{"id":7575,"date":"2020-09-10T07:09:54","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T05:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=7575\/"},"modified":"2020-11-10T10:12:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T09:12:43","slug":"five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/","title":{"rendered":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments"},"content":{"rendered":"

This guide has been updated in September 2020. It was originally published October 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

You want to impress your friends by turning bones into rubber? Determine how acidic or basic different items around the house may be? You can be a chemist too with these five chemistry experiments to try at home.<\/p>\n

Don’t worry. All the experiments are safe for do-it-yourself chemistry.<\/p>\n

Experiment 1. Test for starch in a leaf<\/h2>\n

Starch is the food of plants. Here is how to test for its presence.<\/p>\n

You can get the following ingredients at a drug store like the ‘Matas’ chain.
\nIngredients: Two separate plants a glass jar, ethyl alcohol, iodine solution, tweezers, and a pan on the stove<\/p>\n

Prepare the two plants by placing one in a dark spot for 24 hours, and the other in a sunny spot such as a windowsill. After 24 hours, fill a saucepan with water, then add some ethyl alcohol onto the pan.
\n
\nOnce the ethyl alcohol in the beaker starts to boil, turn off the heat. Take a leaf from each of the plants, and place them in the hot water for 60 seconds. Then using tweezers dip each leaf into the ethyl alcohol for two minutes. They should begin to turn white. Finally, take out the two leaves and place them into a small dish filled with iodine solution, so that the iodine solution just covers the leaves.<\/p>\n

Explanation: Photosynthesis is the process through which a plant converts light and CO2 into energy, which is stored inside the plant.<\/p>\n

The chemical formula is the following: 6CO2 + 6H2O ——> C6H12O6 + 6O2,
\n(Where: CO2 = carbon dioxide, H2O = water, Light energy is required, C6H12O6 = glucose, and O2 = oxygen.)<\/p>\n

The hot water is responsible for killing the leaf, while the ethyl alcohol breaks down the chlorophyll so that the green colour is gone. Iodine is a chemical which acts as an indicator for starch, turning blue-black in the presence of starch reddish-brown when there is no starch. The leaf which turned blue-black is the leaf left in the sunny location, which has been performing photosynthesis and producing starch.<\/p>\n

Experiment 2. Rubber bones<\/h2>\n

It is important to have enough calcium in our diets, it keeps our bones strong. This experiment will prove it.<\/p>\n

Ingredients: jar large enough to fit a chicken bone, a chicken bone (a leg or drumstick would be best), and vinegar.<\/p>\n

Thoroughly wash the bone with hot water, and dry it. Place the bone into the jar and cover it with vinegar, then cover with a lid and let it sit for 3-5 days. Finally, remove the bone, rinse it off, and try bending it.
\n
\nExplanation: Vinegar is an acid which is strong enough to dissolve away the calcium in the bone. The calcium is what keeps the bone hard, and so once it is dissolved all that is left is the soft bone tissue.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/strong> Five biological experiments you can do at home<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Experiment 3. Perform chromatography using candy<\/h2>\n

Compare the compounds in the dies used for colouring an M&M.<\/p>\n

Ingredients: M&Ms candy (one of each colour), coffee filter paper, a tall glass, water, table salt, a pencil, scissors, a ruler, 6 toothpicks, aluminum foil, an empty 2 liter bottle with cap.<\/p>\n

Cut the coffee filter paper into an 8 x 8 cm square and draw a line 0.5 cm from one edge of the paper. Make a dot for each of the candy colours equally spaced along the line, with about 0.5 cm from the edge of the paper for the first and last dot. Label each dot with the name of the colour. Take a piece of aluminum foil and place six drops of water evenly spaced out, and one candy of a different colour on top of each water drop. See what it looks like here. Wait for the colour to dissolve into the water, then dispose of the rest of the candy. Dampen the tip of one of the toothpicks in one of the colored solutions and touch it to the labeled dot on the coffee filter paper, making a small dot of colour (2mm approximately).
\n
\nThen using a different toothpick each time, place dot of each colour onto the coffee filter paper. After all the spots have dried, repeat once again to get more colour on each spot. Do this three times more times.\u00a0Next add \u215b teaspoon of salt and three cups of water to the empty 2 L bottle. Screw the cap on and shake the contents until all of the salt is dissolved in the water, which makes a 1% salt solution. Pour the salt solution into the tall glass to a height of 0.5 cm. Place the filter paper in, making sure that the dots are above the water level and wait.
\n
\nExplanation: The salt solution will began to move up the paper through a process called capillary action. The colour spots will also climb up the paper along with the salt solution, but the colours will end up at different heights on the paper. This is because some dyes stick more to the paper while other dyes are more soluble in the salt solution. This process is called chromatography, where the salt solution is called the mobile phase, and the paper the stationary phase. The dyes that travel the furthest have more affinity for the salt solution (the mobile phase); the dyes that travel the least have more affinity for the paper (the stationary phase).<\/p>\n

Experiment 4. Test the pH of household items using cabbage juice<\/h2>\n

Find out how acidic or basic a household item is.<\/p>\n

Ingredients: 1\/2 head red cabbage, metal grater, water, pot, strainer, vinegar, detergent, and a glass.<\/p>\n

