A chemistry fan on the internet recently threw himself into something very special. In the middle of his garden, he decided to submerge aluminium at a high temperature in a fish tank full of water polymer beads.
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Molten aluminium and changing bubbles
The Backyard Scientist decided to post quite a unique experiment. With 3,000 water polymer beads, each capable of absorbing 200 times their weight in liquid, at his disposal, he jumped into action.
After protecting the walls of the tank with acrylic glass, he then poured in the hydrated beads. Disregarding all the precautionary measures, he melted the aluminium separately which took about 15 minutes to get it just how he wanted it.
Then the moment came to pour the metal into the fish tank. Bit by bit, the molten aluminium invaded and adopted took up the empty space in between the beads. The beads and the water inside then quickly cooled the aluminium down which then froze in incredible positions and patterns. Truly impressive.
The Backyard Scientist explains his excitement over the experiment:
I did this six more times and each one came out cooler than the last.
But words can’t do this experiment justice, so check out the video above to see the full show.
