Activated charcoal is not such a simple thing as it might seem at first glance. No, coal itself is an extremely simple thing, but this is precisely its strongest point. This is what allows the use of activated carbon for a variety of purposes and tasks.

1. Odor absorber in the refrigerator

Unpleasant odors in the refrigerator are a common problem faced by many housewives. Finding the cause and dealing with this problem can be difficult, as some "aromas" do not disappear even after defrosting and thoroughly washing the refrigerator. In this case, you should use activated charcoal and brown bread. Spread the tablets and slices of bread on all the shelves of the refrigerator and after half a day there will be no trace of smells.

2. Mold and fungus at home

In places of high humidity, mold and fungus appear over time, which can be difficult to cope with. However, this trouble can be avoided by laying out the charcoal tablets in unventilated places with high humidity, such as bathroom cabinets, window sills, pantry and bathroom.

3. Water filter

Coal perfectly absorbs industrial waste, pesticides and chemicals contained in water. Therefore, activated charcoal tablets can be used to purify water. To do this, you will need two fabric circles corresponding to the diameter of the container that you will fill with water. Sew fabric circles, leaving a small hole, turn the product inside out, fill with crushed coal and fasten to the neck of the container with thin wire or thread.

4. Air freshener

Activated carbon is able not only to absorb odors, but also to distribute them. Therefore, charcoal tablets can be used as budget air fresheners. Simply soak a few charcoal tablets in your favorite essential oil and spread them around your home.

5. Unpleasant foot odor

People whose feet sweat a lot and exude not the best aroma should think about making special insoles with crushed activated carbon. Such insoles will absorb sweat, unpleasant odors and make the process of wearing closed shoes more comfortable.

6. Mask from black dots

It turns out that the sensational black mask for acne can be prepared on your own literally for a penny. To do this, grind 3 activated charcoal tablets, add a tablespoon of gelatin, pour the mixture with three tablespoons of water or gelatin and carefully place. The resulting substance should be applied to problem areas of the skin, left for 15 minutes, and then removed with a sharp movement.

7. Hangover Cure

Surely, many are familiar with the discomfort that manifests itself in the morning after a fun party. A pre-party dose of activated charcoal can help prevent nausea, headache, and weakness.

8. Cosmetic ice

Activated charcoal ice cubes are an excellent tool that will refresh and rejuvenate the skin, as well as normalize the sebaceous glands. To prepare such ice, crushed charcoal tablets must be mixed with water (1 tablet per 100 grams of water), poured into a mold and used for morning washing.

9. Clean hair

The adsorbing properties of activated charcoal perfectly cleanse the hair follicles and scalp. Just mix a crushed charcoal tablet with a serving of shampoo and wash your hair with the resulting mixture. This procedure will eliminate oily sheen and prolong the effect of clean hair.

10. Body scrub

Activated charcoal is an excellent skin cleanser. Crush a packet of pills, mix the resulting powder with liquid honey and use as a body scrub. This remedy is best applied to steamed skin and used no more than once a week.

11. Mascara

Based on activated charcoal, you can prepare mascara that will appeal to lovers of natural cosmetics or help out great if you don’t have regular mascara at hand. To make mascara, crushed charcoal tablets must be mixed with a few drops of jojoba oil or aloe juice, carefully moved, poured into a suitable container and used like regular mascara.

Video bonus:

12. Cleanser

Thanks to its adsorbing properties, activated charcoal perfectly cleanses pores, removes excess sebum, helps heal acne and smooth wrinkles. Therefore, powdered charcoal tablets can be used for daily washing.

13. Detox effect

Cholesterol, pesticides, growth hormones, chemicals and other harmful substances that we consume daily with food adversely affect our body, appearance and overall well-being. Remove negative substances from the body, activated charcoal will help. To do this, within ten days before meals, you need to drink 10 tablets of coal, distributing them into three parts (breakfast, lunch and dinner). By the end of the course, you will feel light and energized.

Video bonus:

In continuation of the topic, which may come in handy.

State institution "Michurinsk secondary school" of the department of education of the akimat
Kostanay district, Kostanay region

Direction: knowledge of the world.
Artist: Tyulegenov Anuarbek Santsyzbayuly
Head of work: Madenova Zhanara Kazkenovna,
the highest level, the highest qualification category,
primary school teacher,
State institution "Michurinskaya secondary school"
district department of education of the akimat of Kostanay region

2017 academic year
Content
1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………........12
2. Theoretical part………………………………………………………..3
3. Scope of activated carbon……………………………………4
4. Sociological research …………………………………………..4
5. Practical part………………………………………………………………4
6. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………5
7. Literature …………………………………………………………………….6

Abstract written by supervisor
Madenova Zh.K for the work of Tyulegenov Anuarbek
Direction: Knowledge of the world
Topic: "How does activated charcoal work?"
Author: Tyulegenov Anuarbek Santsyzbayuly State Institution "Michurinsk Secondary School"
Akimat of Kostanay district, Kostanay region
Grade 2
Supervisor: Madenova Zhanara Kazkenovna, teacher of elementary
classes of the State Institution "Michurinskaya secondary school" of the akimat of the Kostanay region,
Kostanay region
annotation
This research work develops cognitive interest
student
which is a prerequisite for learning
natural science literacy. The purpose of this work is to study the process
adsorption on the example of activated carbon (whole and crushed). Studied
interesting facts about activated carbon.
A sociological survey was conducted among students of the Michurinsk Secondary
schools 15% of respondents have information, 85% know little.
Research work expands horizons and raises the level of educational
motivation.

