Sodium Acetate Trihydrate - Science Fun!

curtis1552 · 03-06-08, 09:21 PM

I just bought half a dozen hot packs for a science experiment I;m showing my class.
It uses a super saturated solutions of sodium acetate, when it hits a catalyst (a non hydrated piece of the stuff) it begins to crystallize. In doing this it gives off heat - hence the heat pack. The reason I chose the heat packs is because they are reusable.
A Youtube video here shows the stuff in action.

Also in rereading the description in the ebay description of the seller they say it is the product of sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid (no they didn't; they said baking soda and vinegar). Either way, I'm going to attempt to make my own mixture now and let the students make a few sculptures (one at a time and only in front of me)

Does anyone know of any other really fun substances that kids can play with or be demonstrated?

Malpine Walis · 03-06-08, 09:39 PM

Yah, make you own slime:

http://chem.lapeer.org/chem1docs/SlimeDemo.html

Lots of others as well but most of my best tricks are somewhat dangerous. What age group are you teaching?

Roofles · 03-06-08, 10:28 PM

Cornstarch and water makes a pretty cool non-newtonian fluid that kids I bet would find fun.

PhysX · 03-06-08, 10:49 PM

yeah thats a cool one for kids, grab it fast and ball it out in your palms, then toss it and it will get liquid again

ps2cho · 03-06-08, 11:54 PM

I remember this trick in High school where my teacher set alight this ball and it was on fire and you could juggle it in your hands if you were careful. It was absolutely awesome!

DerekDRP · 03-07-08, 12:17 AM

Try www.instructibles.com

They got a slime tutorial on there that blows this out of water and you don't need gloves to play with it. By the you will need gloves for like step 4 at least then after its done it's thing then you can throw the gloves away.

EmAn · 03-07-08, 08:27 AM

this guy does some cool stuff!

http://youtube.com/user/Mindpaint

Frodo Baggins · 03-07-08, 08:35 AM

One of the most memorable (and loved) teachers I ever had was famous for his wit and intellect -- but also famous for his classroom fieldtrips where he'd gather all his students together, throw hockey-puck size chunks of potassium into one of the rivers, then run away (cops were called on more than one occasion).

The last question on his exam was,

"It doesnt matter what you do in life as long as _________".

The correct answer was "You're happy"

Almost brings tears to my eyes.

Roofles · 03-07-08, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frodo Baggins

One of the most memorable (and loved) teachers I ever had was famous for his wit and intellect -- but also famous for his classroom fieldtrips where he'd gather all his students together, then throw hockey-puck size chunks of potassium into one of the rivers.

Awesome! Some of my favorite science teachers were like that as well. One did the same thing, albeit on a smaller scale, he used sodium about maybe AAA battery sized and threw it in a bucket of water, he also tossed a bowling ball off the roof of the school.

My high school professor was awesome because he would obtain LN and drop in racket balls and then throw em against the back wall in the classroom. He also had a little air powered rocket that he would use in the classroom. I remember one time he was pumping it up and then fired it off, it went straight through the ceiling tile! He looked at the little O ring that is supposedly the pressure release, it was the 'high' one... but I'm sure even the lowest setting would still be too powerful to be used indoors.

EmAn · 03-07-08, 08:56 AM

ehh... the most exciting thing we got to do was make super cold drinks via ln2 and dry ice cooling...

also my current teacher had us burn coils of magnesium

JamesXP · 03-07-08, 09:19 AM

Magnesium + Flame is alot of fun kekekeke

EmAn · 03-07-08, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesXP

Magnesium + Flame is alot of fun kekekeke

its better when you mix it with ******** oxide and make thermite!

JamesXP · 03-07-08, 10:21 AM

Wow, American teaching is rather un-orthodox heh...

My dad took photography in high school, his teacher would give them all cameras and send them out to take some pictures while he went out for a drink at a pub haha.

Adragontattoo · 03-07-08, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmAn

its better when you mix it with ******** oxide and make thermite!

Thermite is more then just Magnesium and Aliminum.

It also wont light from a match, you need a higher source of heat then that.

noxqzs · 03-07-08, 10:31 AM

My personal favorite is magnesium, sulfur, and charcoal smoke bombs.

