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Bromine
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Registered: 7-9-2006
Location: Slovenija
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I started to get interest for chemistry when I was 13 years old. My first experiment was electrolyse of NaCl solution and electrolyse of water, I made
some black powder and KNO3+sugar. Then my parents bought me chemistey set in I started to do experiments in basement. The I bought myself some basic
glassweare and chemicals, internet was great help to me, because there I found most of instructions and books for chemistry. The halogen elements
interest me the most, but I do not work with them very much at home, because they and their organic compounds are toxic.
Sorry my english is not very good.
[Edited on 5-1-2007 by Bromine]
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FloridaAlchemist
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10 Cent Sugar rockets
I got started in the 70's making the 10 cent sugar rocket.
Potassium Nitrate and powdered sugar.
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MadHatter
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Fireworks
Along with roll caps, flares, and rockets. My parents gave me a couple of those Gilbert
chemistry sets. The_Davster, ever tape an Estes rocket motor to a matchbox car ? 
That's what I did to my younger brother's matchbox collection when his hyperactive
ass would piss me off ! Funny as shit watching those things do loops in the air !
From opening of NCIS New Orleans - It goes a BOOM ! BOOM ! BOOM ! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !
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BromicAcid
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Location: Wisconsin
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My interest in chemistry comes from acids. Specifically when I was growing up there were two movies that I watched over and over again as a little
kid. Aliens and Short Circuit 2 the latter of which had a scene involving battery acid and the first, for those who have not seen it the aliens have
acid for blood. Just the idea that something could dissolve metal was mind blowing. Later on some of my first experiments were in fact baking soda
and water and there was a small chemistry set in there somewhere but I was too eager and not entertained by its bright colors.
I started acquiring chemicals though even though I had no chemistry books, no internet, and no training in the subject and stated mixing things pretty
much at random. I did this for a few years increasing my inventory. I never had much of anything interesting, my dad got me some different acids
from work, he never had any clue what he brought me but he would bring it home in pop bottles and there were different kinds. I know I got nitric at
least once because he brought it to me one day and a few days later the bottle was all opaque and the liquid had leaked out killing the grass.
It wasn't until middle school, roughly 14 years of age that I started to get into the midst of real chemistry though. I had my first chemistry class.
I was familiar with all of the names of the compounds but not much of anything else. Still it was enough to give me and advantage and make me excel
and I never gave up that lead throughout high school and college.
It's strange to think that I experimented so heavily before visiting this site. I've been here over three years now and most of my big-time
experiments were done during that time. But looking at my early posts let me differentiate between what I did pre-sciencemadness. Some of the first
reactions that I vividly remember in my backyard involve trying to make bromine. I purchase 5 kg of KBr on eBay 7 or so years ago and it has lasted
me ever since. And of course all the crazy experiments gone wrong really stick out in my mind.
Now though I am in a period of dormancy, living in an apartment is restricting as I have found out (and many members of our forum already know) but I
think that I will soon make room for some small scale electrolysis experiments since they do not take up much room and providing I keep the amps low
enough shouldn't heat up to much and as long as I refrain from chlorine gas should be relatively safe, hopefully, kind of...
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bereal511
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I spent much of my childhood trying to figure out why the heck freezing water in a jar caused it to shatter. I was always astounded by the simple
fact that water expands rather than contracts when frozen. Of course, I made up extraordinary claims as to why this happened, such as the freezer had
magical powers that caused the water to expand, a boogy monster would come and accidently drop the jar while looking for food or night time caused the
water to change form, similar to a werewolf transformation. It was all fun and games when I remember I tried to debunk my own claims by leaving a jar
of water outside of the refridgerator to prove that night time didn't in fact cause the water to expand or staying up all night with a flashlight (I
was scared out of my wits, I was only four!) to look for the boogy monster. The only claim I was unable to prove or disprove was that the freezer was
magical, so one time, when I was a bit older, I took out all of the stuff in the freezer and climbed into it...
Those doors are really hard to get open!
So after all that, my mom yelled at me for breaking all the jars with my experiments. I spent much of my elementary and middle school years in
ignorance as to why exactly water expands when frozen. My teachers couldn onlygive me unsatisfactory explanations. They usually told me, "Don't
worry about it, you wouldn't understand it anyway" or "It's just the way the world works", which for me, was like telling me I was too retarded to
know. When I entered high school as a freshman, I finally decided that I would pick up one of those *huge* books about chemistry and look for the
answer. From there, I learned about hydrogen bonding, crystallization, and all the good stuff. And I was definitely hooked.
