON

Me lh a nd burns

l ike br oile d fish

VISCOSI
RAYON

Ra pid. yell ow flame

Like co tto n

Block bead.
hard to crus h
Like colton

CILLULOSI
ACETATE

Rapid flame with sma ll

spa rks ; melts

Li ke vineg a r

102

Block bead,
hard 10 c rush

""

POUR .5 11'11 lOY. NoOH

OlUnON 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

AN D. NOTE RESULT.
WOOL AND SILK HAVE DISSOlVED, THEO THERS NO T.

F-i
~

:~

: f-----

U (\
'-of--

~,

:,--

.
I

!,

2 PLACE TEST TUBES IN

A CAN Of HOT W ATER .
BOIL FOR TEN M INUTES.

'.

P.;

CHEMICAL TESTS FOR FIBERS

1.

'-0

I
,

:f---

f---

TI r.r

c,

-,

TRY SAME EXPERIMENT

W ITH STRONG H CI.
SILK AND RAYON DISSOlVE. BUTTHE WOOL
DOES NOT.

~e=~~Q:~A:fT~E:'~LA:

MAKING RAYON

ST WAS HING,
POUR O f f WATER . POUR
W ET CUPRIC HYDRO XIDE
INTO A f ILTER. WASH SOME
MORE. THEN lET IT DRIP.

-_.

RAYON IS MADE BY
" DIGESTIN G " CELl U
LOSE IN CUPRAMMO
NIUM AND THEN SETTING IT FREE AGAIN.
TO MAKE CUPRAMMONIUM SOlU TION, FIRST D IS~
SOlVE 109 CO PPER SUl f ATE IN 10 0 ml WATER IN A PINT
JAR. ADD 10"/0 NoOH SOlUTION UNTil NO MORE lI GHTBLUE CUPRIC HYDROXIDE fORMS. LET STAND . POUR W ATER Off PRECIPITATE. RE-Flll THE JAR W ITH WA TER.
AGAIN LET STAN D. AGAIN POUR W ATER O f f PRECIPITATE.
REPEAT THIS WASHING PRO CESS HALF A DOZEN TIMES .

MAKE APPARATUS AS SHOW N

BELOW, W ITH G LASS TUBE
EN DIN G IN fINE JETTIP. POUR
PAPER SOlUTIO N INTO BOT-

tlE.

SCRAPE THE MOIST CUPRIC HY

DROXIDE INTO A G LASS. ADO STRONG
AMMON IA 127Y., f ROM DRUG STORE)
BY THE DROP UNTIL ALL Cu(OH1. HAS
DISSO LVED AND HAS BECOME DEEP.
BLUE Cu(NH.).IOH Ia- THIS SOlUTION
IS CAllED "SCHWEITZER 'S REAGENT."
TEAR UP 3 TO .4
PIECES O f filTER
PAPER. STIR THEM
INTO THE BLUE LIQUID. THEY W ILL GO
INTO SOlUTIO N.

-:1

-r==",.~

I'.

103

PLAc e THE JETTIP JUST

BelOW THE SURf ACE O F A
MIXTUR E O f 10 11'11 HYDRO_
CHLO RI C ACID AND 500 11'1 1
WATER. BLOW. AS BLUE LIQUID STREAMS OUT
INTO THE DILUTED ACID, IT TURNS INTO W HITISH
STRAND Of RAYON THAT SmLES ON BOTTOM .

THE MAKING OF A TYPICAL

THERMOSEnlNG PLASTIC
PHENOLICS

{p.~ ~:.:: __.

. ..
..

air

cool

~b/
carbon
monoxide

LEO H. BAEKELAND WITH THE AUTOCLAVE IN WH ICH HE MADE BAKELITE

IN HIS YONKERS, N . Y., LABORATORY.

phenol

phenolic resins

Il\,
...---

o=dr~

IJ

EJ

l)

~
a a

Plastics-a M odler n G ian t

ABO UT F IFTY YEARS ago, Dr. Leo H . Baekeland , a
Belgian-born Am erican ch emist , mixed phenol and
formaldehyde together during an experiment. Other
chemists had done thi s before Baek eland and had
wondered how to get the messy goo that resulted
out of their test tubes. But Baekeland had anot her
approach. He aske d him self. " wh at is it good for)"
He decided t o find out. The result was Bakelite the first successful, modern plasti c.
During theyear 1910,Baekeland produced less than
25 barrels of hi s " phenolic" pla sti c in a barn in Yonkers. N. Y. Nowadays , fift y years later, close to
500 milli on poun ds are produced yearly. During
those same fifty years , more than a dozen other types
of pl asti cs were invented.
Today , plastics seem to be everywhere . You find
them in your home in flooring and wall coverings,
in table top s and chair upholstery, in T V cab inets
and telephones. in toys and games, in rigid containers
and in sq ueeze bottles. Much of your food comes to
)-O U protected by some kind of plasti c. The)"ar e used
in planes and trains and cars. A plasti c pu ts th e
"safety" into safety glass. Other plasti cs are used
for long-wearing engine parts and for electrical insulat ion.

''''

HEAT TIP OF GLASS ROD

SLO W LY IN FLAME OF AL.
CO HO L BURNER. PRESS
HOT TIP AGAINST PLASTIC. IT MAKES A DENT
IN THERMOPLASTIC, NOT
IN THE THERMOSETTING.

BUiiR~N~IN~G:::~5~~~
TEA
1'1
I.)

!)r:;

HOLD SMALL
PIECE OF A
PLASTIC IN
FLAME. NOTE
HOW IT BURNS.

