Center for the Science & Engineering of Materials @ Caltech


Material of the Month \| Past Material of the Month

October 20 - 26, 2002
National Chemistry Week is sponsored by the American Chemical Society. The purpose of National Chemistry Week is to celebrate the positive contributions of chemistry to our daily lives. This year, the theme for National Chemistry Week is Chemistry Keeps Us Clean!

Chemistry keeps us clean in many different ways. We need chemistry to make soaps and detergents. We need chemistry to purify our water, and we need chemistry to protect our environment. In this issue of Celebrating Chemistry, you will learn about how soaps and detergents are made. You will learn how they work, and you will learn what they do. You will also learn how lake and stream water is treated to make it safe to drink, and you will learn how plants can be used to clean up pollution.

These activities were designed as experiments that you can perform anywhere using common materials like sand, soap and pennies. As you perform each experiment, you will learn about the world around you, and you will get a sense of what chemistry can do. You will need to make careful observations, and take notes on each step of your experiments, so that you can see the chemistry involved.

Before beginning any of these activities, be sure to work with an adult and read the warning labels on all of the materials that you use. Also, wear eye protection. We strongly recommend that chemical goggles be worn for all of these activities.

Chemistry is all around us. It is in the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. If you can touch it, taste it, smell it or see it, then it must be chemistry. By learning more about chemistry, you will be able to understand more about the world and how it works. We hope that you will have fun exploring the concept of clean in this edition of Celebrating Chemistry, and that you will keep your eyes open to the world around you.

Visit chemistry.org/ncw for additional activities, cool facts, texto en Español, reading and website lists, safety guidelines and tips for presenters.