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This Chemistry Lab Instruction Booklet has 
been written by David Webster. Dr. Webster 
is a Fellow of the Royal Society of 
Chemistry and a Chartered Chemist. He 
has been teaching practical chemistry for 
over 40 years, and is the author of a 
chemistry textbook for younger secondary 
school children. He has designed and 
tested the 100 experiments in this 
instruction booklet. The experiments, 
which get more difficult and involve more 
complex ideas as you move through the 

You are now the owner of a Chemistry Laboratory. We hope that you enjoy 

the many interesting chemistry experiments which are given in this 

Instruction Booklet.
ADULT SUPERVISION IS NECESSARY AT ALL TIMES.

A Chemistry Laboratory, such as this, is not for ‘playing’ with. When carrying out chemistry 
experiments you need to take GREAT CARE in both following the instructions and in keeping 
a Laboratory Notebook of your experiments and results.

If you do this you will be working safely and learning some chemistry at the same time. 
Working safely must always be your main concern. The experiments given here are safe and 
enjoyable and at the same time you will learn about chemistry.

Always be careful to avoid getting chemicals on you, particularly not in your eyes or mouth. 
Also be careful not to burn yourself. To avoid injury read and follow all the safety rules 
which follow.

Introduction

6

7

booklet, are a collection of safe chemical 
experiments for you to carry out using both 
the chemicals and equipment in the 
Chemistry Lab and common chemicals and 
other readily available materials, many of 
which you will already have at home. The 
experiments are intended to show you some 
of the magic and mystery of chemistry, and 
the relevance of chemistry to your 
understanding of what is to be found in your 
home and in the world around you.

Chemistry is a very important science, 
because everything in the Universe is made of 
chemical substances. You, the water you drink, 
the air your breathe, the food you eat, the hills 
you climb, are all chemical substances.
All chemical substances are made from about 
100 elements. You, for example, are a very 
complicated mixture of chemicals, but 98% of 
you is just 6 of these 100 elements (hydrogen, 
carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and 
sulphur). Many other elements make up the 
remaining 2% of you, such as iron, in your 
blood, and sodium, in the cells of your body.
When you carry out chemical experiments you 
are studying how the many different chemical 
substances behave. This Chemistry Lab 
contains the equipment and chemicals to carry 
out many interesting experiments, but no 
chemistry set can be “complete” as there are 
millions of possible chemistry experiments. 
You must regard your Chemistry Lab as the 
heart of a laboratory to which you can add 

other equipment and chemicals (only those 
suggested on pages 14/15 in this manual 
or listed in each experiment in this manual). 
Then you can carry out other experiments.
Some of the experiments here require other 
equipment and chemicals and these are 
described in the section Additional Equipment 
and Chemicals. DO NOT use anything not 
listed as a requirement in this manual.
It is a good idea to get together as much 
of this equipment and as many of these 
chemicals before your start. Certainly get 
them before you start the experiment which 
needs them. These additional chemicals and 
equipment need not be expensive. Part of the 
fun of using a chemistry set at home is to 
improvise, that is to make the equipment 
from common household items, and use 
common household chemicals, as much 
as possible.

Glass

stirring rod

100mm beaker 100mm conical

flask

Spirit burner

Dropping 

pipette

test tube

rack

Plastic funnel

Test tube holder

Filter papers

Corks

Rubber 

tubing

Test 

tubes

Test tube 

cleaning

brush

Содержание Chemistry Lab

Страница 1: ...s Keep small children and animals away from experiments Keep the experimental set out of reach of children under 10 years old Eye protection for supervising adults is not included Functional sharp points and edges cut and puncture wound hazard Dispose of unwanted chemicals by greatly diluting with water and running into the waste water system For chemicals labelled as hazardous to the environment ...

