Fun With Chemistry

I remember sitting in my 10th grade chemistry class and my somewhat doddering and absent-minded chemistry teacher showing us the way potasium would react to water. Apparently he put too much in and blew up the beaker (there was a plexi glass sheild protecting the students), scattered shards of glass around the classroom, set our ears to ringing the rest of the day, and set the ceiling tiles on fire. That was my favorite day in that class ever (other than the time Neil got caught melting the plastic chairs with some tongs heated over a bunsen burner).

Check out these videos of potasium’s “friendlier” brother, sodium, being mixed with water.

~ by entropyhed on July 20, 2008.