Magic Chemistry - precipitates

Clever magicians use chemistry to fool those that are not familiar with the wonders of chemistry.

We can identify if a chemical reaction has occurred by observing:
- a change in colour.
- or a formation of a something new. This can be the formation of a solid, or the presence of bubbles or even an odor indicating the formation of a gas and a change of temperature.

Now the trick for any magician is to set the scene and create the illusion of something magic happening. In reality it is simple chemistry. There is a, special language, that chemists speak with to identify the type of chemicals that will be produced and needed.
For example if the magician wishes to get blood by mixing two containers of, what looks like, water then they will have to prepare two solutions, one of silver nitrate and the other of potassium chromate. This reaction is seen above.

One magician wanted to make a yellow flower magically appear to grow from top down in the water as shown on the right. Click to see how this was done.

The magician needed to know that when you mix a solution of lead nitrate and a solution of potassium iodide a bright yellow solid is formed that quickly settles to the bottom of the container. This bright yellow solid has the name Lead Iodide.

When requesting the material from the technician the magician needs to specify the items that are needed in a very detailed manner. This includes the names of the chemicals that will be used.

Chemistry has its own language and symbols which the magician must be familiar with this in order to execute the magic trick.

Precipitates are coloured solids that are formed when two solutions are mixed together. Magicians use such reactions to create the illusion of making blood from water or even pineapple juice.

A magician wishes to perform a magic trick where they form blood from water.

This is a very simple trick and is shown on the right. It is simple only if you know the chemical names of the substances you wish to mix.

When the magician orders the chemicals from the laboratory they must mention the chemical names of the substances they wish to react or mix together.

In this case, two clear solutions of silver nitrate and potassium chromate will be used.

When mixed these two solutions will form a bright red solid called silver chromate.