An experienced chemistry professor used to say that it took about one explosion per week to maintain college students' attention in chemistry lectures. At that rate, we'd get in pretty big trouble with a lot of parents and teachers! Don't worry, our list of chemistry science and engineering projects still has lots of bubbles, fizzes, bangs, and color changes for you to explore.
Have you ever pulled a muscle or just been sore after a long day of work or exercise? Hot showers are great, but maybe you've used the more convenient heat packs. Heat packs, which you can buy at grocery or drug stores to soothe aching muscles, use exothermic reactions to produce a low level of heat that lasts for an extended period of time. Exothermic reactions change chemical energy into heat energy. In this chemistry science fair project, you will use heat packs to study the heat-generating…
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Chem_p054
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Specialty items are required. See the Materials & Equipment list for details.
Cost
High ($100 - $150)
Safety
Adult supervision is required. Use caution when working with the oxygen canister.
This is a modern version of a classic experiment by Jacques Charles on the volume of a gas at different temperatures. Charles discovered the relationship between volume and temperature of gases that now bears his name. This project shows you a simple method for re-creating this famous experiment.
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Chem_p018
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Specialty items
Cost
Very Low (under $20)
Safety
Minor injury possible: this experiment involves heating water on a stove. Adult supervision recommended.
Have you ever made your own ice cream? If you have, you probably know that you need to get the ice cream mixture really cold to freeze it quickly. Ice cubes alone will not do the job, but if you add chemicals, such as salt or sugar, to the ice cubes that surround the ice cream container, the mixture gets cold enough to freeze. Why does that work? How does adding salt or sugar affect the freezing point of water? Find out with this ice-cold science project and use your results to make your own…
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FoodSci_p013
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
Understanding the concepts of molecular weight and moles.
Material Availability
A kit for this project is available from our partner
.
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
Be careful when handling the glass test tubes. Exposing them to very cold temperatures or rapid temperature changes makes them more vulnerable to breakage, especially when they get bumped or handled roughly.
Do you like to analyze stuff and finding out what it is made of? An analytical chemistry method, called chromatography, allows you to separate mixtures of compounds and to identify each individual compound within the mixture. Chromatography is used by many scientists, for example food scientists, forensic scientists, or organic scientists to analyze all kinds of mixtures such as food, blood, or medicine. In this project, you will be using paper chromatography to analyze the pigments from…
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Chem_p010
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
For your convenience a kit is available from our partner
.
Are oranges highest in vitamin C when they are fresh from the tree (or, in a pinch, the grocery shelf)? Does the amount of vitamin C in an orange change over time, after it has been picked? In this science project, you will find answers to these questions by measuring the amount of vitamin C in a solution using an iodine titration method.
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Chem_p043
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Time Required
Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites
Ideally you would have your own citrus tree with ripe fruit for this science project. The second-best option is to use citrus fruit from a store.
Material Availability
Titration equipment and supplies are needed. A kit is available from our partner . See the Materials tab for details.
Cost
High ($100 - $150)
Safety
Adult supervision required. Concentrated iodine is poisonous if swallowed. Read and follow all safety guidelines in the Procedure. More information is available from the iodine .
The makers of sports drinks spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars advertising their products each year. Among the benefits often featured in these ads are the beverages' high level of electrolytes, which your body loses as you sweat. In this science project, you will compare the amount of electrolytes in a sports drink with those in orange juice to find out which has more electrolytes to replenish the ones you lose as you work out or play sports. When you are finished, you might even…
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Chem_p053
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from our partner
.
See the Materials section for details.
Lead is a very hazardous element. Even very small amounts can cause health problems, especially in babies and young children. One way to determine if a household item, such as a toy or a piece of jewelry, contains lead is to soak the item in a solution, and then test the solution for lead that might have leached out of the item. The goal of this chemistry science fair project is to determine how varying the pH of the test solution affects its ability to dissolve lead, which is a critical step…
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Chem_p080
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
Some chemistry knowledge will be helpful.
Material Availability
Specialty items: You will need a lead test kit, which can be ordered online. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Adult supervision is required. The chemicals used in this science fair project are potentially hazardous. The test solutions contain lead and should not come into contact with skin or any part of your body. It also contains chemicals that produce a strong "rotten egg" smell, so the procedure should be carried out in a well-ventilated area.
You're at the high school football game and it's getting pretty chilly as the sun goes down. You're determined to keep cheering for your team, but your hands are freezing—have you ever tried hand warmers? The chemistry within these little packets is pretty cool. Hand warmers provide a unique and fun way to study the chemistry of crystal formation and heat generation. By pressing a button in a pouch, which contains a supercooled solution, you start a rapid exothermic (heat-producing)…
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Chem_p085
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
You will need a hand warmer with sodium acetate solution, available in most sporting goods stores. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Adult supervision recommended when boiling the water.
The iodine clock reaction is a favorite demonstration reaction in chemistry classes. Two clear liquids are mixed, resulting in another clear liquid. After a few seconds, the solution suddenly turns dark blue. The reaction is called a clock reaction because the amount of time that elapses before the solution turns blue depends on the concentrations of the starting chemicals. In this chemistry project, you will explore factors that affect the rate of the iodine clock reaction and can even record…
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Chem_p091
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
You should be familiar with chemical reactions and their rates.
Material Availability
You will need to order a chemical kinetics kit online. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Hydrochloric acid is corrosive to hands and eyes. Wear splash goggles and gloves when when working with all chemicals. Avoid direct contact with chemicals as hydrogen peroxide and the iodine-starch complex can stain skin and clothing.
Have you ever wondered why some foods taste really sour? Vinegar is one example that you might know from salad dressings or pickles. They taste pretty sour, right? There are many different types of vinegar that you can buy to use around the kitchen for cooking and pickling. The chemical compound that gives vinegar its tart taste and pungent smell is acetic acid. Do you think all the different vinegars contain the same amount of acetic acid? Are there some that are more sour than others? How…
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Chem_p045
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Specialty items. Note: this project requires the use of a sodium hydroxide solution, which is caustic. You will need to order this chemical through your school.
Cost
High ($100 - $150)
Safety
Adult supervision required. Follow appropriate chemical safety procedures.