MOST THERMOSETTING PLAS

TICS GIVE OFF STRONG ODOR
BUT DO NOT BURN. MOST
THERMOPLASTICS BURN BUT
SOME Of THEM STOP BURNING
WHEN REMOVED FROM fLAME.

THE MAKING OF A TYPICAL

Plasti cs arc made from few simple raw materials

- some just from water, air, and coal , others with
the help of petroleum or natural gas , limestone and
salt . The plasti cs chemist breaks down the comp ar etivel y simple molecules of these materials, then
builds them up anew into wry complex molecules.
Plasti cs may be divided into two main groups according to their special properties. One group consists of the thermosetting plastics . These can be
molded b y heat and pressure, but can not be remelted and remold ed. They are along the lines of egg
white which , once set by heat. stays set. The phenolics and ureas are important thermosetting pla sti cs.
The other group contains the thermoplastics.
These are soft when heated. hard when cooled , but
can be softe ned and hardened repeatedly. You can
compare th em to sulfur and candle wax. The pol yet hylenes, pol ystyrenes, vinyls, and acrylics are in
the th ermoplasti cs " family."

THERMOPLASTIC
VINn

M--Lti1~ ~
} ~
salt

nalural gas

coke

limestone

calcium carbide

chlorine

ethylene

acetylene

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.

vinyl chloride-acetate
copolymer
YOU CAN MAKE UNUsUAt
DECORATIONS FOR THE
WAltS OF YOUR GAME
ROOM FROMOLD RECORDS.

J! \
\ _.-

MOLDING PLASTICS
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 IMPORTAN CE WHEN YOU NOT ONL Y PERFORM AN EXPERIMENT BUT ALSO WORK
OUT THE EQUATION OF THE REACTIO N.

--.

!I I
--..
_ ...r..

I' .,,

lJl
,,&

==

11/ 11

VVc>rking out Chemical Equations

Yo u

a great number of experime nts by

now. You ha ve wor ked with gas es, liquids, a nd solids .
You have prec ipitated and decanted, filtered and
dist illed. As you think back ove r the experi men ts yo u
will discover that they fall into four main groups of
chemic al r ea ctions.
The sim plest of these reactions is the DIRECT
C O~ IBINAT ION. In this. tw o or more subs tances
combine t o form a single m ore complex subs tance.
as wh en iro n and sulfur form iron s ulfide :

In a DO UBLE DISPLAC EM ENT. the t wo compound s change pa r tners with eac h other. Think of
the tim e wh en yo u precipita ted silve r chlo ride from
solu tio ns of sa lt and silver nitrate :

H .WE DO:\r:

-- Ag Cl

or whe n yo u mi xed Epso m sal t and washing sod a :

or when quicklime (calcium oxide) re acts wit h water

to make slaked lime (ca lciu m hydroxide):
a
D ECO~IPO SITI ON is the opposite of che mical
combi na tion. In t his , a s ubstance is broken down
in to simpler substa nces. This wa s the case when you
separa ted the t wo eleme nts found in water :

2H,

1 + 0, 1

or wh en yo u m ade oxyg en fro m hydrogen pero xide:

2!::E:il 0

2 --

2H 20

AI

+0 f
1

f + ZnCl 2

or wh~n yo u set copper free by dropping a nail in a

solution of copper sulfate :
""t:...~

S0, -- Cn

--

~lgCO J

1+ Na,s O ~

+ HO -

AIO

+H I

But is AlCI corrects Look a t the valence char t on

p age 75. Aluminum ha s thre e valence bonds. chlorine ouly one. One AI atom ther efore takes on three
Cl a toms, and aluminum chl oride must be A1Cl $. H
isn' t righ t, eit her. H ydrogen exists in the free state
only in mol ecule s containing two at om s (Hz). So yo u
change the equation to this:

In a SINGL E DISPLACEMENT, one element

takes the place of a not her in a compound , as whe n
you made hyd rogen from zinc a nd hydrochloric aci d:

Cl -- II,

Na

In st udy ing the chem ical short hand above, you

notice that. in ev ery instance. there is an equal number of atoms of each elem ent on eit her side of the
arrow that indicates that a reaction takes place. Beca use of this equal arrangeme nt, these chemica l descript ions ar e call ed equations.
1\lan)" of these equations are scattered throughout
this book. Many more ar e found in advanced cbemistry textbooks . But very often, a chemis t has to
work out an eq ua t ion from SCr atc h.
Let's say you want to figure out t he equation for
dissolv ing alumi num foil in hydrochlor ic acid . Yo u
write out a trial equ ati on :

~:J-- FeS

OR 0

I + NaNO)

l + FeSO,

Al
106

+ liD -AID) + H z t

MEASURE O UT All CHEMICALS CO R

RECTl Y AND FOllOW IN STRUCTIO NS
CAREFUllY. MAK E NOTES AS YOU GO
ALONG AND W RITE DOWN RESULT
WH EN EXPERIMENT IS COMPLETED.

Now yo u need an am ount of HCI t hat will give

you CI b)' the 3'8 and H by the 2' 8. 6HC I will do this.
So JOu write in 6HCl and change the rest unti l the
equ ation balances :
2Al

+ 6HCl -

2AlCl s

T his not only tells you t hat iron and sulfur make
iro n sulfide hut also t hat it takes one iron atom and
one sulfur atom t o produce one molecule of YeS. Furth er. hy inserting the atomic weigh ts for th e tw o
elements Cram the chart on page 107, th e equation
tells you how much iron an d sulfur are needed and
how mu ch iron sulfide you shou ld get:

+ 311s t

Equat ions teU you what happe ns -

but th e)' tell

Car more than that.

