Elephant toothpaste!

Solubility Rules

Bromine reacts with alcohol

Links to help you with chemical reactions...

Types of Reactions

Animated Types

Decomposition Reaction

Synthesis or Combination Reaction

Combustion Reaction

Double Replacement Reaction

Tips for Balancing Equations

Learning how to balance chemical equations is an essential skill for chemistry class or work in chemistry. Mastering this skill takes practice.

Click here to see some websites and helpful hints on how to balance chemical equations.

Balancing Chemical Equations

Incomplete Combustion

Incomplete combustion means burning in a lack of oxygen.

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The Five Major Types of Chemical Reactions

X-rays show why van Gogh paintings lose their shine

Scientists have identified a complex chemical reaction responsible for the degradation of two paintings by Vincent van Gogh and other artists of the late 19th century. This discovery is a first step to understanding how to stop the bright yellow colours of van Gogh's most famous paintings from being covered by a brown shade, and fading over time. In the meantime, the results suggest shielding affected paintings as much as possible from UV and sunlight.

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Types of Chemical Reactions 3

Types of Chemical Reactions 2

Types of Chemical Reactions 1

Bill Nye! On Chemical Reactions!

Five Types of Chemical Reactions

Chemical Reactions

Watch several types of chemical reactions, including single and double replacement.

Fireworks for New Years

Many people associate fireworks with Independence Day, but they are a big part of New Year's celebrations, too. Do you know how fireworks were invented? Legend tells of a Chinese cook who accidentally spilled saltpeter into a cooking fire, producing an interesting flame. Saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder, was used as a flavoring salt sometimes. The other gunpowder ingredients, charcoal and sulfur, were also common in early fires. Though the mixture burned with a pretty flame in a fire, it exploded if it was enclosed in a bamboo tube. This serendipitous invention of gunpowder appears to have occurred about 2000 years ago, with exploding firecrackers produced later during the Song dynasty (960-1279) by a Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liu Yang in Hunan Province. These firecrackers were bamboo shoots filled with gunpowder. They were exploded at the commencement of the new year to scare away evil spirits. Much of the modern focus of fireworks is on light and color, but loud noise (known as "gung pow" or "bian pao") was desirable in a religious firework, since that was what frightened the spirits. By the 15th century, fireworks were a traditional part of other celebrations, such as military victories and weddings. The Chinese story is well-known, though it's possible fireworks really were invented in India or Arabia.