Maker

Porter Chemcraft Master Chemistry Lab No. 616 featuring Atomic Energy Porter Chemical Co., Hagerstown, Md., 1950s “Modern Plastic Experiments. Outer Space Experiments”

Radioactive uranium ore See Gilbert No. U-238.

Carbon tetrachloride, CCl₄

Nickel ammonium sulfate, Ni(NH₄) ₂(SO₄) ₂·6H₂O Both are likely carcinogens, banished from chemistry sets today. Neither is particularly dangerous to handle, says Thompson, if you take proper precautions to avoid fumes or dust, prevent skin contact, and so forth. »DIY: Readily available from chemical suppliers such as Elemental Scientific and Home Science Tools — see Resources, below.

Calcium hypochlorite, Ca(ClO) ₂ A strong oxidizer, it’s been known to undergo self-heating and rapid decomposition, releasing toxic chlorine gas. “Frankly, I see little use for this chemical in a home lab,” says Thompson. “For most purposes you can substitute the much safer sodium hypochlorite solution sold in grocery stores as chlorine bleach.” »DIY: Sold as pool and spa “shock” treatment; use bleach instead.

Sodium ferrocyanide, Na₄Fe(CN) ₆ Ferrocyanide salts react with iron(III) (ferric) ions to produce the intense pigment Prussian blue, so they’re a great test for the presence of ferric ions. “Despite the ‘cyanide’ in the name, these salts are relatively nontoxic and safe to handle,” says Thompson. “Heating them to decomposition or treating them with a strong mineral acid does produce hydrogen cyanide gas, which is deadly in significant

RESOURCES

» Chemical and equipment suppliers:

Elemental Scientific elementalscientific.net Home Science Tools homesciencetools.com Science Kit sciencekit.com

United Nuclear unitednuclear.com Edmund Scientific scientificsonline.com

42 Make: Volume 16

amounts. Technically, these salts are considered poisons, but they’re not really dangerous if handled with normal precautions.” » DIY: Chemical suppliers. For most purposes, you can substitute the more readily available potassium ferrocyanide, K₄[Fe(CN) ₆], also available from photography darkroom suppliers.

» Alternative sources for chemicals: hyperdeath.co.uk/chemicals

» Chemical Heritage Foundation: makezine.com/go/chemheritage

» Reproduction manuals for vintage Chemcraft sets: gordonspeer.com

» Top 10 Amazing Chemistry Videos, from Wired Science: makezine.com/go/wiredscience

Photography courtesy of Chemical Heritage Foundation (top); by Dustin Fenstermacher (bottom two)