weschem
Harmless
Posts: 24
Registered: 10-11-2012
Location: CA, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Christmas Demo Ideas
So Im supposed to come up with a few christmas themed demos for my universities chemistry club. So far I have the "silver tree" demo which is the
crystallization of silver from a silver nitrate solution on a coiled copper wire that has been immersed in it.
Anyone have any other good ideas?
|
|
|
Hexavalent
International Hazard
Posts: 1564
Registered: 29-12-2011
Location: Wales, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pericyclic
|
|
Do they have to be Christmas-related?
If not, then on Tuesday I've got to do a little demo for some parents and young children at parent's evening. I'm doing competition (thermite
reactions), "water starts a fire", the 'Bluebottle reaction', maybe an oscillating reaction and silver mirrors if that's any help.
[Edited on 11-11-2012 by Hexavalent]
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
|
|
|
UnintentionalChaos
International Hazard
Posts: 1454
Registered: 9-12-2006
Location: Mars
Member Is Offline
Mood: Nucleophilic
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by Hexavalent  | Do they have to be Christmas-related?
If not, then on Tuesday I've got to do a little demo for some parents and young children at parent's evening. I'm doing competition (thermite
reactions), "water starts a fire", the 'Bluebottle reaction', maybe an oscillating reaction and silver mirrors if that's any help.
[Edited on 11-11-2012 by Hexavalent] |
You could silver mirror the inside of a clear glass ornament.
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
|
|
|
tetrahedron
Hazard to Others
Posts: 210
Registered: 28-9-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
barking dog reaction. i wouldn't settle for anything less.
|
|
|
Eddygp
National Hazard
Posts: 858
Registered: 31-3-2012
Location: University of York, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Organometallic
|
|
yeah, check Hegelrast's video on that, in youtube
[Edited on 11-11-2012 by Eddygp]
there may be bugs in gfind
[ˌɛdidʒiˈpiː] IPA pronunciation for my Username |
|
|
Mailinmypocket
International Hazard
Posts: 1351
Registered: 12-5-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
The traffic light reaction is cool, red...green, etc!
[Edited on 11-11-2012 by Mailinmypocket]
|
|
|
Eddygp
National Hazard
Posts: 858
Registered: 31-3-2012
Location: University of York, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Organometallic
|
|
Burning magnesium in a CO2 brick is interesting... and solid CO2 is white as ice and magnesium oxide is bone-like white.
there may be bugs in gfind
[ˌɛdidʒiˈpiː] IPA pronunciation for my Username |
|
|
weschem
Harmless
Posts: 24
Registered: 10-11-2012
Location: CA, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
These all sound really good. Especially the mirror ornament one. Yeah theyd prefer it to be somewhat christmas-y. Ive already got some pyro i want to
do with strontium for red and barium chloride for green.
|
|
|
Triazine
Harmless
Posts: 6
Registered: 11-8-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
I second Eddygp's idea. For the winter holiday my professor made a "snow man" out of CO2 blocks and put a Mg fire in the head to make a Christmas
jack-o-lantern. Very cool.
|
|
|
Morgan
International Hazard
Posts: 1708
Registered: 28-12-2010
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
I once ground some iodine and ammonium nitrate together and then added some zinc dust. It self-ignited so fast after a quick stir I barely had time to
back away, but the color was fantastic. There was a beautiful blue smoke followed by a shift to violet it seemed. The thick column of billowing smoke
rose to a height of nearly 8 feet and was gone far too quickly. But the vividness evoked such a sense of wonder.
Less intimately mixed, you can add a drop of water or piece of ice to start it.
|
|
|
kuro96inlaila
Hazard to Self
Posts: 96
Registered: 21-6-2010
Location: Malaysia
Member Is Offline
Mood: Quietly thinking
|
|
If you have sodium polyacrylate you can make "instant snow" demo.Just add water to it and it will expand greatly into fluffy snow like substance.Fit
for christmast theme eh?
|
|
|
MrHomeScientist
International Hazard
Posts: 1806
Registered: 24-10-2010
Location: Flerovium
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
I second the sodium polyacrylate idea - I've done that a number of times and it really does look like snow! It even feels cold, because of the
absorbed water evaporating away. It's very impressive to pour a large amount of water into a small amount of powder and watch it all get absorbed,
kids especially love it! And it's totally non-toxic so safe to play with.
|
|
|
Mailinmypocket
International Hazard
Posts: 1351
Registered: 12-5-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Then you can add a couple pinches of salt and mix it around with your hands and it turns back to liquid 
|
|
|
Eddygp
National Hazard
Posts: 858
Registered: 31-3-2012
Location: University of York, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Organometallic
|
|
Precipitating silver from an AgNO3 solution... or precipitating uhhh calcium hydroxide (CaCl2+2KOH = 2KCl + Ca(OH)2
there may be bugs in gfind
[ˌɛdidʒiˈpiː] IPA pronunciation for my Username |
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
