Home Chemistry

[sciwiz12]

I am currently studying chemistry on the side with the hope of building a home chem lab for fun, research, and possibly even some eventual profit. Does anyone have any suggestions? In particular I'm thinking about how I will approach building my materials and supplies.

 

What are some useful chemicals that can be quickly and easily synthesised from common household ingredients? What are some good sources of free (I'm 100% broke) literature on the subject of home chemistry? Where should I target my studies first so that I can get hands on as quickly as possible while remaining safe and practical (keeping in mind I am literally 100% broke and have access to nature and the contents of a more or less average home).

[Sensei]

You should have your own distillation setup (even couple, you don't want to use same set up for organic chemistry as with some poisons),

dephlegmator, beakers 100mL - 1000 mL, round-bottom flasks, flat bottom flasks, alcohol lamps, couple lab stands and clamps various types f.e. for condenser and dephlegmator.

Graduated cylinders, blender, mortar and pestle, laboratory funnel, Büchner funnel.

Hot plate, magnetic stirrer (can be in one set up). Vacuum flasks and pump.

 

You can create metal oxides and metal hydroxides by yourself doing electrolysis of water with metals as electrodes.

Add acetic acid to them, and you have metal acetate (or put metal to acetic acid, but it's long time going process).

 

I'm 100% broke

Lab equipment is quite expensive..

What I mentioned above, except magnetic stirrer and vacuum pump, would cost you at least few hundred usd. With stirrer and pump easily $1k.

 

literature on the subject of home chemistry?

What is "home chemistry"? How it differs from not home chemistry?

Home chemistry could be making your own ethanol, acetic acid, metal acetates various types, from ethanol you can make Ethylene. Then your own plastic..

From plastics that you would normally throw to trashcan you can make liquid of hydrocarbons, and even make your own fuel for car..

Edited November 17, 2015 by Sensei

[Elite Engineer]

 

What are some useful chemicals that can be quickly and easily synthesised from common household ingredients? What are some good sources of free (I'm 100% broke) literature on the subject of home chemistry? Where should I target my studies first so that I can get hands on as quickly as possible while remaining safe and practical (keeping in mind I am literally 100% broke and have access to nature and the contents of a more or less average home).

I'm your guy! I've been setting up a home lab for the last 2 years. I've synthesized alot of cool stuff..most of it is hard to get both high purity and large concentration.

 

Most household chemical are not going to be pure enough to use in a reaction. However there are a couple of things you can use:

 

Lye- Sodium Hydroxide

 

Rubbing Alcohol- Ethanol or isopropanol

 

Sodium Chloride/ Potassium Chloride

 

Water-Break ice packs, inside is a packet of ammonium nitrate

 

Thats all I can think of now.

 

________________________________________________________

 

For a quick practice reaction, try and make potassium nitrate. There's 100's of videos on youtube on all different kinds of synthesis' and lab set ups.

 

Good luck

 

~EE

[sciwiz12]

Thank you both. Quick query, how do some labs get the higher purity that is more difficult to attain working from home?

[hypervalent_iodine]

Thank you both. Quick query, how do some labs get the higher purity that is more difficult to attain working from home?

We have better access to suppliers, so common things are generally purchased. Fine chemicals can be purchased, but many can be made and purified. I myself also have access to a lot of expensive equipment for purification if needed.