Fill the pot with water, then grate the cabbage into small pieces and place them in so that the water just covers the cabbage pieces. Boil the mixture for 20-30 minutes, then take the dark purple liquid and strain it into a glass. Create the test solutions by diluting the vinegar with water, and mixing the detergent with water. Add a few drops of the cabbage juice to each of the solutions, and note the color changes.
\n
\nExplanation: The cabbage juice should turn pink in acidic solutions, and green in basic solutions. You can also test the pH of any household items, for example soda water, lemon juice, baking soda mixed with water, or anything you choose. Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, which is a pigment belonging to group of chemical compounds called flavonoids. Anthocyanins gain an -OH at basic pH, but loose it at acidic pH, and this alteration changes the wavelengths of light reflected by the compound. In this way a colour change occurs and it is possible to tell if the substance was acidic or basic.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/strong> Five science experiments for the kitchen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Experiment 5. Use vinegar to de-scale your kettle<\/h2>\n

Ingredients: calcified kettle, vinegar, water, and a cloth.<\/p>\n

Dilute store bought white vinegar with water using a 1:1 ratio (equal parts water and white vinegar). Leave this in the kettle for 60-120 minutes, and do not boil. Then, dump out the water. If there is any lime- scale left, you can use a damp cloth to wipe this away. Finally, rinse off the kettle thoroughly with water. Next time you use it to boil water you will have improved the efficiency of the kettle, as well as the taste of the water.
\n
\nExplanation In many areas household water contains a high mineral content, including calcium and carbonate, which can stay behind in a kettle when water is boiled and reform as calcium carbonate. The equilibrium inside the kettle prior to boiling can be seen as: 2HCO3- + Ca2+ \u21cb Ca2+ + CO32- + CO2 + H2O. After boiling, some of the CO2 boils off, and thus calcium carbonate is precipitated as calcium carbonate: CO32- + Ca2+ -> CaCO3. Calcium carbonate is soluble in mildly acidic solutions such as vinegar (CH3COOH), according to the reaction: CaCO3 + 2CH3COOH -> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2<\/p>\n

And so when vinegar is allowed to react with the calcium carbonate at the bottom of the kettle, it is dissolved and can be easily removed, allowing the kettle to restore energy efficiency and improve the time it takes to boil water.<\/p>\n

So there it is! Five chemistry experiments that you can safely try at home.<\/p>\n

Want to try out some biological experiments? Here are five biological experiments you can try at home.<\/a><\/p>\n

universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n

Like us on Facebook<\/a> and follow us on Twitter<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1331,3952,1327],"class_list":["post-7575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-best-of-university-post-2009-2016","tag-do-it-yourself-science","tag-guides","expression-feature_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nFive do-it-yourself chemistry experiments - University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments - University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-10T05:09:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-10T09:12:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"headline\":\"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-10T05:09:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-10T09:12:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1424,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/img_1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Best of University Post 2009-2016\",\"Do-it-yourself science\",\"guides\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/\",\"name\":\"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments - University Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/img_1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-10T05:09:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-10T09:12:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"description\":\"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/img_1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/img_1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Guarantee from the chemist Michelle: All of the experiments are safe!\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/\",\"name\":\"University Post\",\"description\":\"Independent of management\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\",\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/author\\\/migrated_articles\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments - University Post","description":"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments - University Post","og_description":"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds","og_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/","og_site_name":"University Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis","article_published_time":"2020-09-10T05:09:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-10T09:12:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Uniavisen","twitter_site":"@Uniavisen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/"},"author":{"name":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606"},"headline":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments","datePublished":"2020-09-10T05:09:54+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-10T09:12:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/"},"wordCount":1424,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","keywords":["Best of University Post 2009-2016","Do-it-yourself science","guides"],"articleSection":["Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/","name":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments - University Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-10T05:09:54+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-10T09:12:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606"},"description":"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"Guarantee from the chemist Michelle: All of the experiments are safe!"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606","name":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE"},"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/migrated_articles\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"enable_comments":true,"expression":{"term_id":18,"name":"Feature Article","slug":"feature_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":1200,"filter":"raw"},"align_content":"alignleft","layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"default","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":7577,"id":7577,"title":"img_1","filename":"img_1.jpg","filesize":546622,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_1\/","alt":"","author":"0","description":"Guarantee from the chemist Michelle: All of the experiments are safe!","caption":"Guarantee from the chemist Michelle: All of the experiments are safe!","name":"img_1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2017-01-19 06:23:33","modified":"2017-01-19 06:23:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1706,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"screen","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Michelle Chrabalowski","contributor_title":"\u00a0","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p><em>This guide has been updated in September 2020. It was originally published October 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>You want to impress your friends by turning bones into rubber? Determine how acidic or basic different items around the house may be? You can be a chemist too with these five chemistry experiments to try at home.<\/p>\n<p>Don’t worry. All the experiments are safe for do-it-yourself chemistry.<\/p>\n<h2>Experiment 1. Test for starch in a leaf<\/h2>\n<p>Starch is the food of plants. Here is how to test for its presence.<\/p>\n<p>You can get the following ingredients at a drug store like the ‘Matas’ chain.<br \/>\nIngredients: Two separate plants a glass jar, ethyl alcohol, iodine solution, tweezers, and a pan on the stove<\/p>\n<p>Prepare the two plants by placing one in a dark spot for 24 hours, and the other in a sunny spot such as a windowsill. After 24 hours, fill a saucepan with water, then add some ethyl alcohol onto the pan.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":110572,"id":110572,"title":"IMG_4_resized","filename":"img_4_resized.jpg","filesize":63720,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_4_resized\/","alt":"","author":"9","description":"","caption":"","name":"img_4_resized","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2020-09-11 07:04:38","modified":"2020-09-11 07:04:38","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":600,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":400,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","narrow-width":600,"narrow-height":400,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_4_resized.jpg","extended-width":600,"extended-height":400}},"style":"screen","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Once the ethyl alcohol in the beaker starts to boil, turn off the heat. Take a leaf from each of the plants, and place them in the hot water for 60 seconds. Then using tweezers dip each leaf into the ethyl alcohol for two minutes. They should begin to turn white. Finally, take out the two leaves and place them into a small dish filled with iodine solution, so that the iodine solution just covers the leaves.<\/p>\n<p>Explanation: Photosynthesis is the process through which a plant converts light and CO2 into energy, which is stored inside the plant.<\/p>\n<p>The chemical formula is the following: 6CO2 + 6H2O ——> C6H12O6 + 6O2,<br \/>\n(Where: CO2 = carbon dioxide, H2O = water, Light energy is required, C6H12O6 = glucose, and O2 = oxygen.)