Virtual Chemistry Set
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The Virtual Chemistry Set

A chemistry sandbox, not a slideshow — a thermodynamic and kinetic simulation of the classic home chemistry set where outcomes emerge from physical law, not a script.

Exploring Started: July 2026 Updated: July 2026

Overview

A digital laboratory for exploring chemical reactions and properties — the feel of a physical bench with the safety and convenience of a simulation. It’s seeded from the chemical list on page 111 of The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments (1960), but the reactions themselves aren’t scripted: they emerge from species data and physical law. That’s why “nothing happens” happens honestly, and why the fun combinations were never individually programmed — they were discovered, same as at a real bench.

How It Works

There are two ways in: a bench console (npm run lab, start here and type tour) and a visual bench. You take test tubes, add reagents by mass or volume, add water and heat, and watch reactions fall out of a thermodynamic + kinetic model rather than a lookup table.

take test-tube A
add 0.3g copper-sulfate to A
water 15 A
add 1ml ammonia-solution to A     → pale blue precipitate

It’s a private evaluation build — local-only by design, no network calls, no telemetry. Any classroom derivative is made by pruning this full build through curriculum profiles rather than bolting features on.

Current Status

Engine, console and visual bench all working, with 47 chemistry regression tests keeping the model honest.