EmAn · 03-07-08, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adragontattoo

Thermite is more then just Magnesium and Aliminum.

It also wont light from a match, you need a higher source of heat then that.

i know that i was just giving a rough hint of what to mix

and... i do have blowtorches

curtis1552 · 03-10-08, 12:46 PM

Ok, we have a few good ideas, can people keep posting them?

EmAn · 03-10-08, 01:04 PM

Hydrogen peroxide + colored dish soap + powdered KCl = "Elephant's toothpaste"

Kids love that one, and it's easy to clean up.

If you want to make a relatively safe smoke bomb... Mix 3 parts KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate) to 2 parts C12H22O11(Sugar)... Carmalize in a pan... pour into aluminum foil or whatever you like... let it cool down then set on fire with a lighter... (outside!!!)

thideras · 03-10-08, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curtis1552

Ok, we have a few good ideas, can people keep posting them?

You can make a hydrogen explosion with a 10 gallon bucket, water and sodium.

Basically, the sodium would for NaOH in the bucket and give off H2 and heat. As long as it isn't windy, it will make enough hydrogen and heat that it goes *BANG* and the bucket jumps. DO NOT DO THIS INDOORS. What was even funnier is when we asked what to do with the NaOH it formed...he walks up and kicks it over; we were in the school parking lot >.<

That chem teacher was the best

Oh, and you can make carbon "turds" with sugar and acid. Be by a window because there is much much toxic gas that is produced by it. I think it was hydrochloric acid that he used...can't remember.

madman22 · 03-10-08, 04:34 PM

this site:
http://unitednuclear.com/experindex.htm

has some amazing experiments.

Chemical Light: the eerie glow of Luminol
Make a SuperBall
Instant Cold!
Negative X: Start a Fire With Water

those are some of my favorite that might be ok for classes.

03-06-08, 09:21 PM	Thread Starter #1
curtis1552 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio	Sodium Acetate Trihydrate - Science Fun! I just bought half a dozen hot packs for a science experiment I;m showing my class. It uses a super saturated solutions of sodium acetate, when it hits a catalyst (a non hydrated piece of the stuff) it begins to crystallize. In doing this it gives off heat - hence the heat pack. The reason I chose the heat packs is because they are reusable. A Youtube video here shows the stuff in action. Also in rereading the description in the ebay description of the seller they say it is the product of sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid (no they didn't; they said baking soda and vinegar). Either way, I'm going to attempt to make my own mixture now and let the students make a few sculptures (one at a time and only in front of me) Does anyone know of any other really fun substances that kids can play with or be demonstrated? __________________ Desk Puter - Foxconn C51GU01; AMD X2 3800+ - Dual 2.0Ghz; 1.5gb RAM; Nvidia 6600GT pcie; Win 7 64 bit / Mint 9 NetBook - Acer Aspire One D250: 160Gb HDD: Win 7 / Backtrack 4 / Mint Debian / MeeGo Server Puter - Supermicro X5DAE; Dual Processor - E7505 XEON - Dual 2.66Ghz; 2gb RAM: Nvidia 6600GT agp; Win 7 32 bit / Mint 9. HEAT Restarting a computer is not how you fix a problem... I suffer from Fenestraephobia I don't think being turned on while turning it on is too high on the creepy list - freakdiablo
	QUOTE Thanks

03-06-08, 09:39 PM	#2
Malpine Walis Disabled Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Banned Camp	Yah, make you own slime: http://chem.lapeer.org/chem1docs/SlimeDemo.html Lots of others as well but most of my best tricks are somewhat dangerous. What age group are you teaching?
	QUOTE Thanks

03-06-08, 10:28 PM	#3
Roofles Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Brew City	Cornstarch and water makes a pretty cool non-newtonian fluid that kids I bet would find fun. __________________ Q6600 - 3.42 (380x9) 1.48V : IP35 Pro : 2x2GB OCZ Reaper HPC New GTX275 OC to come : HP w2207 X-Fi Platinum (Op Amp modded) : Audio Technica A500's Tuniq Tower 120 : Antec P182 Running: Windows 7 RC and Fedora 10 (PREEMPT_RT) "If science is the dispassionate pursuit of objective truth, then it stands to reason that mad science is the completely irrational pursuit of a nutty project that the rest of the world will never completely understand." -Popular Mechanics
	QUOTE Thanks

