NIU chemists celebrate spring's arrival with bang

The NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry invites the public to celebrate the arrival of spring with an evening of chemical demonstrations.

On Thursday, March 20, the department will host an evening of chemistry demonstrations beginning at 8 p.m. in Faraday Hall 143. The theme of the demonstrations this semester is "Mission: Chemistry."

"We're combining the whimsical with the utterly practical this time around," said Michael Spires, coordinator for recruitment and public relations in the department.

Experiments planned for the evening include:

• Writing with fire.
• Latent fingerprint detection.
• A simulation of dragon's breath.
• A "clock" experiment, timed to a well-known piece of classical music.
• A demonstration of luminol, a reagent used in crime-scene investigations that reacts with the iron molecules in human blood.

Some of the demonstrations might involve loud noises and produce some smoke or unpleasant smells and might not be appropriate for small children. To ensure the safety of the audience and the presenters, flash photography is not permitted. At least for some experiments, members of the audience may be asked to leave their seats and move away from the demonstration area, again for safety reasons.

3-17-2003