Chemistry sets....

Grayson

I've seen two articles in the last two days about chemistry sets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19050342
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/aug/01/whatever-happened-chemistry-sets?newsfeed=true

Both of which were spawned by this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l7wv0


A few weeks ago I went looking on eBay to see if I could find a basic chemistry set and basic electronics kit. They were next to impossible to find. There were plenty of little electronic kits, but nothing like I had as a kid were you had a generic board that you plugged diodes and resistors into. They're pretty much basic crystal radios and that was about it.

Apparently (according to the articles) nowadays a lot of the stuff is banned on either health and safety reasons or for terrorist reasons. They don't want a kid to know how something goes boom and they don't want the materials going into the wrong hands. Iodine is banned because it can be used in making crystal meth.

I miss them and I'm kinda sad that if I ever had kids I feel that they would be missing out. Anyone else have them when they were a kid?

BTW, here's the chair of the health and safety executive setting her hands on fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WKVByXTYys

BUBBLE WRAP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsPheErBj8

Funglegunk

<insert Breaking Bad reference here>

crazy cabbage

proberly for the best. I wouldn't trust myself with a chemistry set. Would just end up blowing up my house

Knex*

Jesus, I was bad enough in school under supervision with one of them, if I had one now I'd be without eyebrows in minutes :pac:

Mully_2011

"How many Moles of Bull**** are in a litre of Chemistry"

Richard Hillman

http://www.toys.ie/Chemistry-Set-!103522-prd.aspx
Temped

Diapason

If you haven't known the joy of burning magnesium ribbon in your hands while lying on the carpet at home you haven't lived.

mackg

Mully_2011 wrote: »

"How many Moles of Bull**** are in a litre of Chemistry"

At STP?

Steodonn

There was a stain on my roof for about 8 years because of one of them. Fun times cant believe they're gone

Grayson

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsPheErBj8

damn right. I also had a microscope and telescope.

Richard Hillman wrote: »

http://www.toys.ie/Chemistry-Set-!103522-prd.aspx
Temped

There's a space shuttle in one of those test tubes!!

prettygurrly

yep had my chem set. loved it. never caused an explosion but did some fun stuff...

Sofiztikated

Grayson wrote: »

I've seen two articles in the last two days about chemistry sets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19050342
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/aug/01/whatever-happened-chemistry-sets?newsfeed=true

Both of which were spawned by this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l7wv0


A few weeks ago I went looking on eBay to see if I could find a basic chemistry set and basic electronics kit. They were next to impossible to find. There were plenty of little electronic kits, but nothing like I had as a kid were you had a generic board that you plugged diodes and resistors into. They're pretty much basic crystal radios and that was about it.

Apparently (according to the articles) nowadays a lot of the stuff is banned on either health and safety reasons or for terrorist reasons. They don't want a kid to know how something goes boom and they don't want the materials going into the wrong hands. Iodine is banned because it can be used in making crystal meth.

I miss them and I'm kinda sad that if I ever had kids I feel that they would be missing out. Anyone else have them when they were a kid?

BTW, here's the chair of the health and safety executive setting her hands on fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WKVByXTYys

Iodine, you say? I'm away to root out those iodine tablets we got sent out from the government.

How much d'ya reckon they'd go for, on the streets, yo? (Did I get the vernacular right?)

JupiterKid

My older sister had a chemistry set back in the 80s. They had lots of fairly volatile stuff in them but this was before health and safety came in and spoiled all the fun.

Iodine is banned because it can be used in making crystal meth? How the innocent times of my youth are gone.:(

Are there even chemistry sets for kids on the market these days?

Captain Chaos

JupiterKid wrote: »

Iodine is banned because it can be used in making crystal meth? How the innocent times of my youth are gone.:(

Yeah, but the government gave it out to everyone for free so we can all get out of our head before we melt.

Lollers

Knex. wrote: »

Jesus, I was bad enough in school under supervision with one of them, if I had one now I'd be without eyebrows in minutes :pac:

Ah, memories of science class, pretending to learn the periodic table, while secretly working out how to burn the school down with a bunsen burner.

Captain Chaos

Lollers wrote: »

Ah, memories of science class, pretending to learn the periodic table, while secretly working out how to burn the school down with a bunsen burner.

