If thinking about chemistry immediately puts you to sleep, then you might be thinking about it the wrong way. One look at Beautiful Chemistry will help you see the science in a whole new artistic light that will probably make you wish you paid better attention in your high school chemistry class.
The amazing video work of Beautiful Chemistry recently won a 2015 Vizzies Expert’s Choice award in the video category. The scientists behind Beautiful Chemistry say their goal “is to bring the beauty of chemistry to the general public through digital media and technology,” and they certainly seem to achieve that goal with a variety of videos on display on their website. The way Beautiful Chemistry captures chemical reactions and structures is breathtaking.
According to one of Beautiful Chemistry’s founders, professor Yan Liang of the University of Science and Technology of China, it can be challenging to find experiments “that meet their visual standards.”
“Many reactions are very interesting, but not beautiful. But sometimes, when shot at close distance without the distraction of beakers or test tubes, ordinary reactions such as precipitation can be very beautiful,” he told the Vizzies.
See if you can find the beauty in chemistry by watching some of Beautiful Chemistry’s videos below. You can find a compilation video of some of their reactions on the Popular Science website and more individual videos on BeautifulChemistry.net.
The Vizzies are a partnership between Popular Science and the National Science Foundation. You can see a full list of winners for the 2015 Vizzies here.
H/T Popular Science | Screengrab via L2Molecule/Vimeo