Virtual chemistry lab: all experiments

Free, realistic chemistry experiments for secondary school: titration, flame tests, electrolysis, rates, organic chemistry and more. Each one has guided steps, safety notes and a lab report.

🧪 Open the virtual lab — free

Runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers. No sign-up needed. For teachers: assign any experiment to a class, see results and calculations.

Getting started (1)

First steps in the labLearn the bench: add, heat, pour and measure.

First chemistry (grades 7–8) (9)

Heating water: when does it boil?Watch the thermometer while water turns into steam — a change of state.Which ones dissolve in water?Salt, marble and an oil-like liquid: solution, sediment or two layers?Particles on the moveOne tiny purple crystal colours a whole beaker: the particles spread out by themselves.Cold packs and hot packsSome substances make water colder when they dissolve, others make it warmer.Kitchen indicator: red cabbageRed-cabbage juice changes colour in acids and in bases.Acid meets baseAdd acid to a base until the pink colour disappears: neutralisation.Fizz! Which gas is it?Marble and acid make a gas. The limewater test tells you it is carbon dioxide.Metals in acid: who bubbles most?Compare magnesium, zinc and copper. The more reactive the metal, the faster the hydrogen bubbles.Firework coloursMetal salts give flames their colours — that is how fireworks are coloured.

Classifying materials (3)

Does it mix? Does it dissolve?Sort substances by how they behave in water.DistillationGet pure water out of a coloured salt solution.Paper chromatography of inksSeparate inks into their dyes and find which dyes are in the unknown ink X.

Equations and amounts (3)

Titration: how much acid?Find the exact volume of acid that neutralises 10 mL of base.The limiting reactantThe same piece of magnesium in a little and a lot of acid.The relative atomic mass of magnesiumWeigh a magnesium ribbon, collect the hydrogen it makes and calculate Ar(Mg).

Reaction rates (7)

The disappearing crossHow does concentration change the time for sulfur to hide the X?A catalyst at workManganese(IV) oxide and hydrogen peroxide.Concentration and rateMarble in concentrated and diluted acid.Elephant toothpasteA catalyst, hydrogen peroxide and a little detergent: a fountain of foam.The iodine clockA colourless mixture that turns blue-black at a moment you can predict.Measuring rate with a gas syringeCollect the carbon dioxide and plot volume against time.Equilibrium: pink and blue cobaltShift an equilibrium with concentration and temperature (Le Chatelier).

Energy (4)

Hot or cold?Endothermic and exothermic dissolving.Heat from displacementWhich metal gives the bigger temperature rise in copper sulfate?Burning magnesiumA metal that burns with blinding white light, and the basic oxide it leaves behind.Energy from fuels: burning alcoholsHeat 100 g of water with a spirit burner, measure ΔT and the mass burnt, and calculate the enthalpy of combust

Water and solutions (4)

Purple crystal: dissolving and dilutionEach 1 mL into 9 mL is a tenfold dilution.Dilution and pHEach tenfold dilution of a strong acid raises the pH by 1.Golden rainA yellow precipitate that dissolves when hot and comes back as golden crystals.Crystal gardenMetal salt crystals grow into colourful “plants” in water glass.

Acids, bases and salts (7)

Neutralisation with an indicatorTurn a pink base colourless by adding acid, and watch the temperature rise.Red-cabbage rainbowA natural indicator shows a different colour at every pH.Strong and weak acidsSame concentration, very different behaviour.Making a salt: copper sulfateBase + acid → salt + water, with copper(II) oxide.The hydrogen balloonCollect the gas from a metal and an acid in a balloon — then light it.pH titration curveAdd acid from a burette and draw the S-shaped curve.Making a salt: copper(II) sulfate crystalsReact an insoluble base with an acid, filter off the excess and crystallise the salt.

Electrochemistry (5)

Electrolysis of copper sulfateInert electrodes: what forms at each electrode?Electrolysis of salt waterHydrogen, chlorine and an alkaline solution from brine.The silver treeCopper in silver nitrate solution.Zinc in copper sulfateA more reactive metal displaces a less reactive one. Watch the blue fade.A simple cell: voltage from two metalsTwo metals in their salt solutions, a salt bridge and a voltmeter. Which pair gives the highest voltage?

The periodic table (2)

Alkali metals and waterLithium, sodium and potassium: how does reactivity change down Group 1?Halogen displacementWhich halogen pushes out which? Cl₂, Br₂ and I₂.

Rocks and metals (5)

Metals and acidsCompare magnesium, zinc and copper in hydrochloric acid, then identify the gas.Marble and acid: CO₂Marble (limestone) and acid make a gas. Prove it is carbon dioxide with two tests.Thermal decompositionHeat green copper carbonate (like the mineral malachite).The thermite reactionAluminium steals oxygen from iron oxide — and makes molten iron.What makes iron rust?Four tubes with an iron nail: water and air, dry air, boiled water under oil, salt water.

Identifying substances (10)

Flame testsEach metal ion gives the flame its own colour.Testing for chloride ionsSilver nitrate gives a white precipitate only where chloride ions are present.Chloride, bromide or iodide?Silver nitrate gives three different precipitate colours.Coloured precipitatesIdentify metal ions from the colour of their hydroxides, and sulfate with barium.Testing for ammonium ionsWarm with sodium hydroxide and test the gas.Making oxygen by heatingHeat potassium permanganate and test the gas.Mystery solutionsA, B and C are a carbonate, an iodide and an ammonium salt. Which is which?Blood-red test for iron(III)Thiocyanate ions find even a trace of Fe³⁺.Copper and ammonia: royal blueA precipitate that dissolves again in excess reagent — a complex ion.Practical test: identify the salt XA different unknown salt every time. Pour samples into the empty tubes, test them and name X.

Organic chemistry (8)

Alkane or alkene? Bromine waterBromine water shows whether a C=C double bond is present.Oxidising ethanolAcidified dichromate turns from orange to green.Making an esterEthanoic acid + ethanol, with a catalyst: a fruity smell.Benedict’s test for glucoseA reducing sugar turns Benedict’s reagent brick red.The silver mirrorTollens’ reagent detects the aldehyde group.Starch and iodineIodine turns blue-black only where starch is present.The carbon snakeConcentrated sulfuric acid removes the water from sugar.Chemical traffic lightGreen, red, yellow — and green again when you shake it.