Daily Archives: May 29, 2013

Colored Soap Bubble (brokenchopstick, Flickr) — Clear bubbles are a lot of fun, but you can make colored soap bubbles, too. Here’s a recipe for pink or blue colored bubbles, based on disappearing ink (a type of acid-base indicator), so the bubbles won’t stain surfaces when they land. Colored Bubble Materials Liquid Dishwashing Detergent (or other […]

Make Homemade Colored Soap Bubbles

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on January 19, 2022)

A sparkler is a type of firework that produces sparks but does not explode.

How Sparklers Work

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on June 28, 2021)

Green Rock Candy — Sometimes crystals just don’t seem to grow no matter what you try or you get a mass of tiny crystals when you want a single large crystal. Here’s a look at some of the most common problems you may encounter when growing crystals. Find out what you can do to […]

Solutions to Common Crystal Growing Problems

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on February 5, 2022)

The four elements named after planets are mercury, uranium, neptunium, and plutonium. — Here’s an alphabetical list of elements named for planets and astronomical objects, or perhaps from the gods/goddesses for which the objects were named. Most names come from planets, the moon, and the sun, since these objects are easily seen in the sky. Cerium – Ceres, the first asteroid to be […]

Elements Named After Planets and Other Celestial Bodies

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on May 10, 2021)

Crystal Garden (Anne Helmenstine) — The charcoal crystal garden is a classic crystal-growing project. You use charcoal briquettes, cardboard or a sponge, ammonia, salt, bluing, and food coloring to grow a crystal garden. The components of the garden are not edible, so adult supervision is recommended. Materials You only need a few materials for a […]

Grow a Charcoal Crystal Garden

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on February 27, 2022)

Chemist with Flasks — The concentration of a chemical solution refers to the amount of solute that is dissolved in a solvent. Although it’s common to think of a solute as a solid that is added to a solvent (e.g., adding table salt to water), the solute could exist in another phase. If the […]

How to Calculate Concentration of a Chemical Solution

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on January 8, 2022)

These are different samples of pure zinc. The metal is shiny metallic silver-gray when freshly cut. (Alchemist-hp) — Have you ever wondered how scientists identify unknown substances? Unraveling the composition of an unknown is called qualitative analysis. The bead test is one of the techniques used by chemists to perform a qualitative analysis of a sample. It is similar to the flame test. What is the bead test? […]

Bead Test for Metals

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on June 15, 2022)

White Bengal Tiger in Houston — White tigers result from a recessive mutation. The mutation has produced rare white wild tigers, but most white tigers result from intentional inbreeding of tigers that carry the gene. The Cincinnati Zoo estimates about 1 in 10,000 tigers naturally display the black and white coat and blue eyes characteristic of […]

Why White Tigers Are White

This entry was posted on May 29, 2013 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on May 24, 2021)