Chemistry Supplies

Does Target Sell Chemistry Dye?

dyes used in chemistry I already know the answer to this one, it’s no! What in the hell is chemistry dye? School starts in August here in Arizona and one of the kids is taking Chemistry… yay! Another topic I know nothing about, nor does anyone living under our roof! So when my son came home after the first week of school and said he needed some chemistry supplies so that he could run some experiments at home. I thought that sounded normal, we could go get a beaker, a lighter, some goggles, and a lab coat and he could do chemistry stuff in the backyard. Come to find out, that is not what he had in mind, nor is it even what kids these days are doing in the science lab. Not that I’m some expert, not sure I paid attention much in science, but I know enough to be dangerous at science trivia (not really).

So he brings me this list of stuff he needs and I have no clue what I am even looking at, seriously, who has ever hear of Alexa Fluor 488, Alexa Fluor 594, carboxyfluorescein, NHS-Fluorescein, alexa fluor 488 phalloidin, 5-carboxyfluorescein, carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester, Alexa Fluor 488 NHS Ester, nhs-fluorescein pierce, and fluorescein nhs ester???? What the hell does that stuff even mean? When he handed me the list I thought they might be ingredients to make a nuclear bomb or something, I was not about to buy any of it until I spoke to his chemistry teacher. I sent the chemistry teacher an email and replied pretty quick (I love the Kyrene School District). Turns out that fancy list of dyes he needs for experiments are just dyes. Like something you would dye your shirt with I guess? Once I started calling around I realized real quick that nobody knew what these chemistry dyes were. I dug around further and found a website (https://fluoroprobes.com/) that sells this stuff.

After looking at the price tag on some of these chemistry dyes, I reached back out to the teacher to discuss alternate options. He replied back that the purchase wasn’t mandatory and that my son was just doing it for extra credit. Sorry Charlie, not dropping $500 on a bunch of chemistry dye so you can get some extra credit! He’s going to need to find another way to do it that doesn’t cost me a bunch of money! Chemistry is beyond me, and dropping 5 bills on chemistry dyes is not in my budget at the moment.