21st Century Chemistry Sets
When I was 12 I got a chemistry set for Christmas. Back then in the pre-health and safety 1980s you still got some bang for your buck. And I remember many a Saturday afternoon tucked away in my Dad’s shed trying to generate them (bangs, not bucks). Come the nineties and chemistry sets still had some spice to them. Then the naughties hit and the chemistry you could buy in the toy shop dwindled under the pressure of legislation.
But now it seems there is a resurgence, chemistry is returning to the toy shelves and the shed. Thames and Kosmos have had a good crack at replicating the sets of old. But the best chemistry set out there has an extra 21st century twist.
MEL science have launched a product that brings the chemistry set smack up to date. Their kit comes with the usual glassware, burner, safety specs but in addition there’s a niffy macro lens that turns your phone or tablet into a microscope, google-cardboard style VR-googles and very snazzy iOS/Android app allowing you to visualise molecules in fab 3D.
But the real strength of MEL Science’s sets are the experiments, gone are the copper sulfate crystals of old and instead there’s real chemistry in action, the best being the construction of a fully functional battery from scratch.
And supporting it all there’s a comprehensive set of high quality videos explaining each and every experiment, plus hot-line support if you get stuck.
MEL chemistry is supplied via a subscription model. The starter pack is £29.95, and then each experiment is £9.95.
Element top trumps
Who doesn’t like finding a good game of top trumps in their stocking and getting stuck into all those facts and figures about trains, planes and automobiles, or any other cartergoy of objects, people and places for that matter. The chemical elements are just as good a category as any. So the Royal Society of Chemistry have selected their favourite 30 of the 118 elements and stuck them onto card, resplendent with details of density, atomic number, date of discover and more. Now Christmas day can be spent boning up on your favourite elemental facts.
Why does asparagus make your wee smell?
Is I’m sure a question we’d all like to know the answer too. Andy Brunning’s blog Compound Interest has ramped up quite a following in the geeky world. He churns out chemistry relate infographics at a phenomenal rate, answering every chemistry question you can think of and many more besides. Want to know the chemistry or silly putty, brussel sprouts or an electric guitar? Well Andy has the answers. And now he’s collated some of the best into a compendium of fabulously illustrated and easy to understand chemistry.
Some geek wear.
All the best chemistry jokes argon, but that’s no reason not to wear some of them with pride. How about a ring of iron ions emblazoned on a t-shirt (a ferrous wheel, get it?), or a simple exclamation of oxygen and magnesium?
Bathroom accessories
And finally the pride of the Big Bang Theory, the bathroom accessory that no budding chemist should be without. Check out the elements whilst you wash with The periodic table shower curtain.
A merry, chemically Christmas to you!
