Tag Archives: Science Word Magnets

The Chronicles of the Chronicle Flask: 2020

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It’s officially time to put 2020 in the bin! Hurrah! And that means it’s time for a round-up of everything on this blog from the last twelve months. It’s not all COVID-19 related, I promise…

Mystery purple crystals

January began with a mystery, about some strange, blueish-purple crystals that were found under a sink. What were they? Well, if you missed it, or you’ve just forgotten, the answer is here…

I had no idea at the time, but February was the calm before the storm. I was cheerfully talking about the Pocket Chemist. Have you got one? The post has a discount code, and they’re amazingly useful things. Especially if you’re studying from home…

Everything kicked off in March, and back in those early days everyone was all about the hand-washing. It may not be the burniest or the flashiest, but soap chemistry is some of the oldest chemistry we know. Oh, yes, and wash your hands. Properly.

We were all home learning in April. Or trying to, at least. Lots of chemists started messing about with stuff at home — in particular, @CrocodileChemist (aka Isobel Everest — give her a follow) created some gorgeous art with home-made indicators. I wrote all about an easy version, made with the classic: red cabbage.

Red cabbage indicator with various household substances

May featured pyrotechnics. Well, everything was on fire, so it seemed apt. Also, it was the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of the novel, Good Omens.

It was back to COVID-19 science in June, because everyone was talking about dexamethasone — a well-known, readily available and, crucially, cheap steroid that has been shown to help patients with the most severe symptoms. Want to know more about its history? Check out the post.

By July nothing was over, but we’d definitely all had enough. So it was time to talk about something completely different. What better than a post all about sweet things, to mark national lollipop day?

In August the folks at Genius Lab Gear sent me an awesome set of Science Word Magnets. Do you need a set of these for when you finally make it back to a whiteboard? Check out this post for a discount code…

September was all about skin chemistry

There’s evidence that low vitamin D levels are correlated with worse COVID-19 outcomes and, in the UK, we can’t make it in our skin in the winter months — so September was all about vitamin D. Want to know more? Read all about sunshine and skin chemistry.

It’s Mole Day on the 23rd of October, so I did some ridiculous and, frankly, slightly disgusting calculations. Did you know that if we drained the blood out of every, single human on the planet, we’d only have about half a mole of red blood cells? You do now.

In November I went back to cleaning chemistry. Well, we had all been stuck at home for a while. This time, it was ovens. Why is cleaning ovens such hard work? Why do we use the chemicals we use? I explained all that. Read on!

Annnnd that brings us to December, and the STEM Heroes Colouring Book — a project I’m super proud to be a part of. So, hey, there’s been some good stuff!

Here’s to the end of 2020, and let’s hope that 2021 brings us some good things. It has to, surely? January traditionally brings a health scare, but no one’s doing that in 2021, are they? Are they? I guess we’ll find out soon… lots of love to everyone, stay safe, and stay well!


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Genius Lab Gear: The Pocket Chemist

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The lovely people at Genius Lab Gear were kind enough to send me one of these to try the other day: The Pocket Chemist!

The Pocket Chemist is a handy double-sided stencil and chemistry reference.

It’s a double-sided stencil which is also printed with lots of really useful chemistry reference information.

It’s made of enamel-coated stainless steel, which not only gives it a really solid, quality feel, but also means you can spill acetone on it without fear.

The edges are super-straight, so you can use it as a (85 mm) ruler. It’s marked in inches and centimetres, includes a small protractor for measuring angles, and there are stencils for various cyclic compounds—including a hexagon so your benzene rings will always be immaculate.

On the back, there’s a full (if small) periodic table that, yes, has the correct symbols for the four elements that were last to get their names (if your eyes are struggling, click on the photo to see a bigger vision).

There’s a full periodic table on the back (click on the image for a larger version).

There’s plenty of other useful information, too: formulas for pH calculations, Gibbs free energy change and others, a number of useful constants (including Avogadro’s number and the molar gas constant in three different unit forms) and other handy bits and pieces such as prefixes for large and small numbers.

Another clever feature is a phone stand slot: put a sturdy credit card-sized card in the straight line at the top, and you can use it to rest your phone at an angle. It’s not strong enough for heavy-handed screen-jabbing, but it works well enough if you just want to watch a video.

Use the stencils to ensure your hexagons are always perfect!

I have to say, I genuinely love the Pocket Chemist. What a great idea. It’s well-made and the perfect size to fit into your wallet, pocket or pencil case. It’s the perfect piece of kit to take to lessons or lectures (no sneaking it into exams, though!).

Now for the good bit: I’ve got a discount code for you! Order from Genius Lab Gear and enter the code FLASK15 at check out, and you’ll get 15% off your order (and I get a small commission which helps pay for this site—win, win!). Shipping is FREE.

Quick note for my non-American readers: with a few minor exceptions, shipping is free worldwide (it’s a thin item that fits in a regular envelope) and delivery is pretty quick.

… AND if you’d like some Science Word Magnets from the same people, check out this page for a discount code for those!

Like the Chronicle Flask’s Facebook page for regular updates, or follow @chronicleflask on Twitter. Content is © Kat Day 2020. You may share or link to anything here, but you must reference this site if you do.