Chemistry set mishaps.

[Devlyn]

Was the chemistry set the worst idea ever, or what? I melted something in that metal scoop over the alcohol lamp, and it never came out. Any other disasters, or breakthroughs? Hugs, Devlyn

[spacial]

I had one. All the tubes melted and things sort of fizzed or something.

It had a burner, but the first time I got to use it was at school, where it began spraying as much gas from where it shouldn't as where it should.

[Devlyn]

I'm willing to bet that the inventor of the chemistry set is still behind bars!

[Eva Marie]

Sadly, with my chemistry set i could not make anything happen - fires, explosions, bursts of poisonous gases, or the like. And i tried! 

[Devlyn]

Sadly, with my chemistry set i could not make anything happen - fires, explosions, bursts of poisonous gases, or the like. And i tried! 

Well, you gave it the old college try, we can't ask for more than that! Hugs, Devlyn

[Joelene9]

  No blow-ups here either, but house stinking events, yes.  I remember that my 1964 chemistry set had ammonium nitrate in it.  It had also sodium nitrate, a.k.a. Chile saltpeter.  Making gunpowder out of that stuff didn't work, but the potassiun nitrate you got from the pharmacist did work though.  My and my like-minded cousin were sadists in the sand box from gunpowder made from the other nasty oxidizers he obtained. 
  Obtaining hydrogen from salt water (NaCl) in a rectangular fish tank by electrolysis was another chlorine stinker.  I used power directly from the wall outlet with the zip cord attached to rectifiers and to two electrodes from those large 1.5 volt batteries with the screw terminals on them.   I was lucky that I was not electrocuted by this setup.  One electrode, chlorine was liberated; the other, sodium.  The sodium then reacted with the water, giving off hydrogen plus sodium hydroxide.  I did liberate a gallon jug worth of hydrogen from this. 
  Nonetheless, that chemistry set taught me basic chemistry. 

  Joelene

[sandrauk]

I also used to make gunpowder with the stuff from the chemist in 64. You could buy all the ingredients you needed from there or we used to get weedkiller from somewhere I don't remember. We would make our own bangers with jettex? fuses, and cannons with scaffold pipe and marbles.

One day I was in my bedroom testing the power of two different mixes in 250ml round bottom flasks. I'd put the metal spatula in one burn it then the other and burn that one. I hadn't really thought it through and the spatula was getting hotter and hotter. 

This taught me the equation:
Redhot spatula + 500 ml gunpowder = Flames shooting across the bedroom+ bedroom full of sulphur fumes+ Carbon embedded in the wall- all the skin from my right hand and face.

I'm making light of it but I was lucky not to lose  my sight when the flasks shattered.

Mum came home and plastered my face in butter, which was the done thing at the time, wrapped my head in a towel and led me to the doctor's. I had to go to school looking like the elephant man but no lasting damage.

[Flan]

It's not real SCIENCE until something gets burnt or destroyed.

[Kaelin]

The worst I ever did was make something that double/tripled the original volume, turning into a black solid that stretched beyond the tube (but still remaining cylindrical).

[Jamie D]

I had a book that went with my chemistry set, called "Household Chemistry" or something like that.

I vividly remember that SaniFlush contained sodium bisulfate. which was a wonderful chemical to play with! 

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

it isn't fun unless someone gets hurt.

[Beth Andrea]

Sadly, with my chemistry set i could not make anything happen - fires, explosions, bursts of poisonous gases, or the like. And i tried! 

This was my experience also. I don't recall reading any of the instructions, so I ended up using the contents as a sort of plaything, mixing random bottles together, stirring, playing with the burner, etc.

Pretty boring for an 8yo...although I'm sure there's a toxic element in my towns' dump.

[Joelene9]

  This thread had me researching.  If your parents got your chemistry set from a catalog store, there is a website with the christmas wish catalogs that had the toys you got and perhaps the chemistry set you received.  Scroll down to the year and catalog.  Not much on the Monkey Wards catalogs, but the JC penney, Sears, Spiegal are represented.  Some large department stores in the 1960's did have a chemistry set area for addons to your sets, including glassware and other chemicals.  The same with some hobby shops.

  Website: http://www.wishbookweb.com/
  Page with a picture that most describes one of my sets, the $9.99 "Student" one:
  http://www.wishbookweb.com/1969_SearsChristmasCatalog/images/1969_SearsChristmasCatalogPage0546.jpg

  My first "real" telescope, besides the cheap 2 lens "dime store" types I had before.  The 200 Power reflector in the right middle of the page:
  http://www.wishbookweb.com/1968_Sears_Wishbook/images/1968%20Sears%20Wish%20Book%20540.jpg

  Joelene

[Jamie D]

I have a vague recollection mine was called "Chemcraft."

[Devlyn]

Joelene, you just sent me back in time! Hugs, Devlyn

[big kim]

My parent's bought me one to keep me out of trouble!Bad idea I remember putting Zinc flakes in some liquid and it fizzed out of the test tube on to the carpet.I made gunpowder of course like most kids and had a bit of bomb making fortunately without any injury or damage

[Emily Aster]

You'd think that stuff would be kid safe, but I still have a faint scar from a chemical burn I inflicted on myself and the last time I had one of those sets was almost 30 years ago.

[Yukari-sensei]

I always wanted a chemistry set! I never got one, so instead I mixed various soaps and flavoring extracts as a child and poured them into the bathtub to see it react with the soap ring.

My curiosity led me at 7 to microwave bath soap, Irish Spring to be specific... not a good idea.  It became incendiary and blew open the door. My parents stood there, mouths agape at the fire in the microwave. I closed the door and the fire suffocated. My father had to take a spatula to keep the melting ceiling of the microwave from fusing to the tray.

That microwave lasted for another 15 years before we replaced it!