Junk Drawer Chemistry ─ 50 Awesome Experiments That Don't Cost a Thing

There’s no need for expensive, high-tech lab equipment to conduct chemistry experiments—you probably have all you need in your home junk drawer. Turn three pennies and two galvanized washers into a simple battery. Crush a soda can using atmospheric pressure. Convert an LED flashlight into a simple electrolyte tester. Split liquid water into two unique gasses, or use cornstarch to create a gooey, mysterious, non-Newtonian fluid. And model radioactive decay using M&M’s, or a chain reaction with a set of dominoes. Who needs a laboratory when you have a kitchen counter?

Science teacher Bobby Mercer provides readers with more than 50 great hands-on experiments that can be performed for just pennies . . . or less. Each project has a materials list, detailed step-by-step instructions with illustrations, and a brief explanation of the scientific principle being demonstrated. Junk Drawer Chemistry also includes sidebars of fascinating chemistry facts: did you know that dynamite can be made from peanuts? Educators and parents will find this title a handy resource to teach children about chemistry topics that include atoms, compounds, solutions, mixtures, reactions, thermodynamics, acids and bases, and more, and have fun at the same time.

Bobby Mercer has been a high school physics teacher for over two decades. He is the author of Junk Drawer Physics, The Flying Machine Book, and The Racecar Book, and lives with his family outside of Asheville, North Carolina.