Fe
S - FeS
5632 56 + 32= 88

T ak e th e simple equation :
Fe

+S-

FeS

APPROXIMATE ATOMIC WEIGHTS

FOR CALCULATIONS
EI. ..._,

1.' . .. 1.
SyOlbol

Wo igh t

El.M. o,

At... l.
SYOIbol Wo ighl

ALUMIN UM

AI

27

MAGNESIUM

Mg

24

BO RO N

11

MA NGANES E

M.

55

CALCIUM

Co

40

NITROGEN

14

CARBON

12

OXYGEN

I.

CHLORINE

CI

3.

POTASSIUM

3'

COPPER

C.

.4

SILICON

51

28

HYDROGEN

SilVER

Ag

108

IO DIN E

127

SODIUM

No

23

IRO N

f.

56

SULfUR

32

l EAD

Pb

207

ZINC

Za

65

You can use th e atomic weight nu merals to Iadlcate numbers of grams or an)' other unit of weight.
By div idin g by 16 yo u get the number of grams you
used for experiment on page 22.
Now take a more complicated equ ation.
Let's S8 Y J Ou want to produce magnesium carbonate . The ch art of solub ilities on page 108 t ells JOU
t hat AlgCO s is insolu ble. You should therefore be
able to precipitate it from a soluble magn esiu m salt
- th e sulfate, for instance - and soluble sodium
carbonate :

No w you need t o know how much ~l gSO, an d how

much Na zCOs you need . an d how muc h ~l gCOs you
will get.
Before you start figurin g from t he equation above,
check th e chart on page 108. top right. Here you
will discov er th at each molecule of magn esium sulrate has seve n molecul es of water of h)'drat ion (7H 20 )
attached to it. an d each sodi um car bona te molecule,

(COIiTINU ED Oil PAGE 108)

107

SOLUBILITY OF SALTS
AND HYDROXIDES

WATER OF HYDRATION
(WATER O f CRYSTALLIZATION)

NITRATES-SOLUBLE_WI THOUT EXCEPTION S.

AgNO.

ACETATES-SOLU BLE-WITHOUT EXCEPTIONS.

CoCII'6 HIO

N H..CI

CHLORIDES-SO LU BLE-EXCEPT Ag , Hg (MERCU.

ROUS), AND Pb.

{CaSO..1. H. O

Na IB.O J10H I O

CuSO.5H.O

Na ICO I'IOHI O

SUL fATES-SO LUBLE-EXCEPT Pb, Ba, Sr (Ca, Ag

AND Hg SLIGHTlY SOlUBLE).

f eCI.6HI O

NoCI

f eCII ' 4 HI O

NaHCO.

N H..At[SO.l."12HIO

NORMA L CARBONATES, PHOSPH ATES, SILICATES,

SULFIDES-IN SOLUBLE_ EXCEPT Na, K, N H .

f eSO..-7HI O

N aHSO.H.O

KAI[SO..kt 2H1 0

NaOH

HYDROXIDES-IN SO LU BLE-EXCEPT Na, K, NH.,

Ba. (Ca AND Sr SLIGHTlY SOlUBLE.)

KNO I

Na ISO..10 HI O

MgSO...7H.O

Na IS.OI'5HI O

(When a formula contains subscripts - the small

numerals that indicate how man y of a kind - be
certain to mult ipi)' th e a tomic weight h y t he number
indi cat ed b y t he s ubscri pt. I n cases where the formula is pr eceded by a large number . be sure to mu ltiply the molecular weight b)' t his number.)
Your finished calculation t ells yo u t ha t 2' 6 g (or
24.6 g or 2046 g) of magnesiu m sulfat e cr ystals an d
286 g (or 28.6 g or 2.86 g) of sodium carbonate Cf)'Stal s will give you 84 g (or 8..1 g or .8-1 g) magnes ium
car bonat e.
Wh en you get eve n deeper into che mical ma thematics )'ou will be ab le t o figure out the percentage
of elements in a compo und for which )"ou know t he
formula. or t he form ula of a compound when JOU
kn ow the percentage of elemen ts. or the numbers of
liters of a gas you prepare in a chemical react ion.

ten molecules of water (lOH:O). These do not enter

into t he chemical rea cti on - but you haw to in,
dude t hem in t he weight of t he chemicals.
'Yrite the atomic weight below each element. Then
figure th e molecular weight of each compound by
adding the ato mic weight s of all the atoms found in
t he molecule.
This is what ) ' 0 11 get :

) Ig S O. - 7H ,0 +I'ta,
C
O. -10H ,0 -24 32 16x4 i x18 23x2 12 16x3 10xl 8
2..t +32 + 6-t + 126
-16 + 12 + -1 8 + 180
2-16
286
)I g C

0,1+

U 12 16:.:3
2-1- + 12+ -1 8
81

x,

O.

23x2 32 I fix-l
-16 + 32+ 6 1
U2

17H :O
17x18

306
306

CHEMISTRY AS A
HOBBY W Itt GIVE
YOU MANY HOURS
O f ENJO YMENT .

CH EMISTRY AS A
SC IE NC E TRAIN S
YOUR REASON IN G
AND OBSERVATION.

108

Wha"t's Ahead in C hemistry?

Tue CIIEY IC.U WO :'lODE RS of toda y aT C amazing
enough - but they are like not hi ng com pared to t he
wonders the fu ture holds in sto r e for the welfare of
all hu m anit y.

