Chemistry sets used to be awesome. Today, a lot of them suck. But the kit pictured here (which, with 49 days left in its campaign, has already been successfully funded on Kickstarter) comes fully stocked with chemicals, equipment, and experiments. It’s the kind of thing your kid (or—screw it—you, yourself) would actually want to experiment with.
The Chemistry Set includes the glassware, chemicals, and lab apparatus necessary to perform the most interesting and exciting chemical reactions. We have spent months researching the most fascinating reactions to include in the set. All of this research has been compiled in our Experiments Book. This book includes procedures for 40 experiments. The set, along with the book, will enable you to carry out these experiments. Please keep in mind that some of the experiments require chemicals and items that cannot be shipped (such as dry ice, acid, strawberries, etc...) Also included in the set are selected physics experiments (magnetism & electricity).
Many chemistry sets fail to include exciting reactions. Our Experiments Book is packed with the best experiments that science has to offer. Below is a list of a few chemical experiments that will be included. The set includes the chemicals needed to perform these experiments (and many more):
- Iodine Clock Reaction
- Chemiluminescence
- Traffic Light Reaction
- Blue Bottle Experiment
- Chemical Garden
- Color Flame Test
- Endothermic Reaction
- Exothermic Reaction
- Copper Sulfate Crystals
- Potassium Permanganate and Glycerin
- Acid & Metal Reaction
- Calcium & Water
- Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition
- Sodium Acetate Crystallization
- Red Cabbage pH Indicator
- Sodium Hydroxide Titration
At $275 and $600, neither of the setup options is cheap, but you won’t find any of the bullshit “experiments” that have weaseled their way into modern chemistry sets here. “Today’s chemistry kits have a different emphasis” from chemistry kits of old, laments Alex Hudson in a 2012 piece on the disappearance of the truly experimental chemistry set. “Some of the bigger sellers recently have included one capable of making edible creations tied to film franchises and a perfume kit aimed at girls.”
You can keep your movie tie-ins. We’ll take the chemiluminescence and colorful flames.
[The Incredible Chemistry Set via Boing Boing]
Contact the author at rtgonzalez@io9.com.