<\/p>\n<p>The hot water is responsible for killing the leaf, while the ethyl alcohol breaks down the chlorophyll so that the green colour is gone. Iodine is a chemical which acts as an indicator for starch, turning blue-black in the presence of starch reddish-brown when there is no starch. The leaf which turned blue-black is the leaf left in the sunny location, which has been performing photosynthesis and producing starch.<\/p>\n<h2>Experiment 2. Rubber bones<\/h2>\n<p>It is important to have enough calcium in our diets, it keeps our bones strong. This experiment will prove it.<\/p>\n<p>Ingredients: jar large enough to fit a chicken bone, a chicken bone (a leg or drumstick would be best), and vinegar.<\/p>\n<p>Thoroughly wash the bone with hot water, and dry it. Place the bone into the jar and cover it with vinegar, then cover with a lid and let it sit for 3-5 days. Finally, remove the bone, rinse it off, and try bending it.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":110574,"id":110574,"title":"IMG_6_resized","filename":"img_6_resized.jpg","filesize":125080,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_6_resized\/","alt":"","author":"9","description":"","caption":"","name":"img_6_resized","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2020-09-11 07:05:53","modified":"2020-09-11 07:05:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized-480x720.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":720,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":900,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":900,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized-290x435.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":435,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","narrow-width":600,"narrow-height":900,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_6_resized.jpg","extended-width":600,"extended-height":900}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Explanation: Vinegar is an acid which is strong enough to dissolve away the calcium in the bone. The calcium is what keeps the bone hard, and so once it is dissolved all that is left is the soft bone tissue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read also:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-biological-experiments-you-can-do-at-home\/\">Five biological experiments you can do at home<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Experiment 3. Perform chromatography using candy<\/h2>\n<p>Compare the compounds in the dies used for colouring an M&M.<\/p>\n<p>Ingredients: M&Ms candy (one of each colour), coffee filter paper, a tall glass, water, table salt, a pencil, scissors, a ruler, 6 toothpicks, aluminum foil, an empty 2 liter bottle with cap.<\/p>\n<p>Cut the coffee filter paper into an 8 x 8 cm square and draw a line 0.5 cm from one edge of the paper. Make a dot for each of the candy colours equally spaced along the line, with about 0.5 cm from the edge of the paper for the first and last dot. Label each dot with the name of the colour. Take a piece of aluminum foil and place six drops of water evenly spaced out, and one candy of a different colour on top of each water drop. See what it looks like here. Wait for the colour to dissolve into the water, then dispose of the rest of the candy. Dampen the tip of one of the toothpicks in one of the colored solutions and touch it to the labeled dot on the coffee filter paper, making a small dot of colour (2mm approximately).<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":110576,"id":110576,"title":"IMG_11_resized","filename":"img_11_resized.jpg","filesize":66987,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_11_resized\/","alt":"","author":"9","description":"","caption":"","name":"img_11_resized","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2020-09-11 07:07:22","modified":"2020-09-11 07:07:22","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":600,"height":399,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized-480x319.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":319,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":399,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":399,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":399,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":399,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","narrow-width":600,"narrow-height":399,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_11_resized.jpg","extended-width":600,"extended-height":399}},"style":"screen","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Then using a different toothpick each time, place dot of each colour onto the coffee filter paper. After all the spots have dried, repeat once again to get more colour on each spot. Do this three times more times.\u00a0Next add \u215b teaspoon of salt and three cups of water to the empty 2 L bottle. Screw the cap on and shake the contents until all of the salt is dissolved in the water, which makes a 1% salt solution. Pour the salt solution into the tall glass to a height of 0.5 cm. Place the filter paper in, making sure that the dots are above the water level and wait.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":110578,"id":110578,"title":"IMG_13_resized","filename":"img_13_resized.jpg","filesize":129512,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_13_resized\/","alt":"","author":"9","description":"","caption":"","name":"img_13_resized","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2020-09-11 07:08:45","modified":"2020-09-11 07:08:45","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized-480x720.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":720,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":900,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":900,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized-290x435.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":435,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","narrow-width":600,"narrow-height":900,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_13_resized.jpg","extended-width":600,"extended-height":900}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Explanation: The salt solution will began to move up the paper through a process called capillary action. The colour spots will also climb up the paper along with the salt solution, but the colours will end up at different heights on the paper. This is because some dyes stick more to the paper while other dyes are more soluble in the salt solution. This process is called chromatography, where the salt solution is called the mobile phase, and the paper the stationary phase. The dyes that travel the furthest have more affinity for the salt solution (the mobile phase); the dyes that travel the least have more affinity for the paper (the stationary phase).<\/p>\n<h2>Experiment 4. Test the pH of household items using cabbage juice<\/h2>\n<p>Find out how acidic or basic a household item is.<\/p>\n<p>Ingredients: 1\/2 head red cabbage, metal grater, water, pot, strainer, vinegar, detergent, and a glass.<\/p>\n<p>Fill the pot with water, then grate the cabbage into small pieces and place them in so that the water just covers the cabbage pieces. Boil the mixture for 20-30 minutes, then take the dark purple liquid and strain it into a glass. Create the test solutions by diluting the vinegar with water, and mixing the detergent with water. Add a few drops of the cabbage juice to each of the solutions, and note the color changes.