01.02: Oscillating Reactions (Part 1)

Cleaning Out Chemical Storage

Ok, so it’s only the second video. I keep saying that “starting is the goal” but once you start: “Don’t stop!”

So the second one of the first series is done. I’m going to have to re-think the whole first series though, because I filmed enough for this video to make two videos. I could have jammed it all into one, but it would have gone over 15 minutes and YouTube doesn’t allow longer videos for new accounts. The good news is I should be able to get the third video up really quickly because it’s basically already filmed.

This video is about oscillating reactions, and they’re a pretty cool set of reactions. As I said in the first video post, I’m not really exploring much of the chemistry in this series because it’s just a way for me to test the reagents and get rid of garbage. And in the four reactions I filmed for this video (even though only two made it onto the second video posted), I was able to get rid of four bottles of bad solutions. A gallon and a half of liquid!

I should make it clear that I’m not happy about having wasted the chemicals needed to make all of these solutions, but I am very happy that they’re not clogging up my shelf space anymore.

There’s a strange thing about my personality that bears some exploration. I like having chemicals. I like that when someone asks me “what happens if I mix this and that?” I can usually go to my storage room, get the chemicals, and try it to find out. But while that’s all well and good, I don’t like using up chemicals! I have in the past, and I’ve reordered chemicals with no problem when I run out. But it’s become more of a hoard than a usable inventory. In making this first series and in planning the second series, I’m going to change that.

In my own mind, it’s become very hard to justify getting new chemicals if I don’t ever use the ones I have. It’s not unusual that I would do my annual “wishlist” and get all sorts of new things, but never try the experiments I got them for. HausLab will provide accountability. Now, it’s my job to do chemistry experiments! The best job is one you love doing. For “lazy” people like me, the best job is one that makes you do what you love doing!

These demonstrations (and many more variants of each) come from the Bible of Chemistry Demonstrations, also known as Chemical Demonstrations: A Handbook for Teachers of Chemistry, Volume 2, by Bassam Z. Shakhashiri. There are also very detailed reaction mechanism discussions about the Belousov-Zhabotinsky series of reactions and the Briggs-Rauscher reaction. Once again, I would very much appreciate (if you are interested in purchasing this book) that you use my affiliate link to do so.

The momentum is building, and video #3 is already filmed. It should be coming out very soon!

It’s an exciting start!

–Jason