(^^not my picture^^)
In this lab my group and I tried to make liquid magnets, and sadly it didn't work.
We used these material in which we found online:
(http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/liquidmagnet_2.htm)
When Researching this lab we thought It would be really cool, Beside the fact that there are many safety protocols like wearing safety glasses, gloves, lab coats, and using a fume hood. The reason Why we had to suit up was because There was a risk that it could stain our skin and clothes.
When we started this lab we didn't take into account of how long it would take so we ended up running out of time and had to do over the time span of two days. I think this is probably why it didn't work. We think that because we didn't have enough time to heat up the ferrofluid and waited till the next day to do it it dried out too much and lost its chemical reaction.
We really wanted it to work because we thought it would be really cool and
interesting to experiment/play with but without touching it because its toxic. We could however, put it in a glass container to separate it so we could put a magnet up to the glass which the ferrofluid would be attracted to and that's how we could play with it. I would want to do this again and to have more time to work on it in class. I would do this by staying it at lunch or asking my next period teacher if i could stay and work on it.
We used these material in which we found online:
- household ammonia
- oleic acid (may be found in some pharmacies, craft, and health food stores)
- PCB etchant (ferric chloride solution) - from an electronics store or you can make your ferric chloride or ferrous chloride solution or you can use magnetite or magnetic hematite powder if you have either of those minerals handy (magnetic hematite is an inexpensive mineral used in jewelry)
- steel wool
- distilled water
- a magnet
- kerosene
- heat source
- 2 beakers or measuring cups
- a plastic syringe or medicine cup (something to measure 10 ml)
- filter papers or coffee filters
(http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/liquidmagnet_2.htm)
When Researching this lab we thought It would be really cool, Beside the fact that there are many safety protocols like wearing safety glasses, gloves, lab coats, and using a fume hood. The reason Why we had to suit up was because There was a risk that it could stain our skin and clothes.
When we started this lab we didn't take into account of how long it would take so we ended up running out of time and had to do over the time span of two days. I think this is probably why it didn't work. We think that because we didn't have enough time to heat up the ferrofluid and waited till the next day to do it it dried out too much and lost its chemical reaction.
We really wanted it to work because we thought it would be really cool and
interesting to experiment/play with but without touching it because its toxic. We could however, put it in a glass container to separate it so we could put a magnet up to the glass which the ferrofluid would be attracted to and that's how we could play with it. I would want to do this again and to have more time to work on it in class. I would do this by staying it at lunch or asking my next period teacher if i could stay and work on it.