5 Fascinating Chemistry Experiments

5 Fascinating Chemistry Experiments

what you're reading here is not magic it's chemistry the most unbelievable chemical reaction scientists have ever created you are 5 crazy chemical reactions

5 Palo Santo wood

Palo Santo which translates from Spanish to mean holy wood is a type of tree that grows throughout South America it's long been associated with its healing properties has been used by shamans for hundreds and possibly thousands of years in sacred rituals it is now used by people around the world who want to benefit from its uplifting effects.

The wood itself contains several chemicals that help to stimulate the brain's uptake of oxygen these also mean that it can burn in a surprising way under certain conditions sticks of the wood are lit at the top to controllably release smoke sometimes as long as there's a higher enough water content present it'll appear as if the flame is burning above the wood almost like a floating sunset halo the scientific reason for this is that no types of wood actually burn but the vapors they release due when exposed to heat the gases are released but occur in too high a concentration directly above the wood to ignite so it's only where they've mixed with enough oxygen that a flame can form the flame will of course eventually char the wood and allow oxygen to interact with the carbon which is why it will in the end burn to ash.

4 Thermite and Ice

Thermite is a substance made up of metal powder which when exposed to heat undergoes an exothermic reaction various different types can be made depending on which metal you have available and there are a variety of uses such as in the manufacture of grenades and fireworks there is one unexpected reaction involving thermite however and that's when it's exposed to ice in itself it's not seen as an explosive compound but if it's lit when it's on top of a block of frozen water it takes on a much more destructive quality the reason for this is due to the amount of heat it releases when it has been ignited this causes the ice to superheat and turn into vapor which in turn condenses around the therm particles the thermite reacts even faster with the water releases even more heat and creates a steam explosion.

3 The BZ Reaction

The bella soft zhabotinsky reaction is an experiment that's used to demonstrate non-equilibrium thermodynamics whereas usually you would expect a chemical reaction to combine the ingredients to produce something new this reaction creates a chemical oscillator where the constituent parts continue to change form there are around 18 different steps that are needed to make this work properly but in essence and involves mixing bromine with an acid bromide ions are converted into molecular bromine which is red and this is then broken down into its ions again the resultant pattern can be almost hypnotic look as if they've been created on a computer but what you're looking at is a real-time speed of this reaction there are a number of different variations that create alternative colors but the explanation of this process is so complicated that it took more than a decade after it was first discovered in 1951 before any publications felt confident enough to report on it.

2 Diethyl Zinc

Diethyl zinc is a highly reactive compound that's made from a quorum sink that's bound to a form of ethane and as a number of uses within chemistry to help with the formation of other compounds available as a liquid it's also used in some rocket fuels and when you see how volatile it is it becomes clear why almost immediately upon being exposed to the air it sets a light and if squirted from a nozzle can function as a flamethrower without the need for a source of ignition the behavior of diethyl zinc in air sees it burn and therefore react with the oxygen that's prison and it forms zinc oxide carbon dioxide and water.

1 The Dancing Squid

The dancing squid in Japan is a popular dish called katsu eeka or Loredana which is a rice or noodle soup with fresh squid placed on top of it the squids heart has only recently been removed by the time it served and this leads to a rather bizarre effect when soy sauce is poured over at the sodium in the liquid activates the neurons next to the muscles in the tentacles and causes them to begin moving while it normally just causes the squid to appear as if it's dancing the effect can be so pronounced that on occasion it can walk out of the bowl and onto the table this doesn't mean the animal has been brought back to life but it's a process that's using up the remaining energy within the cells but only works for a few seconds and after the display the squid is returned to the kitchen where it's sliced up and prepared to be eaten this isn't the only species that this works with either frog's legs which are a specialty in France can also be seen twitching when a salt is sprinkled onto them again a result of the sodium in the salt replicating the normal bodily functions that enable muscles to move in a living creatu.