99chemicals - 11-12-2012 at 17:48
I want to do a science fair project for the Science Club at my High School. (I am 9th grade.) Almost all areas of science are open except electronic
circuits.
I was going to do experiment where I used Gibberellic acid on radishes and measure the growth but due to time constraints I am not able to do that
experiment this year. I would like to do something that has a chemistry aspect to it but not to hardcore chem.(I would likely be up against Chem 2
students(I have not formally taken chem yet!))
I don't want to use chemicals that are too toxic because of paper work, they require adult supervision by a qualified scientist, and other general BS
associated with toxic chemicals.
Can I have some Ideas?
(I was thinking of testing how a lithium battery compares to alkaline and C Zn type in terms of voltage overtime with pulling a constant current.
That looks boring though. The info is http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l91.pdf and doesn't interest me.)
Any response would be appreciated because it may nucleate another idea.
elementcollector1 - 11-12-2012 at 18:31
Depends on the level of difficulty we're going for. For example, given vinegar, copper wire and a random metallic object, you can show the wonders of
copper plating.
Urzah - 12-12-2012 at 06:50
There is infinite possibilities....
A few examples:
- a study of vitamins (or proteins, or fibers, or...) in fruits (fresh, frozen, canned...)
- a study of the oil extracted from a natural food (like oranges), vs the sythesis of that substance, the costs and space needed associated with each
method
- a study of different gases in sports balls (imagine a very light gas like helium in a football ball)...
...
Imagine something and try to do it 
MrHomeScientist - 12-12-2012 at 11:29
Something I always suggest to newcomers to chemistry is to start with copper compounds. Copper has a very diverse and interesting chemistry and shows
some beautiful colors in solution. Copper sulfate is a good starting material, found as root killer in the plumbing section of your hardware store.
Using acids and bases (and other easy to find chemicals like baking soda), you can transform this into a number of other interesting chemicals and
even back to copper metal. Copper sulfate also grows some gorgeous deep blue crystals, and crystal growning could make a neat project in itself. I'm
not sure what your school would define as "too toxic," but these things are safe to use as long as you take proper safety precations (gloves, goggles,
and spill response plans for sure). I recommend looking into copper chemistry and see if that interests you. Good luck!
Edit: re-reading the author's number of posts here, I see you may not really be a "newcomer," but aqueous copper chemistry is still an interesting
subject
[Edited on 12-12-2012 by MrHomeScientist]