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":110580,"id":110580,"title":"IMG_16_resized","filename":"img_16_resized.jpg","filesize":74968,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_16_resized\/","alt":"","author":"9","description":"","caption":"","name":"img_16_resized","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2020-09-11 07:09:42","modified":"2020-09-11 07:09:42","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":600,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":400,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","narrow-width":600,"narrow-height":400,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_16_resized.jpg","extended-width":600,"extended-height":400}},"style":"screen","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Explanation: The cabbage juice should turn pink in acidic solutions, and green in basic solutions. You can also test the pH of any household items, for example soda water, lemon juice, baking soda mixed with water, or anything you choose. Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, which is a pigment belonging to group of chemical compounds called flavonoids. Anthocyanins gain an -OH at basic pH, but loose it at acidic pH, and this alteration changes the wavelengths of light reflected by the compound. In this way a colour change occurs and it is possible to tell if the substance was acidic or basic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read also:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-science-experiments-for-the-kitchen\/\">Five science experiments for the kitchen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Experiment 5. Use vinegar to de-scale your kettle<\/h2>\n<p>Ingredients: calcified kettle, vinegar, water, and a cloth.<\/p>\n<p>Dilute store bought white vinegar with water using a 1:1 ratio (equal parts water and white vinegar). Leave this in the kettle for 60-120 minutes, and do not boil. Then, dump out the water. If there is any lime- scale left, you can use a damp cloth to wipe this away. Finally, rinse off the kettle thoroughly with water. Next time you use it to boil water you will have improved the efficiency of the kettle, as well as the taste of the water.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":110584,"id":110584,"title":"IMG_22_resized","filename":"img_22_resized.jpg","filesize":78457,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/img_22_resized\/","alt":"","author":"9","description":"","caption":"","name":"img_22_resized","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":7575,"date":"2020-09-11 07:14:12","modified":"2020-09-11 07:14:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":600,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":400,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","narrow-width":600,"narrow-height":400,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_22_resized.jpg","extended-width":600,"extended-height":400}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Explanation In many areas household water contains a high mineral content, including calcium and carbonate, which can stay behind in a kettle when water is boiled and reform as calcium carbonate. The equilibrium inside the kettle prior to boiling can be seen as: 2HCO3- + Ca2+ \u21cb Ca2+ + CO32- + CO2 + H2O. After boiling, some of the CO2 boils off, and thus calcium carbonate is precipitated as calcium carbonate: CO32- + Ca2+ -> CaCO3. Calcium carbonate is soluble in mildly acidic solutions such as vinegar (CH3COOH), according to the reaction: CaCO3 + 2CH3COOH -> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2<\/p>\n<p>And so when vinegar is allowed to react with the calcium carbonate at the bottom of the kettle, it is dissolved and can be easily removed, allowing the kettle to restore energy efficiency and improve the time it takes to boil water.<\/p>\n<p>So there it is! Five chemistry experiments that you can safely try at home.<\/p>\n<p>Want to try out some biological experiments? Here are <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-biological-experiments-you-can-do-at-home\/\">five biological experiments you can try at home.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p>Like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\/\">Facebook<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/universitypost\">Twitter<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get a weekly newsletter in your inbox","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"Do-it-yourself science","hand_picked_posts":true,"references":[{"reference":{"ID":14264,"post_author":"12","post_date":"2013-01-21 09:28:42","post_date_gmt":"2013-01-21 08:28:42","post_content":"They always say: 'Don't do this at home'. But we say 'go ahead and do it!'\r\n\r\nHere are five quick, and easy, at home experiments that will have you feeling nostalgic about being in science class as a teen.\r\n\r\nDo-It-Yourself Biology (DIY bio), is a movement that consists of making biology in your own house, with almost no cost involved. Why not cultivate the bacteria that grow on your hand, extract your own DNA, or change the color of the boring flowers that your boyfriend gave to you? Here is an illustration of some of the experiments you can try at home.\r\n\r\n(If you are more interested in <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">kitchen chemistry experiments then go here,<\/a> and if you want more <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-science-experiments-for-the-kitchen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">kitchen science, then here is the kitchen.<\/a>)\r\n<h2>1. Homemade extraction of your own DNA<\/h2>\r\nIngredients: transparent glass, salt, liquid soap, grapefruit juice, and alcohol (e.g. disinfectant, rum, vodka, etc.).\r\n\r\nThe first step consists of spitting on the glass and adding a pinch of salt to it. Then, add some liquid soap (like the one you use for washing the dishes), juice from a grapefruit, and some drops of alcohol. Once you have everything on the glass, stir the mixture, et voil\u00e0.\r\n\r\nThe white mucous filaments you observe on top of the mixture is your DNA.\n<!-- end of module 1 -->\n<strong>Explanation<\/strong>\r\nThe saliva contains cells from your mouth that have DNA inside them. The detergent is used to break down the membranes that protect the DNA, and releases it into the recipient. The salt makes the DNA denature* and precipitate, while the grapefruit juice neutralizes the proteins that could damage the DNA.\r\n<h2>2. Cultivate the bacteria that grow on your hand<\/h2>\r\nIngredients: small airtight container, gelatin dessert.\r\n\r\nIf you buy gelatin from a package, follow the instructions to make it. If you do not find gelatin to make, it should be even easier and just touch the gelatin from the glass jar and wait to see what happens.\r\n\r\nHeat water on the stove and add the package contents to it, stirring the mixture vigorously until the gelatin grains dissolve. While the solution is still hot, pour into container where you want to cultivate your bacteria, and put the lid on in order to avoid contamination. Store the container in the fridge overnight so the gelatin can solidify. Remove from fridge once solid, touch the gelatin, put the lid on again and leave the container at room temp or near the radiator for a few days.