http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pXyJ7P0B0k
I think this video is very interesting because it is one of the strangest and weirdest chemical reactions in the world. After the scientist lights a small piece of white substance, it begins to expand rapidly, forming yellow twigs, just like the snake of the pharaoh, so it gets the name of pharaoh’s snake experiment. As the video introduces at the end, this is the result of two chemical reactions :
2Hg (NCS)2 = 2HgS + C3N4 + CS2
CS2 + 3O2 = CO2 + 2SO2
I like this simple experiment not only because it is amazing, but also because it shows the mysterious chemistry world to us. There are many interesting phenomena around us, but we rarely think of the chemical essence behind it. We should always observe the chemical phenomena mindfully in order to understand this world better.
Submitted by: Zixing Fan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That is so awesome and freaky at the same time. I looked it up to try to find why it expands the way it does and found something else out: it's extremely toxic. It may sound silly but it did not appear that any of the people demonstrating this were wearing gloves or did this in a fume hood. Much of the reaction is hazardous. Toxic fumes and mercury are emitted from it so it is hazardous in many ways and worries me that the people doing this may have inhaled it or got it on their skin in some way. Looking it up taught me to beware it if I ever see it. I just thought it was interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis experiment is really fascinating!! I think I watched it more than 5 times. I do agree with you that there are many intersting phenomena and that we should try to understand why certain phenomena happens. Thank you for posting this weird and strange video.
ReplyDelete