A Peek into Science | 1/7 and 1/14 | Tallmadge Campus

Tin Dendrite Experiment

First we prepared a tin chloride SnCl2 solution.

The solution did not coat the surface of the petri dish. To make the solution distribute evenly we needed to decrease the surface tension. We did this by adding 3 drops of liquid soap.

We then placed the electrodes into the solution and connected the electrodes to their source of electric current (batteries).

The students were then able to observe the tin ions Sn2+ near the negatively charged electrode (the black one) transform into metal tin Sn0. The tin gradually formed a long dendrite-shaped crystals throughout the solution.

To sum it up we grew a dendrite from a colorless salt solution.

 

 

Tin hedgehog

First we prepare a tin chloride SnCl2 solution.

Then we submerged a piece of  zinc  in the tin salt solution.

As soon as we submerged the zinc we observed the zinc start to dissolve into the solution, while the tin precipitated on the surface of the zinc pellet forming what looked like needles.

To sum it up we took a zinc pellet and transformed into a prickly hedgehog.

   

 

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>