Dr. Campbell's Demos

Dr. Campbell's Favorite Demos

Links to Demo Pages

Click to view photographs and short descriptions of some of the demonstrations in the list below.

WARNING – Use at your own risk! We cannot guarantee the accuracy or the safety of these activities. Some of these activities are far more dangerous than others. The contributors and Bradley University do not assume any responsibility for these activities or their results. If you have questions, corrections, or comments please do not hesitate to contact Dean Campbell (campbell@bumail.bradley.edu) at Bradley University.

Ferrofluid Demonstrations
Refrigerator Magnet Demonstrations
Polydimethysiloxane Demonstrations
LEGO® Brick Chemistry and Nanotechnology Demonstrations

Several years ago I surveyed my students over some of the demonstrations that I performed. The demos were assessed by the students at the end of the course. Demos that the students thought were worth keeping were given a "+10"; those that the students thought should be tossed or significantly revised were given a "-10". No opinions were given a value of zero and unassesed demos are marked "NA". The average value of each demonstration is given in parentheses at the start of each line.

Acids and Bases

(2 sections: 4 avg) extinguish flames with carbon dioxide from hydrochloric acid/carbonate reaction - acid-base reaction

Electrochemistry

(2 sections: 4 avg) electrolysis of sodium chloride solution (chlorine bleaches Rhodamine dye) - electrochemistry
(1 section: 5 avg) battery cross-sections - electrochemistry
(1 section: 5 avg) nails and various metal strips in DI water and salt water - corrosion

Electronic Structure of Atoms

(6 sections: 9 avg) electric pickle - light emission (yellow sodium light)

(5 sections: 6 avg) neon or fluorescent lights and diffraction grating - light emission

(6 sections: 6 avg) balloons taped or held together - VSEPR, hybridization

(2 sections: 7 avg) cathode ray tube and magnet - Thompson's experiment

(2 sections: 5 avg) tricolor LEDs - naming extended covalent compounds, color relation to bandgap, diodes

Gases

(4 sections: 7 avg) milk jug/ethanol rocket car - gas laws, thermochemistry
(2 sections: 4 avg) piezo popper - gas laws, thermochemistry

(2 sections: 8 avg) acid and carbonate in a Ziplock baggie - gas laws

(3 sections: 4 avg) bounce of a table-tennis ball vs. a squishy silicone ball - elastic vs. inelastic collisions

(2 sections: 2 avg) ammonia/hydrogen chloride reaction in polydimethylsiloxane - diffusion

(NA) ferrocene/iodine reaction in polydimethylsiloxane - diffusion

(3 sections: 4 avg) hydrogen diffusion into a clay porous cup increasing the pressure within that cup - diffusion

Kinetics

(1 section: 6 avg) cracking balls - activation energy
(2 sections: 7 avg) flammability of hydrogen - explosive limits (kinetics), thermochemisty
(1 section: 10 avg) "I Dream of Genie" (catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with manganese dioxide) - catalysis
(5 sections: 7 avg) elephant's toothpaste - catalysis

Materials/Descriptive Chemistry
-general properties

(2 sections: 4 avg) re-entrant foam - Poisson's ratio, bridge between materials design and chemistry
(2 sections: 8 avg) diamond, metal, and plastic strips with thermochromic liquid crystal films attached - thermal conductivity
(2 sections: 3 avg) Solid State Model Kit - assorted solid state models
(5 sections: 2 avg) electrorheological fluid - dipole moments

-main group elements

(1 section: -1 avg) pencil writing on paper - softness of graphite

(2 sections: 6 avg) diamond, metal, and plastic strips with thermochromic liquid crystal films attached - thermal conductivity of diamond
(2 sections: 2 avg) PVDF film - fluorinated polymer, piezoelectricity
(2 sections: 5 avg) tricolor LEDs - naming extended covalent compounds, color relation to bandgap, diodes
(NA) water hardness - effects of Ca,Mg ions on the environment

-nanoscale materials

(5 sections: 6 avg) ferrofluid - colloids

-piezoelectricity

(2 sections: 2 avg) PVDF film - fluorinated polymer, piezoelectricity
(1 section: 7 avg) flash rocks - piezoelectricity