FOOD - T he fertilizers of tomorrow will greatl y

0 11 far ms throughout t he
world. Insect and disease-destroying chemicals will
make ca ttle and pou ltry hea lt hier and be tter prod ucers of meal, m ilk. a nd eggs. Chem ical s un known
today will make it possible to keep food fres h without refr igera ti on in any clima te.
HO:\1 ES - The houses of the fut ure will be built
of more durable materials than any we haw t od a y.
Floors and wall co ver ing will la st almost indefinitely.
X cw pa ints will add never-fading colors .
CLOT llE'G - ) Iany more man-made fibers will
be added to those we use today - fibers with longer
wear; fabrics that a re cool in summer. warm in win ter. easy to keep clean.
H EALTH - T he miracle drugs of today ha ve
wiped ou t d iseases t ha t ranked among o ur greatest
killers just a few yea rs ago. In years to come many
more disea ses will disapp ea r from the sur face of the
world under t he onsla ught of st ill more effecti ve
drugs created in t he che mical labo ratory .
T RAVEL - :\luch of t he tra vel of the future will
be a t supersonic speeds. P lan es an d roc kets will requi r e m aterials th at ca n st a nd t rem endous hea t and
new fu els ca pable of produ cing enor mo us energy.
Chem istry will provide them .
increase the cro ps grow n

ATO~U C

El'iERG Y - T he force hidden in t he

atom will be t urn ed int o light a nd heat and power
for everyday uses. Che mists of the future. working
with t heir brct ber-scient lsts, the ph ysicists . will find
new ways of harnessing a nd using the a toms of numerous elements - som e of them unknown to t he
sc ientis ts of today .
D o yo u want to share in t he making of t hat asto nishing a nd pro m ising fut ure?
If yo u haw enjoyed performing t he experiments
in this boo k. figuri ng out form ulas and equations,
jotting down observations. you are the kind of pe rson who ha s the q ualifica t ions for making a SU CCes.iIul career in chemis t ry.
If you care to look furt her into the ma tter, speak
to your science teacher about it and drop a line to
one or all three of t he orga niza t io ns mentioned below
a nd ask fo r their pamphlets o n becoming a chemist :

Aml'Tican Cht m ical Socitty.

1155 16th S t ree t. X. W., Washington 6. D . C.

.-lmtrican [nst ituft oj Cht m ical Enaineers,

25 West -15th S treet. Ne w York 36. X . Y.

Jlanuf ad uring Cht misls' A ssociation.

1625 I Street, N . W .. Washin gt o n 6, D. C.
But whatever you decid e for the future. keep up
your in terest in chem ist r y as a hobby. In addit ion
to giving you fun and enjoyment. yo ur chem ical
hobby will sha rpen you r powers of obser va t ion and
reasoning and tr ai n )ou r mind for whatever occupation ) 0\1 decid e upon for a lifework.

CHEMISTRY AS A tlfEWORK ENABLES YOU TO

CO NTR IBUTE TO THE
WelFARE OF MANK IND.

~-

~
.
~~;H:;m:~dL.:..1
'"--"C9l'9
- ;;;;'J

'"

109

Where to Get Chewcals and Equipment

....

A GRE .H :o.U.:'iY of the expe rime nts in this boo k can

be performed witb equipment found around the
house: water glasses, custard cups, jars. bottles. ca ns ,
and funnel. For the rest, the followin g pieces of regu-

~- --

lar chemical labor atory equipment ar e needed:

6
3
1
3
6
3
~

I
3
I
I
1
1
1

test t ubes . regu lar . 150 m m x 16 mm

lest tubes , Pyrex, 150 mm x 16 mm
test t ube brush , small
wide-mou th bottles, -l oes.
Ct. gla ss tubing, 6 mm outside di ameter
Ct. rubber tubing , ~~ inside di llmeter
No. 0 rubber eto ppera, (me hole
;'\0.5 rubber stoppe r, one bole
~o. 5 ru bber ste ppers, two holes
triangula r file, ,,~
glau st irri ng rod . 5"
p" g. filler pape r, 12.5 em . 50 pieces
vial Iitmus paper strips., bl ue
vial Htmus paper st rips, red

~~

"

r-d

f,I

IF YOU DECIDE TO USE REGUlAR lABORATORY WARE

FROM SUPPliER.
IN YOUR HOME lAB, GET PRICE

usr

[);

Iii

"

fe,
POTASSIUN
PlRMANGANATI

KMnO"

..

1/ '
-::,

~~
" ,

SOD IUM
.. BISULFATI
,

"

..,

N oHSO,,"

.,.

' "

' ,

,
,

H,O
,

a chem ical for one of the experime nts descr ibed in this boo k, check the list of
com mo n chem icals on pa ge il l to find out where t o
buy it"
All of th ese chemica ls are, of co urse, a vai labl e
through chem ical supply hou ses. T he trouble is t bat
many of these houses do not sell to individuals but
only to schools and esta blished labora tor ies. ABo,
t he chemicals usu ally come in a sta ndard amount of
34 lb. - or even lib. - where, in home experime nts,
you would need 1 o unce or less . The same is often
th e case when you buy chemicals in a local store.
T he minimum-sized packages o r jars may be so large
t hat yo u co uld n' t possibly use up t he contents in a
year of experime nts. You will prob ably also have to
repack what yo u ac t ually need into glass jars of suit a ble size for effi ciency and to fit )our st orage space.
Because of thi s an d the Inconvenien ce of haying
to shop aro un d, ) 01 1 ma y find it advantageo us to bu y
yo ur ch emical s by t he ki t , in un ifonn-sized screwtop glass containers. Such kits a rc available in t he
science departm en t of many hobb y and m odel supply
sto res.
Cbe m-Klt No. I contains the t en chemicals marked I!!!I o n t he op posite page. E hcm-Kit No. 2 contains
the t en chem icals marked D . 111e kits co ntain sufficient amoun ts of chemical s to perform eac h experimen t many tim es over.
You ca n also make up your own set of chemicals
in am ounts suita ble for hom e experimen ts by getting
t hem from o ne of the compa nies listed to t he left.
Be cer tain to add the cost of the catalog when ) -011
write for o ne a nd to send the correct amount when
) "OU order.
WH :-i \"ER l ! OU :O; D

"

CUPRIC
SULfATI

~ l i l l "UI

CHEMICALS FOR HOME EXPER IMENTS ARE AVAIlABLE

IN JARS O F UNIFORM SIZE, All PROPERLY lABELED.