Страница 2: ...ntents of the Chemistry Lab Equipment CAUTION Contains some chemicals that are classified as a safety hazard CHEMICAL RISK Ammonium Chloride Harmful if swallowed Causes serious eye irritation CHEMICAL RISK Magnesium Sulphate Not hazardous Potassium Iodide Not hazardous Sodium Sulphate Not hazardous Sodium Thiosulphate Not hazardous Sodium Carbonate Causes serious eye irritation Sodium Hydrogen Sul...

Страница 3: ...ould discuss the warnings and safety information with the child or children before commencing the experiments Particular attention should be paid to the safe handling of acids alkalies and flammable liquids f The area surrounding the experiment should be kept clear of any obstruction and away from the storage of food It should be well lit and ventilated and close to a water supply A solid table wi...

Страница 4: ...r home and in the world around you Chemistry is a very important science because everything in the Universe is made of chemical substances You the water you drink the air your breathe the food you eat the hills you climb are all chemical substances All chemical substances are made from about 100 elements You for example are a very complicated mixture of chemicals but 98 of you is just 6 of these 1...

Страница 5: ...set up your laboratory work space in a well lit and ventilated room with if possible a heat resistant surface to work on You will soon discover that an experimental chemist spends a lot of time washing dirty equipment so a close supply of running water or a large container to hold waste water is essential For most people the kitchen is the best place to set up your laboratory You also need a clean...

Страница 6: ...r purpose if you get an adult to heat a needle held in a pair of pliers in your Spirit Burner flame and melt a small hole through the centre of the top of the cap Then click shut the top of the cap and squirt the water out of this fine hole continued SAFETY TIP Using the Spirit Burner You can extinguish the burner flame by blowing it out but a good tip to follow is to have a heat proof drinking gl...

Страница 7: ...ts with several pieces of kitchen roll and throw it away Wash your hands under running water when you have cleared up One of the trickiest tasks you will have to do is to push the glass tubing into a cork It is very very easy to break the tubing and cut your hand when doing this so take great care TIP A Hand Sprayer A small 1 pint garden or indoor plant sprayer that is readily available at Garden ...

Страница 8: ...ush or cotton buds A pencil A small mirror or piece of glass Writing paper preferably unglazed 2 tea towels A kitchen roll A roll of sellotape A pair of scissors A pair of tweezers or small pliers 5 small nails A wooden clothes peg very useful as a test tube holder A small saucepan An old cup or mug An egg cup A small plate DO NOT RE USE cutlery plates glasses or mugs etc used in experiments for d...

Страница 9: ...ent heat it very gently DANGER The spoon will be VERY HOT put it on the tin tray holding the burner and wait for it to cool down Before doing any of the experiments read and understand the two earlier sections in this Booklet on Safety Matters and Your Chemistry Laboratory Collect together the Additional Equipment and Chemicals listed earlier For many experiments you will need some small pieces of...

Страница 10: ...lace the funnel and filter paper into the mouth of a test tube and pour the solution and pepper into it The liquid filtrate passes through the fine holes in the filter paper into the test tube leaving the pepper stuck onto the filter paper To recover clean and dry pepper move the funnel into another test tube and gently wash the pepper with water Then carefully lift the filter paper out of the fun...

Страница 11: ...own iodine will be formed Add water until the test tube is half full Carefully pour this solution into a bottle Label it Iodine Solution THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT Experiment 2 1 Invisible ink from a lemon a lemon crystallising dish artist s paint brush or a cotton bud writing paper Squeeze a lemon and pour some juice into a crystallising dish Use the paint brush or a cotton bud to write on a piece of...

Страница 12: ...ution until it just boils and pour it into a crystallising dish leaving any residue in the test tube Put the crystallising dish somewhere warm for several days until all the water has evaporated away If possible prop up one side of the crystallising dish say with a pencil so the solution is not spread too thinly over the bottom of the dish Sodium sulphate crystals will be left in the crystallising...

Страница 13: ...ate crystals magnesium sulphate beaker test tube small saucepan glass container There is a sample of magnesium sulphate in the Chemistry Lab but to carry out this experiment you will need to buy more It is sold as Epsom Salts Magnesium sulphate has this name because it is an important chemical in drinking water that was first found in spring water at Epsom in Surrey over 300 years ago in 1695 Put ...

