Amazing Materials Demonstrations/Activities

Work through demos in whatever order you prefer, but make sure they are varied. If you feel the pupils are not interested in a particular demo, move on. If you run out of time, stop wherever youve reached! Remember to get the students involved dont just show them, ask them and get them to assist where possible, being mindful of student safety at all times. All demonstrators and students must wear safety specs AT ALL TIMES. Your key roles are to keep the pupils safe, make sure they have fun and to protect our kit, resources and equipment. Do not waste solutions/materials there should be enough on Tuesday to last until Thursday (excepting the liquid nitrogen/dry ice that may need topping up) FERROFLUID Give out the four sealed tubes of ferrofluid FIRST (one per pair/three) and let them look at the substance in the tubes. Then hand out the magnets and let them see what happens when the magnet is held to the black colloid in the test tubes. Explanation for properties of ferrofluid and its uses are given on the accompanying laminated sheet. Ensure 4 test tubes and 4 magnets are collected back in. The magnets break if dropped. We are down to 5 (from 8). Please ensure we get 5 back! SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIAL demonstration of the Meissner effect Place black YBCO material in the petri dish. Fill dish with liquid nitrogen to cool the YBCO below 92K. Use tweezers to place the magnet above the YBCO it will levitate (if it doesnt, its not cold enough). Get them up close (EYE PROTECTION!) to see the space between the YBCO disc and the magnet. Use a piece of paper or cardboard to slide between the magnet and the YBCO disc to prove its levitating. These YBCO discs were made in the third year lab and are fragile and not homogeneous to get the magnet to levitate is quite a trick, but the students should be able to see that the magnet rolls off the disc. Explanation/discussion/uses given on accompanying laminated sheet. The YBCO discs are fragile. They crack and break when cold. Treat them with care. Do not touch with bare hands treat as toxic. Doo not lose the magnet LIQUID CRYSTAL TILES Allow pupils to place hands onto tiles (pass around if necessary but count out and in and make sure they dont get damaged. There are 10 tiles!) Ask them why they think the colour is changing. If they get the link with temperature, ask them which colours are which temperatures (which are hotter/colder). This is a liquid crystalline material explanations on the accompanying laminated sheet. Collect the tiles back in. Dont let pupils bend or peel away the tiles they get damaged easily. We have 10 make sure we get 10 back! SHAPE MEMORY METAL *Make sure kettle has boiled recently* Hand out one piece of Nitinol wire each (use the previously opened pack). Warn students that the ends are sharp and tell them not to let the ends cut their fingers! Ask them to coil the metal up or bend it into a spiral. While theyre doing that, fill the thermochromic mug with hot water to demonstrate the colour change. Bring them up one by one (or in twos if its a big group) and let them drop their wire into the mug (at the same time if theyre in pairs) whilst watching from above. (EYE PROTECTION!). The explanation for the properties of the shape memory wire are given on the bright yellow accompanying information. There are nitinol springs and brass alloy springs that also change shape in hot water. To use the black nitinol springs, stretch the spring CAREFULLY to about twice its original length (and no more overstretched springs no

