Always use safety precautions with chemical substances in the laboratory.
Chemical investigatory projects in science use different types of analytical techniques to find out the identity, composition or toxicity of different chemical substances. There are multiple types of projects a student or research can use in regard to chemical investigations, as well as a number of techniques such as chromatography or mass spectroscopy. Students that are in elementary, middle or high school, can find projects that use everyday items, such as filter paper, to illustrate chemistry techniques.
Hydrogen Bubbles
Using vinegar, create a chemical investigation of the formation of hydrogen bubbles. Pour about 15 milliliters of vinegar into a test tube or clear cup. Get a metal nail and sand down the tip with sandpaper. Place the nail inside the test tube with vinegar. Observe as bubbles form around the nail. The bubbles are hydrogen bubbles.
Thin Layer Chromatography
Conduct a thin layer chromatography (TLC) project using plants. Students or researchers can use this technique to separate pigments in plants. Tear plant leaves into small pieces to extract the pigments. Place the leaves into mortar and add sand. Grind the leaves and add isoproply alcohol while stirring. Place the solution into a vial with a cap. Cut silica plates into one-by-eight centimeter strips to serve as the TLC plates. Make a solvent solution using 100 milliliters of paint thinner, seven milliliter of hexane and 3.5 milliliter of isopropyl alcohol. Take a melting point capillary tube and dot the TLC plate with the plant extract solution. Repeat a few times to get a larger spot. Dot the TLC plate two centimeters above the plant extract solution dot with the solvent solution. Observe the pigment spot as it disperses up the plate. The pigments in plants contain different solubility's depending on the type of pigment. For instance, chlorophyll B, which is yellowish green, is more soluble than xanthophyll pigments, which are yellow and orange and will move farther along the TLC plate.
Forensic Chemistry
Forensic chemistry experiments identify materials in a substance gathered from police evidence. Forensic chemists candetermine the composition, nature of material and source of material. Perform a Forensic chemistry project using paper. Gather two pieces of filter paper and mark your initials near the edge of the paper in pencil. Make a small hole in the center of the paper and use a black marker to make a small ring of dots around the hole. Fold the second piece of paper in half and then in fourths. Tear the folds and use the folds to make to wicks by rolling the folds. Insert this rolled wick into the hole in the paper. Take a petri dish and fill halfway with water. Lay the paper over the petri dish with the wick pointing into the water. Observe the water enter the wick and move across the paper carrying the ink and separating the ink into different colors. Record the colors of ink and indicate which color moved the farthest from the hole.
Color Chemical Reactions
Conduct a chemical investigation though color changes. Observe chemical reactions by changing colors using different combinations of chemical solutions. Mix about four different solutions with water in bottles, such as Potassium iodide, sodium thiosulfate, sodium hypochlorite, soluble starch. Obtain a 24 well plate. Add a few drops of two different solutions into the wells, labeling which solutions you combine. Observe the color changes and note which chemicals reacted with each other.
Tags: chemical investigation, chemical substances, color changes, different solutions, extract solution, filter paper, Forensic chemistry