Why Is Milk White?: & 200 Other Curious Chemistry Questions

by Alexa Coelho, Simon Quellen Field

Overview

Covering a wide variety of everyday chemistry concepts from the very simple to the more complex, this question-and-answer primer provides straightforward, easy-to-understand explanations for inquisitive young scientists’ questions. A dozen unique experiments to try at home—from lifting latent fingerprints from a “crime scene” using super glue (for smooth surfaces) or iodine (for paper) to hollowing out the zinc interior of a penny using muriatic acid—are interspersed with the answers to such questions as What makes soda so fizzy? and Why do you get cavities when you eat too much sugar? From separating food coloring into its component dyes to using easy-to-find chemicals to create “slime,” Silly Putty, or bouncing balls, this handy guide is the ideal resource for the budding chemist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613744529
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,089,874
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1110L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Alexa Coelho is a curious teenager who asks a lot of chemistry questions. Simon Quellen Field is the author of Culinary Reactions, Gonzo Gizmos, and Why There’s Antifreeze in Your Toothpaste and the creator of the popular website www.scitoys.com. They both live in Los Gatos, California.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Many of Coelho’s questions are things that other adolescents (and adults) may have wondered, and here they are answered by a knowledgeable scientist who gives readers all the tools they may need to understand the complex chemistry of the everyday world."  —Booklist

Editorial Reviews

"Many of Coelho’s questions are things that other adolescents (and adults) may have wondered, and here they are answered by a knowledgeable scientist who gives readers all the tools they may need to understand the complex chemistry of the everyday world."  —Booklist


"Just the book to inspire the budding chemist, or simply entertain, while teaching, the rest of us."—The Pioneer Woman

From the Publisher

Gr 5–8—This book was created by an adult science writer and an 11-year-old with an interest in science. Coelho compiled a list of questions and Field provided the answers. The questions are loosely grouped into subject headings: "People and Animals," "Plants," "Household Chemistry," "Health and Safety," "Things That Catch Fire or Go Bang," "Things That Stink," etc. The book begins with a short introduction on how to read structural formulas. The questions range from quite basic to complicated and cover a broad range of topics, from "How does a Van de Graaff generator work?" to "Why does snow melt?" The answers range in length from a paragraph to two pages, and the writing is dry and uneven. A few black-and-white photographs, simple illustrations of chemical structures, and 12 experiments are included. These activities range from making the familiar dancing raisins (making raisins "dance" in a carbonated beverage) to making a butane balloon that involves freezing butane and then filling a balloon with it and observing it change from a liquid to a gas. "Smoking Hands" involves mixing small amounts of household ammonia and muriatic acid. Many of the experiments require adult supervision. While this book includes a lot of interesting facts, it may be a challenge for students to access them due to its somewhat arbitrary arrangement.—Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA

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