Who Is the Father of Chemistry?

If you're ever asked to identify the Father of Chemistry for a homework assignment, the "most correct" answer for a test will be the one found in your textbook. However, that may not be the answer others would give when asked the question.

The first chemist actually was a Mesopotamian woman, Tapputi, who described the process of distillation. She might be called the Mother of Chemistry, but really didn't engage in science in the modern sense of the word. Jabir ibn Hayyan or "Geber", as he was also called, applied the scientific method to the study of alchemy circa 800 AD. Many people consider him to be the Father of Chemistry. Another popular choice for the title of Father of Chemistry is Antoine Lavoisier, who listed elements, described properties of matter, helped to revise and standardize chemistry nomenclature and made a host of other contribution to the field of chemistry. Lavoisier sometimes is known as the Father of Modern Chemistry, to distinguish his work from contributions made before chemistry was a true science.

Geber and Lavoisier aren't the only people who have been called the "Father of Chemistry." Other investigators may be known by this name... Read more

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Make Fire Using Chemistry - Chemical Reactions and Combustion

You don't need a match or a lighter to light a fire. There are chemical reactions that do the trick! Here's a quick rundown of ways you can make fire using chemicals typically available in a chemistry lab.

Chemical Fire #1

potassium permanganate glycerin water

Add a few drops of glycerin to a few crystals of potassium permanganate. Accelerate the reaction by adding a couple of drops of water.

Chemical Fire #2 acetone sulfuric acid potassium permanganate

Soak a tissue with acetone to make it more flammable. Draw sulfuric acid into a glass pipette. Dip the pipette into potassium permanganate so that the tip of the pipette is coated with a few crystals. Dispense the sulfuric acid onto the tissue. The potassium permangante and sulfuric acid mix to produce manganese heptoxide and fire.

Chemical Fire #3 sodium chlorate sugar sulfuric acid

Mix a small amount of sodium chlorate and sugar. Initiate the reaction by adding a few drops of sulfuric acid.

Chemical Fire #4

ammonium nitrate powder finely ground zinc powder hydrochloric acid

Mix together a small amount of ammonium nitrate and zinc powder. Initiate the reaction by adding a few drops of hydrochloric acid.

Chemical Fire Safety

If you are performing a demonstration of chemical fire using any of these reactions, use very small amounts of the chemicals listed for each project. Wear proper safety gear and work on a fire-safe surface.

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Make Hot Ice - Heating Pad Chemistry

Here's an easy chemistry project you can do in which you take a clear liquid and instantaneously solidify it into hot 'ice'. It isn't water ice, however. This is how you make crystals of sodium acetate, which is used in hand warmers and chemical heating pads and hot packs.

Hot Ice Materials

sodium acetate water saucepan glass or pan

Making Your Own Sodium Acetate Monohydrate

If you don't have any sodium acetate monohydrate you can make your own. Add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to vinegar (weak acetic acid) until the mixture stops fizzing. This will give you an aqueous solution of sodium acetate. If you boil off the water, you'll be left with the sodium acetate. Expect to use a lot of baking soda and vinegar if you go this route.

Make the Hot Ice

What you are going to do is make a supersaturated sodium acetate solution. The solution will remain a supercooled liquid until a little solid sodium acetate is introduced. This will cause rapid crystallization that will resemble a block of ice, except it will be hot to the touch and not edible.

Dump some sodium acetate monohydrate into a saucepan. Add just enough water to dissolve the sodium acetate. Heat the solution to just below its boiling point. Stir in more sodium acetate. Keep stirring and adding sodium acetate until you start to see solid material accumulating at the bottom of the pan. Pour the hot solution into a glass or other container. Do not allow any of the undissolved solid to enter the container. Cool the solution in the refrigerator 30 minutes to an hour. Remove the solution from the refrigerator. As long as you didn't leave any solid sodium acetate in the solution, it should still be liquid. When you are ready to make 'ice' introduce a little of the solid sodium acetate. You could dip a toothpick or the edge of a spoon in sodium acetate powder. The crystallization will evolve heat (exothermic reaction), making the solid feel hot to the touch (~130° F).

Hot Ice Trick

You don't have to solidify the sodium acetate in a dish. You can crystallize it as the solution is being poured to make fantastic shapes.

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Worked Chemistry Problems

You have two ways to browse worked chemistry example problems. The index of worked chemistry problems scrolls through an easy-to-scan text list of topics or you can use the categorized index of worked problems. The example problems are arranged alphabetically according to problem type. Look for many more examples and types of problems as I broaden the scope of the problem sets. Enjoy!if(zs>0){if(zSbL250)gEI("spacer").style.height=Math.floor(e[0].height/12)+17.5+'em';else{var zIClns=[];function walkup(e){if(e.className!='entry'){if(e.nodeName=='A'||e.style.styleFloat=='right'||e.style.cssFloat=='right'||e.align=='right'||e.align=='left'||e.className=='alignright'||e.className=='alignleft')zIClns.push(e);walkup(e.parentNode)}}walkup(e[0]);if(zIClns.length){node=zIClns[zIClns.length-1];var clone=node.cloneNode(true);node.parentNode.removeChild(node);getElementsByClassName("entry",gEI("articlebody"))[0].insertBefore(clone,gEI("spacer"))}}}};zSB(2);zSbL=0

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