Kinetics- HCl Cannon

HCl Cannon

Description: A test tube filled with a mixture of hydrogen and chlorine is placed in a cannon.  When  the bright light of burning Mg is brought near, the mixture explodes, ejecting the cork from the test tube.

This demonstration is also available on video and JCE software “Chemistry Comes Alive!” Vol. 1 CD-Rom.

Source: Shakhashiri, B.Z. Chemical Demonstrations: A Handbook for Teachers of Chemistry

Year: 1989 Vol: 1 Page: 121

Keywords: Hydrogen,  Chlorine, Cannon, Magnesium, Cork, Photochemical reaction

Rating: 

Hazard: High

• Acute toxicity hazard
• Burning metals
• Flammability hazard
• Explosion hazard
• Inhalation hazard
• Skin corrosion hazard
• Serious eye damage hazard
• Projectile hazard

Effectiveness: Excellent

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

Difficulty: High

• Use of toxic and flammable reagents
• Some careful manipulations required
• Some intermediate steps to results
• Precise control of components required
• Prior practice required

Safety Precautions:

• Eye protection required
• Gloves required
• Lab coat recommended
• Downdraft hood required
• Perform on chemically inert surface
• Hearing protection optional
• Aim stopper away from people and fragile objects
• ABC fire extinguisher on hand
• Class D fire extinguisher on hand
• Avoid exposure to high intensity light

Class: Photochemistry, Groups IA, IIA, and IIIB (1,2, and 13), Kinetics

Division: General, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry

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