Sciencemadness Discussion Board

A first step towards the staircase..

quitmethingaroundwithacid - 11-1-2015 at 02:48

Hey there! :)

So upon my discovery of this forums list, I had to make an account to ask a couple questions!

How/what would you recommend someone to begin their pursuit in the joys of chemistry?

I'm just starting my high school course in chemistry after dropping business(+1 moral bonus), and if anyone has any advice how I could expand both my mind and range of hobbies, I'd really appreciate your experience!

And of course,

Are there any safety precautions, tips, anything I should *really* never do/don't/yank out suddenly that might not be too obvious at first?
Researching all chemicals beforehand's a given!
Thanks so much! hope I can become part of this community in no time!

j_sum1 - 11-1-2015 at 03:52

Ask a specific question and get a specific answer.

I suggest you lurk and read lots. You will find out which parts of the vastness of chemistry interest you. You can then research and embark on simple projects that appeal to you.

Most importantly, to do things safely, proceed slowly. Do not attempt any experimentation without having researched and having a good idea of what is going to happen. You need to master some basic theory to make sense of things and unfortunately there are no shortcuts.

Molecular Manipulations - 11-1-2015 at 09:01

Are you learning from home or is this at your school?
The best step is to read you high school chemistry book until you have a good understanding of the basics.
The worst thing you could do is randomly mix chemicals until somthing happens:D

Electrolysis of water is a good place to start.

Metacelsus - 11-1-2015 at 09:01

I'm not sure you know this, but you created a duplicate of this thread. That's called double posting, and is discouraged.

Step 1: Read the forum guidelines.
Step 2: Use the short questions thread; it will be helpful for you.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit!

If the links show an SSL error, it's because this site uses a self-signed certificate, and you need to add an exception.

[Edited on 11-1-2015 by Cheddite Cheese]

Bert - 11-1-2015 at 09:20

The double post is taken care of.

The sticky right at the top of beginnings is a good thing to look at-

Great online texts for beginners and the curious!

Then, there's a whole library of text books available here:

The sciencemadness.org library

And a FAQ about posting you really need to read so any threads you start go where (and how!) they should-

Posting on topics

And a Very Important Announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services!!!

Posting- And You...



Know how steeply you want to climb

franklyn - 11-1-2015 at 12:27

Intermediate between normal stairs and a ladder for a steep rise.

Staggered Stairs.jpg - 10kB

CHRIS25 - 11-1-2015 at 23:34

@Bert ...And a Very Important Announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services!!!....
I notice they targeted steam....nicely presented. Though I would like to add one tip to all this : S E A R C H I N G. Yes, you know its there, you put it there, you even know what year....and still it pretends not to be there,,,it's afraid, very afraid to be found. So the best method to search for stuff in this forum is by typing the following directly into google, EXACTLY as written here:
"sciencemadness" and "molecule" if you know the year and want to narrow it down, then add: and "1944". You'll be guaranteed of a thousand hits.

Amos - 12-1-2015 at 09:41

You might want to spend some time around here: http://www.reddit.com/r/homechemistry/