DEMOS

A source of iodide lets you speed up the decomposition of peroxide.

Yeast & peroxide make oxygen gas, while baking soda & vinegar make carbon dioxide. The presence of each can be confirmed with a lit splint.

Heating polystyrene containers causes them to shrink because of a rearrangement of the polymer chains.

A battery can be used to ignite the iron in a steel wool pad.

Amorphous sugar glass can be prepared right on the stop by mixing sugar, corn syrup, water, and cream of tartar.

The optical activity of sugar molecules can be seen with a tablet and polarized sunglasses.

Boric acid, potassium chloride, and table salt produce colorful flames when ignited in a fuel source.

Illuminate a candle using wax vapor and a tiny fireball.

Red cabbage contains a naturally occurring acid base indicator that can be extracted and tested right in your kitchen.

Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate) is a foolproof way to demonstrate how to grow crystals.

Gelatin-based candies can demonstrate osmosis.

Different intermolecular forces give rise to different viscosities, easily seen in this demonstration.

Rapidly cooling  steam  lets us see how temperature changes result in pressure changes with a flexible soda can.

Using some equipment at home, one can experimentally calculate the ideal gas constant, R!

A swab of detergent and some food coloring let us see molecules moving in a dish of ordinary milk.

Food coloring dissolves easily in regular water, but barely in a concentrated salt water mixture. Why???

Salt water versus pure water: In which one will the ice cube melt more quickly?

Effervescent tablets contain solids that react with each other, but not until dissolved in water. In the presence of oil and food coloring we can make a homemade lava lamp.

Using cobalt chloride in ethanol and water, one can demonstrate Le Chatelier's principle with simple chemical stresses.

Water has different densities at different temperatures. This can be shown by coloring and layering them so  they do (or do not) mix.

Small amounts of NaOH and HCl are added to water and a buffer, respectively colored with indicator to observe the buffer's resistance to pH change.

A rainbow in a large cylinder can be created to visualize the range of colors observable by a universal indicator.

Coating an egg shell with carbon soot from a candle flame and then submerging it in water gives total internal reflection from a trapped layer of air.

Different salt solutions can be shown to be acidic or basic with universal indicator.

Different complex ions can be made from a copper ion source to show different colors.

A silver ammonia complex can react with a glucose solution to make a silver mirror.

A tea bag can be turned into a small rocket by using the fast burning paper.

Using an aqueous mixture of baking soda as an electrolyte, a 9V battery will produce an electrolysis to easily see water decompose into hydrogen and oxygen.

Connecting a series of batteries to a graphite pencil refill shows how graphite can conduct.

The acetic acid in vinegar can react with the calcium carbonate in an egg shell to dissolve it and make it disappear! In addition the water in vinegar will migrate into the egg through the remaining membrane via osmosis.

The dyes in grape-flavored Kool-Aid can be separated using a syringe and a chromatography cartridge.

Simple exothermic and endothermic processes can be demonstrated right at home using baking soda and ice melt to make an instant airbag.

Milk of magnesia contains sparingly soluble magnesium hydroxide, which can visible react with acetic acid vinegar.

Glucose is a reducing sugar and changes the oxidation state of indigo carmine to create a variety of colors. And it can be reversed with oxygen from the air!

The reaction of sodium thiosulfate with acid creates colloidal sulfur particles which simulate a blue sky and red sunset.

There are a lot of interesting ways to visualize what happens when dry ice (solid CO2) is mixed with water.

Different salts produce different colored flames in the presence of a combustible fuel.

A mixture of acetone and water can be made then separated using the strong ion-dipoles in salt water.

Acetone and water mix to form a non-ideal solution that demonstrates a deviation from Raoult's law.

A saturated solution of NaCl can be precipitated using HCl and the common ion effect.

Electrolysis of aqueous potassium iodide produces iodine and hydrogen using this simple set-up.

The copper on the surface of a penny can be alloyed to form brass with a simple chemical reaction.

Different mixtures of indicators that are colorless in acid can be combined to create a rainbow of colors in base.