Family audiences

Everyone loves this activity, but it is rather messy! You can make enormous bubbles, including some that can have a person inside, bubble domes, ''cubic'' bubbles etc etc. If the weather is fine some of it can be done outside. We can also demonstrate 'heavy bubbles' and you can try your hand at making 'anti-bubbles'.

Using Molymod kits and pictorial instructions to build models of a wide variety of molecules, from simple gases to complex drug molecules involving tens of atoms.

How have chemists brought colour to our lives? Why do chemists use colour to help them understand the world around them? What makes fireworks look so pretty? The answers to these and other burning questions will be answered in this exciting lecture, delivered by Dr Annie Hodgson from the University of York. Prepare to be amazed as colours change before your eyes, but don’t be surprised by the odd flash or bang along the way.

Blowing the tops off film canisters with sodium hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate of soda), citric acid and water. This is great fun, but not for those with a nervous disposition! If it is dry weather, you can do this outside as it is rather messy, but it is fine indoors with care. The challenge is to work out how much of each of the ingredients is required to blow the lid off the film canister in exactly one minute.

Light comes in a rainbow of colours and can tell us so much about the universe around us. Spectroscopy is a way to investigate these colours, revealing the chemistry happening in a test tube or in a galaxy far away. Using a portable Spectroscopy in a Suitcase kit, originally developed by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), participants can engage with a range of demonstrations to discover the properties visible and ultraviolet (UV) light.