Chemistry Show 2012!

On the last day of fall semester, Chemistry Associate Chair and Lecturer Maria Tanner and her general chemistry course students performed a dynamic chemistry demonstration show called Chemistry in Action. Chemistry majors Shirley Nwangwa and Matthew Seludo, seven other undergraduates, and chemistry graduate student Kevin Cunningham worked with Tanner and Ben Zion, chemistry lecturer, to present an exciting array of science demonstrations.

Students selected and practiced over 15 demonstrations during the semester, working up to their performance to a delighted audience of students, faculty, and staff in the Wishnick Hall auditorium. Students exploded hydrogen balloons, ignited hexane fumes, and extinguished flames with heavier-than-air carbon dioxide gas. Other presentations showed how metal salts can color flames, and one demonstrator coaxed a flame into a tornado formation by spinning it in a special apparatus.

Students hope to expand the show for next semester and to eventually offer it to area schools.