Silicate Demonstrations

[~TheAlchemist~]

Are there any scientific demonstrations or experiments using silicate compounds, such as Sodium Silicate or Aluminosilicate?

Preferably ones that a quick and safe enough to perform in a classroom?

Thanks

[Manticore]

From wikipedia:

When crystals of a number of metallic salts are dropped into a solution of water glass, simple or branching stalagmites of coloured metal silicates are formed. This phenomenon has been used by manufacturers of toys and chemistry sets to provide instructive enjoyment to many generations of children from the early 20th century until the present. An early mention of crystals of metallic salts forming a "chemical garden" in sodium silicate is found in the 1946 Modern Mechanix magazine. Metal salts used included the sulfates and/or chlorides of copper, cobalt, iron, nickel, and manganese.

(Water glass = Sodium Silicate.)

Edited August 17, 2017 by Manticore

[~TheAlchemist~]

Thankyou @Manticore

[Area54]

It's not quite what you were thinking of, but the bulk of the Earth is made of silicates. Perhaps a simple display of the minerals of Bowen's Continuous and Discontinuous Reaction Series would let you talk about how the "versatility" of silicon bonding permits a diverse array of minerals that then form many of the metamorphic and most of the igneous rocks encountered in the crust (not to mention the mantle). This lets you provide an introduction to crytalography.