Update



was adsorption.
This word was formed from two Latin ones: ad, which means - on, with, and
also sorbeo - I absorb. It is this mysterious takeover that will
the subject of my report and the scientific experiment that preceded it,
Or, simply, experience.

How does activated charcoal work?
Research hypothesis
Purpose of the study
To study the process of adsorption on the example of activated carbon (whole and
pounded).

Research objectives
1. Study the literature on the topic of adsorption.
2. Reveal students' knowledge on this issue.
3. Carry out a chemical experiment with activated carbon.
4. Summarize the results obtained and draw conclusions about the properties
activated carbon.

Theoretical part
What is adsorption?
The nature around us is full of secrets, mysteries and amazing phenomena.
Some of which seem so incredible that only
careful study of them can remove the halo of magic from them and
mystery. One of these natural processes that struck me,
was adsorption. This word was formed from two Latin words: ad, which
means - on, with, and also sorbeo - I absorb. It is this mysterious
absorption and will be the subject of my report and the preceding
scientific experiment, or simply - experience.
The most suitable substance to demonstrate
adsorption action is activated carbon. He is
a substance obtained from organic materials (wood, sugar, bones,
nutshells and even blood!). A very important characteristic
of this substance is its porosity. That is, it consists of a huge
many (millions!) of pores (microscopic caves) and therefore
has a very large surface area. This is what makes it possible for
full adsorption.
So what is it? Adsorption is, expressed
in simple terms, the ability of a body or substance to attract to its
surfaces of matter and particles in the environment (water,
air, etc.). The phenomenon of adsorption is well known to everyone, without
exceptions for children who, returning from walking along dusty streets, playing
in the sandbox they come home “grimy”, that is, dirty. Their bodies
involuntarily participated in the adsorption process, attracting dust, dirt and
sand.
It is easy to guess that adsorption strongly depends on the area
surface - the larger it is, the more the substance will “stick” to it. Here
then activated carbon reveals its wonderful properties.

I mentioned that, due to its porous structure, it has
large surface. It's true: just one gram
activated carbon is able to occupy an area from five hundred to one and a half
thousand square meters! That is, one small tablet of the usual
activated carbon sold in a pharmacy, the area is much
exceeds the area of ​​our class! Because he, despite his
small size, has the property of active attraction of matter as
very large objects and it is called activated.
Scope of activated carbon.
Due to its unique property, activated carbon is widely
used by humans in a variety of activities. for example
in medicine: the adsorbing properties of coal are used to purify
body from toxic slags and poisons, face masks, whitening
teeth, shoe insoles. In addition, activated charcoal is used
in the production of food and beverages, purifying the water going to their
production from harmful impurities. Cleansing is the main task
activated carbon. In order to purify water and air, coal is included in
the composition of drinking water filters in kitchens, some types of gas masks in
military and rescuers, removes unpleasant odors in the refrigerator.
We decided to find out what information about the activated
Sociological survey
coal is possessed by our peers. To do this, we asked for an answer
2nd grade students to the questions:
1. What is activated carbon?
2. Where is it used?
15% of students have some information, 85% have little, which
know
Practical part
Research at home
Now I want to move on to the description of my experience, because
as is the best way to demonstrate the properties of activated carbon and
adsorption phenomena.
For the experiment, I prepared the following equipment and reagents:
2 containers
20 activated charcoal tablets (10 whole and 10 crushed)

water,
ink,
filter paper.
I recorded the course of the experiment in a table:
What I watch
The ink dyed the water in
dark blue color
1.
2.
3.
4.
What am I doing
Poured a little
the amount of ink in
water
Pouring the solution into two
containers with labels
(see photo #1)
Cooked 10
tablets
activated
coal
whole and crushed
(see f. No. 2)
In 1 container I threw the whole
pills
In 2nd container
crushed
Pills
5.
It's been 5 minutes
6.
Strained solution
through
filtering
paper
findings
Particles of matter
ink dissolved in
water
crushed
Activated carbon
has more
strong active
properties.
Particles
activated carbon
entered into the process
adsorption, attracting
ink substance to
yourself.
Activated carbon
adsorbed
colorant
ink, which
left after
straining on
filter, leaving the water
practically clean.
With a slight hiss
tablets and powder
began to interact
with dye
ink (powder
more active)
Water in glasses
kept her blue
coloration, but the color has become
uneven or more
strong in the area
particles of coal.
Water in both containers
after straining
practically clean,
glass with crushed
coal is much cleaner.

