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Explore the chemistry of precious metals, as well as other elements that are so important to jewelry.
Sections
Activities
- Salt Dough Necklace
from Natural Beach Living
Create a salt dough necklace in combination with Earth Day celebrations, or any other favorite time of the year.
- Shrinky Dink Charms and Keychains from One Little Project
Just a few materials and a little chemistry are needed to create these fun tie-died charms and keychains.
Demos
- Metamorphic Magic Plastic from James Madison University
In this “trash-to-treasure” demonstration, polystyrene clamshell containers (#6 plastic) are used to make hard plastic pieces that can be used for art, crafts and jewelry.
Labs
- Observing Properties of Those Marvelous Metals from AACT
See how metals, both pure metals and alloys, may have different physical and chemical properties.
- Chemistry of Art through Alloys and Metal Plating from AACT
Learn about and experiment with the process of electroless chemical plating in order to create a piece of artwork or jewelry made from a combination of copper, zinc-plated copper, and brass.
- Crystallization Investigation from Carolina Biological
Take on the perspective of the jewelry industry, relying on precious and semi-precious crystals for rings, pendants, and more.
- Resin Jewelry in the Classroom from The Art of Education University
What is resin and why is it needed for making unique jewelry?
- Go Full Silver Alchemist and Clean your Jewelry with Science from Popular Science
That dark layer covering your favorite earrings or necklace is the result of a natural chemical process that occurs when sterling silver is exposed to the air. To a certain extent, it’s avoidable and, better yet, reversible.
Articles
- An Explosion of Diamonds from ChemMatters Magazine
Mining diamonds is strenuous, dangerous, and labor-intensive. So how about making diamonds in a laboratory? Several companies are doing just that... with explosives.
- The Secret Life of Gold from ChemMatters Magazine
Valued for its beauty and functionality, gold both adorns art and serves as an electrical conductor in cellphones. New research tells us about this marvelous metal’s cosmic origins.
- Bling Zinger: The Lead Content of Jewelry from ChemMatters Magazine
Could your jewelry make you sick? Well, maybe. Learn where the risk can come from.
- What is White Gold? Chemical Composition from ThoughtCo.
Love the idea of gold jewelry, but without the usual color? Gold doesn’t have to be “gold”!
- Rare Blue Diamonds Form Deep, Deep Inside Earth from Science News Explores
Why are these rare beauties so rare?
- Testing the Hope Diamond from Smithsonian Magazine
What’s behind the chemistry mystery of its famous blue glow? It’s elemental, my dear Watson.
- The Chemistry of Color-Changing Alexandrite from Compound Interest
Can’t decide between blue or purple-red? This gem lets you do both.
- What Causes the Color of Gemstones? from Compound Interest
What’s your favorite color? Find a gemstone that matches and learn about its chemistry.
- What are Wedding rings Made of? from Compound Interest
With this tungsten carbide, I thee wed… What’s your ring material of choice?
- The Chemistry of Diamond Rings from Compound Interest
Look at the four C’s of diamonds from the perspective of another C—chemistry.
Videos
- Extracting Gold from Seawater from ACS Reactions
The ocean has around 700 trillion dollars worth of gold in it, can we get some of it?
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Are We Standing on a Quadrillion tons of Diamonds? from ACS Reactions
There might be a quadrillion tons of diamonds 100 miles below Earth’s surface. But the furthest we’ve traveled is 7 miles down, so how could we know that?
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Salt, Diamonds and DNA: 5 Surprising Facts about Crystals from ACS Reactions
Many people think of crystals as little more than sparkly things behind glass cases in museums. But crystals are everywhere, from the dinner table to the human body.