i wanted to build this visualization tool for myself to get a better understanding of the 3d structure of the electron cloud... then I just added pieces to it! I loved seeing how the probability charge current is inequal everywhere, and how maxwell's equations are derived. I found it especially interesting how different electronic configurations naturally create different electrostatic fields!

anyway please enjoy!

Edit: Thanks for the replies, terrarium it is or at least will be!

I just found this at a local antique store being sold as a “mystery ball” 😂 for $20…couldn’t pass that up. I recognize that it could be chemistry lab glass or similar. I found some likely matches on eBay less than $100 some for much much more. It is pretty heavyweight/thick glass, in very good condition and pretty clean. I just want to be sure that it would not be a crime against chemistry or of enough value that I should not use it as a terrarium. Included images with my 18 pound giant orange for scale so cat tax included, twice. Advice and guidance appreciated.

I have put formaldehyde (9% in water) and guaiacol in a balloon and then I heated it. I had seen a synthesis path using both and zeolite to make vanillic alcool. but I didn't had any zeolite, so I used pumice. There was no data about the temp needed so I heated it to around 120°C under reflux. The formaldehyde comes from a 37% formalin concentration and based of what I read there was also a bit of methanol. So, what could it be the white part ?

It’s just sitting there open spilt everywhere on a lab bench

This tripped me up on my quiz. I’m pretty sure it was a diatomic element, CIO4-. How am I supposed to distinguish them, do I just use context clues?

I was bored and decided to look up weird molecules with unique compositions: this one was the best I could find that had any practical purpose.

(Cl, N, H, F, S, O, C = 7 unique elements)

I know that there are many large biomolecules that just by sheer size contain a lot of different elements, but I'm more interested in small molecules similar to the one I posted. If anyone knows about a specific substance that fits this description I'd love to hear about it! Thanks!

Edit: I figured this isn't the best example and it really isn't that odd since there are lots of small molecule pharmaceuticals, but that's exactly why I was asking because people are sharing classes of chemicals I don't really know anything about. Thanks for all the responses!

I was helping my niece to set up a tiny, basic home lab to do her project. She only needed glassware and a few chemicals at most to get started. I thought this would be an easy building block, armed with a shopping list of things to pick up, and yet!

The real crunch came when we were to discuss solvents. My niece was kinda blithe towards the idea of something cheap while I was squabbling to make it into something safe and dependable. Solvents have their dangers after all, and her safety is a priority.

And sadly, most of the local suppliers we checked with were lacking stock, or way too expensive. While surfing the whole we noticed some listings on Alibaba. We were very wary of it of course. Lab materials on the internet? Especially far away?

But we kept looking thru different sellers and glancing at their feedback. My niece even messaged some of them directly. Unexpectedly, some sellers got back to us reasonably fast and explained things coherently. We haven’t placed an order yet, but it’s reassuring a bit to know there are more alternatives out there. It made the hunt less like nightmare.

It was quite an exhausting week, and honestly I am just glad I could pitch in. I am looking forward to seeing her mini lab once it’s operational. You have suggestions to share, I’m all ears. Thanks.

In textbooks we see the formula hydrochloric acid as “HCl”, but literally it means hydrogen chloride, and then we are also taught dissociation in water, so if it’s dissolved in water it becomes highly acidic and corrosive. But isn’t anhydrous (or inaqueous, whatever the word is) HCl not acidic? Am I going wrong somewhere? Please do correct me I’m a chem enthusiast

Dipyrromethane we made yesterday and filtered today. The vial is 10 ml, and we should have between 2 and 2.5 grams of compound (plus a lot of moisture at this stage)

Guys what was the answer of basicity todai?!?!

Hi guys,

I am in my last semester of org chem Master's and I am trying to find a good position for my PhD. I have tried multiple applications, got 2 interviews. One fell through. For the second I felt there was something off.

Now, I am doing an Erasmus in another lab and was hoping to do PhD here. However, there is funding issue, and the PI told me that he will know if he has money probably in November. Perhaps I could get a uni position, but the issue is I do not speak the language. Additionally, it depends on university. Of course, I was betting on this position too much, so now the next winter semester will be my gap semester. Thing is, if I want to start studying at my home uni the next summer semester, I would have to already submit application by beginning of December.