-polymer chemistry

(2 sections: 2 avg) PVDF film - fluorinated polymer, piezoelectricity
(1 section: 7 avg) nylon synthesis - condensation polymerization
(1 section: 4 avg) silicone bouncing balls - effects of crosslinking on polymer behavior
(1 section: 7 avg) super water-absorbent polymer - solvent swelling
(1 section: 7 avg) solvents swelling of a PDMS slab in ether
(2 sections: 3 avg) solvent-welding polystyrene with acetone or ether - solvent welding

-silicon and related compounds

(3 sections: 2 avg) polydimethylsiloxane - silicones

(2 sections: 4 avg) quartz crystal - silicates

(NA) - mica crystal - aluminosilicates

(1 section: 1 avg) assorted glass samples from Dr. Ken Kolb - glasses

(1 section: 6 avg) colors in stained glass - color in glass

-transition metals and metals as solids

(1 section: 9 avg) periodic table of the cations - transition metal colors

(1 section: 6 avg) assorted metals samples - density variation in transition metals

(1 section: 8 avg) Alnico cow magnet - magnetic applications of Co

(2 sections: 5 avg) vials of paramagnetic and diamagnetic samples with a magnet on an overhead projector - paramagnetism vs. diamagnetism

(1 section: 7 avg) stereochemical models - optical isomerization of transition metal complexes

(4 sections: 7 avg) memory metal samples ("ICE" word and artery stent) - novel alloy, phase change

(3 sections: 3 avg) BB and bead board - metal grain boundaries and the control of their structure

(2 sections: 8 avg) tin rods and their "cry" - metal dislocations

(3 sections: 6 avg) green color in thick window glass - color of iron (II)

(2 sections: 3 avg) bingo chips on an overhead projector - cubic and hexagonal closest packing in metals

Measurement and the Scientific Method

(3 sections: 4 avg) chattering refrigerator magnets - scientific method
(4 sections: 7 avg) dart board and darts - precision, accuracy, and planning experiments
(2 sections: 2 avg) beaker and buret - precision and accuracy
(5 sections: 7 avg) regular soda can vs. diet soda can density - density
(1 section: 9 avg) floating bowling ball - density
(2 sections: 6 avg) molecular models - types of molecular models
(2 sections: 4 avg) Avagadro's number handout - size and scale of Avagadro's number
(2 sections: 5 avg) magnetic marbles and strong magnets - mass spectrometry

Nuclear

(4 sections: 4 avg) assorted radioactive samples and Geiger counter - nuclear chemistry

- trinitite sample

- orange-red Fiesta Ware

- thorium nitrate

(2 sections: 7 avg) irradiated glass marble and irradiated sodium chloride - ionizing radiation
(1 section: 8 avg) LEGO chain reaction on an overhead projector - nuclear chain reactions

Organic

(1 section: 7 avg) 3-D molecular models - visualization

Thermodynamics

(4 sections: 7 avg) flammability of hydrogen - explosive limits (kinetics), thermochemisty

(1 section: 6 avg) coal samples - relative carbon content of coal types

(3 sections: 6 avg) rubber band thermodynamics - thermodynamics

(3 sections: 4 avg) macroscale crystallization of plastic pieces or hot dog slices at the air/water interface - thermodynamics

(4 sections: 7 avg) milk jug/ethanol rocket car - gas laws, thermochemistry

(2 sections: 4 avg) piezo popper - gas laws, thermochemistry

(2 sections: 8 avg) combustion of methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol - relative carbon contents of fuel

(NA) burning gas bubbles - thermodynamics

(4 sections: 5 avg) "room temperature" thermite (including the railroad spike variant) - thermochemistry

(3 sections: 8 avg) sodium acetate hand warmer - thermochemistry

(2 sections: 6 avg) butane lighter - thermodynamics, chemical change

(2 sections: 7 avg) bromine in a sealed vessel - phase change

(5 sections: 8 avg) copper wire cutting through an ice rod - pressure-induced solid/liquid phase change

(4 sections: 7 avg) memory metal samples ("ICE" word and artery stent) - phase change, novel alloy

(3 sections: 3 avg) copper mercury iodide - thermochromic phase change

(3 sections: 5 avg) high-Tc superconductor - second order phase change

(NA) thermochromic battery tester - thermochromic phase change

(2 sections: 4 avg) LeChatelier tank - LeChatelier's principle, equation for equilibrium constant

(NA) oscillating reaction - equilibrium

Other

(2 sections: 5 avg) iron (III) chloride and ammonia solution = iron (III) hydroxide - stoichiometry

(6 sections: 8 avg) two dyes in oil/water bottle - "like dissolves like"

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Last updated 1/17/12

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