Nucleus Expo 2011 at Womens College

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Can you make the genie appear without rubbing Aladdin’s magic lamp?  Ask Prathibha S and her answer will be in the affirmative. This BSc Chemistry student of Women’s College, Vazhuthacaud will demonstrate before us the fumes emanating out of a standard flask (used for chemical experiments) masked in the form of a  bottle where the genie is said to be trapped in. It is reaction between hydrogen peroxide and manganese dioxide that works behind the scene.  Water and oxygen forms as a result. It is this oxygen that we see coming out as ‘genie’. The ‘Genie in Bottle’ was one among the several demos at Nucleus Expo 2011 on at the Govt. Women’s College, hosted by the Chemistry Department as part of the International Year of Chemistry. The amazing experiments inside ‘Chem Villa’ would make anyone awestruck while watching them.    Even the most bravest of us would think twice before  touching a copper wire while electricity is passing through it. Here Archana K proves that one can write using electricity! All you need is a plain paper, an aluminium foil, a battery and a copper wire. The plain paper dipped in sodium chloride and phenolphthalein is pasted on the aluminium foil. On one corner of the foil, a connection is made to the battery. Another copper wire too is attached with the battery. When the electricity transferred through copper wire touches the paper dipped in chemicals,  electrolysis happens and beautiful letters appear in pink.   Vijila V, a final-year student of BSc Chemistry demonstrates that a paper pan can be used to boil water! Crazy as it may seem at first, in a chart paper turned pan placed on a stove like structure, Vijila takes some water and sets a lighting candle underneath it. Gradually the water begins to boil. She explains the ‘chemistry’ behind it, “a paper will catch fire only when it is subjected to more than 400 degree Celsius of heat. A candle light can produce only 90 degree Celsius, which is not enough to set the paper on fire.” But she warns not to try it with thin or wet paper when you experiment. There was also an exhibition on Madame Curie as the year celebrates the centenary of Madam Curie winning Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Apart from the Chemistry Department, the departments of mathematics, psychology, home science, botany, zoology and micro-biology have also joined the fair with stalls put up under the subjects concerned. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram also has one stall.  The fair will conclude on Friday.