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Posted by: Pupils | 15 Feb 2009
Year 11 strike silver
Tuesday, 10th February 2009 was an epic day, as I and the rest of my double science class managed to create tiny amounts of crystallized silver. We put a small piece of copper wire in a silver nitrate solution and then we left them in the sun.
It turned blue eventually, and a little galaxy of crystal began to grow from the wire. It was awe-inspiring. We were told not to remove the wire from the test tube as the silver would break apart, so we could only view the tiny wonder through the test tube. Then Mr. Greaves took a clump and washed it to see it
in its true silver colour.
We had to wait a while for the next lesson when he actually put it under the microscope. What we saw then made us gasp. I somehow directed my camera at the lens and zoom in, where I managed to catch the most beautiful photographs I've ever taken.
This is why I love chemistry.
I and a fellow classmate managed to somehow stain our hands (by way of Mr. Greaves pouring the silver nitrate) with some of the solution,
leaving a brown mark that so far, after 24 hours, has only faded a little. I, and any others from my class who are going on to do Chemistry A-levels, can only hope that the next year of studies will be just as exciting.
To find out more about this stuff, you can visit these links:
www.absolutefact.com/Element_Silver_Facts.html
Some interesting trivia about Silver.
www.silvervalueus.com/silverspeak/bullion/what-is-silver-used-for/
I bet you didn't know all these uses of Silver!
DD
