1. Who Were Alchemists? What Were Some of the Things They Believed In?

SOLVE A

“CHEM MYSTERY”

1. Who were alchemists? What were some of the things they believed in?

2. What is the theory of phlogiston?

3. Why do metals shine the way they do?

4. In the book “Alice in Wonderland”, one of the characters is the “Mad Hatter”. Where does the term “mad as a hatter” come from and why were hatters sometimes “mad”?

5. Why do certain metals, like iron, rust, but gold doesn’t? What is rust?

6. How do artificial snow making machines at the ski slopes work? How can they make snow if it is above freezing outside?

7. How do they make all those different colors in fireworks?

8. How do they make all those colors in neon signs? Is it just colored glass?

9. What does the term “in the limelight” refer to and why?

10. What does “karat” refer to in 14 karat gold? Is the gold jewelry we wear pure gold?

11. One of the earlier ages of mankind’s history is called the “Bronze Age”. What is bronze and how did the people during the Bronze Age obtain it?

12. Why is the element Tungsten used in light bulb filaments? Why not another metal?

13. What happens to the sugar when you stir it into tea? Where does it go and why?

14. Why does water bubble when it boils? What causes the bubbles?

15. Why do certain materials like iron, conduct electricity but others, like wax, do not?

16. What makes waterproof mascara waterproof? How does “eye makeup remover” remove it?

17. How does Dawn dishwashing detergent “take grease out of your way”?

18. Why is dry-cleaning called “dry”? Don’t you need to wash things in water to clean them?

19. During WW II “incendiary bombs” were often used. What is an incendiary bomb and why is it so dangerous?

20. In Ireland, people often burn “peat” to heat their homes. What is peat? How is it formed, and what makes it a good fuel?

21. All light bulbs are filled with argon gas. Why is it there? Why that particular gas?

22. If natural diamonds take millions of years to form inside the earth, how are synthetic diamonds manufactured?

23. In what form are most metals that are mined taken from the earth? How do they extract the metal? What metals can you mine pure from the earth?

24. Early man used stone tools. Huge leaps in human society occurred with the use of metals in weapons and tools. How might early man have first figured out how to obtain metals?

25. What is the “thermite” process? How is it connected with the building of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroads that connected the east and west coasts in the 1800’s?

26. What Greek myth does the element Tantalum get its name from?

27. What is a “kobold”? What element derives its name from this and why?

28. What element(s) owe their names to the tiny village of Yterrby, Sweden and why?

29. Why do vinegar and baking soda react the way they do?

30. What is “rock candy”? How do you make it? What makes rock candy crystals form?

31. How is soap made? How does soap know what is dirt and what isn’t?

32. What it mean when people talk about water being “hard” or “soft”?

33. If a bottle of soda is kept in the trunk of a hot car and opened what happens and why?

34. What makes a battery work? What makes a battery finally become “dead”?

35. How does laundry bleach work? How does it tell whites from colors?

36. What is silly putty? How was it created?

37. What does salt do to the ice on our sidewalks in the winter?

38. Why can I melt sugar on my stove, but I can’t melt salt?

39. How does a microwave oven cook food?

40. What does it mean that cookware is “nonstick”? What doesn’t food stick to it?

41. Why are you supposed to store batteries in your refrigerator?

42. What exactly happens to your film when you get it “developed”?

43. Why is it important to put antifreeze in our car’s radiator? What does it do?

44. Why don’t oil and water mix?

45. What is the difference between carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide? What is their connection with car exhaust? Why is carbon monoxide so much more dangerous?

46. How do they figure out all that specific information on food labels?

47. What is it inside an instant hot pack and an instant cold pack that make them work?

48. What happens to food when it gets “freezer burn”?

49. What do they do with petroleum at a petroleum “refinery”?

50. What does “partially hydrogenated” vegetable oil mean? Why partially? What is the difference between partially hydrogenated and totally hydrogenated?