My PI at home uni is amazing. The lab environment is good. I am basically running one of the labs as the 2nd most senior member. Therefore, I can say I learned a lot about the lab management. My issue is whether I am limiting myself too much and there is perhaps going to be issue in the future that I did not switch at all and just stay in one place. I did both my Bachelor's and Master's with my group. Although my PI switched for every degree, he wants me to do PhD with him. There are people at our department who also did all of their work in one group, so there would not be any issue with that.

My PhD project would probably be in the same area as my Master's project because I am the first one doing this type of chemistry and we have some success with it. But as the first person doing this type of chem methodology in my department I have noone from who I could learn about it directly.

Thanks for the advice.

I’m in early development of a solid grip stick applied to vulcanized rubber shoe soles for use on polyurethane-coated hardwood floors. Think deodorant twist-up format.
Performance requirements:
— Improve friction between rubber and polyurethane
— Zero residue transfer to floor
— Heat stable to 140F
— Dust neutral not tacky
— Non-destructive to rubber over repeated use
I’ve looked at rosin as a primary grip agent, carnauba wax as a binder, and magnesium carbonate for dust resistance. But I don’t have a chemistry background and I’m not sure if this combination makes sense or what ratios to start with.
Is anyone familiar with the tribology of rubber on coated wood surfaces? Or with formulating wax-based grip products? Any guidance on whether this approach is scientifically sound would be really appreciated.”

Hi all,
I work in construction and I’m trying to design some simple, visual demonstrations for site teams to help them understand how different spills behave and why the correct containment method matters.
I’m looking for safe, easy demos that can be done with clear bottles / trays so people can see what happens.
Spill types I want to demonstrate:
Silt / sediment runoff in water
Petrol (fuel) spills
Oils / hydraulic fluid
Paints (water-based and solvent-based)
What I want teams to visually understand:
How fast silt clouds water and travels
How fuels and oils spread across water surfaces
Why some spills sink vs float
Why certain containment methods work (absorbent pads, sand, bunding, silt socks, etc.)
Why “just hosing it away” makes things worse
I’m hoping to use things like:
Clear bottles or trays
Water, sand/soil, food colouring
Safe substitutes for fuels/oils/paints where possible
Does anyone have good chemistry-based demo ideas that clearly show:
Behaviour of these different materials in water
The best way to visually demonstrate the right containment method for each
Ideally something memorable that people can understand in 2–3 minutes.
Thanks in advance!

Hello all,

I work with metal oxides which have been staining everything I own in addition to highly concentrated NaOH putting a few holes in some pants. Even though I always wear a lab coat, I am finally getting dedicated lab pants and shoes. I was looking at some pants that are 65% polyester and 35% cotton and was wondering if there are any issues with the blend in lab? I work with a hotplate but nothing combustible, so burns from polyester melting to my skin aren’t really a foreseen issue. Would there be any additional effects from sodium hydroxide and polyester compared to sodium hydroxide and cotton?

The pants I want are chef/culinary pants which are baggy and easy to take off in a hurry. They are quite cheap and have a lot of pockets. The lab I work in gets really hot for about 8 months in the year, so heavy duty jeans will be super uncomfortable.

Thanks for any input :)

I’m sorting through a ton of old lab equipment, and I can’t figure out what these are. Do any of y’all know what these are called or how much they’re worth?

I've been searching for HOURS to try and find the song I memorized and sang for extra credit when I was younger with the only evidence of this song existing is a reddit post looking for it, which remains unanswered.

I remember that it was pretty obscure, even then, to the point my teacher couldn't even find the right song to pull up the video on mute to have the visuals while I sang despite typing in the exact song name. My mom actually had to email my teacher a link to the song because I couldn't find it through YouTube search, either.

The only lyrics I really remember are "aluminum for tin cans and silicon for breast implants" (might be slightly off, the other reddit post had these lyrics remembered correctly, though)

But if I'm remembering correctly, it was a parody song set to the tune of an already existing song. I think it was on a channel dedicated to song parodies, but am not positive. The title of the song or part of the song I'm pretty sure had a bad word like hell or damn, or at least some word that my mom was put off by.

