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.

[notthatcreativewithnames]

I once do some experiment about CuCl2 and Al as well. I put some solid CuCl2 on the concave bottom of a soft drink can, scraped a bit. Then I put little water on that solid. The reaction is quite spectacular. The reaction eats aluminium can to the laminated layer for some small area!

[andrewhaychemistry]

Great video, thanks. My Higher class had a go today and enjoyed the flames in a dark classroom. Followed up by gettiing them to identify the two redox reactions and the oxidisiing agents.
Nice segue into the location of H on the periodic table.

[bs]

Since CuCl2 was not avail to me, i used CuSo4 + HCL(dil.) to make CuCl2, pretty easy way to get CuCl2, and boom! i made the project.
Since CuSO4 is blue, i made sure to put enough HCL to make it Green
:D.

[iamnoob]

Hi! I'm new to these kind of stuffs... What will happen if I put ethyl alcohol instead of sulfuric acid?

[mauronarf]

Declan, do you know why the CuCl2 looks more greenish than the CuSO4 ?
Thanks! Great demonstration :)

[cheshirecats]

Am I able to have the balanced equation of these reactions?

[Mainak]

As this produces hydrogen.. can it be safe to do in laboratory ? Any chance to explode?

[MadScientist]

Looking for blue. The all elusive blue.