Although later on I went down the trail of making bombs and explosives, I just felt it was too much trouble to worry about having only four fingers on
each hand later on in life. I took my first real chemistry course in my sophomore year and continued on into my junior year. Then I found SMDB, and
that's where I am today as a senior.
As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life -- so I became a
scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.
-- Matt Cartmill
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joeflsts
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When I was about 7 I got my first chemistry set from my mother and father. I was fascinated by it. I set up lab in my brothers abandoned bedroom (he
was in the Navy) and performed every experiment.
About a year later my dad died and I didn't experiment much for the next 6 or 7 years. He was always the one that would encourage me to go the next
step.
One day at the age of 16 or 17 I stumbled across a collection of interesting pyrex glassware. The set contained beakers, flasks, a ring stand, and
other items. I was immediately drawn in by the mystery of experimenting again. I honestly don't remember where I found this glassware but it was
beautiful.
A good friend of mine was very good with wood working so I asked him to help me construct a lab bench in my basement. The house that I lived in was
well over a 100 years old and the basement reminded me of something out of a horror movie. It was the perfect setting.
Mom was an english teacher at my high school and I was friends with my chemistry teacher. He would provide me with interesting chems to play with
after school. Never anything too dangerous. I obtained HCl at a supply store and my chemistry teacher have me a bottle of Zinc. I bet over the
course of the next year or so I created enough hydrogen to float the hindenberg.
My lab was also a great place to smoke cigarettes without my mother knowing about it.
About this time I also found a great like for fermented solutions. I also had the most basic distilling setup and would "purify" some of the mother's
hooch for further research. I remember that my condenser was broken but it worked for simple stuff.
When I was 18 my mom died. I was active duty Amry and when I came home after Basic Training it was obvious that she wasn't going to live much
longer... Sure enough within 4 months she passed away. I was stationed in Germany and came home for emergency leave to spend her last days with her.
During this time I packed my lab (it had gotten rather impressive) only to never see it again.
It's 23 years later and I'm building a lab to enjoy for myself and with my son now.
Thanks,
Joe
[Edited on 7-1-2007 by joeflsts]
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Zinc
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I started to get interest in chemistry when I was 4. I started with mixing paints to get new collors pretending they were chemicals (sodium was blue,
ammonia was yellow...)
[Edited on 18-1-2007 by Zinc]
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YT2095
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Location: Just left of Europe and down a bit.
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well my Mother was good for this, I had access to Microscopes, encyclopedias, minerals, and plants.
my Grandfather (mothers side) was into fixing things, Electrical, mechanical and was also in the War.
I learned plenty from these, and also got into plenty of trouble when left in my own time and bored.
I`de built my 1`st radio at the age of 6, and assumed others kids were the same when I went to school, I was wrong 
I Used to spend plenty of time After school in the library reading up on All parts of science that I could get my hands on, it also was a great way of
escaping being beaten up outside after school (the grunts couldn`t spell library never mind think about entering there).
then I had my 1`st official Science lesson, I fell in love with it from the start, I`de see the teacher after school many times with different stones
and minerals I`de find, take in my electronic projects etc...
I walked away with plenty wins at science fairs too.
the Periodic table was a total mystery to me, something I needed to solve and crack, WHAT did it all mean?
I`m 40, and I`m still enjoying finding out 
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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Levi
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When I was very young (8 or so) I new about making CO2 from baking soda and vinegar but it never stimulated my imagination or did anything to spark my
interest in chemistry. Up until about age 12 I was into wilderness survival--it had more possibilities, I thought. Tree forts, exploration, simple
booby traps made with kite string (for intruders) And, of course,
fire-making! Long hours were spent rubbing sticks together or charing wood with a magnifying glass. Then, I read My Side of the Mountain
and became obsessed with flint and steel. That year, for Christmas, my parents bought me one of those firestarter blocks with the flint rod embedded
in the magnesium. It was a great tool but I remember being disappointed that it was 95% magnesium with only a small flint insert. After all, it was
the flint that captured my imagination and if I wanted to use "high-tech" stuff I would just use matches!
