chemkid
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Which ones
I have just gained access to a small supply of the following chemicals:
Cobalt nitrate
Copper II Chloride
Copper II Nitrate solution
Iron (III) Chloride
Iron nitrate
Iron Sulfide
Lead (II) Nitrate
Phenophalein solution
Potassium ferrocyanide
Potasium permegate
Sodium Silicate
Sodium sulfite
ALuminum Chloride
I can probably get five of them or so. Which would you pick? Which do you think are most useful? Least useful? etc, etc.
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12AX7
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Which ones do you need? How much is available, how much would you want?
Cobalt anything and AlCl3 (if anhydrous) would be interesting (the latter if you're into organic synthesis, anyway).
Tim
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woelen
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It of course depends on what you do. I do a lot with transition metal chemistry, and also with the more exotic compounds, and less in organics.
If I were offered a choice of 5 of these, I would choose the following:
cobalt nitrate -- interesting, cobalt chemistry is very rich
iron nitrate -- nice to have iron without chloride. Chloride strongly affects iron chemistry.
lead nitrate -- lead salts are interesting to have, makes nice colored precipitates
potassium ferrocyanide -- nice for complex formation, can also easily be oxidized to ferricyanide
potassium permanganate -- good oxidizer, also nice basis for other manganese chemicals
Of the other chemicals I would not choose the following:
copper(II) chloride -- can be made relatively easily from copper metal
copper (II) nitrate solution -- again, copper (II) is not special. Copper(II) sulfate and copper carbonate are easy to obtain
iron(III) chloride -- simple PCB etchant also is FeCl3.6H2O. Iron with chloride severely limits studying of iron chemistry.
sodium silicate -- easy to get from pottery/ceramics supplier
sodium sulfite -- easy to get, at least the bisulfite, from wine making shops and photography suppliers.
The remaining chemicals also are quite interesting, so I can also understand when you buy these. AlCl3 only is interesting if it is anhydrous. If it
is the hexahydrate, then don't buy it, then go for alum, which is easy to find.
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UnintentionalChaos
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Id take the cobalt nitrate (cobalt salts aren't anything you'll find in a store), (depending on where you live) the permanganate, Aluminum chloride
(if anhydrous, hydrated is very easy to make yourself), Ferric chloride (would have to be crystallized from concentrated HCl to make it yourself), and
phenolphthalein solution (if you don't have any yet) Since I am fairly well stocked on permanganate and have the phenolphthalein solution, I would get
the ferrocyanide (or is it ferricyanide?) since I don't have any and it isn't anything too easily prepared at home, since it would require cyanides.
Maybe I'd grab the sulfite since its a handy reducing agent (even though I have metabisulfite) or the lead nitrate just to have good clean soluble
lead salts around (I've made my own acetate, which isn't too hard, but the lead used was of questionable purity)
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
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The_Davster
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My top 5:
Coablt nitrate-Cobalt chemistry can be really cool when you do coordination chemistry
Potassium ferrocyanide-leduc plants! And neat historical coordination chemistry
Potassium permanganate-Good oxidizing agent(aqueous or solid state)
Sodium silicate-Always wanted some, but forgot why ( I think the idea of
precipitating sand used to amuse me)
Last one is tough, one of lead nitrate, copper(II) chloride, or aluminum chloride(if anhydrous) would probably be chosen, most likely lead nitrate, to
use for extracting caffeine from tea/coffee.
Things I wouldent bother with;
In that list I have Phenophalein (solution and solid), iron sulfide, and copper nitrate. I have used the copper(II) nitrate a couple times, and the
phenophalein once in 5 years, and the iron sulfide never. Nothing I would bother getting.
Aluminum chloride is subjective, if you want to do certain organic reactions go for it. I have never needed any.
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chemkid
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After reading the replies I have figured out the first three which are starred i also eliminated ones that are no longer desirable:
*Cobalt nitrate
Copper II Nitrate solution
Iron nitrate
Iron Sulfide (can't that be sythnthesised by heating iron and sulfur?)
*Lead (II) Nitrate
Potassium ferrocyanide
*Potasium permegate
Sodium Silicate
Sodium sulfite
Aluminum Chloride (will check whether or not anyhdrous)
I am unsure of amounts but probably 30 grams or so, but not very much. I am currently doing experiments element by element.
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garage chemist
chemical wizard
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I wouldnt buy sodium silicate, you can easily make that yourself too. Melt NaOH with SiO2 in a soup can or iron crucible until no more water vapor is
produced and you have it.
Sodium silicate solution is one of the cheapest reagents here, with only 3€ per liter from chemical suppliers.
It is also useful as a very heat-resistant glue (turns into glass upon hardening) in constructing electric tube (or normal) furnaces.
Sodium silicate solution is indeed good for fun experiments, be it the production of SiO2 jelly by acidifying a dilute solution or the "chemical
garden" with heavy metal salts like FeCl3.
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chemkid
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SAdly my source chnaged their mind at the last minute... so i never got any chems! 
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