Department: Chemistry

Chemistry Building, room CH027

The fascinating world of elctrochemistry at your finger tips. See as pennies become silver, copper “turns” into silver all with the addtion of a little chemistry. Oxidation-Reduction reactions come to life with color changes, a little heat, and LOTS of fun.

Chemistry Building, room CH041

Did you know that everything around us is made up of teeny tiny building blocks called atoms? Yep, even you and me! Now, imagine having your very own magic toolbox filled with colorful atoms that you can use to build amazing things. That’s what organic chemistry model kits are all about! With these kits, you can snap together atoms like puzzle pieces to create molecules, just like real chemists do. It’s like playing with LEGOs, but with science! So, put on your lab coat and let’s explore the fantastic world of atoms together!

Ever wondered how markers create those vibrant colors? Well, it’s a bit like a secret recipe! In our fun activity, we’ll use markers to color on fabric. Then, we’ll add a drop of rubbing alcohol and watch the main color spread into many colors as the ink separates. It’s like a mini science experiment right before your eyes! And guess what? You can take home your own tie-dye square as a special keepsake. So, grab your markers and let’s dive into the colorful world of science and art. Hurry, while supplies last!

Chemistry Building, room CH041

Learn about light microscopy and examine nature up close!

Chemistry Building, room CH045

Household products and chemistry come together to produce fun, playable science. Science that you can do at home! Gooey slime and Lava Lamps become your new sciency friends!

Chemistry Building, room CH045

Have you ever wondered how the food you eat gets digested within a couple of hours? And how do you get energy after eating? Well, the simplest answer is we get energy when the food gets digested within the stomach. But how? The stomach contains many important enzymes (pepsin, trypsin, etc) which are essential for digestion and act as catalysts to break down food faster and provide energy. Enzymes are versatile catalysts which are commonly utilized by nature (plants, animals, bacteria, etc). Enzymes have unique shapes and sizes which help them to catalyze chemical reactions in a specific and selective manner. For example, enzymes can combine two smaller molecules and produce another big molecule with different properties efficiently (which our group will show using a simple demo named a paper-clip experiment). Moreover, enzymes can also break one big molecule into many smaller molecules (similarly as in our stomach) and release energy (we will show another demo explaining how catalase enzyme helps in breaking down one molecule in an elephant toothpaste experiment). Similarly, the enzyme (Bromelain) present in pineapple helps in the degradation of gelatin polymer which we will show as a demo where we will show the difference in degradation using tabletop Bromelain powder vs Bromelain present in fresh pineapple.

Chemistry Building, room CH047

In this students will learn about the refraction. And in magnifying minds they will learn the importance of scale and understand that.

Chemistry Building, room CH049

Magic sand: stays dry under the water. Play with hands and spoons in a bowl of water and making sand castle in the beaker with water.
Drawing on water (paper marbling): dyes stay on water surface and gets transferred to cloth to create patterns.
Acoustic Levitator and Magnets

Chemistry Building, room CH027

Using a CD, a piece of paper, and some tape, visitors can build their own spectrometers! These instruments help scientists see all the colors that the light from different light sources (like light bulbs and fire) are made of. Visitors will also have the opportunity to use a real spectrometer to observe and analyze a variety of light sources!

Chemistry Building, room CH046

Come and learn about the connections between your daily brushing and the IU Department of chemistry. Meet scientists who work and love to talk about YOUR dental health.