As it turned out, it was the magnesium firestarter that got me into chemistry. While demonstrating my new tool for a family friend he mentioned in
passing that if I were to add a shaving of magnesium to some vinegar it would bubble. Of course I figured this was just another way of making CO2
with vinegar. ***boring*** Then he told me that the gas was hydrogen. Suddenly, chemistry became interesting.
"Why was it hydrogen?" I asked. To which he replied something about acetic acid and metals blah blah blah. I didn't understand a word of
it but it had so aroused my curiousity that I became determined to find out.
The rest is history.
[Edited on 26-1-2007 by Levi]
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chemrox
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getting started
I was always into chemistry although I got my first degree in geology after working as a chemist for three summers making Grignards by the carboy for
a chemE and doing TLC workups for him.
As a kid I had a very sophisticated setup in the basement with a lot of glass and reagents a friend of my father gave me. He was a chem prof. In my
early years I caught the kitchen on fire trying to make polymers on the stove using wax and plastic toys with acid and kerosene.
I was great for making H2S and ammonia complexes. The other kids thought I was a genius or a magician making solutions change colors by adding NH4OH.
Other kids made radios I made rockets and bombs.
In high school I was so far ahead of everyone else I was allowed to play in the lab all day. I made bakelite, aspirin, clock reactions alcohol stills
.. all kinds of good stuff.
In college I ran the stockroom and had a research project at a private colleges graduate marine lab. I did original work in DDT metabolism in
plankton but that was where things started going sour. I got a harsh lesson there in academic rivalry and jealousy. Post-docs kept sabotaging my
experiment by unplugging my plankton tanks. I had limited supplies of radio isotope DDT and these little minded biologists (I hate 'em) kept me from
being able to complete more than one good experiment. I got enough data for a paper but it could have been a lot better. I got close to a lot of
professors in those years because I was doing work that graduate students weren't able to do. I got insights into the academic life that it would
have been better for me not to have had. The backstabbing, the ego, the jealousy .. I hated it and just wanted done.
Nobody at Berkeley was doing any medicinal chemistry, except bug chemistry, and were suspicious of anyone remotely interested in drugs. Shulgin had
his own private lab in town but I didn't pursue meeting him until many years later. Instead I follwed his work in my garage and got a lot of
experience with a few syns that were lucrative and relatively easy. I avoided LAH and anything with pressure.
Before I even graduated, I got employed as a chemist in a small company making growth hormones from kelp. These guys were so cheap they had me
running an ether still three nights a week and making Grignards by the carboy. But I got to work on the hormones and their development into
marketable commodities.
I got burned out on being inside all the time and turned to geochemistry. I did a lot of fieldwork that involved geothermal assessments and using
equilibrium to determine reservoir temperatures. I learned groundwater hydrology as well as chemistry. I developed ways of measuring NH3 in aqueous
samples at concentrations below the linear part of the ion selectivbe electrode curve. Basically biasing techniques. Meanwhile I supplemented my
income by manufacturing supplies for other chemists.
I made a lot of brominated alkanes for geologic work and experimented with higher density liquids for getting Tungstun out of ore crushes. I made
nitro benzene by the drum for a company making gun cleaning solvents.
The only thing I really liked about inorganic was the symmetry stuff and I sorely missed mechanisms and adjusting reaction conditons. I had neglected
the literature and found the internet late in my career.
I got to know Shulgin through a glassblower I grew up with and was fascinated by his work. In him, I found someone who simply liked to cook and taste
and was amazed that a career could be had doing just that.
After many dry years I'm doing wet chemistry again and loving it though my techniques are rusty. I have been running through known preparations and
starting planned experiments with transesterification of biodiesel components.
I have some LAH questions if anyone has the time and experience. These are not necesaarily part of the biodiesel project but are essential to other
work.
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womble
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as a kid I liked chemistry. As an adolescent I found drugs. Unfortunately, I began to combine the two. I was then busted with 1 1/2 oz's of pseudo on
one occassion and on another with rp/i and associated chems. I got out of that by ensuring that I also had a shitload of other, non-associated chems.
When the local D's got all excited, I simply stated that I was a frustrated 'ameteur' chemist, and that my hobby was growing crystals. Fuck, how am I
meant to know that shit can be used to make drugs?
