Fun and education at the same time?

NIU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will combine the two in an evening of chemistry demonstrations tonight.

The night’s theme is “Mission: Chemistry.” The show will include experiments designed to entertain and teach concepts in chemistry.

“We blow things up, set things on fire, do things with colors,” said David Ballantine, associate chemistry professor and faculty supervisor for the demonstrations. “It’s a great show.”

The hour-long program will include demonstrations of writing with fire, latent fingerprint detection and a simulation of dragon’s breath.

About a dozen students, both graduate and undergraduate, will perform the demonstrations.

The night of chemistry demonstrations has been put on every semester for the last several years. New demonstrations are added each time, but some crowd-pleasing standards are retained, Ballantine said.

In the past, about 100 members of the general public have attended the show in addition to several hundred students studying introductory chemistry.

Some demonstrations may involve loud noises, smoke or unpleasant smells. Flash photography is not permitted.