Solidified Ammonium iron(III) sulfate

The powdered chemical called ammonium iron(III) sulfate included in many of our chemistry sets can melt above 88 degrees Fahrenheit and then solidify. If the ammonium iron(III) sulfate in your kit has melted and solidified, you can loosen the crystal plug from the storage vial, dry it with absorbent paper, and grind it between two layers of clean paper using a heavy object (for example, a hammer; but don't pound, just press to crush it). Then place the substance back into the dry storage jar.

Notes About the Alcohol Burner

We suggest a solution of at least 70% ethyl alcohol. This works better than isopropyl alcohol.

In the US market, the two commonly found types of rubbing alcohol are:
• 70% ethyl alcohol
• 90% (or 91%, and sometimes 99%) isopropyl alcohol

Both 70% ethyl and 90% isopropyl burn in the alcohol burner, and they both heat a test tube with 2 cm of water in approximately the same amount of time. The biggest difference is that the ethyl burns cleaner. The isopropyl leaves a lot of soot on the glassware, the ethyl none. Unfortunately, the 30% water content in the ethyl solution makes the flame burn a lot "noisier" because the water in the solution is boiling off in a noisy way. 70% ethyl alcohol is better than 90% isopropyl, because isopropyl has more impurities added to it.

If you are having trouble getting a clean, steady flame with the alcohol burner:
1. Make sure you are using ethyl alcohol, not isopropyl alcohol.
2. If you can only find isopropyl alcohol, you can replace the wick in the kit with cotton balls to get the alcohol to burner better. Stretch the cotton balls out to form a wick.

Missing Chemicals? A Note about Chemical Names

If you think you are missing "Sodium bisulate" from your kit, please check to see if you have "Sodium hydrogen sulfate." These are two names for the same chemical.

If you think you are missing "Sodium bicarbonate" from your kit, please check to see if you have "Sodium hydrogen carbonate." These are two names for the same chemical.

Explanation: In some editions of the manuals, the text of the manual may refer to one common name, while the actual chemical vial is labeled with the other common name. In newer editions of the manual, this has been corrected.

Dilluting Chemicals

If you have obtained Sodium Hydroxide and/or Silver Nitrate in the form of solid crystals/powders/pellets, please reference the following information to create the proper solutions:

Important! Always add the chemical to the water, not the other way around. If you pour water on top of an acid or base, a reaction can occur quickly that splashes the water back up at you. If you carefully add the chemical to the water, you can avoid this.

To make the 4% sodium hydroxide solution, dissolve approximately 4 grams of the Sodium hydroxide crystals into 96 ml of distilled water. (96 ml of water is approximately 96 grams). Do this very carefully! Add only a small spoonful (the measuring spoon from the kit) at a time and make sure you wear protective glasses, gloves and a smock. You can then use the bottle that came with your kit to store this Sodium hydroxide solution. Put the label that comes with the kit on the bottle so that it is clear what it contains.

As for the 1% silver nitrate, add 1 gram of silver nitrate to 99 ml of water. Do this very carefully! Add only a small spoonful (the measuring spoon from the kit) at a time and make sure you wear protective glasses, gloves and a smock. You can use the bottle that came with your kit for this silver nitrate solution. Put the label that comes with the kit on the bottle so that it is clear what it contains.

If you don't have a scale to measure weight in these small amounts, you can estimate the quantities using the measuring spoon in the kit: use 10 spoonfuls of sodium hydroxide, and 3 spoonfuls of silver nitrate, respectively.

To dilute 28% hydrochloric acid down to approx. 7% hydrochloric acid, pour 75 ml of water (preferably distilled water) into the bottle and add 25 ml of the hydrochloric acid solution into the bottle. The bottle holds about 100 ml of liquid. This will dilute your solution down to approximately 7% HCL. Put the HCL label that comes with the kit on the bottle so that it is clear what it contains.

Additional Materials Needed

Additional Chemicals Needed for CHEM C2000 and CHEM C3000 (PDF 44 KB)
This document lists the additional chemicals needed for the experiments in CHEM C2000 and CHEM C3000, and provides you with information on where you might obtain them.

Additional Items Needed for CHEM C1000 (PDF 65 KB)
This document lists the additional items needed for to complete all the experiments in CHEM C1000.

Additional Items Needed for CHEM C2000 (PDF 81 KB)
This document lists the additional items needed for to complete all the experiments in CHEM C2000.

Additional Items Needed for CHEM C3000 (PDF 156 KB)
This document lists the additional items needed for to complete all the experiments in CHEM C3000.

CHEM C2000 Manual "Additional Items" Typo

In the CHEM C2000 Manual, under the section listing additional items needed for the experiments, "Blank Ink" should read "Black Ink."