=I

"

-:.'-:'..-'<"\-{

Science )'Iail cc.. 17-33 ).Iurra}- St., Wh itesto ne 57. K Y.

(Price list Ieee)
Winn Chemical Co. 12-1 Wes t 23rd sr.. Xew York 11. x, Y.
(Ca talog 251!)
x , Y. Scientific Stlppl)" Co., 28 Wffi. 30th St., New York I ,
x, Y. (Ca talog :; ~ )
Horne Lab 5 uPPh , 511H omestead A,-e. ).Io unt ve rnon , X . Y.
( Price th t rrre )
Bicloeicel Supply Co., 1176 .\ It. Hope Ave., Hochester :1.0,
x, Y. (Ca talog 25j!)
A. C. Gilbert co., P.O. Box 1610, New Ha ven 6, Conn.
(Price list rree)
Bio-E hemicel Products, 30 Somerset St. , Belmont, )'Ias.~.
( Ca ta log 25t)
Labo ra tory Sales, P. O. Box 161, Brighto n. )'Ia~.
(Ca talog 25t)
Th e Per ter Chemical Cc., HIIKcrsl own, :\Id. ( Price list free)
T ra cey Scientific Labora tories, P . O. Box 615, Evanston, m.
(Ca la log 25j!)
....ati one l Sctenunc Co., 13 South Pa rk Ave., Lombard , Ill.
(Cata log 35j!)
H agenow Laborat ories. ).Ianitowoc, Wis. (Ca tal og 2ot)

- -~

CuSO,,"
7HlO

If you ca n not sec ure this equipment locall y, write

to one of the compa nies below asking for price list
or catalog, including cost of catal og where called for.
When you receive the answer, mail your orde r and
the correct am ount b)" bank check or money order.

'~~;.:.

t'

lIO

C ommon Chemicals and Their For mulas

CIIE:\lIC..\L :"i.H IE
~

..
II

0
0
0

+ H,O

HsROs

boric acid

c... . LCm)t

CatOH },:

bunks : marble. lim est o ne

powder : precipitated chalk
slaked lim e, ga rden lime
qui cUime
la ster
Pari~

HYDROXIDE

Cao

C.\ LCIUM OXIDE

C.\ LCIU" I SULFAT E

Ca....~t 2H:rO

Cu....'O. .:;II:P

FERROUS SULFATE
GLU COSE
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
HYDRQGEX PEROXIDE
IROX, :\IETAL. POWDER
:\l\GXES IU:\ I, :\lETAL
:\UGXES IU:\ I SU LFAT E
)IAXGAXESE DIOXlDE

FeSOl H~O

OJ

OJ
0

"n
0

or

(Ca so,) tit<)

co,

4H 1~0,

IIQ

ypsum

+ II~

+H~O

H10"

+ HtO

F.
:\I g
:'ilgSOI -' H~

) l n0 2

K.\.PHTll-\LE.'iE
PHL'iOLPHTIHLEIN

C 1J-l~

POTASSIU:\I ALID nX UM S ULFAT E

POTASSIU:\1 FERROCYAN lDE
POTASSIU:\ I IODlDE
roTASSIIDI N ITRATE
POTASSIU:\1 PER:\ IAXGA..'iATE
SALI CY I.I C ACID
S ILVE R N ITR ATF;
SODI U:\1 B ICARBONATE

KA1(SOl b -1 2H 2O
K t l'e(CN)5- 3H 2O

CeH~COO C(4HIOH

KI
~"OJ

K..\lnOj
CeH10llCOOJI
AgXO~
NaHCO~
Na HSOI - II~O

SODIU:\1 BI SUL FAT E

SODIIDI CAR BO;";'ATE

Na~CO! -l OH~O
NalCO~ - HI0

SODI IDl C HLO R lDE

SODIInI H YDROXID E

NaCI
NaOJI

SODiIDl HYPOCH LORIT E

NaClO +

0
0

SODIUM POT.-\SSlU:\1 TART RATE

SODIIDI SILICATE
SODIIDI TETRAnORATi:':
SODIU~I TIIIO SULFATE
SUCROSE
SUL FUR

NaKG,H l0 6 - -~H20

ZINC, )' IETA.L

ZL'OC CHLORIDE

"
"
"
0

G rocer)'
Drug store
Drug store
Builders' supplies

csco,

COPPEll. SULt'.-\.TE

0% solu tion : ho use hold a mm oni a

27 % solution ; strong ammonia

BORIC ACID
CALCIU'" C..\.RBOX.-\TE

c.-\..RBOX TETRACHLORIDE

0
0

Grocer y

CB sCGOR
i',i'H1Cl
N H,OH +

H~

:'\a~iOl

H~O

+ H 10

WHE RE TO BUY

5% solu tion : white vi ne gar

sal am moniac

ACbJIC ACID
.U , ,,rOXIUM CHLORIDE
.U I" IO:"iIU" 1 HYDROXIDE

'"

CO:\t:l IO:'i" x n lE

FOR:lI GLA

'a rbon tet

lue ,;triol
iro n sulfate. green vitriol, coppera s
solu tion: cor n syrup
....5% solu tion : muria tic acid
% solution : peroxide
powdered iron
magn..sium rib bon
E p50m salta
pyrolusite

mo th hall s
ph..nolph tb aleia
al um, pota ssium alum
potass ium je rroc ye ni de
potassium iodide
sal tpeter, niter
pctass..ium perma ngen at e
salicylic acid
lunar cau stic
bakiag soda , bicarb

