The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments

114 Pages·1960·41.386 MB·English

by  Robert Brent

THE GOLDEN
THE GOLDEN BOOK OF
How to Set Up a Home Laboratory—
Over 200 Simple Experiments
BY ROBERT BRENT
ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY LAZARUS
GOLDEN PRESS NEW YORK
I Copyriihl I960 b% Golden Pros. Inc. All rir.hu reserved. Primed in L.S.A. PuMhhed by Golden Pre!!. Inc.. Rockefeller Center. Km YorL 20. X. Y.
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Acid: a hydrogen-containing compound Element: a substance that contains only Organic chemistry: the chemistry of
that releases hydrogen ions in solution. one kind of atoms. the carbon compounds.
Alloy: a material made up by combining Equation: a complete description of a Oxidation: the process by which a sub
two or more metals. chemical reaction by the use of symbols, stance combines with oxygen.
formulas, and signs.
Analysis: breaking down a compound Precipitate: an insoluble solid formed
into two or more substances. Evaporation: the changing of a sub in a solution by chemical reaction.
stance into vapor: also the process of re
Anhydrous: free from water. moving water by heating. Radical: a group of atoms that behave
chemically as a single atom.
Atom: the smallest unit of an element Filtrate: a liquid obtained by filtration.
that can enter into the making of a Reaction: a chemical change.
chemical compound. Filtration: the process of straining a
liquid from a solid through porous mate Reduction: removal of oxygen; the op
Atomic weight: the weight of an atom rial. usually filter paper. posite of oxidation.
compared with the weight of an oxygen
Salt: compound (other than water)
atom set at 16. Formula: a group of symbols and num
bers giving the composition of a com formed by the reaction of an acid and
Base: a compound containing the hy pound. a base.
droxide group (OH).
Hydrate: a compound containing loosely Saturated solution: a solution that
Catalyst: a substance that helps in a bound water of hydration (water of contains the maximum amount of solute
chemical reaction without itself being crystallization) that can be driven off under the conditions.
changed. by heating.
Solubility: the number of grams of a
Chemical chance: a change of a sub
Hydroxide: a compound that contains solute needed to make a saturated so
stance into another substance having
the hydroxyl (OH) radical. lution in 100 grams of solvent.
different properties.
Chemistry: a branch of science dealing Ion: an electrically charged atom or Solute: the substance dissolved in a
with the compositions of substances and group of atoms (radical). solvent.
the changes that can be made in them. .Malleable: capable of being hammered Solution: a non-settling mixture of a
Combustion: burning; a chemical or rolled into a thin sheet. solute in a solvent.
change that produces heat and light. Matter: anything that lakes up space Solvent: a liquid in which a solute is
Compound: a substance consisting of and has weight. dissolved.
two or more different kinds of atoms in Metal: an element that is a good con Sublimation: a process b\" which a sol
definite proportions by weight. ductor of electricity, has luster, and
id is turned into vapor and again cooled
Crystal: a solid in which atoms or mole whose oxide forms a base with water. into a solid without passing through a
cules are arranged in a definite pattern. Metalloid: an element that has proper liquid stage.
ties of both metals and nonmetals.
Density: the weight of a liquid or a Subscript: a small numeral indicating
solid in grams per cm3 or milliliter. Mixture: a mingling of substances not the number of atoms of a certain element
combined chemically. in the formula of a compound.
Distillate: a liquid that has been turned
into vapor and again cooled into a liquid. Molecular weight: the sum of the Substance: any specific kind of matter
atomic weights of the atoms that make whether element, compound, or mixture.
Distillation: the process of producing up a molecule of a compound.
a distillate. Symbol: a letter or two letters repre
Molecule: the smallest unit of a com
senting one atom of an element.
Ductile: capable of being drawn out into pound that can exist in the free state.
a wire.
Neutralization: the reaction of an acid Synthesis: the making up of a com
Electrolysis: breaking down a substance and a base to give a salt and water. pound from simpler compounds or from
by passing an electric current through il. elements; the opposite of analysis.
Nonmetal: an clement that is a poor
Electrolyte: a substance that, when in conductor of electricity", does not have Valence: the number of hydrogen atoms
a solution or when melted, will conduct luster, and whose oxide forms an acid which one atom of an element can dis
an electric current. when combined with water. place or with which it can unite.
