[DTPhenom]

Is there anybody here who did their extended essay on Chemistry? I would like some advice as to what areas of chemistry I should consider researching which have equipment accessible by standard high school science classrooms. As of right now I am clueless and time is running out to develop a research question.

[Mod Edit  I have copied here from another similar post so as to combine them]

Yo, I am a junior in high school and I have to do some original experiment regarding chemistry for IB. I am very interested in the field of materials science and I am need help figuring out what I can research which has accessible equipment/materials for a high school classroom. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Enthalpy]

Hi DTPhenom,

would you give a general sense about what you have learned and what you have access to? How much time do you have? Coming from a different country, educational system and background, "high school science classroom" isn't quite clear to me.

• Can you make organic syntheses, at least simple ones?
• Or just one-step reactions?
• Measure heats of combustion in a calorimeter?

Suggestions already:

UV LED are on the way of replacing medium-pressure Hg lamps. Nothing to discover, but much to spread, and you can participate to the move. Choose a few simple reactions commonly done with mp-Hg lamps, check that panels of Uv Leds achieve them too.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=79940.msg291270#msg291270 and following

Measure the density of n-alkanes accurately at some common temperature like 77K, check if there is any even-odd effect.
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=75605.msg274795#msg274795

Extract hydrocarbons with a wide liquid range from a mix (a jerrycan of Diesel oil, liquid paraffin...)
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=88952.msg320378#msg320378
this takes only successive distillations and solidifications (needs real cold like liquid nitrogen). Then, you need serious analysis equipment (outside your school if necessary) to determine the compounds that make the remaining sample.

If you can conduct simple syntheses, many more topics are possible.

[georgetian3]

Another IB student here (Year 1).

Just in regards to the equipment, you might not be limited to your school's equipment. Consider if your school has partnerships with local universities. Ask your head of department to negotiate the use of uni labs. You could also possibly seek out local labs that aren't necessarily in a university. It might be unlikely hey'll let you use it, but if you write up some background for your essay, along with a risk assessment, they might be willing to help students out.