Things Required:
Vinegar
Steel wool
Household ammonia
Tablespoon
2 small baby food jars
Directions:
Fill one-half of one jar with steel wool. Add enough vinegar to cover the steel wool. Write IRON ACETATE on the side of the glass. Allow the jar to stand undisturbed for five days. Pour one tablespoonful of the liquid Iron Acetate into the second jar. Add one tablespoonful of household ammonia and stir.
This Is What Happens:
A dark green, jelly-like substance forms immediately.
Science Behind It:
The iron in the steel wool combines with the vinegar to produce iron acetate. The chemical name of Household ammonia is ammonium hydroxide. A chemical reaction occurs as soon as these two liquids combine. The equation for the reaction is:
ammonium hydroxide + iron acetate yields
ammonium acetate + iron hydroxide.
Notice that there is an exchange of materials. Nothing new was produced. There is still ammonium, iron, hydroxide and acetate, but the recombination produces a totally different result. The original materials were liquids and the product is a gel. The starting materials in a chemical reaction break apart and are rearranged to form the products. There are never new basic materials produced.
