Awsome tricks with household food items

[Shadow]

While this has nothing to do with chemistry, I like this one. However, as the guy who made the video says and common sense dictates, I don't think it's all that safe to try, and I've heard from those who did try it that it makes the microwave useless. Can't confirm that last part though, since I have no intention of trying it myself )

 

Cheers,

 

Gabe

[Baby Astronaut]

A visual trick with a laptop screen, cellophane tape, and polarized sunglasses. You tape up the LCD screen, and rotate the sunglasses for colorful effects/patterns.

 

One of the "tricks" it proposes, for instance, is creating a plastic-like material by heating up milk and adding vinegar to it. According to the book, the vinegar is creating chunks of solid matter called "Caseine" and you can just mold it to whatever u want, let it dry for a while, and have your own version of home made plastic.

Is the plastic hard enough to drill into and the screw can't be pulled out?

 

If not, does anyone know of a way to create a DIY mold actually that hard? Smooth would be nice.

[Petanquell]

DO NOT DO THIS! especially not if you are standing close enough to pour the water in by hand. if you are this close you will have a large number of third degree burns all over you.

 

Very good point! My bad, I didn't expect that someone could have so suicidical behaviour!

 

petanquell, please familiarise yourself with our rules and be advised that suggesting experiments of this level of hazard without ANY warning at all to the readers is very much frowned upon by the leaders of this forum.

 

...

 

As usual my fault, I haven't read them carefully.

Next time, I'll rather write off all warnings despite they seems obvious to me.

 

Pq

[insane_alien]

never underestimate human stupidity. NEVER. it'll only lead to some poor fool dying a painful death.

[11gernez]

The combination of baking soda and vinegar also is a very nice one. A lot of bubbling and formation of foam.

 

This reminded me!

 

This is a bit more advanced, but vinegar (HC2H3O2 [i think]) and baking soda (NaHCO3) react to make CO2, H2O, and NaC2H3O2(sodium acetate). Sodium acetate can be supersaturated into water to make some cool things. for example, when cooled in a glass bowl, the soulution doesn't crystalize until you place something in it. So when you touch it, the whole bowl crystalizes within 5 sec!!!!

 

[amit]

ya . i believe its because that solution when left undisturbed attains meta stable state which is broken with any interruption.

any wa i read in news paper that adding mentos in diet coke gives u a nice fountain. search youtube. reason listed eruption of co2 because of surface of mentos.(i doubt it though)

[hermanntrude]

ya . i believe its because that solution when left undisturbed attains meta stable state which is broken with any interruption.

any wa i read in news paper that adding mentos in diet coke gives u a nice fountain. search youtube. reason listed eruption of co2 because of surface of mentos.(i doubt it though)

 

the main factor in the release of CO2 from the diet coke IS actually the giant surface area of the mentos. It is also partly to do with the nature of that surface, but mostly it's just that for some reason the surface itself is microscopically very very rough, giving it a lot of pores, meaning the surface area is enormous.

[Mr Skeptic]

One of the "tricks" it proposes, for instance, is creating a plastic-like material by heating up milk and adding vinegar to it. According to the book, the vinegar is creating chunks of solid matter called "Caseine" and you can just mold it to whatever u want, let it dry for a while, and have your own version of home made plastic.

 

Seems like a cheesy experiment to me.

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Consecutive posts merged

I think you could create something that is vaguely similar to water rocket.I just had the thought yesterday night and since I'm on holiday, I'll probably try it out soon myself. Instead of using pressurised water for the rocket's propulsion ...

 

I've made one of these.

Water Bottle Rocket (reuseable)

Ingredients:

1 valve (I got one by cutting it out from a bicycle inner tube that had a flat)

1 bottle cap

1 large plastic bottle

water

air compressor (eg bicycle pump, car pump)

 

Drill a hole in the bottle cap, and insert the valve, so that the end of the valve sticks out and the cap+valve is airtight. The valve I used from the bicycle inner tube did not need any help to make an airtight seal. Fill the bottle about 2/3 with water, screw on cap. Use air compressor to inflate bottle under pressure. Then place bottle upside down and quickly remove the cap.

 

Warning: there is the possibility that your bottle will explode. This happened to my brother when he was holding the bottle, and he got a black eye. I used an old refrigerator pump that my dad had attached a hose to as my air compressor, which is probably more powerful than whatever pump you have. If you use a reusable plastic bottle (they are very thick) then you should be safe, but I don't know if they make those anymore or in the US.

 

PS: If your pump is powerful enough to explode a 2 liter soda bottle, it makes an incredibly loud explosion. Much louder than if you stuff gunpowder into a metal pipe and explode the pipe. As to how I could do that without getting into trouble, I lived somewhere other than the "land of the free".

Edited February 5, 2009 by Mr Skeptic
Consecutive posts merged.

[Alexein]

flamming jelly from vinegar, calcium carbonate, and rubbing alcohol. Not exactly Napalm but tad more interesting than just burning liquid alcohol:

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhat dangerous because it produces small amounts of chlorine gas, but making chemiluminescence from pool chlorine and hydrogen peroxide:

 

 

 

 

Sodium acetate, (yea it's been done to death but might as well jump on the bandwagon...)

 

 

 

And polishing silver using electrochemistry (nothing special, just the classic silver reduction by aluminum foil)

 

 

 

EDIT: CR*P! I just realized this was an Organic chemistry forum, if the inorganic reactions are too off topic i'll chuck em.

[hermanntrude]

nah this whole thread ought to be in general chemistry. i'll move it