Demonstrations Involve Fireballs, Flames, Smoke, Ghost-like Vapors and Erupting Foam
Students from five area high schools had a taste of college chemistry in mid-October as Wilmington College held its 29th annual High School Chemistry Night. The time-honored event was held in the brand, spanking new $14 million Center for the Sciences and Agriculture.
(PICTURED) Kaycee Blum illustrates the "Flaming Hands" demonstration in which flammable gas is infused in soap suds, yet, when ignited, the suds provide a protective barrier from the flames. Lacie Evans and Lauren DeLong are assisting.
And with the new venue came a greater sense of caution to not make a mess when WC chemistry students’ demonstrations involved fireballs, smoke, ghost-like vapors and erupting foam.
Dr. Dore Meinholtz, professor of chemistry, said she was impressed how her chemistry students beamed with pride as they presented the new facility to their high school peers.
“Our students have never before been this careful about keeping things clean,” she said. “This reflects their appreciation for and pride in the new building.”
The members of the WC Science Society — quite neatly — conducted hands-on demonstrations that featured names like “Elephant’s Toothpaste,” “Drippy Faucet,” “Dancing Flames” and “Burning Hands.” They subsequently instructed the high school students in small group settings on how they did it — so the younger students could present the same demonstrations.
Meinholtz joked there were even some feelings of nostalgia for the old Kettering Hall as, alumni will recall, “it had become something of a tradition to see just how high Elephant’s Toothpaste could go,” she said about the somewhat explosive trajectory demonstration developed by then-student Angela Kessinger Mitchell ’97. “The last couple years, we let them go ahead an splotch the soon-to-be-replaced ceiling.
“This year, the ceiling had to remain safely unsplotched.”
Students attended from Blanchester, East Clinton, Manchester, Fayetteville-Perry, Hillsboro and Manchester high schools. Wilmington College’s Chemistry Department and the American Chemical Society annually co-sponsor High School Chemistry Night.
College Holds 29th Annual High School Chemistry Night
Chemistry