Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Apparently I am interested in chemistry

Apparently I am interested in chemistry

someone908274190 - 30-5-2017 at 18:32

My volition this year seems to be an interest in chemistry. I don't question or investigate where these motivations come from as a rule. I've certainly purchased some equipment that bewilders my friends and family, but that won't stop me from proceeding. Some of this equipment I've had for a while, but all of the lab stuff is new. All glass I've purchased is pyrex/corning borosilicate. Some of this I've ordered but hasn't arrived yet.

- Unitary Nalgene wash bottles (distilled water, ethyl alcohol, isopropanol, bleach)
- Low form beakers (50, 100, 250, 600, 1000, and 2000ml)
- Tall form beakers (200, 300, 400, 500, 1000ml)
- Beaker tongs
- Erlenmeyer flasks (50, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000ml) with undrilled silicone stoppers
- Scales (22kg/1g, 0.1g, 0.01g)
- Graduated Cylinder (100ml/1ml TC)
- Magnetic stir bars (my attempts at building a stir plate thus far have failed)

And other stuff like a HP 15C calculator / safety glasses / latex gloves / the usual household chemicals / 99% isopropyl alcohol / rOtring pens and pencils and Rhodia notebooks / water distiller / chamber vacuum sealer.

My problem is that I don't really have anything more than an intense curiosity about better understanding the nature of reality as a reason for having most of this stuff. I've been interested in hacking on electronics in the past, but I never had the proper workspace and materials to get anywhere with that. My career choice has always been computer programming, and I enjoy plugging together free software with code I write at no cost. It's a damn cheap hobby, but as soon as you step away from the computer you have nothing. With chemistry, I could of course homebrew beer or make cannabis concentrates (disclaimer that it's legal here), but that's not compelling enough. I don't take up interests like this lightly, so I have no doubt this will be a lifelong pursuit for me.

I want practical uses for doing chemistry, but I don't have any ideas yet. At the very least, I've acquired useful kitchen equipment. Based on the things I have listed, I'm looking for suggestions on things to do to keep my mind sharp and interested in the world. That's all. This is my first post here and I look forward to reviewing the content on these forums.

[Edited on 31-5-2017 by someone908274190]

Assured Fish - 30-5-2017 at 19:40

As a general rule theory comes before practice, how much do you already understand about chemistry e.g. do you understand equations and how to balance them, do you understand the mol and how to convert back and forth from the mol and weight and volume, do you understand acids and bases well enough to not only carry out your own titrations but also calculate the PH of a known concentration of acid using the pka of said acid.
If you have atleast gotten this far then perhaps you could begin collecting mineral acids to start with and learning how to handle them, for example prepare a 1M solution of HCl.

At some point you are gonna likely want to make your own reagents so that you can gain some level of self sufficiency, for this you may want to get a distillation set up, this could be RB flasks and condensers or if you wanna be all alchemist about it you could use a glass retort.
Then you may want to make your own sulfuric acid by reacting SO2 with an oxidizer such as nitric acid or hydrogen peroxide, vitriol/sulfuric acid is after all one of the first reagents chemists/alchemists ever had access to and the enough understanding to use.
it will also allow you to prepare your own concentrated nitric acid which is useful for isolating precious metals such as platinum, palladium, iridium and gold.
A distillation set up will also allow you to get your hands on some organic reagents and solvents such as ethanol, methanol, hexane, benzene other long chain alcohols and ethers.

The problem is that most people who persue this hobby do so with atleast one short term goal in mind, an idea for what they wish to experiment with or synthesize first, then all you do is work to preparing all the other reagents for said experiment/synthesis.

Amateur chemistry is not an easy or forgiving subject and it can be extremely dangerous at times.
My advise would be to hang around the forum reading the numerous threads and getting an idea for what other people are interested in and to get an idea of how things are done and the safety protocols that people use and then pick an idea and run with it.

I can list some idea but most are organic given that that's what i enjoy and their not really achievable with your equipment or experience.
Prepare oxalyl chloride.
Prepare phenylthalein.
Prepare formic acid and glacial acetic acid.
Make acetic anhydride.
Make aspirin.
Find an interesting and useful drug thats not illegal that you could synthesize.
Extract magnesium from sea water.
Extract bromine from brine pools found at the beach.
Extract iodine from seaweed.
Make sodium metal or some other alkali metals.
Make potassium dichromate from steel.
Extract precious metals from a catalytic converter.
Obtain iridium from old and used spark plugs.
Make activated charcoal.
Go out mining and find some mineral deposits like cinnabar and then attempt to extract the elements from them.