03-06-08, 10:49 PM	#4
PhysX Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Calgary	yeah thats a cool one for kids, grab it fast and ball it out in your palms, then toss it and it will get liquid again __________________ ASUS P8P67 DLX \| Core i7 2600k @ 5200Mh - CM Hyper 212+ \| 2x4GB DDR3 Corsair Vengance 1600\| 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2GB CrossFireX \| 2 X WD Black 500GB HW-Raid 0 - 2 X WD GREEN 1.5TB (EARS) HW-RAID 1 \| Corsair AX 1200
	QUOTE Thanks

03-06-08, 11:54 PM	#5
ps2cho Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Socal, no hella here	I remember this trick in High school where my teacher set alight this ball and it was on fire and you could juggle it in your hands if you were careful. It was absolutely awesome! __________________ Q6600 @ 3.6GHz:.:GA-P35-DS3L:.:4GB DDR2 RAM:.:BFG GTX 260:.:Ultra 120 eXtreme:.:Corsair 520HX X2 3600+ @ 3.1GHz:.:GA-MA78GPM-DS2H:.:1GB DDR2 RAM:.:eVGA 7900GS 256MB:.:Corsair 400CX HTPC: X4 620 0.9v:.:DFI LP JR 790GX:.:2GB DDR2 RAM:.:Asus HD4550 512MB:.:Corsair 450VX:.:32" Vizio 1080p HDTV Laptop: Sony Vaio CW27FX:.:Intel Core i5 @ 2.4GHz:.:GT 330M 512MB:.:4GB DDR3 RAM:.:14" LED AMD CPU List:.:How to HLDS:.:Heatware "The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear."-Jiddu Krishnamurti
	QUOTE Thanks

Sodium Acetate Trihydrate - Science Fun!

Internet Services

Website Development

Tech Hardware

03-07-08, 12:17 AM	#6
DerekDRP Disabled Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: No Truss Passing :)	Try www.instructibles.com They got a slime tutorial on there that blows this out of water and you don't need gloves to play with it. By the you will need gloves for like step 4 at least then after its done it's thing then you can throw the gloves away.
	QUOTE Thanks

03-07-08, 08:27 AM	#7
EmAn Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ft. Hood Texas	this guy does some cool stuff! http://youtube.com/user/Mindpaint __________________ Cooler Master HAF 932 Asus P5Q-PRO E8400 4050mhz Tuniq Tower 120 Crossfire Diamond HD4850's 512mb a piece 2x2 GB OCZ DDR2 1066 Platinum OCZ GameXStream 600W Lappy - Compaq AMD Sempron M120 2gb ddr2 ATI 4200 Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Pfc in the US ARMY working on AH-64D Appache Longbow Attack Helicopters
	QUOTE Thanks

03-07-08, 08:35 AM	#8
Frodo Baggins Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: City of Dreaming Spires	One of the most memorable (and loved) teachers I ever had was famous for his wit and intellect -- but also famous for his classroom fieldtrips where he'd gather all his students together, throw hockey-puck size chunks of potassium into one of the rivers, then run away (cops were called on more than one occasion). The last question on his exam was, "It doesnt matter what you do in life as long as _________". The correct answer was "You're happy" Almost brings tears to my eyes. Last edited by Frodo Baggins; 03-07-08 at 08:50 AM.
	QUOTE Thanks

03-07-08, 08:56 AM	#10
EmAn Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ft. Hood Texas	ehh... the most exciting thing we got to do was make super cold drinks via ln2 and dry ice cooling... also my current teacher had us burn coils of magnesium __________________ Cooler Master HAF 932 Asus P5Q-PRO E8400 4050mhz Tuniq Tower 120 Crossfire Diamond HD4850's 512mb a piece 2x2 GB OCZ DDR2 1066 Platinum OCZ GameXStream 600W Lappy - Compaq AMD Sempron M120 2gb ddr2 ATI 4200 Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Pfc in the US ARMY working on AH-64D Appache Longbow Attack Helicopters
	QUOTE Thanks

