Magic through science?

[Tao63]

Can I ask ideas here? If not, please give me some link where I can get some ideas or something, anything that would amaze grade schoolers would do.

 

Example

Flame on water

Changing a liquid's color into white makes them think its milk or violet for grape juice

 

It's not science fair but still some kind of contest =/

[Gilded]

Color change can be achieved by having two solutions of compounds that dissolve well in water (and won't change the color) but which together react to form a compound, water soluble or not, that colors the water. Can't think of any examples at the moment, but there are many such reactions.

 

Flames on water is a bit tricky, unless you want to use a thin film of some sort of flammable liquid on the water... or have some sort of volatile slowly evaporate from the water. Perhaps you could show them how you can extract hydrogen and oxygen from water through electrolysis and then burn it to form water again? I think that would be somewhat cool for grade schoolers, but I'm not sure if they have the attention spans for that.

 

If there's one thing I would've wanted to see in grade school it's all kinds of flashy stuff. Perhaps a green flame from a solution of ethanol and boric acid, or a flash and even a small mushroom cloud from a small amount of aluminum powder and an oxidizer like potassium perchlorate. Or perhaps a mixture like zinc powder + ammonium nitrate + ammonium chloride, which can be ignited with a single drop of water. I'm still somewhat impressed by all kinds of flashy stuff (in larger scales though ) and I'm 20.

 

There's some nifty stuff outside chemistry as well, like tesla coils and Jacob's ladders but I'm not sure how you could apply them for "magic".

Edited September 3, 2008 by Gilded

[Mr Skeptic]

You can make hydrogen by dumping a metal like zinc into hydrochloric acid. If you make it go out a nozzle and use the right quantities, you can light it on fire. That can also be used to fill up a hydrogen balloon, which will float and is great fun to pop (with a candle). The hydrochloric acid looks like water. The strenght you need depends on the surface area of the zinc you're using; you'll need to experiment.

[Tao63]

Oh wait, I forgot to add, no dangerous like exploding chemical reactions please, not allowed

 

Anyways thanks for replies though

[iNow]

You should look here:

 

http://listverse.com/science/top-10-amazing-chemical-reactions/

 

 

"Top 10 Amazing Chemical Reactions."

[Gilded]

You should look here:

 

http://listverse.com/science/top-10-amazing-chemical-reactions/

 

 

"Top 10 Amazing Chemical Reactions."

 

Or not, if dangerous stuff isn't allowed. I'm also guessing liquid nitrogen/helium isn't available so that takes out quite a lot of them. Sodium acetate and sulfur hexafluoride are definitely fun though.

[swansont]

I remember that from when I had a chemistry set. Phenolphthalein (I often picture Daffy Duck saying that)

 

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/features/water2wine.shtml

[iNow]

Or not, if dangerous stuff isn't allowed.

If nothing else, it can inspire new ideas.

 

 

Also, a hat tip to swansont for sharing that link on his blog, as that's where I first saw it myself.

[farmboy]

sulfuric acid and sugar perhaps.

[HornedWildebeas]

Green fire is pretty cool. I did it for one of my Chem projects last year...

 

http://chemistry.about.com/od/funfireprojects/a/greenfire.htm