Types of Chemical Reactions- Reaction of Chlorine and Iron

Reaction of Chlorine with Iron

Description: A ball of iron wool being heated and placed in a flask containing chlorine gas.  The iron reacts vigorously with the chlorine to form a cloud of iron(III) chloride. This demonstration is available on video.

This demonstration is also available on JCE Software “Chemistry Comes Alive!” Vol. 3 CD-Rom.

Source: JCE Software “Chemistry Comes Alive!”

Year: 2000 Vol: 77  Page: 671

Keywords: Chlorine, Iron(III) Chloride, Chlorine gas, Iron wool

Rating:

Hazard: High

• Flammability hazard
• Acute toxicity hazard – eyes, lungs
• Inhalation hazard
• Skin corrosion hazard
• Burn hazard
• Oxidizing gases
• Eye irritation
• Specific target organ toxicity – single exposure, respiratory system
• Short term (acute) aquatic hazard
• Long term (chronic) aquatic hazard

Effectiveness: Good

• Results are clearly observable without guidance
• Strong effects are seen by audience
• Good connection from demo to course material
• Good reliability
• Time to results is low

Difficulty: Medium

• Some intermediate steps to results
• Some sequential and timed manipulations
• Toxic regents in use
• Reactions at non-standard conditions

Safety Precautions:

• Eye protection required
• Gloves required
• Thermal gloves recommended
• Lab coat recommended
• Downdraft hood or full hood required
• Perform in a well-ventilated area
• ABC fire extinguisher on hand
• Perform on  heat resistant surface
• Prevent release of reagents to the environment

Class: Main Group Chemistry, Groups VIB and VIIIB (16 and 17), Transition Metals

Division: General, Inorganic Chemistry

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