This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phillip Cook. It has been edited for length and clarity.
A physicist or a mathematician might argue with me, but I believe chemistry is the best way to understand how the world works. Once you understand atoms, the underpinnings of the world around us can be explained.
Over the past 26 years, I’ve aimed to demonstrate this for my students through experiments. One of my favorites involves dissolving an aluminum soda can with sodium hydroxide, more commonly known as lye. Once the can dissolves, students can see the invisible plastic liner inside, which holds the soda.
I’ve been doing these experiments for decades. In 2019, when a student told me I should film them, I didn’t realize that decision would change my life.
The TikTok was a student’s idea
It happened at the beginning of the school year, a time when I do a lot of demonstrations to get my students curious about chemistry. That particular day, we were putting a gummy bear in potassium chlorate, which produces a violent reaction.
My student said, “You should put that on TikTok.” I asked her what TikTok was. After she explained, I trusted her with my phone, and she set up my account. Then, she filmed the experiment so I could focus on conducting it safely.
Once the demonstration was complete, the class picked music to overlay on the video, and my student posted it. I didn’t think twice as I went home for the weekend. I was just humoring my pupils.
Pressure to create became unhealthy for a bit
Monday morning, kids were asking if I’d seen TikTok. I opened it, and felt a punch to my gut. The video had about 75,000 views, and I had 5,500 new followers. Until then, I thought I’d been doing well on social media with my Twitter account, talking with 200 fellow teachers.
I was struck by how many people were genuinely curious about chemistry. I decided I’d keep making videos, but I soon discovered it wasn’t as easy for me as my student had made it look. My videos take time and planning. Because of the nature of the demonstrations, I can’t film in bulk as some creators do.
As my following grew, I felt pressure to constantly be making content. It became unhealthy. Yet, I knew my day job teaching was my first priority, followed by my family. These days I’m good about keeping a healthy balance of teaching, social media, and downtime.
I show students it’s OK to make mistakes
My followers on TikTok are pretty diverse. They’re evenly split between males and females, and I have a pretty wide age range. What they all share is curiosity. I’ve built a following by tapping into things that people are naturally curious about.
I always engage with commenters who ask quality questions. If you’re going to ask a question, you deserve an answer — or at least an acknowledgment.
I’m candid about what I don’t know. I want to model that for my audience. Over the past few years, my students in the classroom have become increasingly anxious and afraid of making mistakes. But that’s the beautiful thing about science—we learn through making mistakes.
I’m glad I can build scientific literacy
I’m also a dad — my kids are 20 and 24 — and I’ve seen how easy it is for kids to spend too much time online. I’ve talked with my daughter about that, and I put boundaries around social media use when she was a teen, including taking the phone at night. At the time, she wasn’t happy about it, but there was no way around that. Luckily, my kids and I are both pretty good about keeping boundaries with social media now.
I feel so lucky to have been embraced by this online community. It’s easy to go down rabbit holes on the internet, and I’m happy to help nudge people down the rabbit hole of scientific literacy and exploration.
Too many people didn’t have a positive experience with science in school. I’m helping them be curious again. If they can chase that feeling—and maybe learn at least one little nugget they didn’t know before—I’ve done my job.
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