Amazing Materials Demonstrator Notes

longer work!) and drop it in hot water itll shrink back to original size. To use the brass springs, simply drop them in hot water they will expand in hot water. Remove them and theyll shrink back to normal size on cooling. DRY SPRINGS after use or they corrode and become unuseable. Count them out and in. THERMOCHROMIC DUCKS Once the wires have been dropped into the hot water, float a duck or two on the surface! They change colour. And theyre cute! Talk about how this technology is used in baby feeding spoons if the baby food is too hot, the spoon changes colour warning you not to feed it to the baby. Similarly, the ducks can be used to indicate too hot bath water. RAINBOW DEMONSTRATION properties of dry ice Have the large measuring cylinder prepared with between 700 and 800 cm3 cold water in it, and have some Universal Indicator, potassium carbonate and white roll standing by. Show pupils a scoop of dry ice. Ask them if theyve seen it before, and to think about why its called dry ice *its dry because its not made of H2O its CO2, and its called ice because it looks just like normal ice+. Explain how we use it (acetone/dry ice slush bath relate to their use of water baths in their science lab at school). Talk about the temperature it is at ( -78oC, ~196K). Then add a bit of UI to the water (not much), add some (not much) K2CO3 to make the UI purple then throw in the scoop full of dry ice. Ask the pupils / talk about what the observations mean (white vapour water vapour; CO2 is colourless, more dense than air, colour change shows CO2 dissolved in water gives acidic solution, inside measuring cylinder can see CO2 changing from solid to gas (sublimation) quite unusual in their usual spheres of existence. They may not know the word for this unusual change of state.) FOAM FOUNTAIN Half fill white Aldrich container with very warm (but not hot it may spray on you) water and squirt in some washing up liquid. Add in a large scoop of CO2 and get the red lid (with a small hole in it) screwed on as quick as possible. If you do it well, you get a foam fountain. If you dont do it well, you get wet! Be careful do demo in a bowl. Any wet patches left will be slippery due to wetness and due to detergent make sure its in an area where no-one will be walking. Liquid N2 DEMOS Show them some liquid N2. Talk about the properties (there are some details in the box its -196 oC / 77K). Freeze a rubber nail and hammer it in to a piece of wood. Shrink a balloon. Freeze and smash some flowers (makes a mess!). Use the kettle to show that its boiling cold. Be careful not to cryo burn yourself!

Amazing Materials Demonstrator Notes

CHAMELEON Add 800ml of water to the large measuring cylinder and put in some UI (should go green if your cylinder is clean). Then add some potassium carbonate solid and stir in. Indicator will go blue get them to tell you what this means (carbonates are basic, so UI gives blue colour in water). Then show them dry ice (many wont have seen it before). Ask them why its called dry ice *because it looks like proper ice, but has no water in it i.e. its dry+ and make sure they know its solid CO2. Quick discussion (get them to have a guess!) about the fact that the dry ice solidifies at -78.5oC, but avoid the word freezing as CO2 sublimes. This may not be something theyre familiar with (they should be, but may have forgotten). Point out that the water, at room temperature, is very hot compared to the dry ice, so, on heating so much it will sublime i.e. turn to a gas and form bubbles. Then chuck in a (wooden) spoonful. As it bubbles, get them to notice that the white smoke drops downwards (CO2 is MORE DENSE than air not heavier not allowed heavier at school!), and use a balloon inflated with CO2 previously to demonstrate this race a CO2 balloon and an air balloon by dropping them from the same height. Use this to talk about why CO2 is so good in fire extinguishers (does not support combustion and blankets flames). By this time, the UI should have turned yellow cue discussion about fizzy drinks rotting teeth etc etc. If youve got loads of time left, do the CO2 foam fountain at the very end of the demos but its messy! Stand the white plastic bottle in a bowl on the floor, add hot water from the kettle and a squirt of washing up liquid. Add a spoon of CO2 and VERY QUICKLY screw the lid on. You should get a foam fountain. BLUE BOTTLES Set up at start of day: Dissolve 10g KOH into a glass bottle three quarters full of water. Add a spatula end of methyl viologen to one (CARE! TOXIC!) and a spatula end of methylene blue to the other. Add 6g glucose to each bottle. Seal carefully. One bottle should be blue, one should be colourless. Theres only enough chemical for one of each per day. Use two students to demonstrate (bring them up and face the rest of their group). Pass one the blue bottle and one the colourless bottle. Tell them both to shake the bottles vigorously at the same time (you could lead them on and tell them that theyre going to get the blue colour to jump from one bottle to the other, but only if they shake vigorously!). The colour change should impress them! [Explanation: COLOURLESS TO BLUE: this one methylene blue indicator. When shaken, the oxygen in the airspace at the top oxidises the indictor to its blue form. On standing, the glucose will gradually reduce the methylene blue back to its colourless state. BLUE TO COLOURLESS: the same, but the methyl viologen starts blue in KOH solution then is oxidised to colourless by the oxygen on shaking. Glucose then reduces it back to blue form. Information below is taken from http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistrydemonstrations/ss/bluebottle_3.htm
How the Blue Bottle Reaction Works In this reaction, glucose (an aldehyde) in an alkaline solution is slowly oxidized by dioxygen to form gluconic acid: CH2OHCHOHCHOHCHOHCHOHCHO + 1/2 O2 --> CH2OHCHOHCHOHCHOHCHOHCOOH

