FULLERTON : Spreading the Word: Chemistry Is Fun

Stephen Huck, 9, watched a chemistry show last week at Fullerton College and saw just what he needed: a gas reaction that shot a cork out of a soda bottle.

“That’s what I could use to make a cannon,” said Stephen, explaining that he and other youths have to protect their Brea neighborhood club’s treehouse.

“Like, if an enemy comes,” Stephen said, with an impish look.

Fullerton College chemistry professor Joan Lebsack dressed up Thursday in a purple cape and a peaked hat bearing the inscription “Wiz” to show off some chemical reactions at a noon-time performance. It was a celebration of National Chemistry Week.

“I really wanted to share the fun we have with chemistry,” Lebsack said, smiling and becoming wide-eyed as she talked about her favorite science.

Lebsack’s performance was fueled by humor. She turned off the lights and played the song “You Light Up My Life” when she mixed two chemicals to produce a bright blue glow.

She demonstrated the water absorbency of one chemical and then held high a disposable diaper, which uses the substance to protect babies’ bottoms.

About 120 people came to watch the 30-minute show, held in a science lecture hall.

“Chemistry gets a lot of bad press,” Lebsack said. “People think that anything that’s a chemical, there’s something wrong with it. But everything in the world is (made of) chemicals.”

It’s not Lebsack’s only effort to spread the gospel of chemistry. She had also trained 35 student volunteers to perform basic chemical demonstrations while visiting area schools as part of National Chemistry Week.

Bhavesh J. Desai, 19, was one of the Fullerton College chemistry evangelists. He shared chemistry with more than 100 fifth-graders at Sunset Elementary school. “They loved it,” he said.

One of Desai’s tricks was Stephen Huck’s favorite: shooting the cork from the bottle, which happens when carbon dioxide gas is produced.