51. What is “dry” ice? What causes all those clouds of smoke to form around it?

52. What does the term “proof” mean in terms of alcoholic beverages?

53. If the Statue of Liberty is made of copper, why is she green?

54. It is actually possible to tell the temperature by listening to the chirping of crickets. How is this possible?

55. How do they make “freeze dried” food like coffee?

56. It may seem obvious, but how does evaporation of sweat cool your body down?

57. How does a pressure cooker cook food faster than an oven?

58. Why does water put out a fire?

59. What makes a magnet attract iron? Why doesn’t it attract metals like copper?

60. How come you can purchase different color diamonds (ex: pink, yellow) if diamonds are made up of pure carbon?

61. What is caffeine? Why is it in coffee? How do they make decaffeinated coffee?

62. Why do skunks stink so badly?

63. What is baking soda and what does it do during baking?

64. What is a “halogen” light?

65. What is “Milk of Magnesia” and what does it do for indigestion?

66. What makes up a ruby or a sapphire? What causes the different colors of these gemstones?

67. What are some of the different forms that SiO2 (quartz) can take?

68. What is asbestos and how does it work? Why is it so dangerous?

69. What is silicone? Give some examples of silicones and their uses.

70. What is phosphorescence? Where does the name come from?

71. What happens when someone explodes a stink bomb?

72. What is dynamite? Why is it so explosive?

73. What chemical reaction is responsible for the way your airbags in your car work?

74. Why does toothpaste contain fluoride? What does it do?

75. Where does the term “salary” come from and why?

76. How is glass made? Where does “natural glass” which can be found on beaches come from?

77. What is Teflon? What is it used for and why?

78. What is Freon? What is it used for and why?

79. What is an H-Bomb? How does it work?

80. What causes the “bends”. Why must scuba divers be so careful?

81. What is “borax” and how is it used?

82. What are some of the different forms that pure carbon can take?

83. The gas masks on airplanes provide oxygen to passengers in emergencies yet the airplane doesn’t contain any oxygen tanks. How do the masks provide oxygen?

84. What are the differences between the various “fossil fuels”?

85. What purpose did the “canary” serve for the workers in a coal mine?

86. Nitrogen (N2) a relatively un-reactive gas. Why is it so un-reactive? What special ways have plants evolved to extract nitrogen from the air and use it?

87. Where does the compound “ammonia” get its name from?

88. What is the “Haber Process” and why did it help the Germans during WW I?

89. What is “ozone”? How is it formed? What does the “ozone layer” do?

90. What is laughing gas? How does it work?

91. What does it mean to “pickle” something?

92. What makes acid rain so acidic?

93. Why do we add chlorine to swimming pools? What does it do?

94. What are CFC’s? Where do they come from? What do they do to the atmosphere?

95. Hillbillies in the mountains would often make their own “moonshine” in a “still”.

What is a “still”, and how does it make “moonshine”?

96. What is a “Geiger Counter” and how does it work?

97. Titanium is often used in hip and joint replacement surgery. Why is this metal used?

98. What role does the element iron play in human blood?

99. How is “steel” produced? What is “galvanized steel”?

100. What does the “catalytic converter” in your car do?

101. People with cancer often have “radiation treatment”. What does this treatment consist of?

102. What is an “amalgam” and how are they used in dentistry?

103. What is the role of silver is photography?

104. Rain can be produced artificially by “seeding” clouds? How does this process produce rain?

105. What are some of the dangers and benefits of arsenic?

106. What chemicals help make photocopies?

107. Why is there zinc sulfide in your television and computer monitors?

108. Is there such a thing as kryptonite? Why or why not? And what mysterious power does it hold over superman?

109. How is “cubic zirconium” different from diamonds?

110. What are the types of materials that pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters are made from?

111. Various paint colors derive their names from certain elements. What are some of these and how do the elements give the paint such distinct colors?