Drug "lore

D ru g sto re

Hardware store
Builders' su pplies
Hllnhrafe store
Chemical supplies
H ardware s tore

Drug store
Drug s to re

Grocer y
Hard....are sto re
Dru g store
Che mical supplies
Chemical supplies
Dru g store
H ardware sto re
(Ilashlight batter)' )
H ardw are store
Drug store
Drug store
Chemical supplies
Drug store
Drug store
Drug store
Drug store
Drug store
Grocer-y

Grocer)'

82% of San i-Flush :D

sal soda , crysta l washing soda
concentrate d washing soda
salt , table salt
lye, ca ustic soda , Dra no ~

Grocery
Grocer)'

.5% solution : laun dr y bleach,

Cloroxll

Grocery

Rochelle salt
solution: wa ter glas.s

Grocer)'

Grocer r

Drug store
H ardware store
Drug store

:'\a~B.O: -lOH1O

born,

Na AOl -.5H 2O
CuHnO u
S

Z.

h ypo
cane sugar
powder: flowers of sulfur
lock : sulfur can dle
zinc

P hoto store
Grocer)'
Drug st ore
Hardware store
Hardware store
(flashlight battery]

zso, + H:rO

tinners' fluid

Hardware store

Xote : Chemical" merked O - mUD)' of them liquids-c-are roost eas;i1)' secured io local stores, Chemicals
mar ked . a re found in Che m~ l\j t :'\0. I , chemi cali mar ..ed 0 in C bem-Kit .No. 2 (see opposi te page).

III

Index
A.e, i, "dd. 90. 9 1
Acid 13. ~ 2 . 43, .".b,,~yli 90,
f"lly. 92. 93, h ,,~. ehold i' em>
>"'oi"i "II .(.4, mc ki" lI. 44, 'e.'
10,.43 .(.4, I,,,il> "f."2
A<tolein. 93
A lb~min. 91. 99
Al<homi. ts. 6.1. 36
Alcohol 19. a8 -89
A1~m. 64. 65
Ar umin ~m. 6465, dolo,id e. 64,
feil. 12, hyd,,,xidc. 65, . "If"' e.
64.65
Ammoni". 32. 33. 43, feun'e in. 33;
me king. 33, ."I~bi1i..,. of . 33,
~.eo "f. 31
Am me "i~m. "I~m, 64 , dol" , ide . 33,
cy" na.e. la; hydr oxide . 33. 43
Appo,,,",,. hnw 'n m"ke. 11, 16
Ari. 'e ,le. 6
A" heni~ Sv"n le. 40
A' mc.phe,e .27
A'emi. en erllY. 5
Alomi. w eig h". 38. 39. 101
AI1, m 36. 31. 38. 39
a".kel,, "d. len H. 104
a"l,," ,". h,,"d. IS
a"lIooo\$. 28
8<> 23, h,, ~. ehold i.ern . >n,,,in_
fer. 43. 45,
inll. 45,
01. 43
B.n.e ne. 80. Bl
B .",e li~ . , Jen 36
Be..emer, H"" ry. 69
ae , oo .!iT ; bO<ld IU'. 56
Beri, "cid.!iT; ' u, f"r. !iT
Beren, 56
Boyle. Robert. 6. 7
a,,,n n. 70

'c.,

""il.

c " rci"",. 60-6 1, bi.",;'ene' e. 60,

.erben,,'e. ~5. 60. 61, doleride.
-U , 61, hydre oide. "5. 60,
o~id e. 45. 60, .~ I fn l 60. 61
Cond ie. 18-19, ,,,,,l e,,l. "r. 18
C"rb<lhydr",... 19,84-87
C",b"". 76, ,,'om. 31, ."mpe~ nd
23.76_77. 7a. aO.81, f"rm. "'.
77; ,.., for. 77
Cer be",,' e r<i~m. 45. 60. 61,
>pp e, . 71, .~pri, . 71; le"i
69; i",n. 69; "",g" ..i"m . 63,
m" nlloneu. 61, po'o.. i~m. 59;
.odi"m. 53, .i n 63
C"rben di o~ide. 30.3 1; cyd . eF. 30,
"",king. 30. 31; ' e.1 fa ,. 3 1;
" ... "f. 30
Cerbe xyli, o.id 79, 909 1
C" . ein. 98. 99, gl~ c hom. 98,
mck ing 01. 98
C"vend"h. H""ry. 2a
c.ll~ r" 86
Ch",le Jo.'I"'" 28
Ch..... . 99
Che mk o l. ",mmOtl "" meo. I l l ;
form" lo 111, w h..., 10 b"y.
110. III
Ch. mi. , ry. ",<oe.. i" . 109, f"Iu ..
"F. 109, impo rl" nc 4; w hal il
i 4
Ch. mi, " . 6
Chlorid oh,mi n"m. 64; ommani"m,
33, .ol ci ~ m. 41, 61, ,"pp". 11,
,~pri 71; <Up"''''. 7 1, le" i, .
68, f ....,,, 68, i,,,". 35. 68,
mogn illm. 62, "",nllon e 67,
.Hv er. 12, . od i" m...1. 53, . in
28. 41. 62
Chle , ine. 3...35; b!. oching w ilh.
35, <ompo~nd,. U . 35, moking.
35, le.1 fo,. 34
Chloroferm. 89
C" o l "g 16, mining. 76
Coog~ lotien. 96. 101
Collo ido l di .p e"ion. 100
Col1aids, 13. 100 101, ligh'
~. I fo,. 101

