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I took chemistry in high school last year, so I can answer this. Some of our most exciting labs were - identifying different metal oxides by the color of their

I took chemistry in high school last year, so I can answer this. Some of our most exciting labs were - identifying different metal oxides by the color of their flames over a bunsen burner - paper chromatography to identify a the "crime suspect" who wrote a "ransom note" based on different pens - made brass pennies with zinc dust, copper pennies, and a hot plate - made our own chalk We did all the labs on our own except for the brass pennies, because it was way more efficient to stir the pennies up all at once in the zinc powder than individually. I really enjoyed that class, but I do go to a school that prides itself in math and science, and our football team loses every time :)

Symbiote 9y ago
OK, so for comparison. When I was: About 11-13: - Separating the chlorophyll from grass (simmer in ethanol). Apparently the standard school experiment is then to do chromatography to show different pigments absorb different wavelengths, but I don't remember this bit. - Flame tests for metal oxides would be here, although not the theory. - Acids/bases and indicators. Making and testing for gases (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide). So mostly seeing who could make the most hydrogen from magnesium + hydrochloric acid, in order to make the loudest "pop" sound when it was lit. 14-16: - Burning magnesium powder to reduce iron oxide to iron; the thermite reaction used to weld railways tracks. I think we had to calculate the atomic mass of oxygen afterwards. Presumably related to studying reactivity of metals. - Teacher demoed making hydrogen from natural gas over a nickel (?) catalyst. Memorable for the explosion at the end, which I'm certain is what he intended. 16-18: - Making lead oxide, the bright yellow colour that used to be the one used to paint lines on roads. Probably to study different oxidation states, since lead has different colours. - Making an ester (carboxylic acid and an alcohol), the flavour used in old sweets [candy] that smells a bit like pears. I think this was practise for the practical exam, which I've forgotten. We probably had to measure the purity at the end. - We misbehaved making the ester, so the other class got to pour concentrated sulphuric acid on sugar, but the teacher demoed it to us. (The sugar turns to carbon.) - The "concentrated" sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acid bottles, plus the ammonia solution. Other than a test for ammonia gas, I don't remember the purpose of this. This was 1996-2004-ish. I have no idea how the sports teams performed, that's not really a thing in England.
- eat_veggies 9y ago
  Damn, that sounds like way more fun. I really missed out!

Symbiote 9y ago

OK, so for comparison. When I was: About 11-13: - Separating the chlorophyll from grass (simmer in ethanol). Apparently the standard school experiment is then to do chromatography to show different pigments absorb different wavelengths, but I don't remember this bit. - Flame tests for metal oxides would be here, although not the theory. - Acids/bases and indicators. Making and testing for gases (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide). So mostly seeing who could make the most hydrogen from magnesium + hydrochloric acid, in order to make the loudest "pop" sound when it was lit. 14-16: - Burning magnesium powder to reduce iron oxide to iron; the thermite reaction used to weld railways tracks. I think we had to calculate the atomic mass of oxygen afterwards. Presumably related to studying reactivity of metals. - Teacher demoed making hydrogen from natural gas over a nickel (?) catalyst. Memorable for the explosion at the end, which I'm certain is what he intended. 16-18: - Making lead oxide, the bright yellow colour that used to be the one used to paint lines on roads. Probably to study different oxidation states, since lead has different colours. - Making an ester (carboxylic acid and an alcohol), the flavour used in old sweets [candy] that smells a bit like pears. I think this was practise for the practical exam, which I've forgotten. We probably had to measure the purity at the end. - We misbehaved making the ester, so the other class got to pour concentrated sulphuric acid on sugar, but the teacher demoed it to us. (The sugar turns to carbon.) - The "concentrated" sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acid bottles, plus the ammonia solution. Other than a test for ammonia gas, I don't remember the purpose of this. This was 1996-2004-ish. I have no idea how the sports teams performed, that's not really a thing in England.

eat_veggies 9y ago
Damn, that sounds like way more fun. I really missed out!