Advertisement
Grab your lab coat. Let's get started
Welcome!
Welcome!
Create an account below to get 6 C&EN articles per month, receive newsletters and more - all free.
It seems this is your first time logging in online. Please enter the following information to continue.
As an ACS member you automatically get access to this site. All we need is few more details to create your reading experience.
Not you? Sign in with a different account.
Not you? Sign in with a different account.
ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
Reaction Dynamics
Chemistry In Pictures
Chemistry in Pictures: Letting sparks fly
by Alexandra Taylor
June 7, 2018
Credit: Susan Vickers
We use aluminum foil every day, but it can be quite reactive under the right circumstances. This gif shows aluminum reacting with bromine, a halogen. Aluminum foil sticks out of the test tube and falls in as the reaction progresses. Susan Vickers used this reaction when she was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia to demonstrate halogen reactivity for first-year students. To make the reaction start faster, Vickers removed the aluminum oxide layer on the foil’s surface by very gently scratching it with sandpaper. The sparks you see here are melted bits of aluminum foil; the orange vapor is bromine, and the gray smoke is aluminum bromide.
Credit: Susan Vickers
Do science. Take pictures. Win money. Enter our photo contest here.
Related C&EN Content:
Correction:
This article was updated on June 8, 2018, to correct Susan Vickers's affiliation and to indicate that the gray smoke resulting from the reaction is aluminum bromide, not aluminum.
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2025 American Chemical Society
You might also like...
The power is now in your (nitrile gloved) hands
Sign up for a free account to get more articles. Or choose the ACS option that’s right for you.
Already have an ACS ID? Log in
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on X