If you haven’t heard of the magical Oscillating Clock Reaction, you clearly fell asleep in gen chem — In order to drum up interest in chemistry, instructors at all levels perform demonstrations (or demos) of chemical reactions. The power of demonstrations has been used to lure the uninitiated since the 18th century. …

Here’s how to make sense of the strangeness of the atomic nucleus — There’s a reason I initially felt, shall we say, “uncomfortable” writing about nuclear chemistry, but it wasn’t until I talked to my friend (who has a PhD in nuclear chemistry) in preparation for writing this article that I figured out why. There’s something about nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics that…

Let’s talk about the molecules of blood — Blood is a mixture of different substances (plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets — you know, all the things you learned in middle school science class), but its fame is mostly due to that instantly-recognizable red color. Once I began researching this topic, two facets of blood became…

“MRI” used to be called “NMRI,” and it’s based off an analytical technique chemists use every day — Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is so commonplace today that if you haven’t had one by now, you probably live off the grid and have other priorities that don’t involve reading this article. It is a powerful diagnostic imaging technique, which is a fancy way of saying it takes detailed pictures…

How does CSI’s “GC Mass Spec” work — Can’t you hear it — the theme to CSI?? Whoooooo are you, ooo oooo, oooo oooo! I really wanna know! Well, I can anyway. In any case, I’m sure you’ve wondered about the scientific instruments they portray on the show. Are they real? What do they even do? How do…

For my anniversary, I wanted to discuss cyclooctatetraene (COT) and why it’s so goddamn fascinating — To celebrate Organic Live’s successful orbit around the sun (i.e., it’s my first anniversary of writing), I thought I would go into a story about my logo — what the molecule is and why it’s my favorite. Beware though, this story involves some chemistry jargon. Do not fret! …

Ushering in the new era of chemistry required one of the most famous chemists of all time to set a lot of firsts for the budding science — For this discussion (which I originally titled “Smashing Phlogiston” because it sounded like a cool 90’s grunge band name), let’s start with a chemical equation: Now, don’t be intimidated — this is as simple as…

How we know the exact charge of a particle that weighs a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a tenth of a gram includes a F*** You to some haters — Electrons, for being so tiny, are essentially the centerpiece of chemistry. While there are some subdisciplines that more or less ignore it (e.g., nuclear chemistry), the vast majority of chemists’ lives revolve around understanding and manipulating the behavior of electrons. It’s paradoxical really: something that weighs 0.000000000000000000000000000905 grams (9.05*10^(-28) g)…

Building a DIY voltaic pile is not difficult or expensive — plus it’s like time travel! — The invention that spawned the discovery of 6 elements and 2 physical laws is actually pretty easy to replicate. I’ve done it in my home with my 4 year old daughter, and while I like to think I’m experienced chemist, you really don’t need any real expertise to do this…