burning question..........

[rodannt]

hello all....
I have a teacher who wants to try to burn both Barium and Calcium and also put them in hydrochloric acid, has anyone had any experience with these?

[RosalieM]

Just look up 'burning calcium' on you tube and I think you will get your answer... There is NO WAY I'd be letting kids OR teachers loose with calcium and heat!! Didn't find much on burning barium so I guess it isn't QUITE so dramatic...

[dime]

Who has got Barium to burn anyway!

[fibreweb]

My burning question is WHY????????
Surely it is not in the curriculum!!

[smiley]

Yes, I'm with Dime. Who HAS Barium anyway? That request can get filed next to "Can we make a scaled down Nuclear Reactor for our EEI?" Answer: "Oh HELL No!"

[Lyn]

Is your teacher doing flame tests with the salts and reaction of the carbonates with HCl? That would make more sense. Barium carbonate is a rat poison so check your MSDS. It is not terribly healthy.
Lyn.

[Wayne]

Yes, I'm with Dime. Who HAS Barium anyway?"

I have a small quantity of barium sitting (under paraffin) on my shelf. Is this a bad thing?
It has never been used in my time here.

[dime]

On checking, it is allowed to be used by teachers only in NSW. Apparently difficult to cut (unlilke sodium) and reacts similarly to Calcium.

[Wayne]

So not too dangerous to have sitting on the shelf? It is on the list of chemicals to get rid of along with a whole heap of other chemicals.

[rodannt]

Hi all........just updating on the Barium.
The teacher came in early one morning and did a test run for her demo. She was happy with the small reaction she got. What was good in practice wasn't so good in class, the same sized peice went off with a real bang, shooting across the bench and leaving a scortched run way !!!Maybe next time my advice will be heeded !!!
Barium isn't on the list (my copy, please correct me if anyone knows better) for banned substances in Victorian schools, however I have decided to get rid of our stash (6 x 25 g containers), keeping only a small sample that is only there to look at.
Thanks for all your imput
Anne

[dime]

Thanks for the update....I got a great laugh visualising the scorched runway.