Dancing flames - aluminium and the reactivity series

When teaching the reactivity series, aluminium’s protective oxide layer can make it difficult for students to see its true reactivity in the context of metals reacting with aqueous solutions. This demonstration shows the reaction of aluminium in solutions that students are likely to have already met. With a little practice, it has the added wow factor of burning with an eerie green flame that dances in the vessel as hydrogen is evolved.
Read the article that accompanies this video in the September 2014 issue of Education in Chemistry at rsc.li/EiC514ec
This is part of the Education in Chemistry Exhibition Chemistry series: chemistry demonstrations to capture your students' imaginations: rsc.li/EiCExChem