Semi-reformed, off the drugs. Still have a keen, albeit entirely (although I cannot swear to it, I ain't completely certain) intellectual interest in
the mechanics of drug synthesis.
This is the facts, take em as you please.
Womble
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Beatnik
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While i started with black powder and all the k-rad k00l shite. Dedicated H/P/A freak. I used to go into the uni and be facinated that i could find
enough information in the library to eclipse any shitty text i read. Particulary with obtaining chems for blowing shit up.
Before you knew it i started with acid base extractions from cacti to seeds to acacias. Then onto paper chromatography in an attempt to perfect it
those extractions. Found the hive and got hooked. I REALLY wanted to be a part of the community and work out new ideas.... Then that fell to the side
when i got a gf. Started a bach sci degree and passing time in the chem section of the library. I really liked the old texts that explained things in
practical terms compared to the new textbooks which read like someones phd in math. Starting building gadgets again, electrochem, trying to merge
robotics ( Robots are very interesting too ) into the old methods...
and yeah... now i am here.... *waves* You know your all nuts! .... i really dislike certain things about how even chemists view what they do, and i
kinda like some of the more engineering side aswell. Ive got friends who are great chemists, but are LOST when it comes time to step into my garage
and that just feeds my ego... But i am still just copying alot of what you guys do, if you dont really live and breath chem then alot of the
experience and discussion can be a little beyond me. But i can do my own work. Slowly....
=)
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Elawr
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I got a Gilbert chemistry set when I was about 10; I still remember all the neat things in it! CuSO4, CoCl2, NaHSO4, tannic acid, FeSO4, waterglass,
KNO3, logwood (I never figured out what the hell anyone uses logwood for!) There was the alcohol burner with blowpipe (my dad kept the wood alcohol
locked up and would dole out out just a little bit at a time for my little alcohol flame!).
As the chemicals were used up, I'd look for replacements and just kept ammassing more. I had my lab on an old wooden office desk by the upstairs
hallway window, and soon had all the finish eroded and burned off of it.
This went on until middle school when other things became more interesting. High school, college, then grad school, then medical school and residency
training. After settling down into practice, buying a house, fathering a couple of kids - for some reason chemistry rekindled and I had to set myself
up with my own grown-up version of a chemistry set. Not sure what started me back, seems like one day I found some alum and decided to do crystals!
The the marriage went bad, divorced followed, and I ended up meeting my current wife who shares my passion for chemistry. She too is a grower of
crystals! The crystals are beautiful, as is chemistry as a whole with its many mysteries.
Always fascinating!
[Edited on 14-2-2007 by Elawr]
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BeanyBoy
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Should have done this sooner...
I've been lurking for a month and posting a bit here and there without intros. But where to begin? I guess I'll just start and ramble about...
I had two kiddie chemistry sets in the 1960s, one from Skil-Craft, the other a Lionel-Porter Chemcraft. Neither set was the one I wanted; I think I
asked for the Ski-Craft based on the photo on the box. But I can't recall just when science hooked me. Maybe in school. Dunno. My main use of
chemistry during the 70s was to forget some traumatic bullshit from the 60s (hah-hah). BTW it doesn't work. I remember the pain and forgot a lot of
the fun.
The chem sets were accompanied by microscope sets, dissection sets, and so on. Prior to that had been 027 gauge train sets. After Chemistry Phase One
came HO trains. Then model rockets. Then I built a solar-viewing telescope in time to catch the March 1970 partial solar eclipse.
Sometime that year, Chemistry Phase Two set in, I think, as a result of science class in junior high school. The school got a 1968 Welch catalog
(Sargent-Welch by then), and I asked for the older 1965 Welch catalog, and got it.
As Christmas 1970 approached, I'd started informing all the relations, JUST SEND MONEY this year. Still got hankies from grandma but she did throw in
something.
I put together an order, and sent it off to Sargent-Welch. My very first mail-order experience!
My fscking burettes arrived broken! I had no idea as a 14-year-old kid, how to get this corrected. My parents had warned against the evils of mail
order precisely due to them having had similiar problems in the past.
I just did without the burettes.
Didn't ever do much beyond building an inventory of reagents, purifying what I couldn't easily obtain pure. But in those days, Walgreens had a shelf
FULL of chemicals, mostly from a local firm (maajor chemical industry presence where I live).