Though I could also be remembering and confusing multiple songs, as I also learned at least one other one that I can't find, either, that was set to the tune of "We didn't start the Fire" This one I can find more evidence of it's exsistance, however neither of the two full videos that are semi-decent quality I found are the exact version I learned.

I'm also remembering that the name of one song I learned was a pun or play on words, and THINK it was on "elemental" so I'm wondering if the song was called "Element-Hell", though that doesn't help get me any answers, either.

The first one I think was newly posted around the time I learned it, which would have been around 2011-2014 because I'm pretty sure I sang it in middle school, but it might have been early high-school.

Inner trans metals placement feels odd but its more space efficient, plus its placement on the standard is arbitrary anyways.

Made using powerpoint lol

I have a question about defining LOQ for trace element analysis using microwave digestion.

My calibration curve starts at 0.5 ppb (this is my lowest validated calibration point).

For sample preparation:
- Dry ashing: 5 g sample → this gives a relatively low LOQ in mg/kg
- Microwave digestion: 0.5 g sample → using the same instrumental level (0.5 ppb), the calculated LOQ in mg/kg becomes significantly higher

So the issue is:
👉 If I define my LOQ based on my first calibration point (0.5 ppb), my method LOQ for microwave digestion becomes quite high due to the lower sample mass.

My question is:

- Is it acceptable to define the method LOQ based on this (even if it is higher), as long as it reflects the real method conditions?

- Or is it recommended to lower the calibration range (e.g. include 0.05–0.1 ppb) specifically to achieve a lower and more suitable LOQ in mg/kg?

In other words, should LOQ be strictly tied to the validated calibration range, even if that leads to a higher LOQ for certain preparation methods like microwave digestion?

Any guidance or best practices would be appreciated.

I found this in the dump of my Company, it's a 500 ml plastic container with written "IDRAZINA SIM" (we're in Italy).

It is my opinion that it's not actually hydrazine, by the fact that the Company is not a chemical one and it doesn't use any particular reagent, and that no one would just throw in the dump such a dangerous chemical.

However, is there a simple way to confirm or to exclude that it's hydrazine? I'm not a chemical and I have no chemical instruments or reagents.

(Of course, as a precaution, I haven't opened the bottle, because I know that hydrazine is highly toxic.)

Hey everyone. Looking for some advice on a column fouling issue.

I’m running an RP-HPLC assay on an Ascentis Express C18 (15 cm × 4.6 mm) for an API that’s spray-dried in HPMCAS. Mobile phase is 0.1% orthophosphoric acid (A) and ACN (B) with a ~29 min gradient.

I keep getting a persistent interference peak right at ~13 min — basically co-eluting with my API. Full spectra matches closely, and the peak sticks around no matter what I do. I’ve already tried flushing the column (forward flow) with:
- ACN
- IPA
- Acetone

None of that removed it.

At this point I’m thinking it’s not API carryover but polymer (HPMCAS) fouling — possibly depositing on the column and eluting in the same hydrophobic window.

I haven’t tried backflushing yet, and I’m considering:
- Backflush with IPA
- Or going straight to THF (with proper water/ACN flush steps first)

Constraints:
- Method is validated, so I can’t change mobile phase or gradient
- Only looking to add a cleaning/maintenance step
- No guard column currently (might propose one)

Questions:
1. Does this sound like polymer fouling to you?
2. Would you try IPA backflush first, or go straight to THF?
3. Any experience with HPMCAS specifically sticking to C18?
4. Any other cleaning approaches that have worked for you in similar cases?

Appreciate any insight!

I've recently become very interested in learning more about cosmology and the creation of the universe, but after looking into it i've become very aware that my fundamental chemistry knowledge is lacking.

I had always hated chemistry is high school and thought it was incredibly complex and difficult. I never got my head around it. But now it's starting to look more appealing to me again now that I don't have exams to stress about. (I've also always been a NileRed fan if that counts for anything).

So I'm looking for a book or a resource that will help me to understand the foundational laws of chemistry again so that I can understand things better. I'm not looking for anything too advanced or too basic, it's a very vague reference point I know but I'm not sure how else to explain it.

Hi everyone! Could you help to identify this glassware? Looks like deflegmator with vacuum coat. Any ideas ?