So, how can you make sure that the experience is clearly
Conclusion
demonstrated the properties of activated carbon and revealed the flow
adsorption process. In this case, he passed in the liquid, but how do I
mentioned above, its properties are manifested in any environment, including air and
solid bodies, because they are a consequence of their interaction
between themselves.
Literature
://Wikipedia
1. Bragin A. About everything in the world. Series: Great children's encyclopedia.
Publisher: Ast, 2007.
2. Children's encyclopedia "I KNOW THE WORLD".
3. Jackson Vol. Who is who in the animal world. - Moscow, 2006 - S. 181.
4. Internet resources: http
http://vocrugsveta.ru
http://www.google.com
http://zvercd.com
http
http://1.ru

5. Ukhartseva A.V. What? Where? Why? Publisher: Ast, 2008.
6. Khomich E.O. What? What for? Why? Publisher: Ast, 2008.
://Because.ru

The simple experiments in chemistry below are related to the study of the program material of the school chemistry course.

It is necessary to have a battery for a flashlight, a thin copper wire 15-20 cm long with enameled insulation, rods of simple pencils, activated carbon in the form of black tablets called "carbolene" (sold in pharmacies), 1 g of three to four samples of fertilizers, a douche and some other things that will always be at home. What substances and equipment must be taken for the experiment can be seen from the description of the experiments themselves, as well as from the drawings.

1. The reaction rate depends on the electrolyte concentration

In two test tubes, drop pieces of eggshell, for example, 6 pieces, the same in area. Pour 0.5-1 ml of acetic acid into the first test tube, the same amount of acid into the second, but diluted 5-6 times with water. Insert gas outlet tubes into the test tubes, lower the free ends of which into jars of water. Fix both test tubes in holders. Set according to the number of bubbles released, in which of the test tubes the reaction rate is high. This experience clearly demonstrates that with a decrease in the concentration of the electrolyte - in this case, when the acid is diluted with water - the number of ions (decomposed molecules) and the reaction rate increase.

2. Hydrolysis of salts

Pour 3-4 ml of water into four bottles. Add wood ash (potassium carbonate) to one, 3-4 drops of silicate glue (sodium and potassium silicates) to the other, soap crumbs to the third (soaps are salts of higher fatty acids), table salt (sodium chloride) to the fourth . After 2-3 minutes after the dissolution of the substances, pour the solutions into two parts for testing with indicators - litmus and phenolphthalein. It is good if the student fills in the table, indicating in it not only the color of the indicator (and, therefore, making a conclusion about the nature of the solution - acidic or alkaline), but also the hydrolysis equations.

3. Electrolysis of sodium chloride solution

Connect the wires to the flashlight battery. Insert the anode wire (plus) into a fresh cut of a potato tuber (the medium in which the salt solution is distributed). The cathode wire (minus) with a carnation attached to it is also inserted into a potato slice (at a distance of 1.5-2 cm from the first electrode). Apply 3-4 drops of sodium chloride solution to a slice of potato. Place a crushed piece of purgen near the clove. Leave the unit in this position for 15-20 minutes. What changes occur on a potato cut and how can they be explained? (In the same way, you can conduct an experiment with the electrolysis of a salt solution, taking a slice of pickled cucumber instead of a potato tuber)

4. Electrolysis of a sodium chloride solution using a paper diaphragm

Pour a solution of table salt into a glass and separate the vessel with a paper partition. Dip the rods from the pencil into the solution - into different compartments, connect the upper ends of the rods with wires to the battery. Lower a piece of purgen (phenolphthalein) into the cathode space and observe the changes taking place. How does the color of the liquid change in the cathode space? What gas is released on the surface of the cathode? Determine the smell of the gas released at the anode.

5. Recognition of the most important fertilizers

Ninth-graders study the fifth group of the periodic system of elements, getting acquainted in detail with the physical and chemical properties of nitrogen and phosphorus. The proposed experiments do not require any special reagents. In practice, for the recognition of many fertilizers, it is quite enough to use only a smoldering ember, a steel pen and a flame.

It is assumed that three paper bags contain samples of fertilizers from the following: saltpeter (potassium, sodium, calcium, ammonium), ammonium sulfate, carbamide, potassium chloride.

Familiarize yourself with the physical properties of the fertilizer sample (color, crystallinity, solubility in water, etc.) and briefly describe them. During the analysis, it is necessary to use a colorless flame of burning cologne, gas, smoldering coal. (When analyzing a sample with a glowing coal, hold it - on a steel feather - over a saucer or plate of water!) The appearance of a dense "smoke", melting of crystals and the smell of ammonia will indicate the presence of urea.

