Sodium Silicate (Water Glass)

Sodium silicate, also known as "water glass" or "liquid glass," is a compound used in many facets of industry, including automobile manufacturing, ceramics and even when putting pigment in paints and cloths. Thanks to its very adhesive properties, it is often used to mend cracks or bind objects together. Also, sodium silicate can be used to create a chemical rock garden.

Materials: 6 g silica gel beads 4 g sodium hydroxide (4 g for water glass, used in the magic rock project, or 8 g for the stoichiometric ratio for sodium silicate) 10 ml water Beakers Hot plate

Procedure 1. Finely crush 6 g of silica beads. 2. Add 4 grams of sodium hydroxide in 10 ml of water. Stir. If NaOH is not dissolved, you may heat it. 3. Once the sodium hydroxide is dissolved, slowly (dont add the silica all at once) add the 6 grams of crushed silica gel beads. Heat the solution between additions. If the crushed beads won't dissolve after 10 minutes, add a few drops of water to the solution. 4. Dilute the solution to 100 mL of water. 5. Add one at a time the transition metal salts to make a chemical garden. Transition Metal Salts:

White - calcium chloride White - lead (II) nitrate Purple - manganese (II) chloride Blue - copper (II) sulfate - available Red - cobalt (II) chloride Pink - manganese (II) chloride Orange - iron (III) chloride Yellow - iron (III) chloride Green - nickel (II) nitrate, Nickel chloride