Home 'Trsts stow NTIL you experiment you have missed some of the biggest thrills your home laboratory can give you. Among ‘ther things, you can make metals burst mysteriously into flame, remove the color from dyed loth, and turn a red flower or a scrap of red paper white Chlorine, a heavy greenish-yellow gas, is exceedingly active, Few substances ean remain uncombined in its presence. Even sliver and gold yield to its action under certain conditions. With many elements, it combines with such suddenness and vi ence that intense heat and a brilian flash of light accompany the reaction. Considered in_one way, ehlorine is one ‘of the paradoxes of ‘science. Inhaled in Small doses it is sid by some physicians tobe beneficial in the treatment of colds Yety if ie is breathed into the throat and Jungs in large quantities, it is poisonous, causing. irritation and violent choking In an atmosphere containing. as little as ‘one part of chlorine to 10.000 parts of air, breathing becomes acute and painful ‘However, the amateur chemist. need have no fear of being gassed during his simple experiments with chlorine. For by eins of a simple arrangement, he can effectively absorb all of the unt fand prevent it from escaping into the ait. ‘Commercially, chlorine gas is made by the same electrical process used in our recent experiments with the treelike ery {als of tin (PSM, Dec. '32, p. 59). In 0 METAL place of the tin solution, however, sodium chloride (common salt) is used. The pas ‘sage of the direct current through the Solution produces free chlorine at the positive electrode and hydrogen at the negative pole. In the home laboratory, the amateur ‘can manufacture the chlorine simply by hheating a mixture of muriatic (hydro~ chlorie) acid and manganese dioxide (mineral pyrolusite). If the manganese dioxide is not easily obtainable, potas- sium permanganate or potassium’ dichro- mate will serve the purpose just as wel Th our first experiments with chlorine gas, the gas-tight apparatus shown should be used as the generator.In it an L-shaped glass tube Teads the free gas from the heating: flask to a wide~ mouthed bottle (a large pickle jar will serve). From there it is piped to a third Jar containing lye, solution ‘open to the air. The center jar forms the experiment ‘chamber while the last con- the serubber or ab- for the unused gas. ‘The scrubber is an im- Strange Nature of hlorine sur, WoW TO MAKE FLAME Portant part of the apparatus and Should not be omitted, We absorbs the ‘unused gas passing from. the. exper~ iment. chamber and prevents it {rom contaminating’ the ir. To offer & sreater absorbing surface for the gas, ‘wet a. crumpled ball of tft pape? with the lye solution and immerse in the bottle. If by any chance you should get a strong whit of the free fas, you can relieve any unpleasant. ness by inhaling alcohol, Tr you find that the system leaks, plug up any small holes and eracks with putty ‘or wax. OF course if you desire, you can perform the experiments out of doors, ubstituting a small alcohol lamp for the fas _bumer under the generator. Since the center jar is our confined experiment chamber, some means mst be provided for inserting the chemicals whose action with chlorine is to be tested, This can ‘be done by punching’ a thied hole in the center of the eap of cork and inserting a glass or metal tube two incbes Jong, corked tightly’ ae its lower end. Powered metals then can be placed POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLYand the tobe and the cork pushed out wher the chamber has filed. with chlorine. We can try oi our apparatus by piving some “gold” broncing powder i the entry tube. Heat the mixture in the flask to generate the gas and as soon as the center boitle takes on a greenish olor, showing tht iti filed swith chlo tine, pushdown on the metalic powder fanf fore the stopper out of the. short tbe. As the powder drops into the jar and combines with the chlorine, it wil fash vividly. Tsing this same apparatus try other meals in powdered form, In the case of tras, you may find that it wil not burn Naleny in combining, bu you will know Tht a reaction is taking pace by the fact that the ponder will tur gre Some metals will not. combine with hiorine at ordinary temperatures, Mets tary and. copper foil are excellent exam les of this type. Vou can demonstrate this by piping the chlorine direct: from the heating sk to the lower end of @ {eat tube containing a drop of mercury The chlorine and. thercury wil combine nly when the base of the tube is heatet When the proper temperature is reached The mereuy wil vaporize and a sft biue flow wil appear at the end of the en- Flame tubes In effect, it wil appeae as if the as io burning as it issues from the tube, As the process continues, the walls fof the test tube will become coated with fiysslsof mercuric chloride, © poisonous forrosve sublimate, Similar reactions will fecur when other metals ate used in tis experiment it Bs also important to arrange some means of absorbing the Iused chlorine gas, This can be done by Proving the test tube with a. rubber Hopper fontaning two short tubes, one foing to the heating Bask and the other fea scrobbing bottle filed with the lye solution and crumpled paper Like many of the oer gases, chlorine is particularly soluble in ‘water. It dice folves rey to form chlorine water, a | misture of hydrochloric and hypochlorous | ikids Both chlorine and chlorine. water Show auseful property in their ability to OCTOBER, 1933 MAKING BLEACHING POWDER. This sctup shows how leaching per fa made on lrxe sale As the generator Sak, Seer the lime, which becomes a Bleaching’ powder cre ‘arcs pce bleach