LAB REPORT

Hypothesis:

The lycopodium powder will not light up when placed on a burning flame, but makes a ‘fireball’ effect when blown at over a candle.

Research:

After a few classes of looking up different “Science is Magic” videos, we came across a cool experiment called “the fireball” (https://youtu.be/cg3jtCp895U). We were very curious to see how it would work, so after reading more about the lycopodium powder used for the effect and asking Ms. Mireau if the school had access to it, we decided on trying it out for ourselves.

Using these sites;

https://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/demos/lycopodium/lycopodium.htm

http://www.lycopodium.co.uk/css/images/lycopodium_Powder_msd.pdf

https://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924529

we found demonstrations, hazards, and how to dispose of this new powder, then proceeded to make our plan before testing it.

What we used:

• Lycopodium powder
• Scoopula
• Funnel
• Rubber tube
• Candle
• Matches/lighter
• Bowl
• Safety goggles

Procedure:

We started by seeing whether or not the powder would light on fire when simply placing a match into a bowl of it. We noticed how a part of the powder turned a dark grey colour, but after the match fell into the lycopodium, it almost instantly burned out. Then, we lit a candle, attached the funnel to our long rubber tube and placed a few scoops of the powder inside. One partner held the funnel next to the candle flame (slightly upwards) and the other blew into the opposite end.

Outcome:

We were shocked to see that our experiment had worked! When the lycopodium was blown onto the flame, it made an astonishing fireball that lasted for a few seconds before disappearing along with the powder. We did a few trials, along with presenting it to the class. At some points the powder missed the flame and flew onto the ground (without making any effects), but the times that it didn’t miss, it made an amazing science is magic trick!

Reaction that occurred/scientific explanation:

When we placed the flame into a bowl of powder, it didn’t light up, but when we blew at it over a candle, it did. Why? Well, this is because the particles of the powder need a lot of oxygen to combust. When placed in a bowl, there isn’t enough surface area nor oxygen to create any effect, so the match just goes out, but when blowing at the powder over a flame, it has enough to make a combustion reaction (C14H11FN4O)

Why the experiment is “magic”:

Before actually taking time to research this reaction, it did seem like magic that some powder could make such a huge ball of fire. If I hadn’t known better or hadn’t gone through Chemistry 9 and 10, I’d definitely think that this was some sort of trick, rather than science with a logical explanation.

Conclusion:

We really enjoyed this project and I thought it was an amazing way to end our chemistry unit. I’ve never done anything like this before, but it is definitely one of my favourite assignments so far!