C&EN has a web page devoted to a linked bibliography of safety-related letters to the editor. It is worth having a look at. It is good to have a healthy interest in energetic reactions and incompatible substances.
Archives
Blog Stats
- 571,043 hits
Categories
- Aerospace
- Agriculture
- Angst
- Artificial Intelligence
- Arts & Entertainment
- Astronomy and Aerospace
- Atheism
- Atomic
- Bohemian
- Books
- Business
- C-SPAN
- Cancer
- Chem Resources
- Chemical Industry
- Chemistry
- Chemistry Blogs
- Climate and Weather
- Consciousness
- Cosmos
- CounterCurrent
- Current Events
- Darwinism
- Discovery Institute
- Economics
- Education
- Energy
- Environment
- EPA
- Essay
- Evolution
- Food
- Gastronomie
- Geology
- Health
- History
- Humanities
- Humor
- Instrumentation
- Intellectual Property
- Intelligent Design
- International Politics
- International Relations
- IP
- Lampoon
- Law
- Material Science
- Metals
- Mining
- Molecular Evolution
- Movie Review
- Movies
- Music Videos
- Nature
- Nuclear
- Oddities
- Patents
- Petroleum
- Pharmaceuticals
- Physics
- PoliSci
- Politics
- Pollution
- Public Science Outreach
- Radio
- Radio Astronomy
- Regulatory
- Religion
- Russia
- Safety
- Science
- Science Education
- Security
- Social Issues
- Technology
- Theater
- Thermal
- Thermokinetics
- Total Fiction
- Transportation
- Travel
- Uncategorized
- War
- Weather
- Whimsy
- YouTube
Aerospace
Blogroll
- Arts & Letters Daily
- Athanasius Kircher Society
- Edge
- Enigmafoundry
- Everlasting Blort
- Huffington Post
- Landover Baptist
- Lawyers, Guns, and Money
- Legal Satyricon
- Nurse & Lawyer
- Onionesque Reality
- Organic Syntheses (web site)
- Pharyngula
- Planetary Society
- Political Theory Daily Review
- Sabbatical Epistles
- Sam Harris
- The Oil Drum Discussions
- Trinity Atomic Web Site
- Watts Up With That
- What Wonders
- WordPress.com
- WordPress.org
- Zippy the Pinhead
Books
Chem Resources
- 11B-NMR Chemical Shifts
- Academic Earth
- An Ode to Chemistry
- Arkivoc
- Base Peak
- Chemical Calculations
- Chemical Calculations
- Chemistry Links
- ChemSpider
- ChemTube 3D
- Clark Still Paper on Chromatography
- Excel Simulations Analytical and Physical Chem
- Glossary of Medicinal Chemistry
- Glossary of Physical Organic Chemistry
- Glossary on Explosion Dynamics
- ICIS Chemical Confidential
- Infrared Primer
- Intro Chem Engineering
- Lithium Abundance- World Lithium Reserve
- Max Planck Gesellshaft
- Metal Geology 101
- Mineweb
- Molecular Movies
- NMR Knowledge Base
- NSF CHE Division
- Organic Chemistry Portal
- Organic Syntheses
- Organometallic Chemistry- Tutorial
- Organometallic Hypertextbook
- RLi- Bio of Henry Gilman
- Spectral Database Organic Cpds
- Stans Magnetic Resonance Library
- Synthetic Organic Research Groups
- Teachers Video Resources
- Two Thousand Chemistry Departments
- Useful Data Tables
- Vegetable Oil Yields/Acre
- Visible and Ultraviolet Spectroscopy
- Visual Thesaurus
- Weld Laboratories (Ag Lab)
- X-Ray Techniques, An Overview
Chemical Process Safety
- 29 CFR 1910
- 40 CFR 68.130 Regulated Substances for Accidental Release Prevention
- Alternative Air Quality Models
- ASTM Committee E27
- Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants
- Center for Chemical Process Safety
- Chilworth Global
- Combustible Dust in Industry
- CSB- Improving Reactive Hazard Management
- Fauske Associates
- Glossary on Explosion Dynamics
- Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
- MSDS Hyperglossary
- Perry's Ch 26 Process Safety
- Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis
- Reactive Chemical Hazards
- Risk and Safety Blog
- Safety Management Services
- US Chemical Safety Board
Chemistry Blogs
- 12 Principles of Green Chemistry
- A Chemical Sabbatical
- A SYnthetic Environment
- Atom Pusher
- Blog About Science
- Carbon Tet
- Carbon-Based Curiosities
- Chem Blog
- Chem-bla-ics
- ChemBark
- ChemBark- The Wall
- Chemical Blogspace
- Chemical Crystallinity
- Chemical Enginnering
- Chemical Forums
- Chemical Sabbatical
- Chemist in a Transition State
- Chemistry
- Chemistry
- Chemistry World Blog
- ChemistryWorld
- Chemists without borders
- Chemjobber
- Culture of Chemistry
- Curious Wavefunction
- Curly Arrow
- Depth-First
- Dr Smalls Entropic Thoughts
- El Naschie Watch
- Endless Frontier
- Fetz the Chemist
- Geochemical Society
- Green Chemistry Tech Blog
- Half-Decent Pharmaceutical Chemistry Blog
- Heurema
- Homebrew and Chemistry
- Jokerine
- Jungfreudlich.de
- Kiddie Khemistry
- KinasePro
- Liberal Arts Chemistry
- Liquid Carbon
- Lithium Abundance- World Lithium Reserve
- Med-Chemist
- MiloMuses
- Mining Drug Space
- Molecule of the day
- One in Ten Thousand
- Org Prep Daily
- Organic Synthesis with Atomchuxky
- Organocatalysis, The World of
- Organometallic Current
- petermr’s blog
- Profmaster
- Profmaster Chem Engineering Blog
- Propterdoc
- Realm of Organic Synthesis
- Respectful Insolence
- Rheothing
- Sabbatical Epistles
- Sabbatical Epistles
- Sciencebase
- Selenized
- Spectroscope
- Synchemist, The
- Synthetic Pages
- Synthetic Referee
- The Eccentric Chemist
- Totally Synthetic
- TotallyMechanistic
- Two-Headed Chemical Mayhem
- Uncertain Principles
- Uncle Al
- Whistling in the Wind
Cosmos
CounterCurrent
Geology & Mining
IP
- 321Patent
- Anticipate This!
- Chemical Browser Plug-Ins
- Chemical Patent Searching
- CINF Patent Handout
- EPO
- fedcirc.us
- Free Patents Online
- Fresh Patents
- Internet Patent News
- IP Funny
- Journal of Electronic Publishing
- Just a Patent Examiner
- Links to World Patent Offices
- Organic Chemistry and Patents
- Pat2pdf.org
- Patent Assassins
- Patent Debate
- Patent Prospector
- Patently Academic
- PAtently-O; Patent Law Blog
- Patents at MIT
- Patents for Researchers
- Peter Zura’s Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
- Promote the Progress
- WIPO
- WIPO
Metallurgy
Music Videos
Nuclear
- Advanced N-Power Reactors
- Atomic Testing Museum
- Coal2nuclear
- Major Kong Rides the Bomb
- Monographs on Radiochemistry
- Particle Physics Education
- Plutonium Production
- Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis
- Radiochemistry of Polonium
- United Nuclear
- Uranium Geology
- Uranium Information Center
- We’ll Meet Again Some Sunny Day
- World Uranium Mining
Oddities
PoliSci
Science
Theatre
Uranium
Recent Comments
Archives
Blog Stats
- 571,043 hits
Categories
- Aerospace
- Agriculture
- Angst
- Artificial Intelligence
- Arts & Entertainment
- Astronomy and Aerospace
- Atheism
- Atomic
- Bohemian
- Books
- Business
- C-SPAN
- Cancer
- Chem Resources
- Chemical Industry
- Chemistry
- Chemistry Blogs
- Climate and Weather
- Consciousness
- Cosmos
- CounterCurrent
- Current Events
- Darwinism
- Discovery Institute
- Economics
- Education
- Energy
- Environment
- EPA
- Essay
- Evolution
- Food
- Gastronomie
- Geology
- Health
- History
- Humanities
- Humor
- Instrumentation
- Intellectual Property
- Intelligent Design
- International Politics
- International Relations
- IP
- Lampoon
- Law
- Material Science
- Metals
- Mining
- Molecular Evolution
- Movie Review
- Movies
- Music Videos
- Nature
- Nuclear
- Oddities
