Don't call a pricey plumber! Anyone with a few tools can unclog a drain -- without even resorting to those strong, toxic chemicals. Most of the time, anyway. You will need baking soda, vinegar, rubber gloves, cleaning rags or duct tape, a rubber plunger, a plumber's snake, petroleum jelly, a bucket or pan, and a length of hose. WARNING: Do not try this if you have already used a commercial drain opener, as it can create harmful fumes.
Here's a cool video! By combining two readily accessible liquids, you can make yourself a cool bouncey ball. This how-teaches kids about polymers, chemicals. You'll also learn in this video how to make glow in the dark goo. Just what the world needs!
Nitrogen Triiodide is a very powerful contact explosive, but like most fun chemicals is not readily available to the general public cheaply. If you want some and have some chemistry skills, watch this video to learn how to make Nitrogen Triiodide at home out of household ammonia and water purification iodine crystals.
Cockroaches are one of the most durable and and irritating forms of life on Earth. Many turn to toxic chemicals to get rid of them, but that's not very green is it? This video will give you some eco-friendly tips for preventing infestations, trapping insects, and disposing of them once you've caught them. Yes, cockroaches are part of nature. No, that doesn't mean we're not going to kill them.
Learn how to rid your backyard of annoying bugs without exposing your family to chemicals and toxins.
In this video, Bre Pettis from MAKE magazine will show you how to make a tabletop biosphere. You need a jar, aquatic plants, shrimp, amphipods, dechlorination chemicals, and chicled salt.
This is a video tutorial in the Education category where you are going to learn how to use and understand chemical equilibrium in Chemistry. This video answers a question about the contact process. This is a process by which sulphuric acid is made where they take sulphur, react it with oxygen to make sulphur dioxide and react it with more oxygen to make sulphur trioxide. The equation here is 2SO2 + O2 will give us 2SO3. This reaction is exothermic, that means it will give out energy in the fo...
You may or may not know, but much of the cleaning products that are used today can be harmful to you, kids, or even pets. They contain a great assortment of chemicals that can cause serious illness or death. So why risk buying thse products when you can make them yourself?
In order to make fake blood, for special effects or for Halloween, you will need the following: Potassium Thiocyanate (KSCN), Iron (III) Chloride (FeCL3), which is also known as ferric chloride or may substitute Iron Nitrate (Ferric Nitrate). You will also need water or dihydrogen monoxide.
In chemistry you come across problems which ask you to find the percent by mass and percent composition of each element in a chemical compound. To do this the first step is to compute the molar mass. Use the periodic table to look up the mass of individual atoms and multiply it by the number of atoms to find the mass of that element. Now add up all the masses to arrive at the molar mass of the compound. Now to find the percent composition of an element divide the total mass of each element by...
Learn how to balance the three different types of chemical equations in simple steps. First take an equation, write down its reactants and products and write down the names of all elements. Now write down how many of each element are present in the equation. Now check which element does not match, in this case the Oxygen doesn't match. Now multiply the element or compound starting at two but now hydrogen doesn't match. Try to match them by multiplying the coefficients but now sulfur doesn't m...
This video is based on a chemistry experiment. This video is going to explain to us how to use gravimetric analysis in order to analyze sulfuric acid. This experiment should not be done for those who do not have a fundamental knowledge of chemical compounds, reactions and chemical safety. He explains first what he is about to do before he does it. Sulfuric acid is acidic and can be toxic if ingested or in contact with the eyes. Take extreme care with this experiment.
Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make a chemiluminescent reaction with home chemicals. Make a chemiluminescent singlet oxygen red light pulse from two simple chemicals almost anyone can buy: pool chlorine and hydrogen peroxide.
Zika is a threat to unborn babies — the virus can cause neurological damage if it infects a mother during pregnancy. But as with many things, our solutions to the problem aren't always all that much better than the problem itself.
In this video, I'll be demonstrating how anyone can make their own iodine clock reaction with simple over-the-counter chemicals.
Would you know what to do if someone ingested poison? Equally important, would you know what not to do?
Sodium (chemical symbol Na) is an interesting element. It reacts in contact with both oxygen and water, and several sodium salts are used to produce a yellow color in fireworks.
Organic fertilizer is based of natural occurring compounds instead of chemical based compounds. With healthy, natural soil, learn how your plants and the environment can thrive in this free gardening video series about how to use organic fertilizers on plants. The following clips illustrate:
If you look at the label on your favorite processed snack, there's a good chance you have no idea what half the ingredients are. It's nothing new, but with natural and organic foods becoming huge trends, we're hyper-aware of all the "chemicals" we eat.
If you're trying to be a pacifist or a good soul in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, check out this guide on how to save Malik without killing anyone. It will really help if you have the Cloak 3 augmentation for the added chemical resistance.