\r\n\r\nAfter some days you will see some white spots on the gelatin. These are your hands' skin bacteria. Even if you try to wash your hands and repeat the experiment again, we will always have bacteria on our hands.\n<!-- end of module 2 -->\n<strong>Explanation<\/strong>\r\nMicroorganisms are everywhere but we do not normally see them since they are so tiny and dispersed. In this case, they use the gelatin as food, and since there are so many nutrients in it they can divide (reproduce) many times and accumulate in the container until we are actually able to see them.\r\n<h2>3. Change the color of your flowers<\/h2>\r\nIngredients: flowers (preferably with white petals), ink, a glass, and water.\r\n\r\nOne of the easiest experiments you can do. Place the flower in a glass with water and colored ink (red, black, blue, etc.). After a while you will see the petals have colored petal ribs or veins, of the same color of the ink you added to the water.\n<!-- end of module 3 -->\n<strong>Explanation<\/strong>\r\nNormally we give water to plants in order to keep them alive. Plants have a tube system (called xylem) that distributes water and some nutrients to all parts of the plant. Using the colored water we are actually able to see this tube system.\r\n<h2>4. Egg ball<\/h2>\r\nIngredients: eggs, vinegar, and a pot with lid (really important, as this keeps the smell inside!).\r\n\r\nPlace the egg (including shell) into the pot with vinegar and cover it with the lid. Let it sit for some days. After this, you will have a flexible smelly egg that you can use as a ball.\n<!-- end of module 4 -->\n<strong>Explanation<\/strong>\r\nThe single cell present in one egg, due to its importance in reproduction, is protected by an eggshell. This shell is made of calcium carbonate that reacts with the acetic acid present in the vinegar, causing its decomposition, and leading to a \u2018naked\u2019 egg that has increased flexibility.\r\n\r\n<em>Interested in chemical experiments? There is a set here in our <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/\"><em>Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments<\/em><\/a>\r\n<h2>5. Cook an egg with no heat<\/h2>\r\nIngredients: eggs, bowl, alcohol.\r\n\r\nWant to innovate your cooking skills? Next time you want to cook an egg , place it into a bowl and add some alcohol to it. After some minutes you can see how it slowly \u2018cooks\u2019. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that you will find it extremely delicious.\n<!-- end of module 5 -->\n<strong>Explanation<\/strong>\r\nCooking an egg, consists simply on denaturing* the proteins that are present in the cell contained by the eggshell. This protein denaturation is normally obtained by heat exposure (boiling or frying), but another way consists of adding compounds such as alcohol that denature the proteins by interacting with them and altering their 3D structure.\r\n\r\n<strong>denaturation*<\/strong>= process by which a biomolecule (e.g. DNA, protein), losses its 3D structure.\r\n\r\nAny ideas for new experiments? Write them below, and we will try them out for you!\r\n\r\nuniversitypost@adm.ku.dk\r\n\r\n<em>Like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Facebook <\/a>\u00a0and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/universitypost\">Twitter<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events.\u00a0<\/em>\n<!-- end of module 6 -->\n","post_title":"Five biological experiments you can do at home","post_excerpt":"Don't worry, we are not asking you to make anthrax, or some new strain of the ebola virus. Just to extract your own DNA, and to stun your friends with crazy stuff like cultivating your own bacteria","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"five-biological-experiments-you-can-do-at-home","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-11-10 10:13:13","post_modified_gmt":"2020-11-10 09:13:13","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=14264\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"reference":{"ID":7575,"post_author":"12","post_date":"2020-09-10 07:09:54","post_date_gmt":"2020-09-10 05:09:54","post_content":"<em>This guide has been updated in September 2020. It was originally published October 2014.<\/em>\r\n\r\nYou want to impress your friends by turning bones into rubber? Determine how acidic or basic different items around the house may be? You can be a chemist too with these five chemistry experiments to try at home.\r\n\r\nDon't worry. All the experiments are safe for do-it-yourself chemistry.\r\n<h2>Experiment 1. Test for starch in a leaf<\/h2>\r\nStarch is the food of plants. Here is how to test for its presence.\r\n\r\nYou can get the following ingredients at a drug store like the 'Matas' chain.\r\nIngredients: Two separate plants a glass jar, ethyl alcohol, iodine solution, tweezers, and a pan on the stove\r\n\r\nPrepare the two plants by placing one in a dark spot for 24 hours, and the other in a sunny spot such as a windowsill. After 24 hours, fill a saucepan with water, then add some ethyl alcohol onto the pan.\n<!-- end of module 1 -->\nOnce the ethyl alcohol in the beaker starts to boil, turn off the heat. Take a leaf from each of the plants, and place them in the hot water for 60 seconds. Then using tweezers dip each leaf into the ethyl alcohol for two minutes. They should begin to turn white. Finally, take out the two leaves and place them into a small dish filled with iodine solution, so that the iodine solution just covers the leaves.\r\n\r\nExplanation: Photosynthesis is the process through which a plant converts light and CO2 into energy, which is stored inside the plant.\r\n\r\nThe chemical formula is the following: 6CO2 + 6H2O ------> C6H12O6 + 6O2,\r\n(Where: CO2 = carbon dioxide, H2O = water, Light energy is required, C6H12O6 = glucose, and O2 = oxygen.)\r\n\r\nThe hot water is responsible for killing the leaf, while the ethyl alcohol breaks down the chlorophyll so that the green colour is gone. Iodine is a chemical which acts as an indicator for starch, turning blue-black in the presence of starch reddish-brown when there is no starch. The leaf which turned blue-black is the leaf left in the sunny location, which has been performing photosynthesis and producing starch.\r\n<h2>Experiment 2. Rubber bones<\/h2>\r\nIt is important to have enough calcium in our diets, it keeps our bones strong. This experiment will prove it.\r\n\r\nIngredients: jar large enough to fit a chicken bone, a chicken bone (a leg or drumstick would be best), and vinegar.\r\n\r\nThoroughly wash the bone with hot water, and dry it. Place the bone into the jar and cover it with vinegar, then cover with a lid and let it sit for 3-5 days. Finally, remove the bone, rinse it off, and try bending it.\n<!-- end of module 2 -->\nExplanation: Vinegar is an acid which is strong enough to dissolve away the calcium in the bone. The calcium is what keeps the bone hard, and so once it is dissolved all that is left is the soft bone tissue.\r\n\r\n<strong>Read also:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-biological-experiments-you-can-do-at-home\/\">Five biological experiments you can do at home<\/a><\/em>\r\n<h2>Experiment 3. Perform chromatography using candy<\/h2>\r\nCompare the compounds in the dies used for colouring an M&M.