Sunday, May 18, 2008
Student Union Building, Upper (Queensborough Community College)
108

Learning from An Orange Beard

Brahmadeo Dewprashad and Latfa Hadir. Borough of Manhattan Community Colege, New York City, NY

This presentation describes an engaging and colorful demonstration that was inspired by the observation of a beard that was dyed orange. The compound 2-hydroxy-1, 4-napthoquinone is the chemical which gives Henna, a natural dye, its characteristic color. The compound is yellow under acidic conditions, but orange under basic conditions. The demonstration uses an invisible ink of a dilute basic solution to write a message on a filter paper. On spraying the developing solution of 2-hydroxy-1, 4-napthoquinone in ethanol, the message is highlighted in orange whilst the background appears yellow. On then spraying a dilute acidic solution to the paper, the message disappears. The demonstration can be quickly, easily and safely prepared for use in a classroom or laboratory. The presentation will describe how the demonstration can be used, not only to attract students' attention, but to make concrete the concepts of resonance stabilization, keto-enol tautomerization and relative acidities.