WHAT CHEMISTRY IS METALS
WORDS USED BY CHEMISTS 2 SODIUM AND POTASSIUM 58
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHEMISTRY 4 CALCIUM — FOR BUILDING 60
CHEMISTS OF THE PAST 6 LET'S COMP.ARE TWO METALS 62
ALUMINUM — IN ABUNDANCE 64
YOUR HOME LABORATORY
MANGANESE — METAL OF MANY COLORS 66
EQUIPMENT FOR CHEMISTRY 9
WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF IRON 68
SETTING UP YOUR HOME LABORATORY 10
COPPER — YESTERDAY, TODAY 70
MAKING APPARATUS FOR EXPERIMENTS 12
SILVER — ONE OF THE "NOBLE" METALS 72
SCIENTIFIC MEASUREMENTS 14
CORRECT LABORATORY TECHNIQUES 16
MORE ABOUT FORMULAS
THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH \ ALENCES AND FORMULAS 74
MR. FARADAY'S CANDLE 18
You — SCIENTIST! 20 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
ELEMENTS. COMPOUNDS, AND MIXTURES 22 CARBON — ELEMENT OF A MILLION COMPOUNDS. 76
THE CHEMISTRY OF CARBON COMPOUNDS 78
WATER AND GASES
THE FORMULAS OF CARBON COMPOUNDS 80
WATER — OUR MOST IMPORTANT COMPOUND ... 24
A LOT OF HYDROCARBONS 82
OXYGEN — THE BREATH OF LDTE 26
CARBOHYDRATES — SWEET AND BLAND 84
HYDROGEN — LIGHTEST OF ALL 28
MANY' KINDS OF ALCOHOLS 88
CARBON DIOXIDE 30
CAHBOXYLIC ACIDS 90
NITROGEN AND ITS COMPOUNDS 32
FATS AND OILS FOR ENERGY 92
CHLORINE — FRIEND AND FOE 34
SOAP AND SOAP MAKING 94
CHEMICAL FORMULAS PROTEINS—THE BODY-BUILDING FOODS 96
COLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS 100
CHEMICAL SHORTHAND 36
NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FIBERS 102
THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS 38
PLASTICS — A MODERN GIANT 104
ACIDS, BASES, AND SALTS
THE MYSTERIES OF SOLUTIONS 40 CHEMICAL MATHEMATICS
WORKING WITH ACIDS 42
W ORKING OUT CHEMICAL EQUATIONS 106
WORKING WITH BASES 43
SALTS — CHEMICALS OF MANY USES 46
THE FUTURE OF CHEMISTRY
NON-METALS WHAT'S AHEAD IN CHEMISTRY? 109
IODINE — VIOLET OR BROWN? 48
SULFUR AND ITS COMPOUNDS 50 WHERE TO GET CHEMICALS AND EQLTPMENT. . .110
SILICON — THE ELEMENT YOU STEP ON 54 COMMON CHEMICALS AND THEIR FORMULAS Ill
BORON — FUTURE ROCKET-POWER ELEMENT?. . 56 INDEX 112
3
EVERY HOME KITCHEN IS A CHEMICAL LABORATORY. .--
COOKING AND CLEANING ARE CHEMICAL PROCESSES.
Tiie Importance of Ohemistry
THERE IS HARDLY a boy or a girl alive who is not are all chemical products and the ways in which
keenly interested in finding out about things. And your body turns them into muscles and bones and
that's exactly what chemistry is: FINDING OUT nerves and brain cells are some of the greatest of all
ABOUT THINGS — finding out what things are chemical mysteries.
made of and what changes they undergo. The clothes you wear, the books you read, the
What things? Any thing! Every thing! medicine you take, the house in which you live —
Take a look around you. All the things you see — all these are products of chemistry. So is the family
and lots of things you can't see — have to do with car — the metal in it, the rubber on which it rolls.
the science of chemistry. the gas that moves it.
Let's start with yourself. The air you breathe is Nature itself is a tremendous chemical laboratory.
a mixture of chemical substances and the process of Everything in nature is forever passing through
breathing is a chemical reaction. The foods you eat chemical changes. Here on earth, plants and animals
CHEMISTRY PROVIDES FUEL FOR
ALL KINDS OF TRANSPORTATION. PURIFICATION OF WATER
4
grow, die, and decay; rocks crack and crumble under
the influence of air and water. In the universe, new
stars are formed, others fade. The sun that gives us
heat and light and energy is a flaming furnace of
chemical processes that will eventually burn itself
out, billions of years from now.
Chemistrv- is one of the most important of all sci
ences for human welfare.
Chemistry means the difference between poverty
and starvation and the abundant life. The proper
use of chemistry makes it possible for farmers to feed
the world's ever-increasing population, for engineers
to develop new means of transportation and com
munication that will bring the peoples of the world OIL IS THE BASIS FOR COUNTLESS CHEMICAL PRODUCTS.
closer together, for doctors to cure the diseases of
mankind, for manufacturers to produce the thou
sands of items that are necessary for better and
richer living.
And this is only the beginning.
Within recent years, scientists have succeeded in
penetrating into the innermost secrets of chemical
substances and have begun to make use of the tre
mendous force that lies hidden in them. This atomic
power opens up amazing possibilities for the future.
You will live in a world in which chemistry will
become ever more important. To understand that
world it is necessary to understand the truths and
ATOMIC ENERGY FOR
laws on which modern chemistry is based and to learn THE FUTURE
how chemists of the past unraveled them.
This book will help you get this insight — not
alone by your reading it, but also by your conscien
tiously doing the experiments described and learning
what each of them has to tell you.
UNITED STATES IS THE WORLD'S
LEADING PRODUCER OF STEEL.
•&
care about what happened or why it happened. It
was only about 2,500 years ago that philosophers
began to wonder about what things were made of
and what happened when a thing changed into some
thing else.