I could literally go on forever, this subject is fucken enormous and once you start teaching yourself about chemistry and gaining an actual understanding Im sure you won't have any trouble finding practical experiments to conduct, in fact you probably won't have enough time in the day or money in your pocket to actually do most of them.

Corrosive Joeseph - 30-5-2017 at 20:06

Jesus, this is a strange one............... I had the fortune of being broke and destitute when I got into chemistry.
This meant I had to read for a few years til my eyeballs caught fire while I slowly gathered the bits and pieces.

Never was there a hobby that was so slow and boring, while being outrageously dangerous at the same time........!!

You mention brewing beer and cannabis concentrates. Is this an interest of yours...........? I am not knocking it

You could start by brewing some alcohol to distill as a solvent. Then maybe clean up some naphtha panel wipe degreaser for a non-polar solvent. More solvents can be acquired from certain paint thinners, starting fluid, solvent glues, etc........

This will cut yer teeth on the practicals and give you a feel for distillation and technique. And a stock of solvents.

Just keep reading, don't stop. devour it............

Depending on where you get your chems, you just might have to spend weeks searching MSDS sheets, the aisles of the local consumerism worshipping temples, the internet and also the farm and hardware stores in your quest for chem-hacking........

I must warn you that even that part of it is highly addictive and you will often come home from the shops with half your shopping just not intended for the uses they were made.

I find it unusual you mention not one target compound. There must be SOMETHING tickling you...........

Anyways, you mention reality, there is none of that in this game. You will spend most of your time playing with white crystals, many liquids that LOOK like water and an assortment of coloured poisonous chemicals.

If you want reality, get out and meet some people.

The ones attracted to chemistry are strange, solitary social misfits and you will have no friends for a finish..........!!!

/CJ

PS - I'm just joking really. It's total sarcasm but very close to the truth at the same time. Welcome aboard.............

[Edited on 31-5-2017 by Corrosive Joeseph]

someone908274190 - 30-5-2017 at 21:03

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph

You mention brewing beer and cannabis concentrates. Is this an interest of yours...........? I am not knocking it

My dad has mentioned wanting to brew beer, but I think I've already looked into it further than he has. It's hilarious trying to find videos on something and having the results be related to cannabis extracts. I was looking up to see how to do fractional distillation of methanol and ethanol and the first video I found was someone doing that with thc/cbd. I guess that's a thing people do now. When I looked up magnetic stirring plates, I found some top-of-the-line model with an article on doing another extract of cannabis, right on the manufacturer's website. They're not exactly shy about it any more. I don't have an interest in doing that at this time. Being able to make ethanol (for non-drinking purposes) seems like a good thing to know how to do.

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph

Just keep reading, don't stop. devour it............

Additional reading is definitely required before I do anything worth talking about.

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph

Depending on where you get your chems, you just might have to spend weeks searching MSDS sheets, the aisles of the local consumerism worshipping temples, the internet and also the farm and hardware stores in your quest for chem-hacking........

I'm not planning on buying anything more than what I've listed for a while. I've got other priorities (apartment -> house)

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph

I find it unusual you mention not one target compound. There must be SOMETHING tickling you...........

Well, I want to make a bunch of yogurt and preserve food. The way I go about doing new things is not always done with a single idea in mind. I've used certain computer programs daily for years, then suddenly I invent a new combination of programs that solves a long-standing problem. You can't plan that kind of thing in advance, it just happens. I expect the same to happen here - I'll see something or come across something while reading and think "hey, I could do this with stuff I have already".

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph

Anyways, you mention reality, there is none of that in this game. You will spend most of your time playing with white crystals, many liquids that LOOK like water and an assortment of coloured poisonous chemicals. If you want reality, get out and meet some people.

Maybe this isn't the right audience to be poetic with. Just re-interpret that as wanting a hands-on activity where I can figure out how things work. I'm easily entertained and boredom is pretty much impossible now.

Quote: Originally posted by Corrosive Joeseph

The ones attracted to chemistry are strange, solitary social misfits and you will have no friends for a finish..........!!!

Eh, I'm already a programmer. Weird stopped meaning anything to me a long time ago.

[Edited on 31-5-2017 by someone908274190]

someone908274190 - 30-5-2017 at 21:13

Quote: Originally posted by Assured Fish

As a general rule theory comes before practice, how much do you already understand about chemistry e.g. do you understand equations and how to balance them, do you understand the mol and how to convert back and forth from the mol and weight and volume, do you understand acids and bases well enough to not only carry out your own titrations but also calculate the PH of a known concentration of acid using the pka of said acid.

