edited by GEORGE L. GILBERT Denison University Granville. Ohio 43023
Improving the Nylon Rope Trick Submitted by: Checked by:
Theodore I. Bieber Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL 33431 Ronald E. DiStefano Northampton County Area Community College Bethlehem, PA 18017
The Nylon Rope Trick, one of the most spectacular demonstrations in chemistry, was first published in this Journal.' A more exhaustive treatment of interfacial polycoudensation, along with additional examples, appeared almost simultaneously e l s e w h e ~ eUnfortunately, .~ the Nylon Rope Trick is often marred hv the repeated hreakina of the rope, es~eciallv in the initial st&e of &experiment. a he purposeof this pap& is to suaaest measures that increase the reliability of the demonstration and to offer an explanation for the effectiveness of such measures. An original recipe is as follows.' Carbon Tetrachloride Layer: 2.0 ml(0.0094 mole) sehacyl chloride (density 1.12 glml, MW 239) is dissolved in 100 ml carbon tetrachloride. The solution is therefore 0.094 M in sehacvl chloride. ~~, Aquwu.\ La>t2r:This layer, which is poured [*ln:fully m top of the carhon tetrachhridt~laver.consistsof 2.2 e r0.019 mnlr) 1,6-diaminohexane (MW ilk) and 4.0 g (0.03
