Leave it to the chemists at NIU to create invisible fire-breathing dragons, smoke-screen laser detectors, dart boards that blow up and cannons firing racquet balls toward the audience.

NIU’s departments of chemistry and biochemisty hosted an evening of chemistry demonstrations, which attracted a crowd of almost 400 students and DeKalb residents between the two shows.

Dave Ballantine, associate professor of chemistry, guided the audience through each of the 11 demonstrations, providing simple explanations of complex chemical equations.

For the first act, the lights went out, smoke hissed from a machine and red laser beams appeared in the fog.

Titled, “Smoke Screen Laser Detector,” the act attempted to recreate laser detectors a la James Bond movies.

The acts that followed had the audience wooed with blue glow-in-the-dark fountains, a fingerprint detector and a solution changing colors like a traffic light.

In keeping with the war-troubled times, the “H2 missile – Water Cannon” fired a racquet ball at the audience that was safely caught by Ballantine, who bravely was standing among the audience. The act drew the loudest cheer and a round of applause from the audience.

“We have fun designing different approaches, putting a twist on demonstrations and making it more interesting for the audience,” said Bob Sobel, a graduate student in analytical chemistry, who helped with the demonstrations.

“Coin Operated Patriotic Machine,” initiated by dropping a copper penny, caused three flasks to turn blue, clear (white) and red respectively.

“It was really cool,” said John sBoyadjian, a freshman mechanical engineering major who attended the demonstrations. “It was interesting to finally see some of the stuff we talk about in class happen.”