Iren. 68_69, lrbnnote. 69, <hlo.id

35. 68, hydroxid e. 69, oxid 68,
. 01icylo' e. 9 1, ,,, lfo'e. 69,
,,,l ~d 53, Ionno Ie. 91

C om po ~ """ 22. 23
Copp. r. l 0 .7l , ecrbone le. 11,
dolerid 1 1; hydro~i d 71,
replocem. " t ef , 62. 7 1;
.olieyl,,' 9 1, .~llo ' 62. 11;
.~Ir,d e. 53. 71
Cop""", 69
Cey, ' o lli. ,,'i on. 21, sa
Cry"o l,... I. 64
C ~prommon i~m. 103
C"p,i, "" It 70. 71
CllprOIl' ""Its. 70.11
C"rie. Mar ie. 7. 20
C"r i Pi." 7. 20

Ko li" m. 59
K<ik " I<i. A"g ".I. 80. 81
Ki" he" 0' lobn ,,,'ory. "
Lob e rol ory. so fe..,.. 16, . etti" g "P.
10 1" le.h" i'l"e 1611
Lo voi, ie. , An'ein e. 6
Lim <13. 60
ti",. wo '. ' . 3 1
Lye, <13

D" lton. Jehn. 36. 31

Davy. H ~m p hry . 7. 59. 60
Deeon' e ' i" n. 20
Dem""11,, 6
De'e,g enU. 95
Di. p. " ia n ,01l0 ido l. 1001 01
Diotillol ia n. d ..' r"dive. 77,
", . ' henol. 89, "f wo'er. 61

M09 ne.i"m. 62-63; .orbono le. "'.

63, hyd rnxide. 63, . "[ fo '.... l ,
41. 62. 63
Mong o" .." . 66.67, .o,bono' 61,
dolo,i d e. 67; dio~ id., 25. 66,
hydrn xid e. 66, ."lfOl 66. 61;
. " Ir,de. 53. 61
M"" .".e m en, l "
M. nd .lull. O", il>i. 39
Me' o lln' d . , 13
M.'ol,.13 ('c. 01<0ind ivid"" l
m.'ol. ); , ,. fo 53. 56
M. t" o" e. 80. 81. 83
Methone l. 88 . BP
Metric .y..em. U
Milk. p. e' ein in. 98
Mi" ero], . 54
Mix,,, .... 22. 13
Mn, el ey. H"".y .39
M "rin ~ . ndd, ' H Ht d, ochle ri,
".id

Eg!l" p,o'ein in, 96 rn

Ele""oly.i. "f wele,. 25
Elements. 22. 23. 38 ..:19
Empe<l"od 6
Em"!oir,.,,'i,,n. 101
Eq"otion,. <hemi,ol. l Q6..1 08
Eq" ipme n' . I"bernle ry. 8,
impr"v i, :I. 9. 11,
wil er. 10 b" t, 110
E.' e... 79.92
E' h" "ol. 88. 89
Evapo'o""n.2 1
for ed oy. Jo,eph. 18
f"I 92.93; exl.o<1ing. 93,
'001 for. 93
fe" ling ,e l"tie n. B5. 87. 98
fe"i. '0111.68. 69
f e""" 01IS. 68. 69
f ih. ... 1021 03, Ie.'. f" r. 102. 103
fi ltr" tion. 20. 21
f ire ex'i"g" i. he 30
fo rm" lo 7"'5. 106, en,ben
tomp<>"nd,. 80 81, e f ",mme n
<hemkol 111
f ro<1i"no'i"g of " il. 82
frosch. He. mon. SO
f''' cle ~.

No phl hol en 83
No hi " m. sa
Ne" l. a lil oli en. 46
Nih" ' pO,,,,, i,,m. 32...1. 59,
.i1n r.72
Nihi , "ol d. 42
Nitrog en. 32..:13; in "'m",ph,,,e. 32
Ne n. melo l 23
Oil. ",e.king 01. 83, "''''' 82,
' ro<tia no' i"g "r. 82
cn., 9293
O lein. 92
O,g"n ie , ,,mpo,,,,d, . ICC CorbOtl
. e mpo llnd .
0 ..
H" " . C. 64
O~ ide. b<l,i<. Sl, .erci"m. 60,
meg" e.i"m. 62; .i lver. 72, .in

,:1.

Ge>o line.82
Gelo'in. 99
Glo .. lub... b endi "ll. 13, "," ing.
13, gle .ing. 13
Gly<erol . 92. 93
G lo., e ry. 2
GI".o,e. 84. 85
Gr"ham. Themo 100

"

O~ygen .

2621, i" "'m",ph. , 27;

"",ki"g.71, ,.., Inr. 25

Po,o<tll." 6. 1
Pep'i ,,, 'ion. 101
P. , iodic lobI 3839
Permcngono'. "f po'o..i"",. 66. 61
Pe'role"m. 82
Ph. nol. 91
Phnl"ll , ophy . 73, w i,ho lll "
.om.,,,. 73
Photo.yo, h..i B6
Pla " e, of Po. i 61
Plo,ti , 104 105 ,
for. 10..
Pe'o.h. 59, 9..
Po'o., i" m. 53. 59, ol"m, 64 ,
",rb"""'e. 59; f. ,.,..,eye nide. 68;
flem. .." f" r. 59, hyd ,o xid e. 94;
iod ide. 34. 4lI. "9. 81, nil.ot
32. .. I. 59. 6 1, oi'ri' e. 59, pe r_
"",ngn""t e. 66. 67 .
P,i e, lley, 10,eph.7. 26
Pre Iein 79. 96 .99; in egg. 96.
97; in fa od 96. 91, i" milk.
98, I .." 10'. 91. 99
1',,,,,'1. Je,eph. 31
P", ..io.. b r" 6B
Py,,,I,,.i, 66