In 1972, I fell in love with Rock N' Roll and sold everything to a kid down the street so I could by LPs (music came on these vinyl-pastic things back
before CDs). Well, I sold it all except the H-tube electrolyis apparatus and a ring stand to support it. I miss my plastic-jacketed disassemble-able
condenser from Welch. But they still have them!
I took Intro Chemistry in high school, and regreted having given up my lab equipment. After that year, I made friends with an older guy, a biker, who
worked as a chemist (undergrad degree). He said unless I got into graduate school, I'd never dooe anything other than mix test tubes for paint
companies.
So when college beckoned, I decided to major in Choral Music Direction.
Got to college; took one course in Music Theory and among some others, a course in Computer Programming.
Mesmerized by the displays of flashing lights (on some older computers you had to toggle in the code using a panel of switches and lamps/LEDs), I
ended up majoring in and got a degree in Computer Science.
As the AARP mailings start to roll in, I find that I am just about totally burned out on computing (exept retrocomputing, another hobby, but even
that's a little toasty).
So now I've been hit with Chemistry Phase Three. I have no clear goal in returning to this hobby. I was fascinated by it before, and enjoyed playing
around in the lab. I never worked with reagents of the strength I intend on using this time around, though, and therein lies a problem.
My tactile sense supplies my brain with a LOT of data. When I wear gloves, its like somebody stuck a bucket over my head. I have bought some nitrile
gloves, but forcing myself to use them when handling Liiquid Fire et. al. is proving difficult. I used to use lye for giving aluminum panels that
"anodized" look, and pretty much always did that bare-handed. No big deal in a family where Mom always found a place to buy Lye Soap.
So lab discipine will actually be where I'll focus my efforts for the next year or so. Would like to live long enough for that AARP membership to be
worth something...
Anyway, I've had an idea or two, and a search of modern literature reveals there are many avenues of chemical research that have NOT been addressed by
the major concerns.
Its been posted elsewhere that those major concerns will not talk to you about any discovery you think you've made.
Well perhaps so, but Asian chemical firms might. And if not them, then the next Emerging Economy will.
I wonder who it will be?
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Mumbles
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I have to admit, reading this thread makes me all warm and fuzzy inside thinking about how I got started.
I got a few of those cheapass chemistry kits as a kid. I, as many others, started with the wonderful sodium acetate preparation. Most specifically I
remember mixing the vinegar and baking soda and using the CO2 to put out a candle. I could not get enough of that. Might also where I got my fire
fascination. That or my house burning down (of which I had nothing to do with )
I always loved math, and math loved me. I demolished everyone in my school with math. Completed those 100 question time tests in about 2 minutes
with perfect answers and such. Got on math teams and stuff in middle school. My grades suffered in middle school because I really didn't care and I
was bored out of my mind.
Around the age of 11 I got a fascination with fireworks and energetic materials. I will be the first to admit, I started off as a kewl. Reading the
ACB amongst other pieces of questionable literature. I read everything I could for 2 or 3 years. I attempted acetone peroxide once in that time, and
thankfully it didn't work. Late 2000 or early 2001 I found RogueSci and lurked for a while. I was finally ready to register and the site was down.
I eventually figured out it was because I was using AOL. There was some downtime in there too.
Now high school was a totally different story. I was so excited to be there and actually learning stuff I ate it up. Science and math I specifically
dominated. English and spanish were my downfall from a 4.0. I did a lot of academic extra curriculars, graduated with more credits than
theoretically possible. I competed in a lot of science competitions. State champion of chemistry a few times through various competitions.
Qualified for National level Chemistry Olympiad twice, was always a few points from going to the top 20 selection thing at Cheyene Mountain. Through
the science competition I accidentally found out where Madscientist was from, and started talking with him a bit.
Somewhere in high school I found a few new forums, such as the hive and this one, registered about 4 years ago after lurking for a year. I also
started posting on this site called Xinventions. This is where my science knowledge really took off. It wasn't because I learned a lot, it was just
the atmosphere. I came in and was already one of the better posters in terms of knowledge and such. This made me feel great about myself, and made
me want to learn more. The more I learned the more I shared, and the more I wanted to learn, and it worked out well I would say. Xinventions became
what is now apcforum.net of which I am an administrator of. This is where I have been lately. My interest in chemistry is picking back up though.
