Advanced Home Chemistry Projects

Make liquid nitrogen ice cream as a cool cryogenics or phase change demonstration or for a quick and tasty treat.

Smoke bombs are easy and fun to make and light. There are several types of smoke bombs you can make, plus you can use the smoke bomb recipe as a starting point for other types of pyrotechnic devices. Try these recipes for making your own smoke bombs.

Sodium acetate or hot ice is an amazing chemical you can prepare yourself from baking soda and vinegar. You can cool a solution of sodium acetate below its melting point and then cause the liquid to crystallize. The crystallization is an exothermic process, so the resulting ice is hot. Solidification occurs so quickly you can form sculptures as you pour the hot ice.

The thermite reaction is a highly exothermic reaction in which metal essentially burns. The thermite reaction has practical applications, such as for welding, plus it makes for a memorable chemistry demonstration. Here's how you can perform the thermite reaction, safely.

Make your own ferrofluid, or liquid magnet, which can be used with a magnet to change the liquid's density and to form spikes and other amazing shapes.

You can make ammonium nitrate from common household chemicals. The ammonium nitrate may be used to make pyrotechnics or cold packs or to perform other interesting demonstrations.

As the price of diesel continues to climb, you may wish to consider making your own diesel from cooking oil, called biodiesel. It's easy and could save you money.

Bismuth is one of the easiest and prettiest metal crystals that you can grow yourself. The crystals have an interesting geometric hopper shape and are rainbow-colored from the oxide layer that quickly forms on them. Try these step-by-step instructions for growing bismuth crystals.

Have you ever wanted to color fire? Here are simple, nontechnical instructions for making your own colored flames. Add extra interest to your fireplace or campfire!

You can spritz a flame with chemicals to change the color of the fire. Colored fire spray bottles are easy to prepare and use common chemicals.

Copper plate a holiday decoration as a Christmas ornament or for other decorative uses.

A fire tornado forms when fire is caught up in a vortex. Fire tornadoes or fire devils occur naturally in some wildfires, but you can make a small scale fire tornado yourself. Here's how!

If you can find a tee shirt and some lighter fluid, you can make small fireballs. These fireballs are re-useable. Theoretically, you can hold them in your hand.

Firebreathing involves breathing a fine mist of fuel over an open flame to form a fireball. It's the most stunning fire trick and potentially the most risky since most firebreathing involves using a flammable, toxic fuel. Here are instructions for a safer form of firebreathing, using a non-flammable, non-toxic fuel that you have in your kitchen.

This article introduces a type of weather glass that uses characteristics of precipitants and barometric pressure changes to forecast weather. There are instructions for making a storm glass and links for further meteorology, HMS Beagle, Darwin, and Fitzroy information. Be aware that construction of this storm glass may be dangerous!

Use three common household ingredients to prepare a gel or jelly that you can set on fire. This is an easy fire chemistry project that you can do at home.

Kick the traditional smoke bomb recipe up a notch to make a firework fountain that shoots purple flames with lots of smoke. This is a fun and easy homemade firework project.

Geodes are rocks that contain crystals. Normally, millions of years are required for flowing water and minerals to deposit crystals, but you can make your own 'geode' in only a few days. Grow blue copper sulfate crystals inside an egg shell to make your own geode.

All it takes is a few easily-obtained materials to turn a bottle of Mountain Dew into a glow in the dark bottle of Mountain Dew.

Learn how to make homemade glowing printer ink that you can use to print glowing pictures, iron-on transfers, posters, and more.

It's easy to make brilliant green fire. This cool chemistry project only takes two household chemicals.

All fire is not created equal! If you apply a little chemistry know-how, you can make a fireball cool enough to hold in your hand. See how it's done, then try this simple fire project yourself.

This is an easy chemistry project that uses common materials. You take a post-1982 penny, score the copper surface to expose the zinc interior, react the zinc with acid, and are left with a hollow copper penny.

Honeycomb candy is an easy-to-make candy that has an interesting texture caused by carbon dioxide bubbles getting trapped within the candy.

If you want snow, but Mother Nature won't cooperate, you can take matters into your own hands and make snow yourself! This is the homemade version of real water ice snow, just like the snow that falls from the sky except without the need for clouds.

Here are simple instructions for preparing common gases from ordinary chemicals. The gases include carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorine, and several others.

Have you ever wondered whether you could set ice on fire? These are instructions for how to make ice appear to burn and also instructions so that you can actually set it on fire.

Lichtenberg figures essentially capture the image of lightning. Here's how you can make your own Lichtenberg figure from common materials.

Napalm B is an example of a gelled sol. This easy napalm synthesis is an interesting introduction to sols and gels.

Nitrous oxide or laughing gas is one of the easiest gases to prepare in the chem lab or home lab. Here are instructions for synthesizing and collection nitrous oxide or laughing gas.

Potassium chlorate is an important potassium compound that can be used as an oxidizer, disinfectant, source of oxygen, and component in pyrotechnics and chemistry demonstrations. You can make potassium chlorate from common household bleach and salt substitute.

Make potassium nitrate (saltpeter) from common household ingredients. Potassium chloride from lite salt and ammonium nitrate from a cold pack are reacted to yield potassium nitrate and ammonium chloride. This is an easy way to make your own potassium chloride if you can't find it in a store or just want to try a fun chemistry experiment.

Red fire is easy to produce. This is a classic color for sparklers and fireworks as well as holiday parties. It would also be a cheery coloration for a campfire or fireplace.

You can make your own shampoo from scratch using simple ingredients and a little chemistry know-how. Here's a shampoo recipe to get you started.

In this simple chemistry demonstration or crystal growing project you'll grow a silver crystal tree.

You can easily make a smoke bomb using inexpensive materials to produce safe smoke.

Have you ever wondered how smoke machines work or wanted to make your own smoke or fog? Here's your chance to find out how it works. There are separate sections for each type of non-toxic smoke generator, together with important safety tips.

You can prepare sodium silicate or water glass from gel beads (silica) and drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide). Sodium silicate can be used to make chemical gardens, like those that result from Magic Rocks.

The earliest tattoo inks came from nature. You can use non-toxic natural ingredients to make your own homemade tattoo ink. This tattoo ink recipe is simple and has been used in various forms for thousands of years.

It's very simple to make violet or purple fire. All you need are two easy-to-find ingredients.

Fulgurites or "petrified lightning" form when lightning strikes sand and fuses it into glass. The glass is an impression of the form of the lightning bolt. Fulgurites occur naturally, but there are a couple of ways you can make fulgurites yourself.

Make your own homemade liquid nitrogen substitute. This poor man's liquid nitrogen may be used for many of the same projects as you would perform using liquid nitrogen.

Are you looking for an activity or project with liquid nitrogen? This is the most extensive list of liquid nitrogen ideas you're likely to find, plus you're welcome to add your own suggestions.

Microwaving a CD or compact disc produces a stunning display of sparks. It's easy to microwave a CD, but there's a chance of ruining your microwave or harming your health. Here's how to microwave a CD safely.