Flaming Colors

Students in my classes have to determine if a substance has changed physically or chemically. In order to do that, they need to know if the properties of a substance has changed. We can look at many different properties of a substance such as color, density, boiling point, melting point, taste, texture, hardness, etc. One of the most exciting properties of matter is the color in which they burn.  In the video above I show color flame candles and then show a demonstration of two different compounds, strontium chloride and copper sulfate, mixed with denatured alcohol, that produce large colorful flames.

Video Demo: Water Up!

This a favorite demo of mine that I have recently re-shot in HD.  It's a dramatic demonstration of how the rapid condensation of water can create a vacuum.

Video Demo: Phases of Matter Models

The particles (molecules) of a solid, liquid, and gas act differently because they have different energies.  The video shows how to model those differences to students.