The HSU Department of Chemistry and Physics celebrated National Chemistry Week last week. National Chemistry Week was created by the American Chemical Society (ACS) as a public awareness campaign that promotes the value of chemistry in everyday life. ACS members and chemistry enthusiasts celebrate National Chemistry Week by coordinating events and communicating the importance of chemistry.
“I love chemistry and all of the science fields,” Ashleigh Power, a freshman chemistry major from Hurst, said. “It is so interesting and important to our lives. Without chemistry, we would not have modern medicine and would be much sicker. I am very glad that we got to celebrate such a fun and fascinating major.”
Students and professors hosted a Chemistry Magic Show for the HSU and Abilene community to attend on Oct. 19. They performed scientifically-based tricks that caused balloon explosions, foam cannon balls to be launched and solutions to change color.
“Science is always really cool, but can get a bad reputation in school,” Power said. “It was a lot of fun watching the young kids react to the experiments and get excited for them. I hope it sparked a love of science in them.”
Four pumpkins were carved and on a table. The students created “elephant’s toothpaste” inside it by mixing together hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, yeast and hot water. The mixture bubbled up and came out of the carved faces.
“My favorite pumpkin was carved to look like it was going to throw up,” Heidi Gallagher, a freshman art major from Frisco, said. “It was really creative and funny to watch the elephant’s toothpaste come out of its mouth like it did throw up.”
The crowd favorite was when the professors made ice cream using liquid nitrogen. They mixed vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors for the attendees.
“The ice cream was so good,” Jonathan Durance, a freshman math major from Manitoba, Canada, said. “I had never eaten ice cream made that way before. The experience of watching it being made was cool and it tasted amazing.”