A4 Harnessing chemicals
Section 1: Chemicals: uses and sources
Activity AA4.2 Chemicals for decoration and protection
- http://webexhibits.org/pigments/
This website offers useful information about the history of paints and paint pigments. It includes recipes for making pigments.
Activity AA4.3 Chemicals in our food
- www.faia.org.uk
The Food Additives and Ingredients Association website features a Spicebox of colour about food colourings. Follow: Why food additives>Categories>More details…for Colours. - http://eatwell.gov.uk/
The ‘Food labels’ section of the Food Standards Agency’s ‘Eat Well’ website gives accessible information about E numbers and additives.
Activity AA4.4 Purifying sand from the seaside
- www.chem.ubc.ca/courseware/235/danalabsess/flutedfilterpaper.html
This website describes how to flute a filter paper with the help of a series of photographs.
Activity AA4.5 Crystallisation
- http://chemistry.about.com/od/growingcrystals/Growing_Crystals.htm
Details on growing crystals appear on a number of websites. This example is a possible starting point with links to other sites.
Activity AA4.6 Chemicals from plants
- www.norfolk-lavender.co.uk
The Norfolk Lavender website includes a virtual tour and a heritage section with the story of the company.
Section 2: The chemical industry
- www.chemsoc.org/networks/LearnNet/alchemy/
The ‘Alchemy?’ videos from the RSC are now available online in the LearnNet site.. - www.schoolscience.co.uk/e-source_xpress.cfm
The Fawley refinery tour is now under Chemistry in the ‘e-Source Xpress’ section of this website.
Section 5: Making useful chemicals: salts
Activity AA4.17 Making soluble salts (method 1)
- www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/standprocgcse.htm
An alternative preparation to use here would be of the food preservative calcium benzoate. A standard procedure for its preparation can be found in the Preparation section of Standard Procedures for GCSE Applied Science. - www.iza.com
The International Zinc Association has information about the importance of zinc for health in the ‘Zinc and Human Health’ section of the site. - 64.90.169.191/health/homepage.html
The copper.org website has much information about copper chemicals and human health. - www.nutrition.org.uk
The British Nutrition Foundation website has information about iron and health. See: Healthy Eating>Nutrition and Health>Iron and Health - www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/showpreparation.asp?id=2947
The Netdoctor website covers medical uses of magnesium sulfate.
Activity AA4.18 Making soluble salts (method 2)
- www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/standprocgcse.htm
An alternative preparation to use here would be of the food acidity regulator sodium citrate. A standard procedure for its preparation can be found in the Preparation section of Standard Procedures for GCSE Applied Science. - www.losalt.com
The low-sodium salt manufacturer’s website provides a range of relevant information related to this activity. - www.iclfertilizers.com/
Cleveland Potash is now part of ICL fertilizers. See ‘Sylvinite’ under ‘Products and applications’ for information about the source and use of potassium chloride in the UK.
Activity AA4.19 Making insoluble salts
- http://webexhibits.org/pigments/
www.creative-chemistry.org.uk/activities/paint s.htm
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2001/Oct/abs1320A.html
www.uyseg.org/colour/activity/act_18/18_gateway.htm
http://www.colour-ed.org/post_login/home_frame.htm (click on ‘routes’)
www.kamapigment.com/index_en.html - www.rennie.co.uk
This promotional website provides and explanation of indigestion and its treatment. - www.expresschemist.co.uk
A site with lots of information about the ingredients of commercial antacids. Search for ‘indigestion’,then click any product for details. Click the drop-down list at the top for other products. - www.famotidine.com
www.ranitidine.com
These two sites help to explain the role of drugs in antacids.
These websites offer a great deal of information about pigments and paints,including suggestions for practical activities.
Section 5: Making useful chemicals: esters
Activity AA4.22 Making alcohol
- www.brewlab.co.uk/eschools.htm
This site provides fact sheets, including A Brief Overview of the Important Stages of Brewing. - www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery_links.php
Many breweries have useful websites. This link takes you to a directory listing the details of lots of breweries. - www.sallys-place.com/beverages/beer/beer_is_made.htm
Making beer from the perspective of a home brewer. - www.howstuffworks.com//question532.htm
This website explains how brewers measure the alcohol content of beer. - www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usfeatures/maltwhisky/
www.tasteoftx.com/spirits/brandy.html
www.tasteoftx.com/spirits/vodka.html
www.ginvodka.org/history/vodkaproduction.html
www.ginvodka.org/history/ginproduction. html
There is no shortage of sites about the use of distillation to make spirits.
Activity AA4.23 Making esters
- www.understandingfoodadditives.org/
A website with much information about food additives that includes practical activities. See under flavourings for this topic. - www.faia.org.uk
The Food Additives and Ingredients Association website covers flavourings in the section ‘Categories of additivies’, which is part of ‘Why food additives’. - www.ausetute.com.au/esters.html
An animated tutorial on esterification + ester uses:
scroll down and click the link to woodcock for a list of names and uses – on the woodcock site, click on name of an ester for rotatable molecular model – on the ausetute site (above), click rod.beavon for uses of esters in food - http://hsc.csu.edu.au/chemistry/core/acidic
More advanced information for teachers: click on 5. Esterification – scroll down to relevant sections
Section 7: Formulations and effectiveness
Activity AA4.27 Making low-sodium salt
- www.losalt.com
The website of the manufacturer of Lo-salt has plenty of relevant information. - www. iclfertilizers.com/
Cleveland Potash is now part of ICL fertilizers. See ‘Sylvinite’ under ‘Products and applications’ for information about the source and use of potassium chloride in the UK.
Activity AA4.28 Making and testing antacid remedies
- www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/standprocgcse.htm
A standard procedure for making and testing magnesium hydroxide mixture can be found in the Preparation and analysis section of Standard Procedures for GCSE Applied Science - www.rennie.co.uk
This promotional website provides and explanation of indigestion and its treatment. - www.expresschemist.co.uk
A site with lots of information about the ingredients of commercial antacids. Search for ‘indigestion’ then click any product for details. Click the drop-down list at the top for other products. - www.famotidine.com
www.ranitidine.com
These two sites help to explain the role of drugs in antacids. - www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/showpreparation.asp?id=1569
www.encyclopedia.com/html/m1/milkmagn.asp
These two sites help to explain the role of drugs in antacids and the medical action of Magnesium Hydroxide Mixture.
Activity AA4.30 Making cosmetics
- www.makingcosmetics.com/
More cosmetics recipes can be found at this website.
Section 9: Sustainable synthesis
Activity AA4.33 Greener alcohol?
- http://www.greener-industry.org/
The Greener Industry website with the information required for the activity. - www.ethanol.org
The ‘how it’s made’ section of this website includes an account with an animated plant diagram describing how ethanol is made from corn in the USA. - www.sustainableproducts.com/news.html
www.nnfcc.co.uk/products/energy/beth.cfm
Sites describing or debating issues related to the use of ethanol as a fuel in the US and the UK. - www.ethanolindia.net/
Ethanol in the economy of India.
Activity AA4.34 Sweeter syrups
- www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/MATERIALS/ENZYMES/sweetzyme.html
This website gives details about the supply of Sweetzyme from NCBE. - http://www.biomass.novozymes.com/
the novozyme website has been reconstructed. this section deals with fuels from biomass. - www.corn.org/web/history.htm
A web page with a brief history of corn processing.