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Category collecting the most relevant contents about chemistry. Breakthrough chemistry highlights, guides for home chemistry, reviews on chemistry resurces and educational materials.

Why Do Chemicals React? Kinetics and Thermodynamics

April 10, 2021 By C. Hall 4 Comments

Chemistry is the science of change. But why do chemical reactions take place? Why do chemicals react with each other?

The answer is in thermodynamics and kinetics. These two are arguably the most important concepts to grasp in chemistry.

But sometimes, even after several years of basic chemistry education, it is not easy to form a clear picture on how they govern reactivity!

Tutorial Review: Contents and Introduction

In this tutorial, we will try to introduce and summarize what these two concepts are, and their implications in chemical reactivity. This is obviously an introduction, intended for chemistry students of all levels.

For sure, there are more comprehensive explanations out there, and if you want one, go grab any of the best-known general chemistry books, or a more specific organic chemistry textbook. However, we have found that there are not many short explanations out there available for the general scientific public. This is somehow worrying, since, without a basic understanding of thermodynamics and kinetics, there is no way to understand the basic principles of reactivity. And without understanding reactivity, you are missing out on the most important part of chemistry.

But if you really want to dive on physical chemistry concepts as such, unfortunately you will find that most books can be impenetrable without a basic understanding of maths, physics and chemistry itself.

This is what we want to fix with this short tutorial. To give you a general overview on why chemical compounds react. We want to break the gate-keeping that has always been going on with physical organic chemistry!

As mentioned, this is intended to be brief. We will start off with the basic definitions, and hopefully make you go all the way through to understanding free-energy profiles of catalytic reactions.

Interested yet? Keep reading!

  • A quick disclaimer: Since my background is in organic chemistry, I will base the explanations on simple organic chemical reactions, but most of the general principles apply to any kind of chemical reactivity.
  • For most energy diagrams, the energy values are orientative, made up in order to explain the concepts.
… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

How To Learn Chemistry at Any Level

January 31, 2020 By C. Hall 2 Comments

How to Learn Chemistry

Have you ever wanted to learn chemistry, but just didn’t know how to go about doing it? Taking college courses and you don’t know how to find resources? There is so much to this science that it can be hard to even know where to start! That’s why we put together this guide with recommendations… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

Thin Layer Chromatography: A Complete Guide to TLC

January 2, 2020 By C. Hall 31 Comments

tlc guide

If there is one technique or experiment that every chemist, or student learning chemistry should know, it is Thin Layer Chromatography (or TLC for short). If you want to become a synthetic chemist, or you are planning to ace an experimental course on organic chemistry, TLC is something you really need to master. So, what… [Read More]

Filed Under: Chemistry Lab, Featured Tagged With: organic chemistry

The Best Chemistry Set for Kids (and Adults!)

January 1, 2020 By Emily McPeek 1 Comment

best chemistry set for kids

There’s no better way to learn about chemistry than with fun, hands-on experiments and science projects. Teachers and parents, read on to learn the best chemistry set for kids of practically any age. Adults are sure to have a blast, too! We have reviewed and updated this guide recently, so it is ready for 2020…. [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

The Best General Chemistry Textbook

August 23, 2019 By C. Hall 1 Comment

best chemistry textbook

The new academic year has already begun in many parts of the world, but it’s never too early to start planning for next year. Time to get your hands into the best general chemistry textbook for your situation! Whether you are a chemistry instructor at the university or high school level, or a student looking… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

The Best Inorganic Chemistry Textbooks

August 5, 2019 By C. Hall 14 Comments

best inorganic chemistry textbook

Inorganic chemistry is one of the cornerstones of the central science. For many is the most fun, but it covers an extremely wide range of topics. For this reason, you need to make sure to find the best inorganic chemistry textbook for learning efficiently! We have recently reviewed a selection of the best organic chemistry… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: inorganic chemistry

100 Fun Chemistry Facts (With Awesome Explanations!)

July 18, 2019 By C. Hall 9 Comments

top 100 chemistry facts

You probably agree with me on the first fact: chemistry is fascinating. There are plenty of unanswered mysteries within this science, but there are also many interesting and fun chemistry facts which have been explained. The so called central science offers us so many awesome things to think about. From chemistry facts in daily life… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

The Best AP Chemistry Review Book

July 5, 2019 By C. Hall 2 Comments

Cracking the AP Chemistry Exam

Summer vacation is a time to relax and unwind, but students enrolled in advanced placement (or AP for short) classes for the coming school year are already planning for the exciting challenge that awaits them. It’s never too early to start thinking about the standardized AP exams you’ll have to take at the end of… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

The Best Organic Chemistry Textbook [A Definitive Guide]

June 27, 2019 By C. Hall 28 Comments

Clayden Organic Chemistry Textbook

Let’s face it, organic chemistry can seem difficult to learn. Especially from a beginner’s point of view. For exactly that reason we have put together the definitive guide for choosing the best organic chemistry textbook for your situation. But out of ALL of them, how do you choose the best one? The amount of material… [Read More]

Filed Under: Education and Concepts, Featured Tagged With: organic chemistry

Chemistry Experiments at Home: Setting Up a Home Lab

June 22, 2019 By C. Hall Leave a Comment

Home Chemistry Lab Experiments

Not everybody has access to a professional chemistry lab, so setting up a home chemistry lab is your best bet if you want to do chemistry experiments at home. Chemistry is an experimental science, and the best way to enjoy it and learn about it is performing experiments. No matter if you are a hobby… [Read More]

Filed Under: Chemistry Experiments, Featured Tagged With: general chemistry

Can We See Real Atoms and Molecules? Electron Microscopy at a Glance

June 17, 2019 By C. Hall 2 Comments

Can we see atoms and molecules?