- Patents
- Petroleum
- Pharmaceuticals
- Physics
- PoliSci
- Politics
- Pollution
- Public Science Outreach
- Radio
- Radio Astronomy
- Regulatory
- Religion
- Russia
- Safety
- Science
- Science Education
- Security
- Social Issues
- Technology
- Theater
- Thermal
- Thermokinetics
- Total Fiction
- Transportation
- Travel
- Uncategorized
- War
- Weather
- Whimsy
- YouTube
Aerospace
Blogroll
- Arts & Letters Daily
- Athanasius Kircher Society
- Edge
- Enigmafoundry
- Everlasting Blort
- Huffington Post
- Landover Baptist
- Lawyers, Guns, and Money
- Legal Satyricon
- Nurse & Lawyer
- Onionesque Reality
- Organic Syntheses (web site)
- Pharyngula
- Planetary Society
- Political Theory Daily Review
- Sabbatical Epistles
- Sam Harris
- The Oil Drum Discussions
- Trinity Atomic Web Site
- Watts Up With That
- What Wonders
- WordPress.com
- WordPress.org
- Zippy the Pinhead
Books
Chem Resources
- 11B-NMR Chemical Shifts
- Academic Earth
- An Ode to Chemistry
- Arkivoc
- Base Peak
- Chemical Calculations
- Chemical Calculations
- Chemistry Links
- ChemSpider
- ChemTube 3D
- Clark Still Paper on Chromatography
- Excel Simulations Analytical and Physical Chem
- Glossary of Medicinal Chemistry
- Glossary of Physical Organic Chemistry
- Glossary on Explosion Dynamics
- ICIS Chemical Confidential
- Infrared Primer
- Intro Chem Engineering
- Lithium Abundance- World Lithium Reserve
- Max Planck Gesellshaft
- Metal Geology 101
- Mineweb
- Molecular Movies
- NMR Knowledge Base
- NSF CHE Division
- Organic Chemistry Portal
- Organic Syntheses
- Organometallic Chemistry- Tutorial
- Organometallic Hypertextbook
- RLi- Bio of Henry Gilman
- Spectral Database Organic Cpds
- Stans Magnetic Resonance Library
- Synthetic Organic Research Groups
- Teachers Video Resources
- Two Thousand Chemistry Departments
- Useful Data Tables
- Vegetable Oil Yields/Acre
- Visible and Ultraviolet Spectroscopy
- Visual Thesaurus
- Weld Laboratories (Ag Lab)
- X-Ray Techniques, An Overview
Chemical Process Safety
- 29 CFR 1910
- 40 CFR 68.130 Regulated Substances for Accidental Release Prevention
- Alternative Air Quality Models
- ASTM Committee E27
- Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants
- Center for Chemical Process Safety
- Chilworth Global
- Combustible Dust in Industry
- CSB- Improving Reactive Hazard Management
- Fauske Associates
- Glossary on Explosion Dynamics
- Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
- MSDS Hyperglossary
- Perry's Ch 26 Process Safety
- Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis
- Reactive Chemical Hazards
- Risk and Safety Blog
- Safety Management Services
- US Chemical Safety Board
Chemistry Blogs
- 12 Principles of Green Chemistry
- A Chemical Sabbatical
- A SYnthetic Environment
- Atom Pusher
- Blog About Science
- Carbon Tet
- Carbon-Based Curiosities
- Chem Blog
- Chem-bla-ics
- ChemBark
- ChemBark- The Wall
- Chemical Blogspace
- Chemical Crystallinity
- Chemical Enginnering
- Chemical Forums
- Chemical Sabbatical
- Chemist in a Transition State
- Chemistry
- Chemistry
- Chemistry World Blog
- ChemistryWorld
- Chemists without borders
- Chemjobber
- Culture of Chemistry
- Curious Wavefunction
- Curly Arrow
- Depth-First
- Dr Smalls Entropic Thoughts
- El Naschie Watch
- Endless Frontier
- Fetz the Chemist
- Geochemical Society
- Green Chemistry Tech Blog
- Half-Decent Pharmaceutical Chemistry Blog
- Heurema
- Homebrew and Chemistry
- Jokerine
- Jungfreudlich.de
- Kiddie Khemistry
- KinasePro
- Liberal Arts Chemistry
- Liquid Carbon
- Lithium Abundance- World Lithium Reserve