He ll. Charle,. 64. 65

Hydr c<orb<lm . 79. 82-83
Hydrcch lo, ie oeid. 34.~"
Hyd r"ll en. 2B_29, mc kinll. 28. 29,
.el ..,. w ilh. 29, I.., fu 25. 18
Hydro!len iod id.. ..9
Hyd, ogen pe,nxide. 26. 21, 61
Hyd' " gen ,,, lr,de. 52. 53, in .hemi
,0 1onely,i,. 53, "",king. 53
Hyd,o~ id <13; ol"min"m. 65,
"~n i,,m. 33. <13, ,olri"m. 60.
6 1, ."ppct. 7 1, <U prie. 11;
f. "i 69, f... ra " 69, iren. 69,
m09n i"m. 63, "",ng"ne.e. 66,
peto .. i"m. 94, ""d i"",. <13. 94,
""llIb m..,. of. l OB ; .i",. 63
Hypo . ..9. 5 1. 52. 73

to."

Indi to'o" . colo , 'eble .(.4. 45;

hom emod e. 42; ..,.p of
lebero loey. <13
lod id po,,,.. i,,m. 34. -18. ~9. B7
Iodin 48_49, mokinll. 48. "9 ,
. emcving. ~9, . ol"bil i..,. of. ~8,
le .1 fe r. " 9, lin.I " re "f. ~ 8
lodofo.m. 89

Redi"m. 20. 2 1
Rayon. 102; moking, 103

112

Ro<hell. ",It. 8S
R" bb er. 82
R~". 68
Sole..,.. 16
5<>1 omm enio'. 43
Soliey li. ocid. 90. 91
5<>11. ' e b l e 5<>di"",,hlo,id.
Solt ",,'.r. 32. .. 1. 59. 6 1
Solts. 13. -16-..7; ho"'. "old i' em.
.on'oin'"g. -U, moking.-U,
neme. 01. 46, ""I"bili..,. of, l OB
Schul Ko, l. l . 26
Xh wei l.e. ' og . "t. 103
Sc:ien' ir,. me'hod. 21
Sili,;, odd. SS
Silicon , 54-SS
SiII....
54
Silv",. 72.73, bromid 73,
,M"ride . 72, "i ' ro' . , 12; ... id
12, . " IM 12
5<>oP. 9"95, how il 0<1'. 94,
"'e king. 95, Iu ' ing . 95
Sodo ,, " 59. 9..
5<>di"m. sa, ",eln'e. 9 1, 0 1I1min,,'
64, b i,orbe nol sa, bi,,, lIo'e.
42. sa; l,b""o' sa. 59.12;
, Mnrid 41. sa, f1om.. le.1 f" ,.
59, hydre xide. 43. 45. 94. 95, hy_
po <hlo,i, 34, "" Heylo' 91 ;
. ilk o' e, 54. SS, .,,If,,le. sa,
, ,,Ir,d 53; lettobo',, ' Sl,
!hio."I'ol.. ..9. 51. 52. 73
Scl",ion 20. 23 .010... 1; b.hovie.
of. 41; ecnd,,<tivity "f .co,
moking. ..1, ""',,re!:I. 41
Sloh. 86.87, "", kinll. 81, ,..,
10 81
S' ea,in.92
S' eel,69
Stopp
rubbe 12
S"m:
84. 85
SlIg"
8485, le. 1 lor. 85
S"lIo le. ol"mi n" m. 64; ,elci"m. 60.
61, ' op pe,. 62. 7 \; fe rri<. 69,
fe""" 69; ir" n. 69, mogn e,, ~m,
"1. ~1. 61. 63, mengon ., 66. 61 ,
,odi"m. sa, "n 62. 63
S" lfid " n'imony. 53; .o dmi"",. 53,
, ,,pp e, . 53. 11, ",pri,.1I, hyd ro
gen. 52 .53, ire n. 22. 53, mo"ge
n. ", .53. 61, .ilver.12, ""di"m.
53, " "'. 53. 63
S"lfu-, 22. SO-51, ",.' ing with. 51;
fo, m, "f. SO. 51, ..... hinll. 5 1,
p, eeipi'e l:l. 51, p. " d" " i",,
"f. SO
S"IFu, diaxid 52; "",k in". 52
S" lf" , i, " ,id, 41
SlIlfu'''''. odd .(.4. 52
Symbo!o. "l<h.mi.IO . 2, 6. 36,
"' emical. 36

e,.

T" bl el'.... Sed i"m <hlar id.

T" nni, od d. 90. 1'1
Tin.lur. "f iod ine. 4lI
Ti' ro'ion. 46
T" rpenl in 83
Ureo. 18
Vol enee 1..-15, ","0'1 01. 75
Vitriol. gr ..n. 61'
V"r.eni>D 'io n. SO
We<hi ng'"n M",," men l. 64
Wo'e,. 2 ~ 2 S , O' 0 cololys l. 24;
de"r ing . 65, lmp<>.i ,ien of.
14.26, di,'illing. 6 1; .I ee
' roly, i. of. 25, hotdn. .. "f.
61.95, ", "" lve nl. 2"
Wo '. ' 01 hyd rn'ion. lOB
W" '. , g l,,... 55
Wohrer. fr i:lri<h. 7. 78
Zinc. 25. 62 -63, ec rb enn ' e, 63,
ehlnride. 28, hydre ~ide. 63,
."Ifo ' e. 62, ,,,Ilide. 53. 63