This right here is why I'm not doing anything interesting

Quote: Originally posted by Assured Fish

...isolating precious metals such as platinum, palladium, iridium and gold.

I've heard of people doing this to get gold from computer components.

Quote: Originally posted by Assured Fish

A distillation set up will also allow you to get your hands on some organic reagents and solvents such as ethanol, methanol, hexane, benzene other long chain alcohols and ethers.

Some of this was prompted by my purchase of a water distiller, so distillation is a topic that interests me.

Quote: Originally posted by Assured Fish

The problem is that most people who persue this hobby do so with atleast one short term goal in mind, an idea for what they wish to experiment with or synthesize first, then all you do is work to preparing all the other reagents for said experiment/synthesis. ... Amateur chemistry is not an easy or forgiving subject and it can be extremely dangerous at times....get an idea of how things are done and the safety protocols that people use and then pick an idea and run with it.

I truly have no short-term goal with this and am all for learning safety protocols first.

j_sum1 - 30-5-2017 at 21:50

My entry to amateur chemistry was element collecting. Still working on it but my interests have expanded.

As you pursue a particular target you develop skills and an interest in research. There are a few targets that really are quite accessible and will propel you towards new ideas. Pretty soon you will have more interesting projects than either equipment or time. As it stands, your situation is almost unique -- equipment, chemicals, time, motivation but no project.

AssuredFish's suggestions are good but many of these are in themselves multiple step projects. If you are not in a position to make phenolphthalein for example, you might be in a position to make salicylic acid from aspirin and then as a second step to distil some phenol from that.

I can recommend copper chemistry as a great doorway. Lots of scope and plenty of interesting things to see. As well as a great way to build up some basic skills. There was a competition entitled "copper carnival" which yielded some great ideas and all of them worth duplicating. There are some good write-ups of the procedures that you can follow.

Alternatively, I ran a competition some time back -- lab from five OTC items. Only one actual entry but many great ideas floated and discussed. you won't lack for ideas there. The general thought was that a beginner might not have access to much in the way of chems but could still have a great home lab using just what was commonly available.

Finally, stick around here and read lots. Also get into some youtube clips -- there are some good channels out there (and threads to help you find them). It won't be long before you have more creative ideas than you can handle.

diddi - 31-5-2017 at 01:39

j_sum's element collecting is a good starting point for inorganic chem particularly. you can extract elements from all sorts of common materials and many of the metals have interesting coloured ions which are quite rewarding to prepare, often in only a few steps or even one step. you may be surprized how commonly available some of the rarer elements are.

Melgar - 31-5-2017 at 09:45

Are you interested in organic or inorganic chemistry? Inorganic chemistry is sort of a prerequisite for organic chemistry, since a lot of your reagents will be inorganic and you'll have to know how to make them. A good book to read is one that a SM member wrote, actually, called "Small-Scale Preparation of Laboratory Reagents". Keep in mind though, that this book specifically details how to make HAZARDOUS materials, that are sometimes unavailable to chemists due to the prohibitive costs associated with shipping them, especially to remote areas. Of course, the hazardous nature of chemistry is a big part of what makes it attractive to many of us, but fortunately the book I mentioned does cover safety protocol among other things.

You'll also probably need a vacuum distillation setup, among other things. Most of what you'll see for sale is 24/40 or 24/29 taper (which are compatible with each other) but I've found that I like 14/20 (small-scale) glassware best. Mainly this is because I usually want to test a reaction as opposed to synthesize a batch of something, and you can use smaller amounts of chemicals with 14/20 taper glassware. Another benefit of 14/20 glassware is that it's a lot less likely to break if you drop it, thanks to the cube/square law.

You'll also need to tell us what country you live in, so we can figure out what chemicals and suppliers are easily available to you. Nearest city and state would also be helpful if you're in the US.

Corrosive Joeseph - 31-5-2017 at 13:30

Quote: Originally posted by someone908274190

Being able to make ethanol (for non-drinking purposes) seems like a good thing to know how to do.

Well, I want to make a bunch of yogurt and preserve food.

You sound like a health conscious dude with an interest in brewing and distilling alcohol............. I would highly recommend tinctues and herbal remedies............ Once you have the gear it is easy to use it for chemistry, and yeast, sugar and plants pulled from the hedges annd fields is a cheap and wholesome way of learning some skills............. Oh, and patience, you will need plenty of that..........!!

Ayways, best of luck in your endevours.

/CJ