One of our goals as a Department is to make science, in particular chemistry, available to students who are interested in pursing a career in STEM.
Considering the uncertainty surrounding access to laboratories during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department of Chemistry is releasing experiments that students can carry out at home. These experiments are designed to make use of common kitchen equipment to safely recreate a version of the experiments that students would have experienced had they been able to attend our Open Access labs. For each experiment we have given a list of materials and equipment; however if these are not something you can access, we strongly encourage you to use any materials you have available that you think would work! We would love to know what materials you end up using and how you think they affected the experiment!
Two experiments have been designed by Dr Filip Sebest in collaboration with Dr Helen Coulshed and Dr Grace Walden. These are “separation of caffeine from coffee” and “TLC analysis of food colourings.”
These experiments let students explore the principles of separation science.
Caffeine separation from coffee
During this experiment you will separate caffeine from coffee. You will practice key techniques such as gravity filtration, liquid-liquid extraction, how to make saturated solutions, the importance of solvent evaporation and crystallisation.
Click here to download the protocol
Watch an instructional video here
Click here to download the worksheet
Once you have finished the worksheet, check the answer sheet here.
TLC analysis of food colourings
During this experiment you will analyse several readily available food dyes to identify their components. You will practice key techniques such as thin layer chromatography (TLC), the importance of solvent systems and identifying components of a mixture.
Click here to download the protocol
Watch an instructional video here
Click here to download the worksheet
Once you have finished the worksheet, check the answer sheet here.
We are also asking everyone that uses our resources to complete our questionnaire so that we can continue to improve. Thank you for your time!