Extreme virtual experiment: Put one drop of this solution on the aluminum plate,

This is a relatively dangerous experiment. And not just being small is a monster.

Chemistry is probably a nightmare for many generations of students. However, if you can do experiments on your own, chemistry won't be as dry as you might think. For example, you can build snake monsters from hell with just some indoor tools like sugar and sand.

Interesting experimental videos also receive the attention of netizens. And recently, we have an experimental video created " virtual hell" super virtual. In it, the person doing the experiment just needs to drop a drop of silver liquid onto the aluminum plate, and the snake immediately appears.

Just drop a drop of silver color onto the aluminum plate, and the snake immediately appears.

The silver colored liquid is actually mercury . And specifically how the experiment process, please see the video below.

* Note: Experiments involving mercury are very dangerous. Do not arbitrarily perform at home.

Not every mercury that works with aluminum is solid

Because under normal conditions, giving mercury to aluminum produces only the corrosive effect as shown below. Even though it's scary, the snake won't grow.

The reason is that aluminum is an extremely susceptible to oxidation. Under normal conditions, the outer aluminum layer acts with oxygen, forming an extremely stable Al ₂ O ₃ oxide layer. Thus, aluminum can survive in nature without air erosion.

Also thanks to this oxide layer, in normal conditions, mercury can only erode aluminum plates, but cannot react quickly enough to produce a snake as in the experiment.

If we want to create a snake, we will have to remove the aluminum oxide layer outside. That's why at the beginning of the video, one drop of solution (probably HCl acid) is used to cut a hole in the aluminum plate. In the formation hole will be pure aluminum, and now the reaction with new mercury can be fast enough to create a solid.

When mercury comes into contact with pure aluminum, it creates amalgam (mercury alloy with other metals). Amalgams work to prevent aluminum oxide from being formed, and aluminum is therefore constantly oxidized, causing the surface to rise quickly.

Reactive chemical equation.