Or melting red biros to get the green flame.

admiralofthefleet

when i was young i used to mix all sorts of household chemicals together to see what i came up with. i even tossed a lit match in the odd time to see if anything happened.
im probably lucky never came of it though

Ms2011

Bought a chemistry for my nephew about a month ago, haven't heard of any injuries from it as of yet :-)

kowloon

Terrorism is a great excuse for controlling all sorts of things.
Children aren't allowed do anything dangerous anymore.
They can't even get petrol and some matches anymore.

grey_so_what

Lollers wrote: »

Ah, memories of science class, pretending to learn the periodic table, while secretly working out how to burn the school down with a bunsen burner.

The Bunsen Burner......

Now that takes me back.....we used to have vision of a disaster film with, naturally, the teacher crawling out from underneath the rubble knowing it was us who caused the explosion!:D

Then the Sh** would hit the fan.

Happy Days...:D

Chemistry Sets should be on every child's wish list for Christmas.:)

smallerthanyou

I got one for Christmas one year and a magic set. Pretty nerdtastic, no bike for me! The coolest thing I ever managed to do was blow the plug off the test tube. I wasn't very good with it. Didn't work out as a magician either..

token101

You can always gauge your parents aspirations by the presents you get as a kid. I got a chemistry set one year, followed by a calligraphy set the following year. The year after that I got a load of WWF videos and every year after that I was given cash. Cold, hard cash. You can kind of see the degeneration of my parents' ambitions for me there.

Naomi00

Iodine isn't banned, it's used in first aid and we had loads of it in school for experiments.

EoghanIRL

I ended up buying all by components for my electronics circuits in maplins. They are really good.

Wibbs

Got one as a kid in the 70's, a time of more lax health and safety concerns, save for Esther Rantzen once weekly trying to scare us all with exploding sofa cushions and willy shaped root vegetables*

The beaut was if it came with charcoal, potassium permanganate and sulphur which back then they inevitably did. Makings of very primitive gunpowder. The permanganate wasn't as good as saltpeter as an oxidant, but close enough if you got the mix right(ease up on the charcoal)... Worse case you could get the permanganate and access the main cistern in your school and fire it in. Purple flush water a go go. Jolly japes. Though we discovered explaining to ones principle that potassium permanganate was a very good sterilisation agent didn't help ones case...











*for the older readers out there amazed they wake up in the morning with no new aches and pains...

pragmatic1

Had one as a kid and now I work in a scientific field. But my real passion was making petrol bombs.

Grayson

Naomi00 wrote: »

Iodine isn't banned, it's used in first aid and we had loads of it in school for experiments.

I went to a few pharmacies looking for a tincture of iodine. None of them had it.

And I'm pretty sure schools get their stuff from special suppliers under licence. I know if I went looking to buy hydrochloric or sulpheric acid I'd probably be told to sod off (And a little report would be written up.

Besides, the article I mentioned said

the iodine solution once seen in kits is now regulated as a list I chemical in the US because of its use in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

I looked up list I substances and they're controlled by the DEA in the US. Iodine that has a concentration of greater than 2.2% is controlled.

Wibbs

Grayson wrote: »

I went to a few pharmacies looking for a tincture of iodine. None of them had it.

Go to a pet shop specialising in Herps/reptiles as that's where I got old stylee iodine before. IT's very good for sterilising enclosures and for some reptile injuries(diluted).

Naomi00

Grayson wrote: »

I went to a few pharmacies looking for a tincture of iodine. None of them had it.

And I'm pretty sure schools get their stuff from special suppliers under licence. I know if I went looking to buy hydrochloric or sulpheric acid I'd probably be told to sod off (And a little report would be written up.

Besides, the article I mentioned said



I looked up list I substances and they're controlled by the DEA in the US. Iodine that has a concentration of greater than 2.2% is controlled.

Yeah I know that, but they told us about a few things that were hard to buy like the 95% ethanol and others, never said anything about iodine. Maybe it's just the high concentrations because I always thought it was a really common thing.

Sea Filly

Diapason wrote: »

If you haven't known the joy of burning magnesium ribbon in your hands while lying on the carpet at home you haven't lived.