The smell of ammonia also appears if we are dealing with crystals of ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate. But urea crystals never flash on a ember, and ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate crystals do not form intense (dense) "smoke".

To detect sodium, potassium or calcium salts in the composition of the fertilizer, the color of the flame can be made more evident: wrap a little cotton wool on the end of the splinter, moisten it with cologne, set it on fire and add a few crystals of the fertilizer sample under study at the tip of the pen inserted into the flame into the flame. The color of calcium nitrate can be confused with the purple color of potassium salt. To distinguish them, it is necessary to do an additional analysis: filter the prepared ash solution (use it as a solution of potassium carbonate) and add a solution of the fertilizer sample under study to it. The appearance of a white precipitate will indicate calcium nitrate. (Why?)

In the same sequence, analyze other samples of fertilizers. We recommend filling out a table in which you indicate the physical properties of the substance, the color of the flame, the effect on the ember, the interaction with the ash solution, the conclusion drawn and the sample formula.

6. How activated carbon adsorbs

Place a layer of coal into a tube on a thin loose layer of cotton wool (crush a carbolene tablet; if it is not available, you can use crushed charcoal of linden, birch), then a thin layer of washed river sand so that the coal does not float. Secure the tube in a vertical position with a wire. To collect the liquid that has passed through the layer of adsorbent coal, you can use bottles, glasses, and even better, a narrow glass. With a dropper, pour 7-8 drops of ink solution into the upper part of the tube and observe what happens.

7. Adsorption of gases by coal

Two identical bottles (in one of them pre-fill with coal on the bottom - 2-3 crushed tablets) fill with carbon monoxide (IV). It can be obtained, for example, by the action of vinegar essence on eggshells. Insert gas outlet tubes into the bottles, the tips of which are lowered into a jar of ink solution. For greater stability and convenience, the vials are also lowered into glass jars. Watch for changes. In which of the tips does the solution rise higher? How can this be explained?

8. Adsorption properties of clay.

Prepare (2 ml) solutions: ink, potassium permanganate and table beet juice. Put three bottles, place tubes in them vertically and pour pre-calcined and crushed clay 1.5-2 cm thick on a small cotton swab. Filter the prepared solutions. What happened and why?

9. Using electrolysis to “drill” a steel product.

Prepare a saturated salt solution in a saucer. Connect a wire from a safety razor blade to the positive terminal of a battery. This blade will be the anode. Sharpen the pencil, break off the sharpened tip of the rod, but in such a way that a depression of 0.5-1 mm is obtained at this end of the pencil. 1.5-2 cm higher, expose the rod and wind a wire connected to the negative pole of the battery around it. Thus, the pencil rod will be the cathode.

Put the blade in a saucer with a solution of salt and touch the blade with a cathode pencil. To keep the pencil stable in this position, fix it. It must be remembered that if the rod of the pointed end of the pencil touches the metal, electrolysis will not occur. (Why?)

Set the installation for 20-30 minutes and observe the changes. What gas is released around the pencil? Why will the anode blade at the point of contact with the pencil dissolve and form a hole? How does the color of the liquid change in the saucer?

From the magazine "Family and School"

• We cover iron nails with a layer of copper
• Invisible inscriptions - how to make them and how to show
• Activated charcoal bleaching of inks and other colorants
• Decolorization of an iodine solution with copper
• Distinguish substances by the color of the flame
• Odor absorption by porous substances
• Chromatography - separation of substances
• Color reaction of copper sulphate with ammonia solution
• Color pictures using liquid glass (or silicate glue)
• Extraction of coffee and chicory dyes with water
• Extraction of iodine with gasoline
• Extraction of chlorophyll with alcohol

Multicolored wonders require:

Indicators, taking on one color or another, helped us distinguish an acid from a base. For example, vinegar from ammonia. But often this is not enough. How, say, to distinguish one acid from another? For this very important purpose, chemists have come up with and tested many reactions, perhaps for all more or less common substances. Such reactions are always noticeable by something; they allow one or another substance to be immediately and unmistakably determined by some sign. This sign is very often the color.

One color reaction that helps identify one common substance you're already familiar with: the starch found in many plants turns blue in the presence of a tiny additive, even traces of iodine. Unfortunately, this is a rare case, and most chemical analyzes require substances that you probably cannot buy anywhere. However, there are some things you can think of...

Here, let's say, ammonia, an aqueous solution of which, ammonia, you have already bought in a pharmacy. How to find ammonia? Firstly, by smell: once you smell it, you will remember it forever. Yes, but it is not always convenient to sniff (and sometimes it is simply impossible). Then - color reaction.

Throw a few grains of copper sulphate into a glass or a bottle of water and stir well. The solution should be pale blue; if it turns out to be dark, dilute it with water. Pour a little ammonia into this pale blue liquid. The solution will immediately turn bright blue. It was ammonia, combined with copper sulphate, that formed such a bright substance. And gave himself away with his head.

