Brainiac: Thermite and Liquid Nitrogen: Think thermite reactions are super awesome? Watch an iron-melting one here that isn’t remotely controlled or cooled by the addition of liquid nitrogen.
Oscillating Chemical Reaction: This video showcases the Briggs-Rauscher reaction, a process that turns solution clear, amber, and blue, repeating several times.
Elephant toothpaste: This demonstration is just plain good chemistry fun. Hydrogen peroxide, potassium iodide, and dish soap are combined to create a monstrous pile of foam that the chemists in this video find particularly entertaining.
Potassium Chlorate and Gummy Bear: There are many ways to end the short, gelatinous life of a gummy bear, but none are explosive as this method, combining potassium chlorate with a sugary gummy bear.
Sodium and Water in Chlorine Gas: A flask of yellow chlorine gas becomes a fiery inferno with the addition of a small piece of sodium metal and a tiny drop of water.
Burning Magnesium in Dry Ice: This video will take you through, step-by-step, how to burn magnesium in dry ice, thought it’s not something you should try at home.
Sodium Acetate Super Saturation: In this silly video, you can watch a demonstration of a solution containing sodium acetate instantly turning into a non-crystallized solid.
Superabsorbent Polymer: Here you can see a number of cool chemistry experiments (and some seriously dorky hosts), including an example of a super absorbent polymer and hydrophobic sand.
Floating on Sulfur Hexafluoride: Sulphur hexafluoride gas is denser than the air in our atmosphere, a quality that allows it to give the illusion that things are floating in space, as you can see here.
Superfluid Helium: Superfluid helium is a bizarre substance that demonstrates some seriously amazing properties. You can see just a few in this short excerpt from the BBC documentary Absolute Zero.
Colorful Chemistry: Watch as this MIT student uses a “magic” teakettle, an illusion created by simple chemistry involving acids and bases.
Turn Pennies Silver and Gold: Alchemists would be jealous of the process in this video that turns copper into gold (only superficially, sadly).
Mercury thiocyanate decomposition: While it starts out slow, this video quickly picks up speed once the substances start reacting in an incredibly bizarre and a little disturbing manner. Don’t worry, the cute cacti make it through unscathed.
Lectures
Learn a bit more about a wide range of chemistry topics from these engaging lectures given by researchers and scientists working in the field.
Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive: In this TED talk, chemist Lee Cronin explains how he and his research team are working to develop chemical compounds that behave like living cells.
Open Access in Chemistry: Will open access change chemistry? Carnegie Mellon professors Jay Apt, Dave Dzombak, Hyung Kim, and David Yaron discuss the issue here.
The World’s Chemistry in Our Hands: Global Environmental Challenges Past and Future:Professor Susan Solomon, a professor of atmospheric chemistry and climate science at MIT, lectures here on the challenges posed by trying to balance economic concerns and environmental preservation.
Peter Reinhart on Bread: Chemistry is at the heart of baking. A small change in one ingredient can cause major changes that alter the chemical reactions necessary for bread to rise. Learn a bit more about the chemistry fundamentals of bread baking from master breadmaker Peter Reinhart in this lecture.
Tyrone Hayes + Penelope Jagessar Chaffer: The toxic baby?: How much do the chemicals we use in everyday life affect our health and the health of our children? Sadly, as you’ll see here, not all chemicals have a positive impact on human (and other species’) health and longevity.
Bonnie Bassler: How bacteria “talk”: Bacteria don’t have mouths or vocal chords, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t talk to one another. Conversations between bacteria take place through the release of chemicals, a fascinating bit of organic chemistry for any chemistry buff to learn about.
Electronic Plastics: Flexible Solutions for Today’s Energy Challenges and Tomorrow’s Wired World: Princeton grad Yueh-Lin Loo explains some of the amazing ways that chemical and biological engineering are shaping the materials that will impact energy, technology, and electronics in the future.
Molecular Gastronomy is Not Molecular Cooking: Head to this iTunesU lecture, in two parts, to learn more about the science of molecular gastronomy, and to better understand what the term really means.
Green Chemistry: Designing Tomorrow: Learn what role chemistry will play in developing green innovations in the years to come from Yale professor Paul Anastas.
Writing the Blueprint for Life: In this video from the University of Chicago, chemistry aficionados will hear from professor Milan Mrksich on the challenges of designing a blueprint for organic matter and a range of other molecular engineering topics.
The Chemistry of Sports: R