Make a flexible aluminum electroluminescent display using aluminum foil, EL phosphors and a simple electrolytic etching bath. This video shows the chemical process behind etching foil in an electrolytic bath, and develops it into a practical application for it by creating an electroluminescent caution display.
In this tutorial, learn all about the difference between breads at supposedly healthy sandwich shop, Subway. Did you know that the new 9 grain bread actually has the same nutritional value as the plain white bread they offer? Find out what scary chemicals are hiding inside your lunch with this clip from Food Facts TV.
Do you feed your kids the yellow box lunch? Sure, it's easier than making a sandwich from scratch - but what's easy is usually not healthy. Check out this clip and learn all about the dangers lurking inside the iconic yellow box. Lunchables are full of chemicals, fats, sodium and calories.. watch this Food Facts clip and keep your family healthy.
A lot of commonly used household items are actually poison for your furry friends. In this clip, learn all about which items can pose a danger for your dog or cat. It's not only chemicals that are bad for your pets, innocent seeming items like fruit, veggies, chicken bones, chocolate, human medications and many other hidden dangers exist as well.
Can you recharge non-rechargeable alkaline batteries? Yes you can! Gary Cutlack from techdigest.tv risks chemical burns to demonstrate.
No, we're not lying. But before you try and tear a plain old penny in half, you should probably watch this video first or you may hurt your fingers. While ordinary pennies are very, very difficult to rip, if you get rid of the zinc core you are left with only the thin copper shell, which is itself very easy to tear apart.
Wired Science teaches you the science behind glow sticks by showing you how you can make your own with chemicals that you can obtain.
You've seen them at Disneyland's Fantasia. And in big budget movies like "Waterworld" and "Lord of the Rings." Spectacular, glowing fire effects that seem to ripple with the wind are a staple of action movies, and though it may seem like you need a super good video editing team to create such light shows, all you really need is some household chemicals.
Did you know that willow bark contains salicin, a similiar chemical to aspirin? If you have a headache on your next outdoors adventure, find the remedy in nature! Learn some mountain man tricks for quick pain relief in the wild.
Use sawdust to draw the stains out of carpet, floormats, etc. It saves energy since you don't have to wash towels and will be thrown away anyway. This is a quick housekeeping trick that leaves your floors clean and does not hurt the environment. Make sure you properly dispose of chemical and oil waste.
Steampunk, a vintage Victorian mechanical style, is one of the hottest design trends to date since faux bois. Get in on the trend while creating many hours of fun for yourself and friends by making this awesome steampunk style chess set. This chess set is comprised of various pieces of hardware, a found table, and common household chemicals.
Burns come in different types (thermal, chemical, electrical and radiation), levels (partial and full) and degrees of severity (first, second and third). Watch this U.S. Navy video to learn how to manage and initially treat burn casualties.
Turn pennies from copper to silver then to gold with a few household chemicals.
Make a crystal LED light from the chemicals in a cold compress that runs on USB power.
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a chemical indicator from kitchen items. First, make an indicator by grabbing some red cabbage and some vodka. Now, heat up some water until it's boiling, then place a smaller beaker inside the water with vodka inside of it. Place the red cabbage inside of the smaller beaker, then stir it up and let sit for 10 minutes. A lot of the color will come out with the cabbage being inside of the alcohol. After this, pour this into a storage bottle and pour the w...
This experiment is intended to introduce students to hydrated compounds. These compounds have water molecules coordinated in their chemical structures. Examples CuSO4*5H2O, BaCl2*2H2O, and NaC2H3O2*3H2O.
Plants all around us capture sunlight every day and convert it to energy, making them a model of solar energy production. And while the energy they make may serve the needs of a plant, the process isn't efficient enough to generate power on a larger scale. So, scientists from the University of California found a way to treat bacteria with chemicals that turned them into photosynthesis machines, capable of generating products we can convert into food, fuels, and plastics.
Water makes up about 60% of your body weight. Whether you like it plain, flavored, bubbly, or in beverages or food, we all need water daily to avoid dehydration and stay healthy. For communities in need of clean drinking water, new research using bacteria may offer a simplified, lower-cost method for boosting potable water supplies.
Editor's Note: The claims by Vani Hari which were originally detailed in the article below about azodicarbonamide were unscientific in nature. This article has been updated to reflect that and provide more scientific context on the issue.
Hydrazine sulfate has many uses, but most notably, it's been used under the trade name of Sehydrin, a treatment for anorexia, cachexia and some even think cancer. But for we DIY chemists, it's useful for something entirely different— as a substitute for the more dangerous pure liquid hydrazine in chemical reactions. NurdRage shows you how to make it via some hypochlorite and the Ketazine process.