Twenty substances to find in Chemibloom
For players 13 and up. Tick each one when your lab discovers it. The clue is the game’s own, and the rank is the earliest it can come.
| Found | Substance | Clue in the game | From rank | A real fact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrogen N2 |
78% of every breath | 2 | Nitrogen hogs about 78% of Earth's air, so every breath you take is mostly nitrogen. It's the top ingredient in every lungful, by a long way. (NOAA JetStream: The Atmosphere, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Oxygen O2 |
The air's second gas | 2 | Thank living things for the oxygen you breathe: they released almost all of it through photosynthesis. It now fills about 21% of Earth's air. (Encyclopaedia Britannica: Oxygen, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Carbon dioxide CO2 |
What you breathe out | 4 | Carbon dioxide is only about 0.04% of the air, but it's one busy gas: plants use it, and it tucks warmth in near Earth's surface like a cozy quilt. (NOAA JetStream: The Atmosphere, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Helium He |
Light enough to escape | 6 | Helium turned up in the Sun before anyone found it on Earth: talk about a long-distance discovery. Its name comes from helios, the Greek word for Sun. (Encyclopaedia Britannica: Helium, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Ozone O3 |
Three oxygens, high above | 7 | Earth has its own sunscreen: high up in the stratosphere, a thin layer of ozone soaks up most of the harmful ultraviolet light the Sun sends our way. (NOAA CSL: Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer (2022), checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Water H2O |
The river itself | 8 | Water is a rebel: unlike most substances, it gets about 9% less dense when it freezes. That's why ice cubes bob on top of your drink instead of sinking. (USGS Water Science School: Water Density, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Quartz SiO2 |
Clear crystals in the sand | 8 | One of the most common minerals around, quartz usually grows as six-sided columns with pyramid-shaped points, like a freshly sharpened pencil. (University of Minnesota Common Minerals: Quartz, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Gold Au |
Panned at the Gold Bend | 13 | Gold is too proud to tarnish: air won't dull it, and most chemicals leave it alone. That's why it turns up in electrical connectors and circuit boards. (PubChem Element: Gold (Jefferson Lab and Los Alamos text), checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Ammonia NH3 |
Nitrogen meets hydrogen, under pressure | 14 | Ammonia's big job is feeding plants: about 80% of it goes into fertilizers. On the side, it chills things as a refrigerant gas and helps make plastics. (PubChem: Ammonia (CID 222), Uses (Haz-Map), checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Glucose C6H12O6 |
Sunshine turned into sugar | 18 | Plants are solar-powered sugar chefs: using sunlight's energy, they turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose. That neat trick is called photosynthesis. (Smithsonian Science Education Center: What is Photosynthesis, checked 2026-10-01) | |
| Iron Fe |
Black sand plus hydrogen | 20 | Earth has a heart of iron: the metal makes up nearly all of the planet's core, and the crust we walk on is about 5.6% iron too. (PubChem Element: Iron (Jefferson Lab text), checked 2026-10-15) | |
| Sodium chloride NaCl |
Sea salt, dried by the sun | 21 | Seawater is about 3.5% salt by weight, and table salt's two halves run the show: of all the ions (charged bits) dissolved in the sea, around 85% are sodium and chloride. (NOAA National Ocean Service: Why is the ocean salty?, checked 2026-10-17) | |
| Gypsum CaSO4·2H2O |
Crystals from evaporating seawater | 26 | Gypsum is a softie, rating just 2 on the Mohs hardness scale. Across the United States it mostly ends up as wallboard and plaster for buildings. (Geology.com: Gypsum, checked 2026-10-17) | |
| Aluminium Al |
A light metal, freed from alumina | 29 | No metal is more common in Earth's crust than aluminium, yet in nature it never goes solo: every last bit is bonded to other elements. (PubChem Element: Aluminum (Jefferson Lab text), checked 2026-10-15) | |
| Calcium carbonate CaCO3 |
Lime that turns back into stone | 35 | Eggshells and marble statues are closer than they look. An eggshell is 94% calcium carbonate, and the same compound is the main part of marble, limestone and chalk. (PubChem: Calcium Carbonate (CID 10112), Natural Pollution Sources (HSDB), checked 2026-10-15) | |
| Silicon Si |
Quartz without its oxygen | 37 | More than a quarter of Earth's crust, 25.7% by weight, is silicon. Only oxygen claims a bigger share of the rocky skin we live on. (PubChem Element: Silicon (Los Alamos National Laboratory text), checked 2026-10-15) | |
| Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) NaHCO3 |
Baking soda, from salt and ammonia | 37 | Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, breaks down into carbon dioxide gas with very little coaxing: weak acids do it, and so does heat from about 50 °C. (PubChem: Sodium Bicarbonate (CID 516892), Other Experimental Properties (HSDB), checked 2026-10-15) | |
| Acetic acid C2H4O2 |
Vinegar's sour part (Kitchen) | 51 | Vinegar is mostly water with a splash of acetic acid: at least 4 g in every 100 mL, by US rules. A little acid goes a long, sour way. (US FDA, CPG Sec 525.825 Vinegar, Definitions: at least 4 grams of acetic acid in 100 mL, checked 2026-10-23) | |
| Vanillin C8H8O3 |
The taste of vanilla (Perfumery) | 62 | A cured vanilla bean is only about 2.5 to 3% vanillin. Small share, big reputation. (Kerala Agricultural University, Vanilla: cured beans hold about 2.5-3% vanillin, checked 2026-10-23) | |
| Titanium Ti |
Light, strong and hard to free | 83 | As strong as steel yet 45% lighter, titanium is a lightweight that lifts like a heavyweight. It is also twice as strong as aluminium. (PubChem Element: Titanium (Jefferson Lab text), checked 2026-10-15) |
Chemibloom’s chemistry is real; its machines and jokes are not. Each fact names its source and the day it was checked. kend.app/chemibloom/educators