Another reaction is also with blue vitriol. Prepare a solution in a glass, but not as pale as before, but bright blue (that is, take more copper sulfate). Put unnecessary iron objects in it - at least old nails or screws, but not rusty ones. And take care of some other things, however, sometimes looking at the mortar with nails. After some time, you will notice that the solution has turned from blue to green. And when you take the nails out of it (but not with your fingers, but with tweezers or at least a clothespin - this is a general rule for all chemical cases), you will see that they have become copper-red.

When the nails lay in blue vitriol, iron gradually displaced copper from it and took its place. The result is green iron sulfate. And where was the displaced copper to go? Is that to settle right on the nail. Which she did, covering the nail with a red copper film.

To recognize certain substances, chemists test them with fire. The trick here is that many simple substances that are part of complex substances (for example, copper - in blue vitriol, calcium - in calcium chloride) have the ability to color the flame.

And not in the same color, but in a variety of colors.

If you have a spirit lamp at home, you can use it. And you can take a candle. But in any case, do the experiment only with adults - no jokes with fire! And be careful: there should not be paper, rags and any other things that easily catch fire nearby.

Find a soft wire, preferably nichrome - this wire is used to make spirals of electric stoves, irons, etc. Of course, you don’t need to break the tile or iron for this; a burnt-out spiral from an old electrical appliance will do just fine. As a last resort, buy the cheapest coil at the electrical store.

Straighten a not very long piece of the spiral and fix it in some kind of holder: for example, wind one end of the wire around a pencil or clamp it in a clothespin. At the other end, make a small loop with a diameter of no more than half a centimeter. Heat the loop on the fire and lower it into a glass of clean water - this is necessary so that the wire becomes clean, without impurities that can distort the whole picture. Do this several times until the flame stops changing colors as the wire is introduced.

Take a little table salt - the same one in the salt shaker; its chemical name is sodium chloride. Mix salt with an equal amount of ammonia (ammonium chloride). Please do not confuse ammonia with ammonia: the first is a white powder used for soldering, so it is sold in hardware stores; the second is a liquid with a pungent odor. In our experience, as in soldering, ammonia cleans the wire and helps the salt to evaporate quickly.

In a mixture of salt and ammonia, drop two or three drops of water, dip a wire loop and bring it into the flame. It will immediately turn bright yellow. This is how it reacts to sodium. Frankly speaking, sodium even in small quantities makes the flame turn yellow, and one could not make special preparations for this experiment: it is enough just to "salt" the flame. But in all other cases, careful preparation is highly desirable: not all substances act on the flame so vigorously.

The next substance may be calcium chloride. If you have powder, do with it the same way as described above. If liquid, dip the cleaned loop directly into it. Calcium colors the flame bright red, but the trouble is that such substances rarely do without sodium impurities, and as a result, the yellow color suppresses the characteristic red. Therefore, it would be good to stock up on blue glass (or blue sunglasses) and look at the flame through it: blue glass traps yellow rays. By the way, this is also useful when looking at a flame with other substances - and an admixture of sodium compounds is not excluded in them.

The same experiment, not forgetting to clean the wire with fire and water each time, repeat with blue vitriol and with three substances that you can buy at the pharmacy: potassium chloride, zinc oxide and boric acid (this acid is solid, it is sold in powder form) . Look and write down, just in case, how the color of the flame changes substances, which include potassium, zinc and boron. And in these experiments, if the flame is yellow because of the admixture of sodium, take a blue filter.

Let's deal with miracles of a different kind. If before you had coloration, now it will disappear.

Drip a small amount of blue fountain pen ink into a bottle of water to make the solution a pale blue. In the same vial, put a crushed tablet of activated charcoal. Close the mouth with your finger and shake the mixture. She brightens up before her eyes. The fact is that such coal literally absorbs dye molecules with its surface, removing them from the water. And when the colored substance is absorbed by the coal, it is, of course, no longer visible.

Try to make the same experiment with other coloring substances, for example, with inks of different colors and with gouache paints (but in all cases, take highly diluted solutions).

You will find that coal is capable of absorbing many substances.

This ability is not unique to coal. Some clays are called whitening clays. Wet chalk powder also absorbs paints (and therefore various contaminated objects are sometimes cleaned with chalk). You can experience how absorbing, absorbing dyes are scraps of blotting paper, scraps of old fabric, soil from a flower pot. Or, say, corn sticks. If you put a few sticks in a jar, into which you drop a drop of cologne in advance with a pipette, and then close the jar with a lid, then after ten minutes, when you open the lid, you will no longer smell: it was absorbed by the porous substance that makes up corn sticks. Such absorption - whether colors, smells - chemists call adsorption.

Let's go back to the color that we have appeared, changed and disappeared. Now it will move from one substance to another.