Around 400 B. C. in Greece, a thinker by the name
of Empedocles came up with an idea that seemed to
copper make sense. He explained that everything in the
SYMBOLS USED BY ALCHEMISTS
world was made from just four things which he
called "elements": fire, water, air, and earth. Think
Olieiiniisls of me ir as£ of that burning stick mentioned above. It gave off
fire — so, obviously, the stick had to contain fire.
MANY THOUSAND years ago, an early ancestor of It sizzled — which meant there was water in it. It
yours pushed a stick into the hot lava flowing from smoked — and smoke would be some kind of air. It
an erupting volcano. The stick burst into fire. He left ashes — and ashes are earth, as certainly every
held it up as a torch. It gave off light and heat and one should know.
finally turned into ashes. Everyone — except another Greek, Democritus,
This ancient man might be considered the world's born around the time when Empedocles died. He
first chemist. He had actually taken a substance had a different notion — that all matter was made
called wood and had, by a chemical process called up of tiny particles which he called atomos — some
combustion or burning, turned it into something else. thing that cannot be cut further.
The discovery of the use of fire was the first great But Democritus didn't get very far with his idea.
step leading toward modern chemistry. Fire made it The greatest Greek philosopher of the day, Aristotle,
possible to turn raw foodstuffs into edible meals, to held out for the four elements. And because of his
bake shaped clay into pottery, to make glass, to great reputation this false idea governed the thinking
drive metals out of their ores. of scientists for two thousand years — because no
For thousands of years people were chiefly inter one dared suggest that he knew better than the great
ested in the results of what they did — they didn't Aristotle!
BRONZE-AGE MAN WAS ONE PARACELSUS TOLD HIS PU
OF THE EARLIEST CHEMISTS. PILS TO USE EXPERIMENTS.
DEMOCRITUS INSISTED THAT BOYLE INVESTIGATED GASES
MATTER CONSISTS OF ATOMS. AND BROKE OLD TRADITIONS.
6
In the meantime, scientists of Arabia began work A Swede. Karl Scheele, and an Englishman, Joseph
in a subject they called alchemy — from Arabic al, Priestley, discovered oxygen, and a Frenchman, An-
the, and kimiu. pouring together. They mixed things toine Laurent Lavoisier, explained the true nature
and boiled and distilled and extracted in the hope. of burning and made up the first scientific listing of
some day, of finding a way of making GOLD! They all known elements — twenty-eight at the time.
discovered a great number of things not previously W ithin a few years, more elements were found.
known, developed many sound laboratory methods. W ith the help of electricity, an English chemist,
and gave the science of chemistry its name — but Humphry Davy, in a single year brought to light
they never created the slightest speck of gold. Nei six new metals—among them sodium, potassium.
ther did a great number of European alchemists. calcium, and magnesium.
For hundreds of years chemistry made little head Twenty years later, in 1828, another important
way. Then, in 1525, a Swiss doctor and scientist break-through occurred. A German chemist, Fried-
spoke up. He had the imposing name of Theophras- rich Wohler, working in his laboratory produced a
tus Bombastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim. He chal chemical, urea, that had never before been made
lenged his students to tear up their books with the outside the body of a living animal.
old theories that had been developed through reason More and more things were happening. New ele
ing only and to find out for themselves through ex ments were discovered, new chemicals created. The
periments whether a scientific theory was right or advances in chemistry greatly influenced industry,
wrong. But only a few people paid attention to him. agriculture and medicine.
More than a hundred years passed before an Eng And then, in 1898. the Polish-born Marie Curie
lishman, Robert Boyle, in 1661, succeeded in killing and her French husband. Pierre, discovered the •"mir
off the old idea of the four elements. He did it by acle element." radium. This opened up a whole new
establishing that there are many elements — sub age in chemistry.
stances that cannot be formed by other substances Within the last fifty years, chemistry has moved
and cannot be broken into other substances. forward with giant steps. But not a single one of
Another hundred years went by. Then, at the time these steps would have been possible without the
of the American Revolution, the day finally dawned dedicated work of the chemists of the past who laid
for modern chemistry. the foundation on which modern chemistry rests.
PRIESTLEY USED HEAT OF DAVY BROUGHT ELECTRICITY
SUN TO PRODUCE OXYGEN. INTO CHEMICAL RESEARCH.
LAVOISIER GAVE THE RIGHT MARIE CURIE AND HER HUS
EXPLANATION OF BURNING. BAND DISCOVERED RADIUM.

IMPROVISED EQUIPMENT FOR HOME LAB
JJ/quipmeiLi£ for OJieiMLisfry
SOME of the greatest discoveries in chemistry were screwtop can
1 pint
made by scientists who had no special equipment
but simply used whatever was at hand.
In your home lab experiments it will pay you
to follow the example of these early chemists. Put
your imagination to work. Use whatever suitable
equipment you can find around the house (as sug
gested in column to the right) and buy only what is
absolutely necessary (as shown below). Some items
may be purchased in a local drugstore or scientific
supply shop. If not, you can buy them from one of
the suppliers listed on page 110.
Later on — if you really get excited about chem
istry — you may want to use your pocket money for
some of the lab equipment shown on page 8.
LABORATORY WARE FOR HOME LAB