College I can unfortunatly say did not go as well as high school. I just lost my edge. I am beginning to think I made a poor decision going to
school where I did. The kids are more interested in grades than actually learning which I feel is unfortunate. I could give a shit about my grades,
I want to learn as much as I can. Unfortunatly that isn't how it works, and my grades are mediocre. I'd love to go to pharmacy school, but my grades
arn't good enough. Said grades prevent me from getting any undergraduate research, despite my brightness. I have a few options I want to explore,
but I don't know. I am completely burnt out on school and it has become a signifigant chore for me. Just no drive to do anything anymore, even
learning chemistry which used to keep me up for days.
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Elawr
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I remember the first experiment I tried as a young child: tried to make "dry ice" by taking ice cubes from the freezer and rubbing them vigorously
with a towel. I thought that if I could just dry them off, the cubes would magically turn into dry ice!
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Pyridinium
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For me it was a Skil-craft chemistry set from the 70's, supplemented with as much glassware and additional chems as I could obtain elsewhere.
I also got one of the 1950's Chemcraft manuals from a garage sale. Was able to do a number of those experiments too... though, like the other poster,
I had absolutely no idea what "logwood" was at the time. I didn't even have any of this mysterious substance.
I used to carry an old inorganic chem text to school even though I wouldn't "need" such a text for some years to come.
I think it was age 7 this whole thing started, and definitely in full swing by age 9.
Another thing I used to love was my microscope, acquired from a flea market for 5 bucks (seems cheap now, but in the 70's that was still a chunk of
change for a young kid to be parting with). The thing supposedly went up to "750x" but I learned pretty quickly, that lens didn't work too
well. Also it didn't have a fine adjustment, so I broke a few slides.... but it was all good.
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PlatinumCal99
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Wow, I feel so young looking at all these posts about the 60s and 70s.  I just
got interested in chemistry last year (junior year of High School) because of the AP Chem class I was taking. But hey, it was enough to help me decide
what my college major is going to be (organic chem). Too bad they didn't have any follow-up classes, like say, maybe AP Organic Chemistry. Had to buy
all my books and equipment myself ($2000 is a lot for a high school kid to be spending on science stuff). But hey, next year at school i'll have
access to all the lab equipment i'll ever need
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polymer
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Ah, i've had that science bug forever. It started when I was in 3rd grade, when I got an electronics kit for christmas. With it, I was able to build
simple circuits such as an electromagnet, a generator, and electric motor. That was fun, and I habitually dropped my money on crap such as electric
motors, leds, wires, integrated circuits, solar panels, and capacitors at radioshack. With all of the crap I had, I built crazy things such as a
hovercraft. I also bought stuff at a local hobby shop (plastic strips) which I used to build stuff. Eventually, in 6th grade, I decided I wanted to
be a pharmaceuticals researcher from reading journals such as Scientific American and Nature. So, I bought the DNA explorer set from the same store
that started it all. That was enjoyable, doing chemistry experiments.
E/m*c^2
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obsessed_chemist
Hazard to Self
Posts: 65
Registered: 23-3-2007
Member Is Offline
Mood: electronegative
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I was always curious about science and the origins of the world and matter, and always asked many questions. I think my facination with chemistry in
particular was really sparked when I was about 12 yrs old.
I recall my history teacher talking about how gunpowder was made from three ingredients, and that one of them was saltpeter. He wouldn't tell us the
other two (out of fear for our safety - or perhaps his potential liability), so naturally I went straight for the dictionary when I got home (I had a
great big illustrated one that was nearly a century old), and looked up gunpowder. Saltpeter, Sulfur, and Charcoal.
So then I wanted to know what saltpeter was, and where it came from, and so on. Also around that same time I became facinated with plantlife and
agriculture. I was amazed how nitrate-compounds could be used both in pyrotechnics, and in agriculture. This just made me more curious about
chemicals. As a child I was blessed with a very cool best-friend, who was also very eager to experiment with pyrotechnics and the like. I was inspired
by his family; they were avid gardeners and survivalists. I learned much from them, and also began a small garden in my mother's backyard. I seemed to
have a "green-thumb."
