Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Useful chemistry formula for a Noob

Darth-Vang - 20-9-2021 at 14:48

Hey all, new to this forum. Looking for useful formulas to be use in actual chemical synthesis. I’m looking to do some chemical reactions in the near future. I’m 27 by the way. I know that ppe and safety is the utmost important in all lab activity. Also where can I find local household chemicals?(I live in Oklahoma, USA) Watching “Dr.Stone” struck me with curiosity and sparked some serious interest in this field. I wanted to see for myself of these chemical reaction and gain some understanding of the world around me and what’s really happening. Also the fact that just a single molecule added to an equation changes the behavior and chemical properties of the compound! I find it so fascinating! I’ve watched countless reaction videos on youtube(Nurdrage, Nilered, Allmychemistry, Cody’s Lab). It is so cool and awesome yet dangerous. Haven’t gotten any glassware apparatus yet. Where should I get them from? I want quality but yet won’t cost an arm or leg to get.

B(a)P - 21-9-2021 at 04:18

The videos you have watched should give some good inspiration. Hardware shops are a great place for reagents. Look at some of Nile Reds earlier material for ideas. Also check out the SM library, heaps of great texts to help you stay to delve into chemistry. What aspects of chemistry interest you? Being a little more specific might get you more responses. Welcome to the forum!

Junk_Enginerd - 21-9-2021 at 04:53

Getting glassware ought to be easy in the US. I've bought most of my glassware from suppliers aimed towards supplying schools and other educational organizations. Lucky for me they also sold to individuals. For some of the more specialized stuff, eBay from china.

teodor - 21-9-2021 at 08:15

I would recommend the book "A course in inorganic preparations" Henderson & Fernelius from the Sciencemadness library. It contains all the most important inorganic reactions in very good order for study. So it starts with the crystallization technique and then it adds something new in every new preparation. You need some reagents to practice but most of them you can do by yourself from chemicals that are commonly available. But the book is easy to follow and most of the reactions are easy to make and the results are always nice and pretty due to the good selection.
The other possible things to study in inorganic chemistry are qualitative analysis and basically the reactivity of elements of periodic table and compounds which you can get starting from them and how to take an unknown compound or mineral and find what it consists of. A lot of shops sell metals for periodic table collectors and each metal/element has its own unique properties. This type of chemistry allows us to study the system of compound classification and compare properties of different elements of the periodic table as well as to find and recognize these elements in nature.
And organic chemistry is the third thing that you can try and do in a parallel. I would not recommend studying organic chemistry without inorganic or inorganic chemistry without organic because they are much complimentary in techniques. Organic chemists work mostly with mixtures of different compounds and many experiments require a lot of practice to get something, it is not like reading a receipt and getting what you want with the first attempt, so be prepared to buy a lot of equipment, trying and trying, analyzing results, thinking, etc. Vogel's "A Textbook of Practical Organic Chemistry" is a must-have. It is also available from SM library.


[Edited on 21-9-2021 by teodor]

Darth-Vang - 21-9-2021 at 11:51

Quote: Originally posted by teodor  
I would recommend the book "A course in inorganic preparations" Henderson & Fernelius from the Sciencemadness library. It contains all the most important inorganic reactions in very good order for study. So it starts with the crystallization technique and then it adds something new in every new preparation. You need some reagents to practice but most of them you can do by yourself from chemicals that are commonly available. But the book is easy to follow and most of the reactions are easy to make and the results are always nice and pretty due to the good selection.
The other possible things to study in inorganic chemistry are qualitative analysis and basically the reactivity of elements of periodic table and compounds which you can get starting from them and how to take an unknown compound or mineral and find what it consists of. A lot of shops sell metals for periodic table collectors and each metal/element has its own unique properties. This type of chemistry allows us to study the system of compound classification and compare properties of different elements of the periodic table as well as to find and recognize these elements in nature.
And organic chemistry is the third thing that you can try and do in a parallel. I would not recommend studying organic chemistry without inorganic or inorganic chemistry without organic because they are much complimentary in techniques. Organic chemists work mostly with mixtures of different compounds and many experiments require a lot of practice to get something, it is not like reading a receipt and getting what you want with the first attempt, so be prepared to buy a lot of equipment, trying and trying, analyzing results, thinking, etc. Vogel's "A Textbook of Practical Organic Chemistry" is a must-have. It is also available from SM library.


[Edited on 21-9-2021 by teodor]
Where is the Science Madness library? I’m still a bit new to this forum so it’s a bit awkward to try to navigate.

Amos - 21-9-2021 at 14:46

Welcome! Dr. Stone is one of my favorite anime actually, very fun to watch when you actually understand all the science and history going on. Just know you’ll rarely be as lucky as Senku is on his first try when doing this hobby.

The Library can be accessed by visiting plain old sciencemadness.org (nothing else in the URL) and clicking library, or directly via this link: http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/index.html

And finally, since you’re in the US, I have a little google sheet where I’ve compiled in-store or online consumer products that can be purchased and used as chemical reagents: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jJUpBnSgqQBx686jKINE...

Other great sources for chemicals are pottery supply stores, photography supply stores, janitor/custodial supply stores, and especially rural, more independent hardware stores. We’re here to help, too!

Darth-Vang - 21-9-2021 at 17:31

Quote: Originally posted by Amos  
Welcome! Dr. Stone is one of my favorite anime actually, very fun to watch when you actually understand all the science and history going on. Just know you’ll rarely be as lucky as Senku is on his first try when doing this hobby.

The Library can be accessed by visiting plain old sciencemadness.org (nothing else in the URL) and clicking library, or directly via this link: http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/index.html

And finally, since you’re in the US, I have a little google sheet where I’ve compiled in-store or online consumer products that can be purchased and used as chemical reagents: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jJUpBnSgqQBx686jKINE...

Other great sources for chemicals are pottery supply stores, photography supply stores, janitor/custodial supply stores, and especially rural, more independent hardware stores. We’re here to help, too!
Thank you! Really appreciate it! Now I know where to find the chemicals. And that spreadsheet you shared will definitely be handy. Thanks!

SWIM - 21-9-2021 at 20:08

Ebay is a good source for low-priced glassware.
(Best to stick to established brands though, as there is some real crap on there at times. Deschem and Laboy are good Chinese manufacturers with decent prices and fair quality, Or you can buy used glass f made by US manufacturers for around the same price with a bit of patience and shopping around.
Good US makers include Pyrex, Kimax, Ace Glass, etc.)

However if you're looking to economize check Craigslist

Sometimes you can get lucky and find lab equipment cheap there because the owner just wants to get rid of it and doesn't have a whole bunch so setting up an Ebay account isn't worth it.
My first lab was largely pieced together from Craigslist

Also, there's Dr Bob. He sells glassware on this site and has for years.
His prices beat Ebay and he is totally reliable.
I've seen dozens of posts over the years by people who bought from Dr Bob and I've never seen a single complaint.
I believe he has some lists posted somewhere on here of items for sale, although most of his equipment for organic syntheses he may have a selection of the regular stuff too.

Ebay is also handy for chemicals.
Not that you shouldn't use local stuff from hardware stores if they have what you need, but Ebay has a pretty good range of harder to get items.