r/chemistry • • 5d ago

Weekly Careers/Education Questions Thread

3 Upvotes

This is a dedicated weekly thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in chemistry.

If you need to make an important decision regarding your future or want to know what your options, then this is the place to leave a comment.

If you see similar topics in r/chemistry, please politely inform them of this weekly feature.


r/chemistry • • 3d ago

Weekly Research S.O.S. Thread - Ask your research and technical questions here

4 Upvotes

Ask the r/chemistry intelligentsia your research/technical questions. This is a great way to reach out to a broad chemistry network about anything you are curious about or need insight with and for professionals who want to help with topics that they are knowledgeable about.

So if you have any questions about reactions not working, optimization of yields or anything else concerning your current (or future) research, this is the place to leave your comment.

If you see similar topics of people around r/chemistry please direct them to this weekly thread where they hopefully get the help that they are looking for.


r/chemistry • • 13h ago

We went on a quest to find the world’s most expensive electrons, and we found some that are worth $43 quadrillion per mole.

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393 Upvotes

r/chemistry • • 1h ago

Organic chemists, what's a reaction that absolutely refused to work for you?

• Upvotes

I want to hear about reactions that looked straightforward on paper but turned into a complete headache in the lab. I'm talking about following a published procedure, trying different conditions, checking TLC, running NMR, and still having no idea what went wrong. What was the reaction, what did you try changing, and did you eventually figure out the problem?

Sometimes I feel like research papers leave out the most interesting part of chemistry: everything that goes wrong before you finally get the product.


r/chemistry • • 2h ago

Trying to grow crystals, instructions unclear.. Is the Monoammomium phosphate the 'salt'?

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6 Upvotes

r/chemistry • • 12h ago

3 allotropes of carbon

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33 Upvotes

Here i have regular old graphite (its secretly carbonium, the unknown 23rd allotrope after buckyballium), vitreous carbon which looks so strange, and diamonds (my favourite, because who doesnt love diamonds. Its really odd how these 3 completely different things are made up of the same stuff


r/chemistry • • 4h ago

Would this mess up my experiment if I used this for sodium nitrite?

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3 Upvotes

https://www.dynaflux.com/product/product-600-6-chem-sharp/

Not much on the market right now but would this have other impurities and anti caking agents? Or would it just be as good as other sodium nitrites from a science company


r/chemistry • • 2h ago

New Synthesis Workshop Talk About Bioisosteres

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2 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

Today there is a new Synthesis Workshop talk about the synthesis of hetero[3.1.1]propellanes!

Check it out here: https://youtu.be/0VXAjHwoHS4


r/chemistry • • 10h ago

Would like to know how pHlocrite works if anyone can help ?

3 Upvotes

I recently came across a material called Phlocrite, which is used in water treatment, and I’m curious about the science behind it.
From what I understand, it’s a synthetic, semi-calcined, high-magnesia dolomitic limestone material designed to help correct pH, add minerals back into water, and remove certain heavy metals. The company also makes claims about removing contaminants such as arsenic and cadmium.
I’d like to understand how this works on a chemical level, rather than just relying on the company’s claims.
I’m not a chemist, so I’d really appreciate any explanations, relevant research papers, or pointers towards the chemistry I should read up on.


r/chemistry • • 1d ago

3D modeled and made a magnetic stirrer + heated water bath thingy

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294 Upvotes

r/chemistry • • 22h ago

Elemental iodine crystals

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19 Upvotes

r/chemistry • • 7h ago

Is the arsine gas procuded from arsenic test strips actually dangerous?

1 Upvotes

Obviously; arsine gas is dangwerous, im mainly asking 1-if we are starting with 100 ppb and then treating that water using a filter, then testing the water that comes out of the filter, how dangerous is it. and 2- is a fume hood all the safety necessary if it *is* dangerous?


r/chemistry • • 23h ago

What actually is charge

17 Upvotes

Non-Chemist here (so bare with me) what is charge, how does it work and how does positive and negative charge come about (mainly how do subatomic particles be charged


r/chemistry • • 1d ago

Lost youtube video: Butynediol synthesis from acetylene and formaldehyde.

14 Upvotes

I clearly remember watching it about a year or less ago but forgot the exact title and channel name, it was one of the smaller ones I think. Not sure if it got deleted or I just cant find it, if you remember it please give some info.


r/chemistry • • 1d ago

Osmium, my favourite element.

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355 Upvotes

I just find it the most interesting. Its the heaviest element, its 2.7x rarer than gold, and its just beautiful with its dark blue colour. I love holding them and staring at them.


r/chemistry • • 3h ago

Lead

0 Upvotes

My young son found a small, shiny silver marble with some darker lead colored spots that look like patina on the hiking trail today. Is it possible it’s a lead marble? Google tells me lead is much darker but hard not to worry.


r/chemistry • • 21h ago

Scientists discover oxygen trapped deep inside Earth’s magma, possibly explaining the rise of early life

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7 Upvotes

Molten rock may carry an oxygen reserve that standard chemical calculations overlook. High-pressure experiments show that basaltic melts exposed to oxygen-rich conditions can retain substantial extra oxygen, potentially adding a missing component to models of Earth’s interior.