03-07-08, 09:19 AM	#11
JamesXP Epic Fail Guy Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: England	Magnesium + Flame is alot of fun kekekeke __________________ Intel i5 3570k @ 4.2GHz 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR 1600Mhz nVidia 8600GT ASRock Z77 Pro4 128GB Samsung 830 SSD Corsair VX450 My Saitek Eclipse III Review
	QUOTE Thanks

03-07-08, 10:21 AM	#13
JamesXP Epic Fail Guy Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: England	Wow, American teaching is rather un-orthodox heh... My dad took photography in high school, his teacher would give them all cameras and send them out to take some pictures while he went out for a drink at a pub haha. __________________ Intel i5 3570k @ 4.2GHz 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR 1600Mhz nVidia 8600GT ASRock Z77 Pro4 128GB Samsung 830 SSD Corsair VX450 My Saitek Eclipse III Review
	QUOTE Thanks

03-07-08, 10:31 AM	#15
noxqzs Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Boston, MA	My personal favorite is magnesium, sulfur, and charcoal smoke bombs. __________________ ___________________________________________ I7 980x, R3E, HX1000, Corsair 6x2GB, Areca 1880i, Corsair GT240, 4xF120, 680GTX, 3007fpw-HC
	QUOTE Thanks

03-10-08, 12:46 PM	Thread Starter #17
curtis1552 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio	Ok, we have a few good ideas, can people keep posting them? __________________ Desk Puter - Foxconn C51GU01; AMD X2 3800+ - Dual 2.0Ghz; 1.5gb RAM; Nvidia 6600GT pcie; Win 7 64 bit / Mint 9 NetBook - Acer Aspire One D250: 160Gb HDD: Win 7 / Backtrack 4 / Mint Debian / MeeGo Server Puter - Supermicro X5DAE; Dual Processor - E7505 XEON - Dual 2.66Ghz; 2gb RAM: Nvidia 6600GT agp; Win 7 32 bit / Mint 9. HEAT Restarting a computer is not how you fix a problem... I suffer from Fenestraephobia I don't think being turned on while turning it on is too high on the creepy list - freakdiablo
	QUOTE Thanks

03-10-08, 01:04 PM	#18
EmAn Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ft. Hood Texas	Hydrogen peroxide + colored dish soap + powdered KCl = "Elephant's toothpaste" Kids love that one, and it's easy to clean up. If you want to make a relatively safe smoke bomb... Mix 3 parts KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate) to 2 parts C12H22O11(Sugar)... Carmalize in a pan... pour into aluminum foil or whatever you like... let it cool down then set on fire with a lighter... (outside!!!) __________________ Cooler Master HAF 932 Asus P5Q-PRO E8400 4050mhz Tuniq Tower 120 Crossfire Diamond HD4850's 512mb a piece 2x2 GB OCZ DDR2 1066 Platinum OCZ GameXStream 600W Lappy - Compaq AMD Sempron M120 2gb ddr2 ATI 4200 Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Pfc in the US ARMY working on AH-64D Appache Longbow Attack Helicopters
	QUOTE Thanks

03-10-08, 04:34 PM	#20
madman22 Member Join Date: May 2004	this site: http://unitednuclear.com/experindex.htm has some amazing experiments. Chemical Light: the eerie glow of Luminol Make a SuperBall Instant Cold! Negative X: Start a Fire With Water those are some of my favorite that might be ok for classes. __________________ Heatware Gaming Computer: -------------- Laptop: ----------------- Server: Phenom II 955 @ 3.6 ----------- C2D P8400 -------------- Phenom 9600BE SABERTOOTH 990FX ----------- Gateway P-7811 FX ----- MSI K9A2 CF-F XFX 5870 -------------------------- 9800M GTS 512mb ----- GF6200 8gb GSkill DDR3 ------------------ 4gb DDR3 1066 --------- 8GB Gskill DDR2 Scyth Infiniti --------------------- overheating pos ---------- Stock 1.5TBx2 RAID0 ------------------- 200GB (7200 RPM) ------ 2TB+1TB 37" 1366x768 -------------------- 17" 1920x1200 ---------- 100mb Fiber datacenter
	QUOTE Thanks