I definitely did this. I can't remember when, I can't remember exactly what happened but I KNOW this has happened at some stage in my life.

*strains brain to remember*

I actually had some chemistry-related happenings in my life today.

Firstly, being reminded that you add acid to water, not the other way around. How the fuck did I forget that?

Secondly, discovering the normality measurement for acids.

Grayson

Naomi00 wrote: »

Yeah I know that, but they told us about a few things that were hard to buy like the 95% ethanol and others, never said anything about iodine. Maybe it's just the high concentrations because I always thought it was a really common thing.

Honestly, I think when I went looking for it the reason I couldn't find it is because no-one uses it anymore. There are far better, less toxic antiseptics now. I have no idea how legal it is here, but since crystal meth isn't a problem here, I don't think it's illegal.


I did find a cool chemistry set though
http://www.littlewoodsireland.ie/national-geographic-chemistry-set/785719449.prd

Reoil

Lovers of chemistry sets will not be found in AH...

ceegee

Grayson wrote: »

Naomi00 wrote: »

Iodine isn't banned, it's used in first aid and we had loads of it in school for experiments.

I went to a few pharmacies looking for a tincture of iodine. None of them had it.

And I'm pretty sure schools get their stuff from special suppliers under licence. I know if I went looking to buy hydrochloric or sulpheric acid I'd probably be told to sod off (And a little report would be written up.

Besides, the article I mentioned said

the iodine solution once seen in kits is now regulated as a list I chemical in the US because of its use in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

I looked up list I substances and they're controlled by the DEA in the US. Iodine that has a concentration of greater than 2.2% is controlled.

you can still get iodine tincture in pharmacies, doesn't really sell at all so a lot won't bother stocking it

johndoe99

ah yes, had plenty of fun with the chemistry sets when i was a teenager, they were safe up to a certain point. But then came even more fun when i discovered simple household chemicals could be added

gurramok

Wibbs wrote: »

Go to a pet shop specialising in Herps/reptiles as that's where I got old stylee iodine before. IT's very good for sterilising enclosures and for some reptile injuries(diluted).

^^^ terrorist. CIA now informed

ejmaztec

Wibbs wrote: »

Go to a pet shop specialising in Herps/reptiles as that's where I got old stylee iodine before. IT's very good for sterilising enclosures and for some reptile injuries(diluted).

Would it cure a scab on me snake?

johndoe99

argos:

Children's Chemistry Lab Playset

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=chemistry#tabrev

Hot Wires Electronics Set.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9368334/Trail/searchtext%3EELECTRONICS+SET.htm

dermiek

Grayson wrote: »

Honestly, I think when I went looking for it the reason I couldn't find it is because no-one uses it anymore. There are far better, less toxic antiseptics now. I have no idea how legal it is here, but since crystal meth isn't a problem here, I don't think it's illegal.


I did find a cool chemistry set though
http://www.littlewoodsireland.ie/national-geographic-chemistry-set/785719449.prd

Description says "Consists of safe experiments to carry out...etc."

Safe? Where's the fun in that?

TheBegotten

I have one of them sitting on my bookshelf, haven't taken it out in ages. Pretty tame stuff, but I suppose at the time I was expecting alchemy. Must go through it again soon :pac: Electronic sets are gone to pot though, boring as ever. They never explain things properly, I've learned more about electronics from minecraft than those yokes.

TheBegotten

Sea Filly wrote: »

Firstly, being reminded that you add acid to water, not the other way around. How the fuck did I forget tha?

Got any eyebrows left?

humbert

It's depressing if it's true. I suspect it's more due to fewer kids/parents having any interests in chemistry/science.

The terrorism/drugs argument is total arse. A chemistry set wouldn't help you at all.

I could believe the health and safety argument but even owning a chemistry set you're still much more likely to get killed crossing the road (while running home from school for dear life)

Sea Filly

TheBegotten wrote: »

Got any eyebrows left?

Lulz, was reminded before anything happened. It's funny how you forget things you once knew so well.

mconigol

Bought this recently to get back into the old electronics

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/290738080066?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_1806wt_906

Something like this + the internet and you're good to go!