My mom and dad would go book-shopping at various used book stores, and I would naturally gravitate straight for the chemistry and agriculture books. I
have a small collection of very old, yet useful chemistry-related books. I have always felt a bit like an "outsider," being a musician, reading
technical books, and living on the "fringe".
Unfortunately, I didn't persue a further education right-away, although I would like to return to school if I can find one that offers a
chemistry-major and that will accept me. I am for the most part "self-educated," and although I see no problem with it, it obviously has it's
limitations in the world of credentials.
[Edited on 3/31/2007 by obsessed_chemist]
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Sedit
International Hazard
Posts: 1939
Registered: 23-11-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: Manic Expressive
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LOL I wish I could tell when I got into chemistry but I can remeber my family telling me to stay away from the chemicals under the sink not because
they thought I would poision my self but because they where afraid I was going to blow something up......again.
About nine or ten years old my mother brought home some damn near brand new collage organic chem books from an auction and ever since then Its been an
addiction.I read all 9 of them over and over and still read them to this day.
If it wasnt for getting kicked out of high school twice I would probly already have my degree in chemistry.
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
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hellfire23
Harmless
Posts: 16
Registered: 10-2-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: bleh
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Well when I was young I was one who liked to keep things, I would go to garage sales often and find lots of things. One day our new neighbor had moved
in and while I was riding my bike around I saw her throwing out some books. Before she did I stopped her and she had about 5 decent condition chem
books. I asked her if I could keep them and she said yes. She was a chemistry teacher for the local high school and worked at the local laboratory for
biological research. Later she had a house warming party and I saw her basement and she had a full set up lab I was amazed. Naturally I had researched chemistry online and in the books. I recognized a variety of condensers,
burettes, flasks, lab stands and TONS of chemicals.
Then I went down the road of EM and the like. I had obtained some ammonium nitrate and hydrogen peroxide from parent's work place. My neighbor
wouldn't give me anything like that. I had fun with rockets and such.
Since then I had researched chemistry on my own and sometimes I borrowed from her. Later for high school I went to a Catholic high school who's
chemistry program is mostly analytical and physical due to their religious beliefs I am currently a freshman in high school but I am at the top of my class with 95 and above in every class. I have become friends with the chemistry
teacher and learned that he himself enjoys the actual chemistry experiments and such like I do and is not to fond of the chemistry they teach at the
school I am still studying chemistry and plan to take AP next year because I have
talked with some of the 10th graders who take it and I already know most of what they are doing.
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Aristocles
Harmless
Posts: 12
Registered: 2-11-2007
Location: Kentucky
Member Is Offline
Mood: Paranoid
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Hmm...
Stream of consciousness bs alert!
It's strange, but I have no youthful background of blowing up the garage or ever so slightly poisoning the neighbors from ambient fumes... I was
bitten by the bug much later in life.
In college my most dominating interest was in argumentation, thus a degree in Philosophy/Logic. However, I became interested in the hard sciences
toward graduation. I ended up taking a couple of low level physics classes, an astronomy class and biology. Yes, that is correct, no chemistry classes
About four years ago I became interested in WW2 era military rifles and believe it or not, this interest managed to lead- in an almost linear way- to
my present interest (read obsession) with general chemistry.
I have begun to renew my interest in physics, chemistry, and mathematics in a consistent and disciplined way over the last year and a half. (I
actually started grad school in mathematics but did complete a semester... )
I have never had any problems with "books", I graduated summa. However! praxis is another thing altogether... But alas, I have begun to educate myself
both specifically and generally as to the subject/subjects. Even taking online courses via the MIT OpenCourse website. One has to begin at the
beginning and I have decided to follow Aristotle's age old dictum as per such (rough transliteration: "well begun is half done"). Therefore I am using
low level college texts, online courses and tutorials, and this website as sources of edification Hell, I have even dusted off some old physics texts I have around, e.g. Feyman's lectures...
Considering I spent most of my adult life as a competitive powerlifter, I think it's time to engage in a more cerebral pursuit.
Wish me luck in my endeavor, at my age (I'll be 43 next month) I'll need it.
