I know, right!?! we had to start playing the Hercules soundtrack afterwards LMAO…

Want a little chemistry lesson? 😉 this reaction is really cool. Basically we take concentrated hydrochloride acid and dissolve a copper salt, copper(II) chloride, in the acidic solution. Copper salts burn either green or blue depending on the charge of the copper ion (its oxidation state). When we drop aluminum foil into it, two different reactions happen; one is a displacement reaction between aluminum and copper. The aluminum is more reactive than copper, so it kicks copper out of the salt to replace it. So we end up with elemental copper and aluminum chloride (think of it like a switcheroo). The other reaction is between aluminum and hydrochloride acid — and this one produces more aluminum chloride and releases hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas is VERY flammable — so as soon as we drop the aluminum in and give it a swirl, hydrogen gas starts generating and we ignite it right away. Because there’s copper in the solution, it makes the fire blue!!!

Not that anybody asked for a science lesson… but it’s pretty cool!! And fun blue fire!!! And because we do it in a round flask, it helps trap the gas so the fire kind of stays inside and swirls around :))