Страница 14: ...r lab to carry out this experiment Before you can carry out this experiment you need to buy more aluminium potassium sulphate or copper sulphate from a chemical supplier To grow really large crystals you need to suspend a small one known as the seed crystal in a saturated solution of the chemical and let the water slowly evaporate away As it does so the chemical will grow as one large crystal on t...

Страница 15: ...gnesium sulphate into a clean dry test tube Heat the solid in the burner flame and look carefully at what happens Do you see any water vapour coming off from the magnesium sulphate and condensing on the cool upper parts of the test tube This water is part of the magnesium sulphate crystal It is called water of crystallisation Record in your notebook that magnesium sulphate contains water of crysta...

Страница 16: ...ion Put 3 measures of sodium carbonate and 3 measures of calcium hydroxide in a clean conical flask Add a test tube full of water and gently shake and heat the flask over the burner for about 5 minutes As the flask will get hot you need to make a holder for it Do this by cutting an A4 sheet of paper in half to give a piece 15cm x 21cm and then folding this over 3 times to form a strip about 2cm x ...

Страница 17: ...e substance that gives red cabbage its colour is an indicator Chop up a little red cabbage and gently boil it in water for 10 minutes or so Let the deep purple water cool and pour some into your beaker Dissolve measure of citric acid in 2cm of water in a test tube and pour it into the conical flask Add 1cm of red cabbage water What colour is the solution Add 2cm of your sodium hydroxide solution W...

Страница 18: ...um potassium sulphate iron sulphate test tubes dropping pipette white plate Chemists often need to test for acids or alkalis and indicators that have been soaked onto filter paper and dried are usually used The most useful is called universal indicator paper This indicator not only shows the presence of an acid or alkali but also shows its strength The colour of the universal indicator changes fro...

Страница 19: ...nto a crystallising dish and let the water evaporate off in a warm place leaving a mixture of sodium sulphate and zinc sulphate crystals Experiment 5 12 Neutralisation of an acid with an alkali using universal indicator universal indicator paper citric acid sodium hydrogen carbonate sodium bicarbonate sodium hydrogen sulphate solution sodium carbonate solution 2 test tubes conical flask 2 crystall...

Страница 20: ...at the magnesium What do you see If you see nothing happening boil the solution again and be patient Experiment 6 3 The reaction of iron with an acid iron filings sodium hydrogen sulphate solution 2 test tubes funnel filter paper crystallising dish Repeat Experiment 6 2 using 1 measure of iron filings instead of the zinc The crystals that you obtain are a mixture of sodium sulphate and iron sulpha...

Страница 21: ...st tube and add 2cm of your sodium hydrogen sulphate solution Add 2 small pieces of clay pot Boil the solution carefully holding the tube in a test tube holder or a wooden clothes peg The clay pot will help the solution to boil smoothly but it can still spit and spurt out WEAR YOUR GOGGLES and ensure that the test tube is not pointing at anyone Boil the solution for about 5 minutes adding more wat...

Страница 22: ...sulphate copper magnesium sulphate Experiment 7 4 The formation of iron hydroxides iron sulphate sodium hydroxide solution 2 test tubes funnel filter paper Dissolve measure of iron sulphate in 1cm of water in a test tube Add 2cm of sodium hydroxide solution A precipitate of iron II hydroxide is formed What colour is it Filter off this precipitate Open up the filter paper and leave it for an hour o...

Страница 23: ...il Add a piece of clay pot gently boil the solution and then remove the test tube from the flame Look very carefully at the contents of the test tube and describe what you see Leave the tube for an hour or so Has the blue colour of the copper sulphate disappeared What has been formed Write a word equation for the reaction that has happened here See if you can recover any aluminium sulphate crystal...

