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Revision as of 01:37, 26 November 2007 by Donreed (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A chemistry set is an educational toy allowing the user (typically a teenager) to perform simple chemistry experiments. The best known such sets were produced by the A. C. Gilbert Company, an early 20th century American manufacturer of educational toys.
Typical contents might include:
- vials of dry chemicals
- wires or filings made from various metals, as copper, nickel or zinc
- graphite rods
- a balance and weights
- a measuring cylinder
- a thermometer
- a magnifying glass
- pipettes
- beakers, retorts, flasks, test tubes, U-tubes or other reaction vessels
- cork stoppers
- watch glasses
- glass and rubber tubing
- test tube holders, retort stands and clamps
- an alcohol burner or other heat source
- a filter funnel and filter paper
- universal indicator paper / litmus paper
- safety goggles
- an instruction manual
Chemicals commonly found in chemistry sets include:
- Aluminum ammonium sulfate
- Ammonium chloride
- Borax
- Calcium chloride
- Calcium oxide
- Calcium sulfate
- Cobalt chloride
- Copper chloride
- Copper sulfate
- Ferric ammonium sulfate
- Ferrous sulfate
- Gum arabic
- Magnesium ribbon
- Magnesium chloride
- Magnesium sulfate
- Phenolphthalein
- Potassium chloride
- Potassium sulfate
- Powdered charcoal
- Powdered iron
- Sodium bisulfate
- Sodium carbonate
- Sodium ferrocyanide
- Sodium silicate
- Sodium thiosulfate
- Strontium chloride
- Sulfur
- Tannic acid
In recent years, chemistry-set manufacturers have been reluctant, because offear of product liabilitylawsuits and police agencies looking for underground methamphetamine labs and terrorist bomb factories, to include many of the chemicals that are needed for "interesting" experiments. (In the past, a house fire started by an improvident teenager playing with chemicals was regarded as an act of God; but now it is generally regarded as a tort, and manufacturers of chemistry sets are usually (and often wrongly) assumed to have deep pockets. In anticipation of such suits, chemistry-set makers removed chemicals thought to be dangerous—even in the hands of idiots—from chemistry sets. In the past, The DEA, FBI, and other anti-drug and antisterrorisn police agencies usually looked only in the wrong part of town, but meth labs and al-Qaeda cells have been found even in respectable neighborhoods.
The 12AngryMen Blog has published an explanation of the near demise of the chemistry set: http://12angrymen.wordpress.com/2007/10/31/endangered-species-the-chemistry-set/
External links
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