Virtual labs
93 experimentsRun chemistry experiments in 3D: change the conditions, watch what happens, and read the numbers behind it.
General chemistry (4)
Electron shells and configurations, H to ArStep the atomic number from 1 to 18 and watch electrons fill the shells, layer by layer.Reading trends in the periodic tableColour the table by atomic radius, ionisation energy or electronegativity and hunt for periodic patterns.Stoichiometry: limiting reagent and yieldVary the starting amounts of $\ce{H2}$ and $\ce{O2}$ and see which one limits the amount of water formed.Predicting molecular shapes with VSEPRStep through the five basic AXₙ geometries and see how electron-pair repulsion fixes the bond angles.
Inorganic chemistry (3)
Why iron rusts: a corrosion cell on a nailCompare bare iron, galvanised iron and painted iron in humid air to see the electrochemistry of rust.Electrolysis of copper(II) chloridePass a current through $\ce{CuCl2}$ solution: copper grows on the cathode and chlorine bubbles off the anode.Flame tests: the color of metal ionsHold a salt in a Bunsen flame and identify the metal from the color of the flame.
Organic chemistry (5)
Esterification: making ethyl acetateFollow the atom-level rearrangement as acetic acid and ethanol form ethyl acetate and water in an acid-catalysed equilibrium.Isomers you can rotate: same formula, different moleculesInspect three isomer pairs in one rotating scene — chain isomers of $\ce{C4H10}$, cis/trans $\ce{C4H8}$ and the enantiomers of $\ce{CHBrClF}$.Reflux synthesis of an esterHeat a carboxylic acid with an alcohol under a vertical condenser: vapour condenses and returns to the flask, so volatile reagents can boil for a long time without loss.Saponification: turning fat into soapBoil a fat with sodium hydroxide and watch the triglyceride split into glycerol and fatty-acid salts — soap — which a saturated salt solution then pushes out of the mixture.Molecular geometry in 3D: electron pairs ruleTurn lone pairs on and off for every AXₙEₘ skeleton — from linear $\ce{CO2}$ to octahedral $\ce{SF6}$ — and watch bond angles shrink.
Analytical chemistry (5)
pH-metric titration and the buffer regionTitrate acetic acid with NaOH and watch the curve flatten where the $\ce{CH3COOH/CH3COO^-}$ pair buffers the pH — at half-equivalence pH = pKa.Chromatography of leaf pigmentsSeparate green-leaf pigments as coloured bands and compare their migration with the solvent front.Qualitative analysis: flame colours of metal cationsSpray chloride salts into a flame: each cation emits its own colour and the palette Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, Ba²⁺, Cu²⁺ becomes a qualitative test.Permanganometric titration of iron(II)Titrate an acidified Fe²⁺ solution with KMnO₄: the purple oxidant is its own indicator and the titration curve shows a steep jump at equivalence.Acid–base titration with an indicatorDrip NaOH from a burette into an acid and watch the indicator change color at the equivalence point.
Physical chemistry (8)
Building an acetate bufferMix acetic acid with sodium acetate and watch the pH settle near pKa = 4.76, as Henderson–Hasselbalch predicts.Measuring heat with a coffee-cup calorimeterDrop a hot metal block into water inside an insulated cup and deduce the metal’s specific heat from q = mcΔT.A galvanic cell: from Daniell to NernstBuild a zinc–copper cell, watch electrons flow, and see how the voltage depends on the metals and on concentration.Shifting an equilibrium by concentration: the iron(III) thiocyanate complexUse the blood-red complex $\ce{Fe^{3+} + SCN^- <=> [FeSCN]^{2+}}$ as a visible sensor of its own equilibrium: each reagent added or removed pushes the colour one way or the other.Gas in a piston: pressure, volume, temperatureSqueeze and heat a gas made of moving particles and see why PV = nRT holds.Le Chatelier’s principle: shifting a chemical equilibriumExplore how temperature, pressure, concentration and catalysts affect the N₂O₄ ⇌ 2NO₂ equilibrium.The phase diagram of waterRotate a three-dimensional p–T–V surface and project it onto the p–T plane: solid, liquid and vapour regions meet at the triple point and the liquid–vapour line ends at the critical point.Electrolysis of water in a Hofmann voltameterSplit water into hydrogen and oxygen and check Faraday’s law and the 2 : 1 volume ratio.
Biochemistry and biomedical chemistry (3)
Assembling the DNA double helixRotate an idealized DNA ladder: identify the sugar–phosphate backbone, the A–T and G–C rungs, and see why the two strands must run in opposite directions.Alcoholic fermentation of glucoseWatch yeast turn a sugar solution into ethanol while carbon dioxide bubbles out of the fermenter — a living, anaerobic chemical factory.The iodine test: starch, glycogen and enzyme digestionUse iodine to distinguish polysaccharides from simple sugars, then watch the blue-black colour track amylase digestion.
Polymer chemistry (2)
The nylon rope trickAn interface between two immiscible solutions weaves nylon-6,6; watch the chain grow amide by amide as it is pulled away.Superabsorbent polymer: how a gel drinks waterWatch a polyacrylate chain carry charged –COO⁻ groups, then add cross-links and reason about why there is a sweet spot for swelling.
Nuclear and radiochemistry (3)
Rutherford scattering: probing the atom with α particlesFire a collimated α beam at a gold foil and trace the trajectories: nearly all pass through, a few deflect, and a rare few bounce straight back.Measuring half-life and dating a sampleFollow the decay of four real nuclides on one chart, read their half-lives off the curves, and choose which isotope could date a mummy, a wine cellar or nuclear fallout.Radioactive decay: reading the half-lifeFollow the surviving fraction N/N₀ for four medical isotopes and check that it halves after every half-life.
Environmental, green and energy chemistry (3)
Acid rain and the pH of lakesTrace $\ce{SO2}$ from a smokestack to an acidified lake, then see how limestone neutralises the acidity.Why greenhouse gases block infraredScan the infrared spectrum and locate the absorption bands that let $\ce{CO2}$, $\ce{H2O}$, $\ce{CH4}$ and $\ce{O3}$ trap Earth’s heat.How hard is this water? An EDTA titrationDrip EDTA into a water sample buffered at pH 10; while Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺ are still free the indicator stays wine red, then snaps to blue at the endpoint.
Industrial and applied chemistry (2)
Refining crude oil: distillation and crackingSeparate crude oil into fractions by boiling range, then crack heavy molecules into useful light fuels.Simple distillation: separating ethanol and waterHeat a coloured ethanol–water mixture and collect condensed vapour. Relate vapour enrichment to volatility and learn why simple distillation cannot remove the ethanol–water azeotrope.
Virtual experiment: a simplified model to build intuition. It does not replace real lab work or safety training; never repeat chemistry at home without supervision.