Страница 24: ... then red Carbon dioxide has been shown to be an acid Experiment 8 6 Heating copper carbonate copper carbonate small evaporating spoon In Experiment 7 1 you made a sample of copper carbonate Put the copper carbonate on the small metal evaporating spoon and heat it over the burner flame Describe what happens What colour is the residue in the spoon Look back at Experiment 6 7 to see if this contains...

Страница 25: ... of aluminium foil and fold it round a lolly stick to make a packet Let the end of the foil extend over the end of the stick and fold it over to make a sealed bottom Put a piece of sellotape on the foil edge to hold the packet together and slide it off the lolly stick It should be about 3 cm long Continued Experiment 9 4 To identify the gas in sparkling water first experiment sparkling water unive...

Страница 26: ...under the funnel Continue heating for about 10 minutes when there should be no further change in the test tube Remove the test tube from the flame put the HOT test tube on the tin tray and the funnel from the water Pour the ammonia solution from the beaker into a test tube and put a plastic cap on it Label the tube and store it safely Experiment 9 7 The reaction of carbonates with acid continued C...

Страница 27: ...glow increases and the wood relights You will use this glowing splint in the next experiment Experiment 9 11 The reaction of copper sulphate with ammonia copper sulphate ammonia solution test tube dropping pipette Put measure of copper sulphate into a clean dry test tube and add a very small amount of water about cm Warm the tube to dissolve the copper sulphate and let it cool Add ammonia solution...

Страница 28: ...ygen hydrogen peroxide solution iron sulphate test tube dropping pipette Iron in an iron II compound gets oxidised to iron III when it is treated with hydrogen peroxide Mix measure of iron sulphate with 2cm of water in a test tube Add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide solution with the dropping pipette and gently warm the solution What happens Are the colour changes the same as in Experiment 9 12 E...

Страница 29: ...ent 2 4 an invisible message written with starch solution turned blue when dipped in iodine solution The formation this blue colour with starch is a very sensitive test for iodine Add 4 drops of iodine with the dropping pipette to a test tube of water followed by 4 drops of starch solution Use laundry spray starch see Experiment 2 4 or the starch solution prepared in the next experiment The soluti...

Страница 30: ...ing spoon and heat it over the burner flame until nothing further happens Put the HOT SPOON in the tin lid to cool Describe what happens The black residue left in the spoon is carbon This is because sugar contains a lot of carbon In Experiments 8 7 and 8 8 you heated tartaric and citric acids These are similar to sugar but contain less carbon Was there any carbon residue left when they were heated...

Страница 31: ...supplied with this Chemistry Lab Experiment 11 6 Testing for sucrose sugar Fehling s solution 2 test tubes test tube holder or wooden clothes peg clay pot The sugar that we are familiar with is sucrose Repeat Experiment 11 5 replacing the 1cm of Golden Syrup solution with 1 measure of sugar dissolved in 1cm of water in a test tube What happens this time when you boil the solution Nothing happens b...

Страница 32: ... pour it carefully into the glass container It should almost fill it When the syrup is cool enough to handle move the container to a place where you can easily see it Cover it with a piece of kitchen roll to keep out dust flies etc Leave for 2 or 3 days by which time there should be some sugar crystals on the bottom and maybe floating on the top of the container If none have formed put a sprinkle ...

Страница 33: ...tion and blue in alkali solution Turmeric is yellow in acid solution and orange in alkaline solution 5 9 1 strong acid 2 weak or strong alkali 3 strong alkali 4 strong alkali 5 weak acid 6 weak or strong acid 7 weak or strong acid 8 weak alkali 9 weak acid 10 weak acid 5 10 1 Lemon juice is a weak acid It contain citric acid 2 Vinegar is a weak acid It contains ethanoic acid 3 Sparkling water is a...

Страница 34: ... that carbon dioxide gas is being expelled from the sparkling water In Experiment 9 4 the indicator is put into the solution In this experiment the carbon dioxide gas is boiled out Other acids that might have been added to the fizzy soft drink do not boil out of the solution and so do not spoil this experiment 9 6 The lime water goes milky showing that carbon dioxide is produced in the flame The b...

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