Amazing Materials Demonstrator Notes

Gluconic acid is converted to sodium gluconate in the presence of sodium hydroxide. Methylene blue speeds up this reaction by acting as an oxygen transfer agent. By oxidizing glucose, methylene blue is itself reduced (forming leucomethylene blue), and becomes colorless. If there is a sufficient available oxygen (from air), leucomethylene blue is re-oxidized and the blue color of solution can be restored. Upon standing, glucose reduces the methylene blue dye and the color of the solution disappears. In dilute solutions the reaction takes place at 40-60C, or at room temperature (described here) for more concentrated solutions. ]

SEVEN BEAKERS This needs to be set up before the students come in. DONT MIX THE BEAKERS/CHEMICALS UP. Be aware what youre doing with the droppers. Keep everything clean and tidy. The demo needs eight 600ml beakers: The small beaker is empty. 1: 20 drops 2 M NaOH solution 2. 15 drops phenolphthalein 3. 13 drops 37% H2SO4 4. spatula tip of KMnO4 solid ( a tiny amount into a DRY beaker or theyll spot it!) 5. 40 drops acidified iron(II) sulphate heptahydrate 6. 15 drops 10% potassium thiocyanate solution 7. 10 drops 2% potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) Make sure they all appear empty. Have them standing ready on a bench top. To start the demonstration, fill the empty beaker with 500ml of water from a tap. Dont prepare this in advance; do it while they watch (so they know its only water). Tell them to memorise (or note down) their observations. Pour the water into beaker 1 (no colour change). Pour the contents of beaker 1 into beaker 2 (turns bright pink). Then pour beaker 2 into beaker 3 (turns colourless). Then into beaker 4 (goes purple). Then into beaker 5 (goes colourless/pale yellow). Then into beaker 6 (goes orange). Then into beaker 7 (goes green/blue). After its done, ask them to explain. You may have to help a bit. They wont know many of the chemicals, but theyll be familiar with indicators (if not with phenolphthalein. But its fun to teach them how to say it). They may have met potassium permanganate before. Or not! Explanation: Beaker 1: NaOH so colourless. Beaker 2: phenolphthalein so in alkali it goes pink Beaker 3: neutralisation of NaOH with H2SO4, so phenolphthalein indicator goes back to colourless Beaker 4: dissolving purple KMnO4 in neutral solution Beaker 5: Redox Reaction: MnO4- + 8H+ + 5Fe2+ Mn2+ + 5Fe3+ + 4H2O. They may not be familiar with this chemistry but should vaguely understand the permanganate is reduced to manganese(II) ions, and theyre almost colourless in solution. Actually theyre pale pink! And theyre reduced by iron(II) ions, which are oxidised to iron(III) ions (pale yellow at this concentration). This explanation will be beyond most of them. Beaker 6: thiocyanate ions complex with the iron(III) ions produced in the last reaction. This gives a blood red/orange complex of iron thiocyanate. The idea of transition metal complex ions is only encountered at sixth form level, but just tell them that this stuff, when very concentrated, looks like blood and used to be used as fake blood in dracula capsules in the theatre (it really did) and theyll be happy! Beaker 7: formation of Prussian blue a pigment used in paint. Turquoise colour. Can be used to blueprint.

Amazing Materials Demonstrator Notes

AFTER DEMONSTRATING TO A GROUP: Remove nitinol wires and rubber duck from the thermochromic mug. Empty the water out of the mug so it can cool down. Refill kettle (if necessary) and boil it again. Empty out the seven beakers and wash out well. Set up again with drops of stock solutions. Empty chameleon measuring cylinder and rinse out.

Amazing Materials Demonstrator Notes