Scotch College

Chemistry with a big bang

Words: Helen Feutrill • Senior School Staff Photography: Lachlan Bell • Year 10

A controlled explosion in Year 10 Chemistry yielded some spectacular results, as the photograph shows.

The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate the potential dangers of hydrogen gas – billed in some quarters as the ‘fuel of the future’.

In the Year 10 Chemistry unit on metals, boys study the atomic nature of matter, and to illustrate the existence of electron shells, we perform a demonstration using exploding hydrogen balloons. When the electrons in a metal gain energy, they move from one energy level to the next; when they fall back to a lower level, they release this energy in the form of visible light. Each metal produces a characteristic colour which can be used to identify the metal present.

In this demonstration, several balloons were filled with hydrogen and impregnated with various metal salt solutions. A lighted taper was placed near the balloons and they exploded. This graphically illustrated to the boys that if hydrogen is indeed the answer to future fuel needs, methods of handling it safely will also be a primary development need.

Year 10 student Lachlan Bell used a Canon EOS 20D camera with a fast shutter speed and was rewarded with some dramatic photographs. GS