[Edited on 6-3-2009 by Aristocles]
\"This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us; to live in such a way that we may be proud of
ourselves; to act in such a way that some part of us lives on.\"
-Spengler
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redox
Hazard to Others
Posts: 268
Registered: 22-2-2011
Location: The Land of Milk and Honey
Member Is Offline
Mood: Chalcogenetic
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Well let's see....I got my first chemistry set when I was six or so. It was a cool little DNA set. Basically, you dropped a piece of corn or a
slice of carrot into a wide test tube, added Solution A and Solution B, then put it all over a magnetic stirrer and dropped in a stir bar. You then
added some dye, and within a few minutes, a small strand of DNA materialized.
I then forgot about chemistry for a few years. When I about ten, my dad bought me a cool little micro-set. It came with about 40 different
reagents, about 1 gram each. I was fascinated with the fact that on the bottles was an overzealous warning about toxicity. COBALT CHLORIDE--EXTREMELY
POISONOUS. Yeah right! The LD50 is 80 mg/kg, thus I would need about five bottles of it to maybe kill me. Anyway, I don't think I ever did a single
experiment with this set. I once again forgot about chemistry.
By the way, my father is a Ph.D organic chemist, so he really wanted me to follow in his footsteps. My mother is a Ph.D food scientist, so she
wanted me in her field.
At this point, I was 13. I stumbled upon a video on youtube by Nurdrage on how to extract lithium from batteries. I was absolutely enthralled!
Lithium! A reactive and fascinating chemical element! I performed simple demonstration I could think of with this lithium. This was the first point
that I really cared at all about chemistry. I think I can truly give Nurdrage the credit for interesting me in chemistry.
My father told me that he had an old chemistry set in the basement, so I set out on a fervent search for the fabled set. When I found it, I cried
out in excitement. Buried deep in the basement, behind many boxes and cobwebs were two Lionel-Porter ChemCraft sets! I performed many experiments with
these sets, but eventually they become boring and monotonous. I bought myself "Chemistry for Dummies," by John Moore and I read that cover to cover
several times. From there I learned functional groups, solutions, gas equations, and more. By now, I had set up a rudimentary home lab in my basement.
It was nothing special, just a workbench. My father thought I was ready to move on. He gave me his college freshman chemistry book, "Chemical
Principles," by Dickinson et al. This book was interesting and incredibly informative. From there, I began moving into organic chemistry. My father
once again donated another book, "Organic Chemistry," by Morrison & Boyd. This was his go-to book in college. I read this also. In my lab, I built
a fumehood, another desk, storage shelves, I bought glassware, reagents, and a hotplate. I basically spent my life savings on chemistry equipment, but
I have no regrets.
At the time of writing this monologue, I am 14, and I am in 8th grade. I enjoy synthesizing esters, alkyl halides, haloforms, alcohols, carboxylic
acids, ketones, and aldehydes.
If I bored you, you have my sincerest apologies.
My quite small but growing Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RealChemLabs
Newest video: Synthesis of Chloroform
The difference between chemists and chemical engineers: Chemists use test tubes, chemical engineers use buckets. |
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LanthanumK
Hazard to Others
Posts: 298
Registered: 20-5-2011
Location: New Jersey
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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I became interested in chemistry with the purchase of a science kit which only contained two chemicals: calcium hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate. One
of my first reactions was the thermal decomposition of sodium bicarbonate in a kitchen pot. (It ruined it because of too much heat.) For almost two
years I used the sodium carbonate produced by that project. That boring science set had experiments using copper sulfate, which I did not have. Being
the parsimonious person that I am, I made some impure copper sulfate using the procedure on my blog (http://lanthanumkchemistry.over-blog.com/article-how-to-make...). At that time, spending $3 to buy 10g of it was just tooo expensive. I heated
that and was amazed at the color change to white and back to blue. Then I purchased ammonia and used it to make hydroxide bases. I was fascinated the
first time I saw the copper(II) ammine complex emerge from the light blue copper(II) ion solution. I extracted the KOH from alkaline batteries and
conducted the chloralkali process. I made copper(II) oxide and was interested that during the production the green copper compound turned black but no
smoke or stink was produced. I learned about flame tests and burned a potassium-rich banana skin to look at the K flame color. After obtaining HCl and
an old 3/4-used chemistry set, I went on to make about 150 chemical compounds. I quickly found that interesting chemistry experiments are not free,
though. Buying chemicals and equipment costs quite a lot of money. So until I find a job my chemistry experiments have stagnated. I have done more
than this, bu I will not bore anyone any further.
hibernating...
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