- Med-Chemist
- MiloMuses
- Mining Drug Space
- Molecule of the day
- One in Ten Thousand
- Org Prep Daily
- Organic Synthesis with Atomchuxky
- Organocatalysis, The World of
- Organometallic Current
- petermr’s blog
- Profmaster
- Profmaster Chem Engineering Blog
- Propterdoc
- Realm of Organic Synthesis
- Respectful Insolence
- Rheothing
- Sabbatical Epistles
- Sabbatical Epistles
- Sciencebase
- Selenized
- Spectroscope
- Synchemist, The
- Synthetic Pages
- Synthetic Referee
- The Eccentric Chemist
- Totally Synthetic
- TotallyMechanistic
- Two-Headed Chemical Mayhem
- Uncertain Principles
- Uncle Al
- Whistling in the Wind
Cosmos
CounterCurrent
Geology & Mining
IP
- 321Patent
- Anticipate This!
- Chemical Browser Plug-Ins
- Chemical Patent Searching
- CINF Patent Handout
- EPO
- fedcirc.us
- Free Patents Online
- Fresh Patents
- Internet Patent News
- IP Funny
- Journal of Electronic Publishing
- Just a Patent Examiner
- Links to World Patent Offices
- Organic Chemistry and Patents
- Pat2pdf.org
- Patent Assassins
- Patent Debate
- Patent Prospector
- Patently Academic
- PAtently-O; Patent Law Blog
- Patents at MIT
- Patents for Researchers
- Peter Zura’s Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog
- Promote the Progress
- WIPO
- WIPO
Metallurgy
Music Videos
Nuclear
- Advanced N-Power Reactors
- Atomic Testing Museum
- Coal2nuclear
- Major Kong Rides the Bomb
- Monographs on Radiochemistry
- Particle Physics Education
- Plutonium Production
- Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis
- Radiochemistry of Polonium
- United Nuclear
- Uranium Geology
- Uranium Information Center
- We’ll Meet Again Some Sunny Day
- World Uranium Mining
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 9, 2008 at 5:41 am
wanderer
The amazing one is the detonation of H2/O2 ballons by static electricity. For me this is another data point weighing against the age old practice of merely demonstrating chemistry as pedagogy. Students should Do Chemistry or don’t do it if there isn’t justifiable educational benefit and leave being entertained for YouTube.
July 9, 2008 at 4:11 pm
gaussling
People ask the question- “why do you use dangerous chemicals?” I usually interject with a point of clarification- “By dangerous I think you mean ‘reactive’. Reactive chemicals can undergo a transformation. Reactive chemicals are useful chemicals. Unreactive chemicals tend to be not so useful.”
Examples of unreactive chemicals are petrolatum and nitrogen. Barring asphyxiation, exposure to either is not ordinarily a problem. Both can be made to react under forcing conditions. But as starting materials for complex molecules, unless you are a nitrogen fixing microorganism or a fungus, you have some tough sledding.
Learning to do useful things with chemicals involves practice in the lab. Eventually, a chemistry student has to handle or be around something that is hazardous. Eventually you have to pour something or weigh something. As long as there are people in labs there will be spills and mishaps.
Too often chemistry demonstrations turn into whizbang magic shows. They are fun to do and it can be a great way for students to experience what reactivity is all about. But I have seen too many chemistry demonstrations that are just infotainment. Every demo must have a take-away lesson.
The passive approach to learning – viewing video- is a poor substitute for actual experience. Let chemistry students watch explosive reactions on TV. But they need to know how to handle a buret and do a synthesis of some kind with their own hands.