Virtual Chemistry Lab: Safe 3D Experiments & Molecules
Some of the most spectacular chemistry needs goggles, gloves and a lab. Here you can run those experiments safely, from elephant toothpaste and the iodine clock to titrations and flame tests, and turn molecules such as water, methane and DNA in your hands. Each page explains what is happening at the level of atoms and molecules.
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Elephant ToothpastePour a catalyst into peroxide and send a fountain of foam skyward. -
Red Cabbage pH RainbowPour household liquids into cabbage juice and make a pH rainbow. -
Flame Test ColoursHold metal salts in a Bunsen flame and read their spectral lines. -
Soda GeyserDrop mints into a cola bottle and launch a foaming fountain. -
Iodine Clock ReactionPour solution B into four beakers and see them snap to blue-black. -
Hot Ice: Instant CrystalsPour hot ice onto a seed crystal and build a warm crystal tower. -
Buckyball (C₆₀)Pluck a C₆₀ carbon to ring the cage, then count its 12 pentagons. -
DNA Double HelixPull DNA’s strands apart, swap base pairs and heat it until it melts. -
Fireworks Colour LabFire one metal salt at a time and read its light in a spectroscope. -
Baking Soda VolcanoPour vinegar into a baking soda volcano and make the lava foam. -
Briggs–Rauscher Oscillating ReactionPour three clear solutions together and make the colour pulse. -
Chemical GardenDrop metal-salt crystals into water glass and grow coloured tubes. -
Copper Plating a NailHang iron nails in copper sulfate and watch copper coat them. -
Glow Stick ChemistrySnap, shake and dunk glow sticks in ice and hot water to compare. -
Splitting Water with ElectricitySplit water with electricity and collect hydrogen and oxygen 2 : 1. -
Water Molecule in 3DPull water’s hydrogens and click neighbours on with hydrogen bonds. -
Methane: A Perfect TetrahedronPull methane’s hydrogens, hear the bonds ring and find its 109.5°. -
Carbon Dioxide MoleculeBend CO₂ and tune an infrared lamp to find the light it absorbs. -
Ammonia MoleculePush ammonia’s nitrogen through its hydrogens and flip it inside out. -
Benzene RingStretch and bend a benzene ring and feel it spring back flat. -
Salt Crystal LatticePull ions, fill the gaps with Na⁺ and Cl⁻, and melt table salt. -
Diamond vs GraphitePull diamond’s rigid atoms, then slide and peel graphite’s sheets. -
Why Ice Floats: The Ice CrystalPull ice’s hydrogen bonds, then jiggle it until the lattice melts. -
Sulfur Hexafluoride: The OctahedronPull fluorines off SF₆ and watch the rest spread into VSEPR shapes. -
Acid–Base TitrationTurn a burette’s stopcock and catch the faint pink end point. -
Paper ChromatographyDot black inks on paper, let water climb it and see the colours split. -
Gas Syringe: Boyle’s LawSqueeze a sealed syringe of air, warm it and read the pressure gauge. -
Density TowerPour five liquids into a tall glass and drop things into the layers. -
Pepper and SoapTouch peppered water with a soapy finger and send the pepper flying.