On Oct. 24, members from the Elizabethtown College Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (Chem Club) gathered to put on Chemistry Demo Day. The club put this on every year during National Chemistry Week which is from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26.

Professors from Etown’s Chemistry Department performed four separate experiments, each displaying a unique, but interesting element of the science.

Demo Day was one of the many events put on to celebrate National Chemistry Week, organized by club President Jennah Hoke.

“Locally, our events were planned to get peer students excited about chemistry and become acquainted with professors and upperclassmen in the department,” Hoke said. “For the department, holding these types of events brings our students closer.”

Dr. Yengi first created a BZ reaction by mixing ingredients of bromate, bromide and other chemicals with water. When stirred together, the liquid rotates from appearing red, then blue and then repeating every few minutes.

This was followed by Dr. Rood who performed a more appetizing demonstration: liquid nitrogen ice cream.

Rood began by mixing some basic baking ingredients like sugar, half and half cream and vanilla flavoring in a large metal bowl. To make the creamy substance, Rood slowly poured the liquid nitrogen in, continuing to stir, creating the dessert.

While using liquid nitrogen may be an atypical way to enjoy ice cream, everyone who tried it enjoyed it, with some attendees even going back for seconds.

Dr. Defnet followed that up by creating elephant toothpaste. The experiment, which became very popular on social media, involves combining hydrogen peroxide, yeast, water and dish soap. When mixed together, it creates a volcanic reaction, with the substance overflowing out of the beaker.

The event wrapped up with a bang, as Dr. MacKay introduced the crowd to an abnormal balloon.

Instead of inflating the balloon with helium, this one was pumped up with hydrogen. It looked like a typical balloon from the outside, but where the balloon  differed was its reaction to fire.

With a match attached to the end of a stick, MacKay carefully tapped the balloon, prompting it to explode, creating a brief but powerful fireball.

Of course, his demonstration was performed outside.

The National Chemistry Week festivities began on Monday when the club performed an experiment of making pictures out of cyanopaper and sunlight.

Tuesday was twin day, giving members a chance to dress up alike for a chance to be featured on the club’s Instagram.

A hunt for (chemistry) moles took place throughout Musser on Wednesday. After finding all of the mole printouts, students could solve a riddle to complete the day.

The demonstrations happened Thursday afternoon and were followed by making another dessert: rock candy. The club gathered in the Bowers Center demo kitchen to make the treat out of chemical ingredients.

The week concluded with another spirit day: dress like a professor day. The club could dress up like one of the chemistry professors to be showcased on their Instagram page.

Hoke was pleased with how the week turned out.

“The National Chemistry Week events were a big success. We had a decent turnout throughout the week, and we hope it made people excited about chemistry,” Hoke said.

The success is a stepping stone on the way to achieving Hoke’s future aspirations for the club.

“The goal is to plan more small events and meetings just to do little activities relating to chemistry with club members, as well as keep raising money so our chemistry majors can keep traveling every 2 years to the national ACS meetings to present current research, network and learn about other current chemistry happening around the country,” Hoke said.

If you missed out on National Chemistry Week, don’t worry, there’s more fun coming soon from the club with their annual Pie-a-Professor event.

“Our chemistry professors graciously volunteer their time to be pied in the face by students. This works by buying raffle tickets for a chance to pie a professor,” Hoke said. “We don’t have a set date yet, but it is typically mid-November, so keep an eye out for advertisements.”