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Chemistry in the Toy Store My experiments with common materials have been ongoing since I got my first chemistry set at the age of 10. My fascination with the chemistry of toys started in 1978 with one of my first formal presentations using toys in 1979. Chemistry in the Toy Store originated in 1982 at the BCCE held at the University of Oklahoma in Stillwater, OK. Since then, it has been presented over 100 times around the world and the write-up has been updated 6 times. Currently, Chemistry in the Toy Store is being updated and expanded into a book. The section on soap bubbles has been expanded and will appear as a separate book titled The Chemistry and a Little Physics of Soap Bubbles. Chemistry in the
Toy Store was the first presentation to address the chemistry of toys
and to provide chemistry experiments to investigate or to prepare a
number of toy-type materials in the lab or at home. If you ever made
Slime or disappearing ink in the classroom, then you probably followed
a recipe that was originated by this author. For convenience, the file has been split into three parts. These are PDF files and require Acrobat Reader Chemistry in the Toy Store Part I: The Science of Soap Bubbles Chemistry in the Toy Store appeared as a feature article in the 1988 Yearbook of Science and the Future of the Encyclopedia Britannica. and Katz, David A., Balls and Balloons and Things That Go `Bang', Chemecology, 17, No.10, 2, December 1988-January 1989. The Encyclopedia Britannica article can be accessed in four parts: Part I: Soap Bubbles and Balloons Part III: Lightsticks, Thingmaker, Magic Sand, Magic Rocks, Scratch and Sniff Stickers Part IV: Disappearing Ink, Thermobile, Flashes and Fire, Cap Guns, and Big Bang Cannons Want to make some of these toys using mostly household materials? A set of recipes is available below. For more complete recipes and investigations, go to the individual files that follow. Please observe all safety precautions. Chemistry in the Toy Store Recipes Preparations and extended investigations with toys based on materials developed from 1982 to the present: Chromatography: The following are two forms of chromatography using apparatus or materials available in toy stores. The Chemistry of Color Changing Pens and An Investigation of Color Changing Pens Disappearing Ink (Includes information on Hollywood Hair Barbie) Flash Screen A phosphorescent screen to freeze your shadow or write on it with light. Hopper Popper Make a popper to demonstrate how a ball bounces Slime: No, I am not the originator of Slime, but if you ever made Slime, it is probably a variation of my recipe. Slime was a product of Mattel Toy Corporation. Based on a 1978 article about Slime, by Jeral Walker in Scientific American, I contacted Mattel and was able to find out the composition of Slime. The first recipe for making Slime in the laboratory or at home was published in 1979. My friend and colleague, David Weil, introduced the procedure for making Slime from polyvinyl alcohol in 1981.
GAK (Includes a procedure for making glow-in-the-dark Gak) Magic Tree Experiment with a commercial Magic Tree Magic Tree, An Explanation The chemistry of the Magic Tree Grow Your Own Crystal Tree or Crystal Garden Superabsorbant Material is used both as a toy and as a consumer material to absorb water. The following two investigations utilize these materials. |
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