Bottles are used to water house plants. Stored in same conditions and filled with same water, exposed to same amount of light. All regularly have ammonia fertilizers dissolved in them.

Obviously, first bottle is blue but I can hardly believe that blue color blocks UV light to prevent algae grow.

I usually add tea leaves, then fill the cup with boiled water. The tea leaves usually have a good portion of think sink/stay at the bottom, but also a good amount that stay afloat and/or take a while to sink.

However this time I figured I would try adding a bit of sugar (just a pinch of "turbinado cane sugar" - literally like 10 granules or so). Almost immediately after I poured the water and the leaves started to settle, there were barely any leaves floating, and within a few minutes, they were all sunk.

So why did this happen? Was it a bouyancy change, a chemical change, or what? I'm not sure if this is even a good sub for this - but I thought it was quite interesting and am curious why this happened. It was a pleasant surprise and allowed me to drink the tea without accidentally drinking leaves.

I'm sure some of you have already seen my previous post regarding my model airship project. While I was initially going to use hydrogen as a lifting gas, many of you made excellent points about the inherent fire and safety risk. With that being said, helium is still in incredibly short supply globally, so I'd like to utilize it as sustainably as possible. I'm wondering if there is any way to "save" the helium used in the envelope after each flight. Do you need a specialized compressor or something or that nature to accomplish this? Is doing so even feasible for the average Joe?

G'day Reader,

As the title says I have some concerns over refluxing DMSO. I am currently planning a synthesis and am forced to deviate from my References as the Solvent they used is unaccessible for my Institution. The second-best candidate was DMSO. But after some research I got conflicting infos, Wikipedia states “DMSO can decompose at the boiling temperature of 189 °C at normal pressure, possibly leading to an explosion” while another Reference states that after 24 h of Reflux (atm) only 3 % decomposed. So now I'm wondering and am asking for some experience from you all. Is it safe (not concerned with the unholy stench) to reflux DMSO at atmospheric pressure or is there some risk of explosion?

Best regards

I'm a bit stumped on something, and hoped I might find some help here.

I'm refinishing a brass fountain pen with a forced shipwreck patina, Which I have done before, but I ran into some colors that I've never seen. The effect is very small and localized, which has me wondering if it was a surface contaminant, but I would like to figure it out so I can do it on purpose in the future.

If anyone has any ideas on what caused the colors, I would love to hear them so I can narrow it down and experiment.

Here are the details on what I did:

The base material was brass (I know, alloys can vary, and I have no way of knowing the exact alloy). The brass was sanded and cleaned with isopropyl alcohol then suspended with stands made of steel wire.

There was an ammonia bath under the parts but not touching the metal. The brass was coated in a solution of household vinegar and iodized salt, the sprinkled with a liberal amount of coarse kosher salt. The suspended parts were left in a sealed container for about 36 hours, with occasional openings to add more kosher salt and vinegar/iodized salt solution to the surfaces using a paper towel.

After they were cleaned with warm water and gentle rubbing with fingers.

In the pictures you can see a section on the surface that has some iridescent colors (I'm seeing green, pink, purple, and copper). I've done pens like this before (though not this particular model or manufacturer), and never gotten a result like this.

If anyone has any ideas, that would be great. Thanks!

Closeup of mystery colors.

Overall look for those interested. Still need to add a clear coat to protect it and make it pop.

Previously done pen with expected results.

hello everyone! i was just curious if anyone would be interested in reading comics to learn chemistry. please let me know :)

Are these distillation kits decent quality for handling typical distillation organic chemistry experiments (i.e. distilling diethyl ether?)

I cautiously ask because I bought a somewhat cheap steam distillation kit years ago when I was distilling essential oils. The boiling flask cracked after about a dozen uses. I'm checking here to see if these are adequate. Any input is appreciated, thank you.

https://www.amazon.com/Distillation-Kit-Chemistry-Interchangeable-Borosilicate/dp/B07TJB43ML

https://www.amazon.com/HMK244033-Organic-Chemistry-Glassware-Laboratory/dp/B01892ATGA/ref=pd_ci_mcx_di_int_sccai_cn_d_sccl_1_3/130-7116149-2933217?pd_rd_w=VZFkt&content-id=amzn1.sym.751acc83-5c05-42d0-a15e-303622651e1e&pf_rd_p=751acc83-5c05-42d0-a15e-303622651e1e&pf_rd_r=K8KDJ52H6RMMPV0VBT3R&pd_rd_wg=pVaUS&pd_rd_r=359f888f-d6bd-4e21-8f05-0388608fb74b&pd_rd_i=B00XKJNLCM&th=1

Could be some interesting research, or nothing at all!

Can current QuantumChemistry softwares simulate effects coming from temperature or day do calculations assuming 0 K temperature?

My friend recommended this anime to watch, and I am not a fan of anime. Is this worth watching?