Pour about a third of water into a test tube or vial and add a dozen drops of iodine tincture to get a not very dark, brownish solution. Pour the same amount of gasoline over the solution (perhaps your family household has it, and if not, you will have to go to the hardware store).

When conducting this experiment, as well as any other in which gasoline and other combustible substances are involved, remember that there should not be a fire nearby - not a gas burner, not even a match!

After closing the vial with a cork, shake its contents well and leave it alone for a few minutes. Gasoline is lighter than water, so the mixture will separate: the water will remain at the bottom, and gasoline will float up - it does not mix with water. But, having set off on his way up, he will also take iodine with him, because iodine does not dissolve well in water, but well in gasoline. As a result, the lower, water, layer will be almost colorless, gasoline - dark brown.

Carefully, without stirring, drain the top, gasoline, layer into another vial, close it with a cork and leave it alone. In the meantime, prepare some fresh copper - such an experiment you made quite recently, immersing iron nails in a solution of copper sulfate. From a nail that has turned red in the solution, scrape off the plaque of just settled copper with an old spoon or some piece of iron. When a pinch of red wet powder is collected, pour it immediately into a vial of gasoline solution and close the cork again.

Now shake the vial several times and observe the color of the solution. After a minute or two, it will disappear, or at least become almost invisible. This iodine reacted with copper, and in this case a colorless compound was obtained - copper iodide.

The same experiment can be done with pieces of copper foil (it is similar to the silvery aluminum foil in which chocolate is wrapped, only reddish in color). However, in this case, the reaction will be much slower, and it will be necessary to shake the solution for several minutes before the color disappears.

What happened in the vial of iodine when gasoline was poured into it is scientifically called extraction. This is a very common technique, and not only in chemistry. With the help of solvents, they extract, extract the oil from sunflower seeds and nut kernels. And when the coffee beans are subjected to extraction, they get a brown liquid, from which the water is then evaporated, and the rest - a fluffy powder - is laid out in jars labeled "Instant Coffee".

Let's set up another experiment with extraction. This time we'll make the green colorless and the colorless green.

Fresh leaves of any plant will serve as a source of greenery for us: from lettuce to nettle. To speed things up, you can grind a sheet or two, but you can leave them untouched - as you like. Put them in a thin-walled glass (necessarily in a thin-walled one: thick, faceted, it can burst) and fill it with a small amount of diluted alcohol. You can take, say, a glass of vodka (such use of it - for chemical experiments - is, in my opinion, the most correct), or you can take cologne: it also contains alcohol. You probably already guessed what will happen next. But at room temperature, alcohol will take a long time to turn green. Therefore, put the glass in a saucepan with hot water (chemists call it a water bath), and it is advisable to put the glass not directly on the bottom, but on some wooden circle. When the water in the saucepan has cooled, remove the leaves from the glass with tweezers. They have discolored, and the alcohol has become emerald green. Do you know what we extracted from the leaves? Chlorophyll, a green dye that helps plants "feed" on solar energy.

Two useful conclusions can be drawn from this experience. Firstly, if you accidentally stained your knees with grass, then you can wipe them off with alcohol or cologne. Secondly, to decorate cakes, pies and other homemade sweets, green dye is often needed, which is harmless to humans. Now you know how to cook it. Alcohol will not hurt here, because the dye will need a few drops. But if you are extracting chlorophyll for food, then please do not take cologne and make sure that the leaves are edible and not bitter - lettuce, spinach, etc. Otherwise, you will get an onion-scented cream ...

Extraction, as you probably noticed, is based on the fact that different substances dissolve in different ways. Let's return to the example of coffee, which, by the way, is almost insoluble in cold water. Chicory dissolves much better. If you throw a little ground coffee with chicory into a bottle of cold water, you can see that part of the powder floats on the surface (this is coffee), and part dissolves and sinks down, leaving behind a brown trail (this, of course, is chicory).

A curious and often used method of recognizing and separating impurities is based on the ability of substances to dissolve differently in the same liquid. This method is called chromatography.

I hope you still have a solution of chlorophyll from green leaves. Now we will check whether this is a single substance or a mixture.

Take out a clean white blotting paper from the notebook (strictly speaking, and it has a scientific name - filter paper). Put it on glass or on a tile and put a drop of chlorophyll solution from a pipette in the middle. Wait until the stain blurs and drop a drop of alcohol into the middle (you can use isopropyl, it is used to clean glass and is sold under the name IPS). When the drop is absorbed, drop the next one; and so several times. The spot will get bigger and bigger, and two multi-colored rings are clearly visible on it: one is yellowish-green and the other is gray-green. These are two varieties of chlorophyll, both of them were in the leaves, and now they are separated on paper due to the fact that they dissolve differently in alcohol. Chemists call this method "paper chromatography"; they use a special porous paper, which, as you see, can be quite replaced with a blotting paper.

And here is another version of chromatography. Maybe it will be more accessible, since the solvent will be just pure water.

