Best Chemistry Sets for Adults | Explore Chemistry with a Great Kit (2023)

Let’s be honest for a minute here – chemistry is just as much fun for adults as it is for children! Often, parents are just as eager to take part in chemistry experiments as children. Plus, when you involve your child in these chemistry experiments, you’re also enjoying quality time with them.

However, many chemistry sets are created for younger children. It can be challenging to find a collection designed for adults or even older children.

To help you choose the best chemistry kit that is suitable for an adult, we’ve put together this list. We strongly feel that the best chemistry set available for adults is MEL Chemistry because it has the most varied and advanced experiments, plus excellent explanations.

However, this is not the typical one-off purchase chemistry kit. You can only get it as a monthly subscription (which is, as you’ll see below, one of its roaring advantages). So, read on if you’d like to find out more about it and our other recommendations.

Related post: Best Chemistry Set for 8-Year-Olds

Best Chemistry Sets for Adults

MEL Chemistry

As an adult, many chemistry sets are simply too basic or uninteresting. While a 6-year-old may be delighted time and again with sodium bicarbonate and vinegar, you’re no doubt looking for something more sophisticated.

The good news is that the MEL Science Chemistry Kits deliver this and more! MEL Chemistry is a subscription that begins with the delivery of a very impressive starter kit and provides a number of different experiments each month. The kits include ‘real’ chemicals – ie. stuff you WON’T find lying around the kitchen!

Read all about this science subscription box in our hands-on MEL Chemistry Review.

Each of the kits has a theme, and sufficient materials are provided to conduct the experiments multiple times. Most importantly, the experiments are fun and educational. Not only do these kits deliver the “wow factor” that chemistry is well-known for. They also back it up with excellent explanations that truly teach important chemistry concepts in an entertaining manner. We couldn’t recommend MEL Chemistry more highly!

Thames & Kosmos Chem C2000 Chemistry Set

Thames & Kosmos Chem C2000 Chemistry Set is technically designed for 11-year-old children and up. However, this is not a set that a 10-year-old would be able to use independently. We would not recommend this set of 11-year-olds since the chemicals and instructions require more scientific understanding and reading skills than most children this age have.

For an adult, this chemistry set is a decent choice. It comes with the equipment necessary to do 250 different experiments, though it is entirely possible to use the kit to do your own tests as well. It also includes a 128-page color manual with instructions on all operations as well as some background information on chemistry.

Do you know what’s the real difference between acids and bases? Neither did my best friend. But when I gifted her this set, she learned all of it, and asked for more! In fact, her whole living room turned into a full-blown lab with all kinds of gooey solutions, beakers and test tubes.

With all that said, this is an intermediate chemistry set. The company used to have an expansion set, C3000. Sadly, they have discontinued it for whatever reason. So we can only hope that it will get a successor in the nearest future!

Tusc Scientific Molecular Kit

And now for something completely different! Tusc Scientific Molecular Kit is NOT a chemistry set that lets you do experiments.

However, it will give you insight into another super important aspect of this marvellous science: atoms and molecules. If you’re reading this article, you’re bound to have been fascinated with these structures even when you were a child.

I know I was! From the moment I first saw the eternal dance of molecules in an ancient TV show, I fell in love with chemistry. But even when they aren’t in motion (e.g. at absolute zero and in models such as this one), the abstract beauty of their bonds and structures is hard to describe.

But let’s go back to this model kit! It contains a whopping 240 pieces that you can use to build 3D models of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Bromine, Fluorine, and other molecules.

Another feature worth mentioning is that you’ll get a lifetime guarantee. Even though it’s an inexpensive set!

The only downside to this set is that it offers a limited opportunity for growth. But once you exhaust all the combinations, you can convert these beautiful structures into home decor!

And nobody will EVER try to convince you that a carbon molecule contains three and not four hydrogen atoms bound to carbon! (See? That’s already some nerdy talk right there!)

Which Chemistry Set Suits You Best?

Well, which set suits you depends on what you want to get out of your chemistry experimentation! Once again, we wholeheartedly recommend the MEL Chemistry kit. If you’re worried about it being a subscription, the great news is that you can pause or cancel at any time, so there’s really no obligation.

Whichever set you choose, we hope you have a great time exploring the wonders of the chemical world!