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Getting a Reaction Making water is fun. It’s even more fun to mix the elements sodium and chlorine. Sodium is a soſt , silvery metal. It explodes if it touches water. Chlorine is a green-yellow poisonous gas. Mixing them causes an extreme reaction. Let’s try. First, I set up fans in my lab.


T e fans will blow the gas away from me. I take out some sodium. I melt the sodium. I have to be careful. One drop could start a fi re. T en I step out of the way while I blow chlorine gas at it. T e elements burst into fl ame. Huge clouds of white smoke rise. T e clouds contain specks of sodium chloride or common table salt. So mixing an explosive metal and a deadly gas makes the stuff you sprinkle on popcorn!


Special Metals


Most elements are metals. Metals have special properties. Many can be changed into different shapes. Many also carry heat and electricity. These three metals might surprise you.


Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.


This experiment shows what happens when you mix sodium and chlorine.


Copper can kill germs. Hospitals use it in doorknobs and other surfaces.


Calcium is one of the most important nutrients. It builds strong bones.


MARCH 2016 13


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