the color from certain dyes, ‘The red portion of an empty match box, for instance, can be bleached simply by immersing it in chlo- rine water or by insert- ing it wet ina closed beaker of the gas Tn reality, the bleach- ing property of chlorine ‘and chlorine water is not due to the chlorine but to the oxygen liberated from the hypochlorous acid. ‘The oxygen oxi- izes the coloring matter dnd changes its structure. ‘This same action makes chlorine valua- ble as a purifying agent for water. leaching powder, an important indus- wlth wee paper RAYMOND B. WAILES ‘ent through sait solution ‘igh is thown a. chermomet How to Make Metals Flame and Why Red Flowers Turn White is Explained Here By sdb, trial chemical, can be made easily in the home laboratory by passing chlorine gas over moist lime (calcium hydroxide). To do this, the amateur can make up a sim ple piece of apparatus from odd bottles, corks, and tubing. Our old friend, the bottomless olive bottle also comes ‘back into. use as the reaction chamber. |The chlorine gas generated in a Mask is piped first to a bottle of water, which serves as a scrubber to remove any hy- rochloric acid gas mixed with the chlo- rine, and then to one end of the olive bottle. Pack the olive bottle with moist lime, mount it horizontally, and fit. it with corks, The exit end of the reaction chamber should lead to the lye solution scrubber or absorber. ‘To perform the experiment, simply hheat the generator flask. The’ chlorine evolved will bubble through the water bottle and pass over the lime. Some of the chlorine will dissolve in the water but soon the saturation point will be reached and the gas will pass on to the reaction tube and the moist lime. Continue to heat the’ mixture inthe g flask uptil the greenish-yellow vapor disappears entirely. This will mean thit all of the chlorine gas has been en off The chemical remaining in the tal tube will be bleaching powder. ‘water to form paste, it can be used as a (Continued om page 97) saSTUDY AT HOME | z TESTS SHOW STRANGE NATURE OF CHLORINE | (Continued from page 51) Sieg | good Blsching agent for certain dyed fab High School ried ee Ely A, wot men tbe ue Behar isn ea | your way uccEss/ meVeCESS! eceeraeas pes wave San ea eae me ILWAY. INSPECTOR su produce. chlo the amateur t | tries and flowers. phurie acid to it, you Fine—an excellent” way obtain the gas in” his Bleaching powder also can be obtained in a prepared form at most drug and. grocery Mores, generally unvler the misnomer of chloride’ of lime.” MAX® ozzanic, substances can be made Mio react with chlorine, For example rope ‘of warm turpentine on a piece” of paper immersed in a bottle of the gas. will take. fire and produce large ted candle and even ‘fame placed in chlorine behave in a similar manner, but will soon be ex- tinguished, When carbon combines with chlorine, the very useful chemical carbon tetrachloride Formed -d. in many " fire extingukthers and. also as. cleaning uid for clothes and” fabric, Using a small amount of carbon tetrachlo- ride, the home, chemist ean perform an in teresting and. instructive experiment, Place some of the liquid in a flask, warm it gen= tly, and pass the vapors. given off Into. a flats tube containing hot brown lead) compound 0 wardly, the oxygen in the Ing places with the chlorine in the carbon {ttrachloride to form white lead chloride and fous carbon dioxide. ‘This exchange of Slements is what i Known as double de- compotion ‘The white lead chloride remaining in the tube can be dissolved from the rest of the Fesidue by washing it in hot water. ‘Then by Filtering and evaporating the liquid, the ama- teur can obtain the lead chloride for uc ture use in his home experiment, ‘One of the most important. combinations of chlorine is hydrochloric acid, Although ei a pas formed by the union of chlorine hydrogen, it dicolves readily in water 7m liquid hydrochloric ald. Hf the acid ly impure it is often referred to. as rmuriatic acid When hydrochloric acid gas dissolves in the water, a noticeable. amount. of heat is riven off. Thie can be shown by. wrapping the bulb of a thermometer with a thin pec fof wet cloth and holding it over the open mouth of a hydrochloric acid bottle, ‘The Hydrochloric acid gas given off by the acid will be absorbed. by the wet cloth and ‘the | temperature will rice. fs the ‘liquid | ALTHOUGH the amateur chemist can | AA’buy tiydrochloric seid cheaper than he an make it, he can produce a Small qan- tity OF it experimentally to satity’ his own Cristy. ‘Dissolve ‘common salt in a small quantity of sulphuric aid diluted to about Hall its strength with water. The sas driven sit when this mixture is. heated is. hydro: ehlorie acid as, IF this is bubbled through water, hydrochloric acid will result SECRET OF PURPLE GOLD SOLVED IN LABORATORY Tut-Ankh-Amen were cov ful purple film. The myst Coloring. Bas ‘been solved. by’ Prof. R. W Wood, of Johns. Hopkins University, Balt me, ‘Md. “AU the time of their. dicovery scientists claimed that’ the ancient plans knew how to color gold, Wood, Taboratory” tests, has shown. that the tomb, of ed with purple i due to fron in the gold which had i | been hammered and’ then heated. OCTOBER, 1933 MOULDING A MIGHTY ARM INCH BICEP "16 Complete Course on Arm Bi ONLY o5° | Gotan arm of might with the power and rip to obey your physical desires. Ina short time you can row build your arm. from a scrawny piece of skin and bone to one of huge muscular size. | don't mean just a 16-inch bicep but a 15~ Inch forearm and a powerful 8-inch wrist. Rush the Coupon Today ua uit sri toy and ull cade a FREE COPY ETL a ahi aera Ere ket JOWETT INSTITUTE ‘OF PaYsicaL CULTURE 7