112. What chemical compounds did the ancient Egyptians use to manufacture their makeup?

113. In the 1700’s it was fashionable from women (and even men) in high society to appear to have very pale skin so they would use a white powdery makeup on their skin. Yet many of these women got very sick or even died from this fashion trend, why?

114. Why does a match light when you strike it?

115. Why is the salt we use “iodized”?

116. Firefighters often need self contained breathing apparatus when entering a fire, but carrying a tank with oxygen into a fire would be too dangerous. Yet these breathing apparatus exist, how do they work?

117. How does an atomic clock work?

118. Barium is often used to diagnosis intestinal disorders, how does it do this?

119. What are “rare earth elements”?

120. It has been estimated that one in every 5 products made today contains platinum, or used platinum in the manufacturing of the product. Why is platinum used so much?

121. Why is gold such a precious metal? How did people “pan” for gold?

122. Why is mercury so dangerous? If you break a mercury thermometer, how should it be cleaned up?

123. Why is gasoline “unleaded”?

124. Why do you need a “radon detector” in your home?

125. How does a smoke detector work? Why does it contain a radioactive element?

126. What is a cyclotron and what is it used for?

127. What is a “Breeder Reactor”?

128. When something dies, why does it smell so bad?

129. Marie Curie won a Nobel Prize for her discoveries. In the end, her research killed her, how?

130. How was aspirin first discovered? What does it do in the body?

131. An octopus shoots a jet of “ink” to confuse predators. What is this “ink” and how does the octopus make it?

132. What is going on chemically when a chameleon changes in color?

133. Why does your voice sound higher when you suck on a helium balloon?

134. Chemically, how does an oyster make a pearl?

135. How are emeralds made? What types of elements make them up?

136. What types of chemicals go into the manufacture of lipstick?

137. How does mascara lengthen your eyelashes?

138. How does “white out” work? What is it made of? Why does it smell funny?

139. What is present in “liquid crystal” displays on calculator screens?

140. Why is glue sticky?

141. Chemically why do stalactites and stalagmites form?

142. What goes into making chewing gum? How is bubble gum different from other gums?

143. How does a bombardier beetle come by its special chemical defense?

144. How can we tell what elements make up the sun and the stars?

145. How was “Avogadro’s Number” (6.02 x 1023 ) discovered?

146. What is graphite? Why is this substance used in pencils?

147. The rise and development of the ancient Greek empire largely depended on a compound called “oleic acid”. What is oleic acid and why was it so important to the ancient Greeks?

148. Why does poison ivy give you a rash?

149. Many fish living in the deep dark ocean depths have the ability to emit their own glowing lights. Chemically how do these fish do this?

150. How does antiperspirant work? Does it really stop you from sweating?

151. What is the history of the use of opium?

152. Many people are “chocoholics” and love all things containing chocolate. They say that it makes them “feel” happy and they need their chocolate “fix”. Is there any truth to this?

153. Medicines used at the beginning of the 1900’s often routinely contained chemicals that we would find strange today, especially when used in children’s medications. What were some of these chemicals?

154. What does the chemical “caffeine” do in the body? From what sources do we obtain this chemical?

155. “Nylon” was touted as “artificial silk” when it was first developed. How nylon first developed and what was it made of chemically?

156. Chemically, what makes up spiders silk? Why is it so strong?

157. What are the origins of rubber?

158. What sorts of chemicals are secreted from the skins of poison dart frogs?

159. One plant often used by early herbalists was called “deadly nightshade” . This plant was also called “belladonna” by the Italians and used by many Italian women. What chemicals did this plant contain, and why did Italian women use it?

160. Often in spy movies people are given “truth serum” when they are being interrogated. Does “truth serum” exist?

161. What is silk? How is it produced?

162. Cocaine was touted as a “wonder drug” in the 1880’s. How was this drug first discovered and why was it originally called a “wonder drug”?