Compound collecting

Compound collecting is commonplace among chemists, and is one of the major (though not top) causes of interest in chemistry. It is similar to [element collecting]].

Frequency

Compound collecting is a commonplace practice among amateur chemists. It is similar to Element collecting and mineral collecting as it focuses on the collecting of hard to acquire, pretty, and unique samples. Compound collecting is not as common as element collecting, for it is less defined, while the latter is limited to a set number of practically-acquirable elements. Usually compound collectors focus on a specific type of compound, like copper compounds, because of their variety, or colorful compounds, because of their appearance. Users Woelen and The Volatile Chemist are avid collectors of compounds, some of Woelen's compounds being displayed on his website.

Focuses

Below are some of the focuses of compound collecting:

• copper compounds - Since copper is common and relatively cheap, and it's compounds are vivid and varied, copper is a prime subject of compound collecting.
• Iron compound collecting - Iron compound collecting is much less common than a focus on copper, but it, too, is very vivid. Often it's complexes, like potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) are the main samples.
• Salts of elements - Sometimes it is easier to get compounds of every element, than a sample of the element itself, so compounds of the elements are collected instead.
• Coloration - Often compounds are kept for coloration.
• Dyes - Although not common, and not always related to chemistry, synthetic dye compounds are kept for their vivid coloration, and relatively easy derivation from themselves.

Display

Element collections are usually displayed or stored in some fashion resembling the periodic table, but compound collections are harder to organize. Often they are displayed by color, or simply set up based on their production date.