Available through the Audio Visual Department:

Available from the Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Teaching Labs Stockroom (3150 York Hall). These are 1/2" VHS unless otherwise specified. Last updated 9/8/98.

The Periodic Table
26 minutes, a BBC production about periodic properties. Many demonstrations, not easily done in the classroom, are shown. Excellent film. Available on 16-mm film or u-matic cassette or VHS.

Energy and Rockets
26 minutes, a BBC production about the chemistry of rocket and plane fuels. Lots of exciting footage. Good coverage of how exothermicity is related to bonding.

Lucky Accidents, Great Discoveries and the Prepared Mind
20 minutes, an Edison Lecture by Professor Hubert Alyea. This is a lecture with demonstrations concerning several serendipitous discoveries such as Teflon and dynamite. Very entertaining.

Learning From Demonstrations
25 minutes, an Edison Lecture by Professor Hubert Alyea. This lecture shows students how to be observers. He performs his famous old Nassau demonstration in this tape.

Chemistry Classics
20 minutes, a tape of some old black & white films about chemistry and physics concepts. The film is so old that it is "campy." Never fails to get lots of laughs from the students. Topics covered: air pressure, surface tension, temperature/pressure relationship for gases, and some other assorted tricks.

Tom Lehrer's Periodic Table Song [This tape is missing; anyone know where it is?]
3 minutes, 19 seconds. This videotape presents Lehrer's own rendition of the song lip-synched by a white-coated actor in a chemistry lecture hall using a chart of the elements as a visual aid. The title does not tell all: singing the names of the chemical elements to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune may not sound funny but it is hilarious. Watch especially for all the quick and clever sight gags and visual puns, like when the element Europium flashes on the screen and a noose is superimposed over the symbol. Even the credits and the incidental music are funny.

Reactions of Sodium
This video is quite repetitive but has an excellent demo of a 500-g chunk of sodium being tossed into a strip mine lake. This is repeated three times and is quite dramatic even though there is a homemade quality to the film.

Equilibrium
1989, 19 min. revised ChemStudy film. Answers the questions: What is equilibrium? How does a chemist recognize it? How does one explain it? In answering the questions, the dynamic nature of equilibrium is stressed. Radioactive tracers are used to demonstrate the dynamic molecular behavior of the substances at equilibrium in a closed system. An analogy in terms of fish population in two connected bowls, and animation using molecular models, present the concepts with striking simplicity.

The Hydrogen Atom
VHS, 1989, 20 min. revised ChemStudy film. A description of the atom that is in accord with quantum mechanics is presented. This description explains the energy levels and line spectrum of the hydrogen atom and furnishes the basis of contemporary theory of chemical bonding. The electron position in the atom is considered in terms of probability, and the meaning of a 1s orbital is clarified with a digital computer plot, two analogies and animation.

Gas Pressure and Molecular Collisions
VHS, 1989, 21 min. revised ChemStudy film. The relationship between gaseous pressure and molecular collisions is explored. The effects on molecular collisions of varying the number of molecules per unit volume and of varying the temperature are studied. The experimental study on the relative rates of effusion of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and sulfur hexafluoride leads to the quantitative relationship among molecular mass, molecular velocity, and absolute temperature. Mechanical models illustrate the experimental observations.

Chemical Bonding
VHS, 1989, 16 min. ChemStudy film. Chemical bonding is explained in terms of the electric interactions that cause the bonding in the hydrogen molecule. The release of energy when H atoms combine to form $H sub 2$ on a platinum surface is shown. This energy change is related to the simultaneous attraction of electrons by two or more nuclei, opposed by electron-electron and nucleus-nucleus repulsions. Through animation the quantum-mechanical view of electron distribution is portrayed. The bonding interaction between two hydrogen atoms is contrasted to the very weak, nonbonding interaction between two helium atoms.

Electrochemical Cells
VHS, 1989, 23 min. ChemStudy film. The construction and operation of an electrochemical cell are shown. Time-lapse photography of the changes at the electrodes and animation of the cell processes show the nature of the electrode reactions, the motion of the electron and ion currents, and the relationship between concentrations and cell voltage. Extreme close-ups of a hydrogen electrode illustrate its operation and lead to a discussion of the table of E⁰values.

Heat and Temperature
VHS, 1993, 30 min. EUREKA film. Covers the six concepts of molecules in solids, molecules in liquids, evaporation and condensation, expansion and contraction, measuring temperature, and temperature vs. heat.

Shapes and Polarities of Molecules
VHS, 1989, 20 min. ChemStudy film. Observations are made of electric effects, including deflections of streams of liquids by a charged rod, and changes in charging time of a capacitor. There is evidence that different molecules give two types of results: some give very marked interactions with electric charges, while others give little effect. To explain these different results, a conceptual model is developed based on two types of molecules: polar and nonpolar. Consideration of bond polarity and molecular shape allows prediction of molecular polarity. The molecular dipole model is used to explain differences in solubility, conductivity, and chemical reactivity.

Ribosomal RNA: The Protein Maker
VHS, 10 min., Films for the Humanities and Sciences series. Ribosomal RNA and protein make up the ribosome, a complicated two-part machine that monitors the interaction between messenger RNA and transfer RNA. The video explains the mutations that result from the faulty replication of a DNA code are usually harmful, but they are also believed to be the basis of evolution.

The Secret of Life: Conquering Cancer [This tape is missing as of 9/98.]
VHS, 60 min., Films for the Humanities and Sciences series. Shows what happens when the cells of our bodies don't get or follow the right instructions. As scientists learn that cancer is a genetic disease, they formulate genetic cures. As our understanding of cancer and oncogenes grows, and new molecular approaches are developed, there is optimism that cancer can be controlled in the not so distant future.

Atomic Orbital
VHS, 1994, 20 min., Chemistry Animation Project, CalTech Nate Lewis and his group have made a series of videos. This one shows the sophisticated computer animations of atomic orbitals, their shapes and features important for bonding. The video also covers the organization of the periodic table.

VSEPR
VHS, 1994, 20 min., Chemistry Animation Project, CalTech Using only Lewis dot concepts, shapes and bond angles of molecules with 1-6 bonds are shown in animations of a wide variety of molecules.

Nucleophilic Substitution
VHS, 1994, 20 min., Chemistry Animation Project, CalTech This video captures the stereochemical consequences of multiple reaction pathways, transition states, intermediates, and interpretation of the reaction coordinate diagram. World of Chemistry Videos
The World of Chemistry videos come in sets of two (i.e., 1 & 2, 3 & 4) on the same video cassette. Each topic runs approximately 30 minutes, 60 minutes per cassette. Roald Hoffman narrates.

1. The World of Chemistry [This tape is missing - as of 9/98.]
2. Color
3. Measurement: The Foundation of Chemistry
4. Modeling the Unseen
5. A Matter of State
6. The Atom
7. The Periodic Table
8. Chemical Bonds
9. Molecular Architecture
10. Signals from Within
11. The Mole
12. Water
13. The Driving Forces
14. Molecules in Action
15. The Busy Electron
16. The Proton in Chemistry
17. The Precious Envelope
18. The Chemistry of the Earth
19. Metals
20. On the Surface
21. Carbon
22. The Age of Polymers
23. Proteins: Structure and Function
24. The Genetic Code
25. Chemistry and the Environment
26. Futures