\r\n\r\nIngredients: M&Ms candy (one of each colour), coffee filter paper, a tall glass, water, table salt, a pencil, scissors, a ruler, 6 toothpicks, aluminum foil, an empty 2 liter bottle with cap.\r\n\r\nCut the coffee filter paper into an 8 x 8 cm square and draw a line 0.5 cm from one edge of the paper. Make a dot for each of the candy colours equally spaced along the line, with about 0.5 cm from the edge of the paper for the first and last dot. Label each dot with the name of the colour. Take a piece of aluminum foil and place six drops of water evenly spaced out, and one candy of a different colour on top of each water drop. See what it looks like here. Wait for the colour to dissolve into the water, then dispose of the rest of the candy. Dampen the tip of one of the toothpicks in one of the colored solutions and touch it to the labeled dot on the coffee filter paper, making a small dot of colour (2mm approximately).\n<!-- end of module 3 -->\nThen using a different toothpick each time, place dot of each colour onto the coffee filter paper. After all the spots have dried, repeat once again to get more colour on each spot. Do this three times more times.\u00a0Next add \u215b teaspoon of salt and three cups of water to the empty 2 L bottle. Screw the cap on and shake the contents until all of the salt is dissolved in the water, which makes a 1% salt solution. Pour the salt solution into the tall glass to a height of 0.5 cm. Place the filter paper in, making sure that the dots are above the water level and wait.\n<!-- end of module 4 -->\nExplanation: The salt solution will began to move up the paper through a process called capillary action. The colour spots will also climb up the paper along with the salt solution, but the colours will end up at different heights on the paper. This is because some dyes stick more to the paper while other dyes are more soluble in the salt solution. This process is called chromatography, where the salt solution is called the mobile phase, and the paper the stationary phase. The dyes that travel the furthest have more affinity for the salt solution (the mobile phase); the dyes that travel the least have more affinity for the paper (the stationary phase).\r\n<h2>Experiment 4. Test the pH of household items using cabbage juice<\/h2>\r\nFind out how acidic or basic a household item is.\r\n\r\nIngredients: 1\/2 head red cabbage, metal grater, water, pot, strainer, vinegar, detergent, and a glass.\r\n\r\nFill the pot with water, then grate the cabbage into small pieces and place them in so that the water just covers the cabbage pieces. Boil the mixture for 20-30 minutes, then take the dark purple liquid and strain it into a glass. Create the test solutions by diluting the vinegar with water, and mixing the detergent with water. Add a few drops of the cabbage juice to each of the solutions, and note the color changes.\n<!-- end of module 5 -->\nExplanation: The cabbage juice should turn pink in acidic solutions, and green in basic solutions. You can also test the pH of any household items, for example soda water, lemon juice, baking soda mixed with water, or anything you choose. Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, which is a pigment belonging to group of chemical compounds called flavonoids. Anthocyanins gain an -OH at basic pH, but loose it at acidic pH, and this alteration changes the wavelengths of light reflected by the compound. In this way a colour change occurs and it is possible to tell if the substance was acidic or basic.\r\n\r\n<strong>Read also:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-science-experiments-for-the-kitchen\/\">Five science experiments for the kitchen<\/a><\/em>\r\n<h2>Experiment 5. Use vinegar to de-scale your kettle<\/h2>\r\nIngredients: calcified kettle, vinegar, water, and a cloth.\r\n\r\nDilute store bought white vinegar with water using a 1:1 ratio (equal parts water and white vinegar). Leave this in the kettle for 60-120 minutes, and do not boil. Then, dump out the water. If there is any lime- scale left, you can use a damp cloth to wipe this away. Finally, rinse off the kettle thoroughly with water. Next time you use it to boil water you will have improved the efficiency of the kettle, as well as the taste of the water.\n<!-- end of module 6 -->\nExplanation In many areas household water contains a high mineral content, including calcium and carbonate, which can stay behind in a kettle when water is boiled and reform as calcium carbonate. The equilibrium inside the kettle prior to boiling can be seen as: 2HCO3- + Ca2+ \u21cb Ca2+ + CO32- + CO2 + H2O. After boiling, some of the CO2 boils off, and thus calcium carbonate is precipitated as calcium carbonate: CO32- + Ca2+ -> CaCO3. Calcium carbonate is soluble in mildly acidic solutions such as vinegar (CH3COOH), according to the reaction: CaCO3 + 2CH3COOH -> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2\r\n\r\nAnd so when vinegar is allowed to react with the calcium carbonate at the bottom of the kettle, it is dissolved and can be easily removed, allowing the kettle to restore energy efficiency and improve the time it takes to boil water.\r\n\r\nSo there it is! Five chemistry experiments that you can safely try at home.\r\n\r\nWant to try out some biological experiments? Here are <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-biological-experiments-you-can-do-at-home\/\">five biological experiments you can try at home.<\/a>\r\n\r\nuniversitypost@adm.ku.dk\r\n\r\nLike us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\/\">Facebook<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/universitypost\">Twitter<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events.\n<!-- end of module 7 -->\n","post_title":"Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments","post_excerpt":"Ever wanted to be a chemist? Chemists can create substances that are wonderful, horrible, or anything in between. They examine compound structures and break or create new bonds","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-11-10 10:12:43","post_modified_gmt":"2020-11-10 09:12:43","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=7575\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"reference":{"ID":4544,"post_author":"12","post_date":"2020-09-09 10:38:44","post_date_gmt":"2020-09-09 08:38:44","post_content":"[This article has been updated September 2020. It was first published in November 2015)\r\n\r\nTired of making the same old food? Do you want to learn some new bio-techniques to upgrade your cooking skills? Impress your friends the next time you ask them over to dinner.\r\n\r\nWe can't really guarantee that any of it is really good, or even edible. But it is fun, and will get everyone thinking about some elementary biology.\r\n<h2>Experiment 1: Make your own blue cheese!<\/h2>\r\n<strong>What you need:<\/strong> non-blue cheese (e.g. mozzarella, elemental, cheddar), blue cheese (rochefort, danblue, gorgonzola etc.), and a container.\r\n\r\n \n<!-- end of module 1 -->\nTake a piece of the blue cheese and scrape it on the cheese you want to \u201cpersonalise\u201d. Place the piece in a sealed container and leave it at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also keep it in the fridge, but it will take longer to turn your cheese blue.