Kits Today: Wimpified

Compared to their robust ancestors, chemistry sets today are wimpy. They revolve around low-energy reactions and the quiet creation of crystals and polymers. The average set from the mall has no burner to provide a flame, no chemicals that go bang. It’ll let you prepare solutions that change colors or glow like a light stick, but that’s about it for excitement.

Why? It’s common sense to delete highly toxic compounds, and we’re certainly more focused these days on insulating kids from risk.

But mostly it’s fear: of liability, of terrorists, of the neighbors. Overreacting to methamphetamine trafficking, Texas has outlawed the Ehrlenmeyer flask. In August, panicky Massachusetts police ransacked the basement lab of retired chemist Victor Deeb, who was simply fiddling with experiments in his home.

A Few Good Kits

But not every kit maker has chickened out. Thames and Kosmos of Portsmouth, R.I., sells the Chem C3000, a tolerably well-stocked set with extra bottles for risky stuff like hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, which you’re encouraged to purchase separately.

But if you really want to do chemistry at home, you’ll want to make your own DIY chemistry set. Elemental Scientific sells kits of chemicals, glassware, and lab equipment selected specifically to accompany MAKE author Robert Bruce Thompson’s Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. To learn more, get the book at makershed.com or visit homechemlab.com.

Keith Hammond is copy chief of MAKE and CRAF T magazines. He fondly recalls reading Scientific American and experimenting with his first chemistry set as a kid in the 1970s.

DIY CHEMISTRY: Then and Now

Photography courtesy of Chemical Heritage Foundation

We asked author Robert Bruce Thompson about the powerful stuff in classic chemistry sets that’s missing today — and where you can get it. (You can see more photos at makezine.com/16/chemsets). Iodine, I₂ “Iodine is now a Drug Enforcement Administration List I material, which means it’s no longer readily available, and paperwork is required,” says Thompson. The only exception is for 1 fluid ounce or less of iodine solution that contains 2.2% or less of iodine. »DIY: “You can make your own iodine crystals from potassium iodide (KI), which is the subject of our first how-to video at homechemlab.com.”

Mr. Wizard’s Experiments in Chemistry, Set MW-073 Owens-Illinois, Inc., Toledo, Ohio, 1973 “Exciting and Fun”

“Mystery Powder”

This was reportedly sucrose and acetylsalicylic acid, i.e. sugar and aspirin.

2,4-Dichlorophenol, C₆H₄Cl₂O

A toxic ingredient in herbicides and pesticides, it’s a suspected carcinogen and endocrine disruptor. “A common precursor for industrial-scale syntheses, it’s a chemical with few or no uses in a home lab,” Thompson says. »DIY: It’s a mystery.

M ake: 39