Silver Mirror Magic

turn glassware into mirrors.

 

 

 

Category - Chemicals & Reactions

Key Idea - Other

 

Purpose - This wizard deposits a layer of silver on the inside of a test tube a few atoms thick, creating a mirrored surface.

The ingredients ready to go.

The end result.
Nature -  Demonstration
Materials -  a test tube or jar that you don't want again, glucose, fructose (or honey), tartaric acid, ethanol, silver nitrate, ammonium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, dropper bottles, a rubber stopper, distilled water
Method - 

  1. Pre mix the following solutions :-
Reagent A - 2.5g glucose and 2.5g fructose dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water, add 0.6g tartaric acid and boil.  Allow to cool and add 10ml ethanol and dilute to 100ml.

Reagent B - 4.0g of silver nitrate in 50ml of water

Reagent C - 6.0g of ammonium nitrate in 50ml of water

Regent D - 10.0g of sodium hydroxide in 100ml of water

  1. Make sure the inside of the test tube is clean
  2. Into the test tube quickly add 2ml of Reagent A, 1ml of Reagent B, 1ml of Reagent C and 2ml of Reagent D.
  3. Quickly stopper and swish mixture back and forth in test tube.
  4. After about a minute the mixture will start to deposit a silver coating on the walls of the test tube.  The depositing will last about another minute

 
Safety - Take care not to get any of these chemicals on your hands.
Explanation - I've got to be honest; I'm a bit fuzzy as to the actual chemistry behind this one.  Somehow the reaction forces silver out of solution and causes it to deposited on the walls of the test tube.  If you know how it works please let me know.
Notes - Apparently this recipe was once actually used to create mirrors although these days a simple paint is applied to glass.