The study in National Science Review combines laboratory measurements with atomic-scale simulations. Yanhao Lin and Ho-Kwang Mao of the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, known as HPSTAR, led the work with collaborators. The team included Haiyang Niu of Northwestern Polytechnical University and Wim van Westrenen of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, with Yongjiang Xu as first author.

The results raise a larger possibility: some rising magmas could transfer oxidizing power from deep reservoirs toward the surface. Establishing that capacity, however, is different from demonstrating how much oxygen natural magmas actually carry or release.


r/chemistry • • 1d ago

A hammered-finish pure Rhenium (Element 75) ring I made and mirror-polished

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546 Upvotes

Hello,I'm Captain Iridium, first-time poster here!

I have loved corrosion-resistant metals for 34 years and have been handcrafting rings from pure refractory metals (Ir, Ru, Rh, Re, Ta, Nb, Hf, Zr, etc.) since 2010.

This is a ring I made from pure Rhenium.
Rhenium is very difficult to work with and polish.I have spent 16 years improving my hand-polishing skills for rare metals. It was a big challenge to polish each small hammered mark into a true mirror shine, with zero coating or plating.

Among all the metals in the periodic table, Rhenium is my 4th favorite metal—right after Iridium, Rhodium, and Tantalum. At room temperature, Rhenium in compact (solid) form hardly reacts with air or water, and it can resist hydrochloric acid and dilute sulfuric acid under normal conditions. Some articles say that Rhenium can even withstand aqua regia, but that is completely wrong! (In fact, Rhenium dissolves easily in nitric acid and aqua regia.) The reason for this myth is that a book named Corrosion Guide misspelled "Rhodium" as "Rhenium". Many later books and articles blindly cited that chapter, spreading such a big mistake!😁😁😁


r/chemistry • • 2h ago

Lead

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0 Upvotes

My young son found a small, shiny silver marble with some darker lead colored spots that look like patina on the hiking trail today. Is it possible it’s a lead marble? Google tells me lead is much darker but hard not to worry. Here are a few pictures, sorry for the low res and soil. Any thoughts on what this is? Is it possibly lead??


r/chemistry • • 13h ago

Searching for Courses

1 Upvotes

Are there any good Website or apps that offer Chemistry Courses?

What do you recommend?


r/chemistry • • 18h ago

How to Safely Use a Hypochlorous Acid Generator

1 Upvotes

I purchased an Ecolox Tech Eco One hypochlorous acid generator in 2020, when all disinfectants were sold out for months.

I’ve been using it for years without any noticeable issues. However, I just read today that you can accidentally create chlorine gas with one of these machines.

I’m scared now, lol. I was homeschooled, and my parent just didn’t teach chemistry at all. I don’t know ANYTHING about chemistry, and I’ve been puttering around with this potentially dangerous machine for years in complete ignorance. I follow the instructions and go about my merry way, lol.

Could you guys please help me understand how I can continue to use this machine safely? And could you tell me what I should avoid doing?

I always use the same recipe:

0.5 Liter of water
1 gram of fine kosher salt
0.5 teaspoon of white vinegar

Run the machine for 8 minutes. The light comes on and the machine and liquid inside heats up a little bit (is that okay?) and bubbles and then shuts off automatically.

I then pour the liquid into a spray bottle, rinse the machine and let air dry.

This is supposed to create 200 ppm of hypochlorous acid. I’ve never used any test strips, but it smells and feels like my Avenova spray (which is a weaker hypochlorous acid for my eyelids) so I just assumed that the machine is doing its job.


r/chemistry • • 2d ago

Real or Fake mercury bottle?

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347 Upvotes

Found at an antique store in California, the lady told me it was empty. I went home and checked (with gloves but then got paranoid so now it’s double bagged)

Edit: okay so the lady in the store opened it and looked inside with her flashlight and said it was empty.


r/chemistry • • 19h ago

Thermo Dionex Integrion Seal Replacement for Secondary Pump

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1 Upvotes

Anyone with experience on these able to help?


r/chemistry • • 2d ago

Black sodium flame

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692 Upvotes

Methanol flame with Na+ ions turns almost black when irradiated with a low pressure sodium lamp, the sodium ions in the flame absorb the same wavelengths emitted by the lamp.


r/chemistry • • 1d ago

Alguien con experiencia en formulación de agroquímicos?

1 Upvotes

Tengo dificultades para estabilizar el tamaño de particula en una formulación SC durante la estabilidad acelerada. Estoy trabajando con dos activos, uno de la familia de piridiniletilbenzamidas y otro de triazoles. En 500 g/L.