Chemistry and Art: Removal of Graffiti Ink from Paints Grounded in a Real-Life Scenario

摘要

An activity that brings together chemistry and art, incorporates a real-world incident, and asks students to consider concepts of solubility is described. The activity was inspired by the vandalism of a modern art painting with graffiti ink, and it has students (i) determine the solubility of the ink in solvents of various polarity; (ii) predict which solvents would remove the ink while preserving the underlying paints, made using various binders, via the concept of “like dissolves like”; and (iii) conduct an activity to prove or disprove their hypotheses. Students work in groups of two to four on this 3 h activity, which was originally designed as an undergraduate general chemistry laboratory but could be adapted to a high school chemistry classroom or outreach event.