Skip to content
Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words

Why I love chemistry

Five labeled water-quality sample bottles lined up in a bag, ready to be carried to the laboratory for analysis. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Chemistry" page.
Five labeled water-quality sample bottles lined up in a bag, ready to be carried to the laboratory for analysis. Carly Maas, USGS · Public domain
  • Two safe things can make a new thing.
  • The bubbles mean something is happening.
  • I can measure exactly how much.

What it really is

Chemistry is what happens when atoms rearrange into something different.

Three things to try today

  1. Mix baking soda and vinegar and watch.
  2. Do it again with half the vinegar.
  3. Say what changed and by how much.
A PhD fellow works at a bench in the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory measuring pharmaceutical concentrations in river water samples. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Chemistry" page.
A PhD fellow works at a bench in the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory measuring pharmaceutical concentrations in river water samples. U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

Half the vinegar makes it quantitative. That one change turns a trick into an experiment.

Why I love chemistry — 4,299 places across America

Alabama (87)
Alaska (33)
Arizona (43)
Arkansas (86)
California (273)
Colorado (85)
Connecticut (27)
D.C. (1)
Delaware (5)
Florida (158)
Georgia (185)
Hawaii (8)
Idaho (54)
Illinois (155)
Indiana (117)
Iowa (112)
Kansas (116)
Kentucky (129)
Louisiana (81)
Maine (21)
Maryland (35)
Massachusetts (53)
Michigan (120)
Minnesota (111)
Mississippi (88)
Missouri (131)
Montana (61)
Nebraska (97)
Nevada (22)
New Hampshire (13)
New Jersey (45)
New Mexico (40)
New York (90)
North Carolina (127)
North Dakota (57)
Ohio (124)
Oklahoma (88)
Oregon (51)
Pennsylvania (88)
Rhode Island (6)
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (5)
South Carolina (65)
South Dakota (68)
Tennessee (114)
Texas (340)
Utah (48)
Vermont (16)
Virginia (158)
Washington (77)
Washington, D.C. (1)
West Virginia (64)
Wisconsin (95)
Wyoming (25)

Love something else too

All 51 things to love · Girls are great at math