\r\n\r\nExplanation: Blue cheese is blue because of the coloured fungus Penicillium roqueforti growing in and eating the cheese. Introducing the fungus to another cheese is essentially letting it feed on a new 'dish'. You could call it fungal contamination. I prefer to call it new flavour.\r\n<h2>Experiment 2: Tenderize that stiff meat with some pineapple<\/h2>\r\n<strong>What you need:<\/strong> canned pineapple, meat, and two containers.\n<!-- end of module 2 -->\nPlace two meat pieces into two different containers. In one of them add the juice from the canned pineapple, but don't add anything to the other one (that's the control of your experiment). Cover the containers in order to avoid smell! Within one day you will see that the pineapple-soaked meat is slightly changed in colour and getting softer than the non-treated meat.\r\n\r\nExplanation: The pineapple juice contains two different enzymes commonly known as \u201cbromelain\u201d. These cut the collagen proteins that 'stiffen' meat into smaller pieces, which softens it. However, if you want to go all Breaking Bad and dissolve meat from a dead body, we do not recommend using pineapple juice! It'll just tenderise your victim - hydrofluoric acid is a stronger and a better option to get rid of the evidence.\r\n<h2>Experiment 3: Use a banana to ripen that green tomato!<\/h2>\r\nWhat you need: green tomatoes and one ripe banana.\n<!-- end of module 3 -->\nIf you're stuck with green tomatoes and aren't armed with the patience to wait for them to turn red here's the solution: Place a mature banana or a banana peel next to those unworthy tomatoes and wait (less time) for it!\r\n\r\n<strong>Read more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-do-it-yourself-chemistry-experiments\/\">Five do-it-yourself chemistry experiments<\/a>\r\n\r\nExplanation: For a fruit to mature a volatile (flying) hormone known as ethylene is needed. This hormone is released by ripe tomatoes, apples, pears and bananas. By placing a ripe banana next to a green tomato, the ethylene from the banana activates the maturation process in the tomato! Cool right? That's why a lot of the vegetables and fruits are harvested while green and once they get to the store are treated with ethylene, so they can start maturing at the exact time of selling. Don\u2019t panic, it\u2019s not harmful!\r\n<h2>Experiment 4: Can I convert a raisin back into a grape?<\/h2>\r\nWhat you need: water, raisin, and a container.\n<!-- end of module 4 -->\nWell, according to the laws of thermodynamics: not really. You can, however, try to rehydrate your raisin. Have you ever wondered what happens if you place a raisin into a container with water? Try! It will swell, but unfortunately never return to its grape-glory days again. But who doesn't like swollen raisins?\r\n\r\nExplanation: The grape basically swells with water. There is more salt inside the grape that in the water. The process by which water travels from low salt conditions to high content ones across a barrier is known as \u201cosmosis\u201d. The water moves in order to dilute the salt concentration in the grape achieving the same salt conditions on both sides (equilibrium stage). This process happens all the time! If you spend too long in the bath, the water moves into your cells and your fingers wrinkle up. Yes, you are saltier than the water you're bathing. This of course raises the following question: if you stay too long in salt water, and this is saltier than you, will you lose water? Think about it!\r\n<h2>Experiment 5: Make your own natural pigments<\/h2>\r\nWhat you need: green leaves, carrot, red cabbage, 90-96% alcohol, and lastly (you guessed it!) containers.\r\n\r\n \n<!-- end of module 5 -->\nCut the leaves, carrots and cabbage into small pieces. Place them into different containers with enough alcohol to cover them up. Wait for some hours and soon you will see that the alcohol is dyed green, orange or purple. However, we do not recommend you to use them as organic food \u201ccolourants\u201d for your cake topping!\r\n\r\nExplanation: The pigments chlorophyll, carotene and anthocyanin are the pigments responsible for the colour of leaves, carrots and red cabbage respectively. They are normally stored in \"cell deposits\" known as plastids. These get disrupted by alcohol, releasing the pigments contained by the plastids. What you might not know is that normally all these pigments are present in all leaves, but the green pigment is present in higher amounts. When it is not actively produced by plants in the autumn, the rest of the pigments present in the leaf become visible - that's why leaves change colour in the autumn.\r\n\r\n<strong>Read more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/five-biological-experiments-you-can-do-at-home\/\">Five biological experiments you can do at home<\/a>\r\n\r\nBonus question: You might now be wondering why your mojito does not turn green from the chlorophyll in the mint leaves? The alcohol used in mojitos (rum) has a comparatively low alcohol content (40%), so it takes much longer to destroy the chloroplasts. Either you need to start drinking much slower. Or you need to start drinking something much stronger!\r\n\r\nuniversitypost@adm.ku.dk\r\n\r\n<em>Like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Facebook <\/a>\u00a0and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/universitypost\">Twitter<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events.\u00a0<\/em>\n<!-- end of module 6 -->\n","post_title":"Five science experiments for the kitchen","post_excerpt":"With this new set of do-it-yourself biology experiments we have you making your own blue cheese, ripening your green tomatoes, and more","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"five-science-experiments-for-the-kitchen","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-11-10 10:13:45","post_modified_gmt":"2020-11-10 09:13:45","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=4544\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}}],"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}],"feature_color":"","article_updated":""},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":832,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":1331,"name":"Best of University Post 2009-2016","slug":"best-of-university-post-2009-2016","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1331,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":32,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":3952,"name":"Do-it-yourself science","slug":"do-it-yourself-science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3952,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1327,"name":"guides","slug":"guides","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1327,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":29,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":18,"name":"Feature Article","slug":"feature_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":1200,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/img_1-1280x853.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7575"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110606,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7575\/revisions\/110606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}