Cut out a strip of filter paper (that is, from a blotting paper) one or two fingers wide and at one of its ends, about a centimeter from the edge, draw a line with ink. Poke a hole at the other end of the strip, insert a stick or pencil into it and place it on the edges of a tall glass so that the strip is inside the glass, but does not touch the walls and almost reaches the bottom. Very carefully, so that the splashes do not fall on the paper strip, pour a little water down the side of the glass. As soon as the bottom edge of the strip is in the water, stop pouring water and carefully watch what happens next.

And this is what will happen: the water will rise up the paper. And let it rise until it reaches almost to the end. Then take the strip out of the glass and let it dry. You will see on it not one, but several dashes of different colors and at different heights. This is water, which serves as a solvent in the ink, so it dispersed various coloring substances across the paper.

I must say that ink of any color is rarely made from a single dye: much more often from a mixture. So you can test blue, red, green, and black inks, gouache paints, various fabric dyes (they are sold in hardware stores) and any other colored liquids, including juice and fruit water, in your home chromatograph.

It can also happen that pure water does not separate substances well. Then try other options, especially since the experience is simple and does not take much time. Try instead of water to take a mixture of equal amounts of water and vinegar - it will be an acidic solvent. Try the main solvent - two or three tablespoons of ammonia in a glass of water. You can, of course, take alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.

For chromatography, not only paper is used. Simple experiments can be done with starch. Shake two or three teaspoons of starch with a little isopropyl alcohol (IPA) or cologne, apply the liquid mixture to the glass and let dry. Then, on a dry plate, drop one drop of a colored substance, let it dry, apply a drop of alcohol and see how the stain spreads. If it was a mixture of substances, colored rings will appear. Try to separate some liquids from your first-aid kit in this way - say, valerian drops, cough mixture or calendula tincture.

And the last option for home use is with starch poured into a long transparent tube. Plug the lower end of the tube with cotton wool, pour a layer of starch about 10 cm high. Pour a little colored liquid (chlorophyll solution, diluted ink, juice, etc.) on top and, when it soaks the starch layer by half, add a little alcohol or other solvent. Beautiful multi-colored stripes will appear on white starch. Try to pick up different colored substances and different solvents. And in order not to get confused in the end, what happened as a result of these very serious experiments, write down the information you obtained in a notebook (preferably in the form of a table).

In general, I must say, you rightly consider yourself a young chemist, and every self-respecting chemist keeps a laboratory notebook (or journal) in which he writes down his observations and results of experiments. It's time for you to start such a laboratory journal. Write down in it what, when and how you did, what results you got, what conclusions you made for yourself. All this will take literally minutes, and it will give a lot of benefits and food for thought. Otherwise, why would adult experimenters waste time writing in journals?

After such a serious matter, let's take a break and do some colorful miracles just for fun. For them, it will be necessary to stock up on glass, but not ordinary, window glass, but liquid. There is such a substance - sodium silicate, its solution in water, thick and sticky, is called liquid glass. It is often used in construction; however, in everyday life too, but under a different name - silicate office glue. Perhaps, for our purpose, the glue is a little thick, so pour it into a small bottle and mix it in half with water. Keep in mind that liquid glass, as soon as it dries, cannot be peeled off by anything, and therefore, if you put a spot of silicate glue on a table or on clothes, wash it off with water and immediately. For the same reason, I do not advise you to stick photos in an album or drawings on the wall with such glue.

Pour into a test tube or vial about a third of pharmacy calcium chloride and drip a few drops of a solution of phenolphthalein. Pour about the same amount of diluted silicate glue into another vial. And now pour the contents of the first vial into the second and shake the mixture. Firstly, it will turn red and, secondly, it will thicken like jelly or jelly. Once again - the experience is just like a trick.

Another variant of the trick experiment with liquid glass: instead of calcium chloride, take two or three pinches of magnesium sulfate (it is sold in a pharmacy under the name of bitter salt, or Epsom salts) and throw it into a bottle half filled with water. Shake, add three to four drops of diluted silicate glue and stir well. Again, jelly forms in the vial, only this time pale pink.

You can use your ability to get red jelly from colorless solutions to color pictures without paints and colored pencils. At least this way. Draw the outline of the drawing on a piece of paper with a pencil and “paint over” everything inside the outline with a transparent solution of phenolphthalein. Cover another sheet of paper entirely with diluted silicate glue. Fold both sheets, press one against the other and let them stay together for three to four minutes. Carefully separate the sheets - and you will see that the picture you have drawn has turned red by itself.

Making the invisible visible is not such a special miracle. There are many recipes for this, and all of them have been known for a very long time. For example, this: take ammonia powder on the tip of a spoon, pour it into a small bottle of water. The clear solution will serve as your ink. Dip a clean pen in it and write or draw something on plain writing paper. Let the paper dry properly, but do not even think of putting it in a warm place, say, on a battery, just to speed things up. Nothing is visible yet - after all, the solution was transparent.

