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A lot of folks get nervous around chemistry. You can’t always ‘see’ what’s going on (are there toxic gases generated from that reaction?), and many people have a certain level of fear around chemicals in general. Many of these fears came about by watching demonstrations where things went awry or hearing about accidents. This kind of exposure to chemistry are the ones forever burned in the memory of the audience, who are now fearful and have made the generalization that chemicals are dangerous and their effects are bad. In fact, every chemical is potentially harmful if not handled properly. That is why I’ve prepared a special set of chemistry experiments that include step-by-step demonstrations on how to properly handle the chemicals, use them in the experiment, and dispose of them when you’re finished.
Chemistry is predictable, just as dropping a ball from a height always hits the floor. Every time you add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to 1 cup of vinegar, you get the same reaction. It doesn’t simply stop working one time and explode the next. I’m going to walk you through every step of the way, and leave you to observe the reactions and write down what you notice. At first, it’s going to seem like a lot of disjointed ideas floating around, but after awhile, you’ll start to see patterns in the way chemicals interact with each other. It’s just like anything else that you try for the first time – you’re not very good when you’re new at it. Keep working at Chemistry and eventually it will click into place. And if there’s an experiment you don’t want to do, just skip it (or just watch the video).