Common Sources for Various Chemicals

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sun, 18 Jun 2006 09:17:30 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

Aaron Muderick at The Citizen Scientist - table containing "Chemical Name", "Chemical Formula", "Common or Alternate Name", and "Source and Description" for a number of different substances. [clairefiles]

As the years have gone by, it has become more difficult to purchase many common chemicals. Paperwork, restrictions, and exorbitant hazmat shipping fees are often required when ordering from traditional chemical supply houses. Therefore, for some time I have been assembling a list of more accessible sources for various chemicals: hardware store, corner grocery, pool supply, fine art store, photography shop, etc.

I hope that this list might be of help to the amateur scientist community. I would expect the list to be very useful when trying to replicate older experiments where the required chemicals were available at the local hardware store of a prior era. The list might also be very helpful to students working on science fair projects and looking to source common chemicals without credit cards, shipping delays, and mail order hassles.

If the chemical you require is not on this list, it can often be manufactured in a home lab, in small quantities, using chemicals which are easier to find or which are less expensive than purchasing a commercial finished product. For example, the reaction of metallic zinc and acetic acid produces zinc acetate. The reaction of metallic zinc with hydrochloric acid produces a solution of zinc chloride.

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