A universal challenge that has been keeping chemists busy ever since the modern concepts of “atom” and “molecules” were conceived, is how to actually characterize molecular compounds, either human-made or found on Nature. But, can we see real atoms and molecules? Confirming the actual structure of a molecule, is still a big challenge now-a-days. The… [Read More]

Filed Under: Chemistry Research Highlights, Featured Tagged With: inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry

Lab Hacks – How to Increase your Productivity in the Lab

November 19, 2016 By C. Hall 4 Comments

TLC Lab Hacks

I have been working in a chemistry laboratory for some years and still every once in a while I learn new amazing tricks or lab hacks that leave me open-mouthed. Also, it has been a while since I last talked about chemistry lab tricks. For these reason, I decided to share with all of you… [Read More]

Filed Under: Chemistry Lab, Featured Tagged With: inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry

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why do chemicals react

Why Do Chemicals React? Kinetics and Thermodynamics

April 10, 2021 By C. Hall 4 Comments

Chemistry is the science of change. But why do chemical reactions take place? Why do chemicals react with each other? The answer is in thermodynamics and kinetics. These … [Read More...]

How to Learn Chemistry

How To Learn Chemistry at Any Level

January 31, 2020 By C. Hall 2 Comments

Have you ever wanted to learn chemistry, but just didn’t know how to go about doing it? Taking college courses and you don't know how to find resources? There is so much to … [Read More...]

tlc guide

Thin Layer Chromatography: A Complete Guide to TLC

January 2, 2020 By C. Hall 31 Comments

If there is one technique or experiment that every chemist, or student learning chemistry should know, it is Thin Layer Chromatography (or TLC for short). If you want to … [Read More...]

best chemistry set for kids

The Best Chemistry Set for Kids (and Adults!)

January 1, 2020 By Emily McPeek 1 Comment

There’s no better way to learn about chemistry than with fun, hands-on experiments and science projects. Teachers and parents, read on to learn the best chemistry set for kids … [Read More...]

best chemistry textbook

The Best General Chemistry Textbook

August 23, 2019 By C. Hall 1 Comment

The new academic year has already begun in many parts of the world, but it’s never too early to start planning for next year. Time to get your hands into the best general … [Read More...]

best inorganic chemistry textbook

The Best Inorganic Chemistry Textbooks

August 5, 2019 By C. Hall 14 Comments

Inorganic chemistry is one of the cornerstones of the central science. For many is the most fun, but it covers an extremely wide range of topics. For this reason, you need to … [Read More...]

top 100 chemistry facts

100 Fun Chemistry Facts (With Awesome Explanations!)

July 18, 2019 By C. Hall 9 Comments

You probably agree with me on the first fact: chemistry is fascinating. There are plenty of unanswered mysteries within this science, but there are also many interesting and … [Read More...]

Cracking the AP Chemistry Exam

The Best AP Chemistry Review Book

July 5, 2019 By C. Hall 2 Comments

Summer vacation is a time to relax and unwind, but students enrolled in advanced placement (or AP for short) classes for the coming school year are already planning for the … [Read More...]

Clayden Organic Chemistry Textbook

The Best Organic Chemistry Textbook [A Definitive Guide]

June 27, 2019 By C. Hall 28 Comments

Let's face it, organic chemistry can seem difficult to learn. Especially from a beginner's point of view. For exactly that reason we have put together the definitive guide for … [Read More...]

Home Chemistry Lab Experiments

Chemistry Experiments at Home: Setting Up a Home Lab

June 22, 2019 By C. Hall Leave a Comment

Not everybody has access to a professional chemistry lab, so setting up a home chemistry lab is your best bet if you want to do chemistry experiments at home. Chemistry is … [Read More...]

Can we see atoms and molecules?

Can We See Real Atoms and Molecules? Electron Microscopy at a Glance

June 17, 2019 By C. Hall 2 Comments

A universal challenge that has been keeping chemists busy ever since the modern concepts of “atom” and “molecules” were conceived, is how to actually characterize molecular … [Read More...]

TLC Lab Hacks

Lab Hacks – How to Increase your Productivity in the Lab

November 19, 2016 By C. Hall 4 Comments

I have been working in a chemistry laboratory for some years and still every once in a while I learn new amazing tricks or lab hacks that leave me open-mouthed. Also, it has … [Read More...]

LSD

LSD Synthesis and Discovery: What You May Not Know About It

December 14, 2014 By C. Hall 28 Comments

Disclaimer: This article is purely informative, and it does not contain information about how to actually carry out experimental procedures for the synthesis of LSD or any … [Read More...]

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