AngusAlchemist

UK roadsigns as labware: Liebig condenser. (1/15)

@CrocodileChemi1 @iain_smellie 😄 I'm making no rash promises...

@AlchemistAngus @iain_smellie Don’t be tempted to use it for some science! Well done!

The rescue poinsettia thinks it's November. Back in 2024 @iain_smellie bought a sorry looking specimen. I put a cutting in some water. It did nothing much for months then in July it suddenly shot out roots overnight and started growing new foliage. Look what appeared yesterday.

Stem cutting plus a little rooting compound in water appeared to do nothing except occasionally shed a leaf for 8 months and then...

@iain_smellie That was it after 3 changes of water. If anyone needs 20 litres of red cabbage indicator, I know a guy...

Last week @AlchemistAngus was disposing of some well soaked red cabbage. Even after several prolonged extractions, some colour still remains. He’s now got a large stock of red cabbage indicator!

To put these into perspective, here are 20 activities showing their equivalent radiation dose in terms of eating bananas

Mulled wine? No, it's that other festive favourite, mulled vitriol. @iain_smellie got me a red cabbage for Christmas so I've steeped it in dilute H₂SO₄'s to find the safest extract that stores well. Hold tight for the update this time next year. #JamesWatt #GardenIndicators

An earlier tweet showing pH and aluminium reactions of apple anthocyanins. *elbowed x.com/AlchemistAngus…

Apple served with ammonia two ways: youtube.com/shorts/Ng0cb05… x.com/KeithRamsey13/…

After seeing apples in ammonia, @iain_smellie and I wondered what would happen in sulfur dioxide. Anthocyanins in the red flavylium form react with bisulfite to make colourless flavene sulfonates. SO₂ from hydrochoric acid + sodium metabisulfite (Na₂S₂O₅). #GardenIndicators

It’s Christmas cookie season! Check the infographic to see which molecules flavor your favorite!

@billcooper1959 That was adventurous indoors with no eye protection. What size peas do they have there?

AI or real?

Spooky light or Barometric light observed when mercury sealed ampoules under low pressure are shaken or the vapour excited using a Tesla coil. #mercuryglow #Hgdischargetube #TECHOGNITION #Techsrule youtube.com/shorts/zzewbZs…

It’s the annual art exhibition at school. These are my RGB plots showing the pH profiles from 1-14 of a pink gladiolus (top left), Blackberry (top right), bright pink Busy Lizzie (bottom right) and purple pansy (bottom left). All similar, subtly different #GardenIndicators

It’s been a long time, but I’ve made a new Shinoda test video for the @Gardenindicators YouTube channel. This one features onion skin, the outer part so very easy to extract. youtu.be/HF94JGwLaEw?si…

Rainbow fizz neutralisation with N5 Chemistry this morning! 🌈 hydrochloric acid reacting with sodium carbonate to produce sodium chloride + water + carbon dioxide! 🫧 @MonifiethHigh #Nat5 #chemistry #neutralisation P.S. it turns green at the end!

@CulturedChem The phenol/anisole OH/OMe is para to the spiro carbon, except green. R: 2,6-Di-tert-butylphenol, Phenol O: 1',8'-Dihydroxyfluorescein (from 2× phloroglucinol) Y: Anisole, 1-Naphthol G: 1-Naphthol (ortho), 1-Naphthol (para) B: 1-Naphthol ×2 I: Thymol ×2 V: 2-iso-Propylphenol ×2

@AlchemistAngus What are the substitutions to get each color?

As our range of substituted phenolphthaleins threatens to get out of hand, I felt it was time for a cliché.

C. The same. A year would be 12 months and 5 or 6 days. (TV quiz question)

As #autumn days get shorter and cooler, deciduous leaves break down their green chlorophyll to let other pigments shine! 🍃💨🍂 Reds and purples from anthocyanins like cyanin and its derivatives such as chysanthemin. These molecules also lend their colors to many species of flowering plants. Their colors are adjusted by modifications to the groups substituted on the molecule. Other reds come from lycopene, familiar as an antioxidant in tomatoes. Many oranges and yellows originate from the same class of molecules called the carotenoids. Xanthophylls like zeaxanthin provide the yellows and beta-carotene gives the oranges (also in carrots and pumpkins). Get out and experience some leaf chemistry today!

Closeup of some of the black crystals. They look really cool.