Now let's heat up our piece of paper. So that it does not accidentally catch fire, it is best to heat it over an electric stove with a closed coil, holding the leaf with tweezers or a clothespin. If there is no such tile, you can heat it over a candle (or spirit lamp). However, paper with an invisible design must be held high enough above the fire so that it warms up, but does not catch fire! You will see how, as it heats up, a drawing or an inscription will begin to appear on a clean sheet of paper - what you drew with a pen.

To turn the invisible into the visible, it is not necessary to buy any special substances. Instead of ink, you can use some products that are quite likely to be found in the refrigerator or kitchen cabinet. Let's say milk. Or lemon juice. Or juice squeezed from onions. Or at least table vinegar. But in all cases, in order to develop an inscription or a picture, it is necessary to heat a piece of paper over a tile or a candle, making sure - I remind you again - that it is far enough from the tile or from the flame.

Read and write useful

Everyone is probably familiar with the physicochemical phenomenon that will be discussed now, although, perhaps, not everyone knows that it is called adsorption. Even if you did not go through adsorption in the classroom, you observed it more than once. As soon as you plant an ink blot on paper or, much worse, on clothes, you immediately get acquainted with this phenomenon. When the surface of one substance (paper, cloth, etc.) absorbs particles of another substance (ink, etc.), this is adsorption.

Very good adsorbent - coal. And not stone, but woody, and not just woody, but active (activated). Such coal is sold in pharmacies, usually in the form of tablets. We will begin experiments on adsorption with it.

Prepare a pale ink solution of any color and pour into a test tube, but not to the top. Put a tablet of activated charcoal, preferably crushed, into a test tube, close with your finger and shake well. The solution will brighten before your eyes. Change the solution to some other, but also colored one - let it be diluted gouache or watercolor. The effect will be the same. And if you just take pieces of charcoal, they will absorb the dye much weaker.

There is nothing strange in this: activated carbon differs from ordinary carbon in that it has a much larger surface. Its particles are literally permeated with pores (for this, coal is processed in a special way and impurities are removed from it). And since adsorption is absorption by the surface, it is clear: the larger the surface, the better the absorption. Adsorbents are able to absorb substances not only from solutions. Take a half-liter glass jar and put one drop of cologne or any other odorous substance on the bottom. Grab the jar with your palms and hold it like that for half a minute to heat the odorous liquid a little - then it will evaporate faster and smell stronger. As is customary in chemistry, do not sniff the substance directly from the bottle, but with a slight wave of the hand direct the air along with the vapors of the substance to the nose; it is not always known whether the substance in the bottle smells good.

Whatever the smell, you will certainly feel it clearly. Now put some activated charcoal in the bottle, close it tightly with a lid and leave it for a few minutes. Remove the lid and again direct the air towards you with a wave of your palm. The smell is gone. It was absorbed by the adsorbent, or, more precisely, the molecules of the volatile substance that you placed in the jar were absorbed.

It is not necessary to take active carbon for these experiments. There are many other substances that can serve as adsorbents: tuff, dry ground clay, chalk, blotting paper. In a word, a variety of substances, but always with a developed surface. Including some food products - you probably know how easily bread absorbs odors. It is not for nothing that wheat bread is not advised to be kept in the same package with rye bread - their smells are mixed, and each one loses its special, unique aroma.

A very good adsorbent is puffed corn, or corn sticks, so loved by many of us. Of course, it makes no sense to spend a package or even a quarter of a package on experience, but a few pieces ... Let's try. Repeat the previous experiment with odorous substances in the presence of corn sticks - and the smell will completely disappear. Of course, after the experience, it is no longer possible to eat sticks.

Let's return to the experience with obtaining carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide). Fill two test tubes with this gas, put corn sticks in one and shake several times. Then, as before, do the experiment with lime water (you can simply “pour” gas from test tubes into it - it is heavier than air). Will there be a difference in the behavior of lime water? Yes, it will. The liquid will become cloudy only in the glass into which the gas, which has not been treated with an adsorbent, has been “poured”. And from another test tube, the one where there were corn sticks, carbon dioxide cannot be extracted: it was absorbed by the adsorbent.

If you work in a chemistry circle and have already learned how to obtain and collect such colored gases as chlorine and nitric oxide (you can’t deal with them at home, good traction is required here), then you can test the action of coal and corn sticks on them. Place an adsorbent into a vessel with a colored gas, shake it several times - and the color, if it does not disappear completely, will noticeably weaken.

Now in many kitchens, a variety of devices are placed above gas stoves to clean the air from fumes and smoke. In such devices, among other things, there is a cartridge with some kind of adsorbent through which polluted air is driven. What happens in this case, you now know. And when the entire surface is occupied by foreign particles “absorbed” from the air, the cartridge is replaced with a fresh one.

O. Olgin. "Experiments without explosions"
M., "Chemistry", 1986