The Kingsway School
The Bunsen Burner: a chemistry classroom essential that most of you will have used at some point.
Tuesday 31st of March marks Bunsen Burner day. Here are some facts and ideas about how you can celebrate the iconic Bunsen Burner with your class.
- The Bunsen Burner was created in Germany by a man called Robert Bunsen who was born on 31st March 1811.
- Robert Bunsen discovered the use of iron oxide hydrate as an antidote for arsenic poisoning.
- Investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and with Gustav Kirchhoff discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861).
- In 1860, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- Pioneered spectroscopy with Gustav Kirchhoff to identify elements.
- Bunsen lost sight in his right eye to a glass sliver from a laboratory accident.
- Discoverer of a carbon-zinc battery
Bunsen Burner experiments- If you’re a science teacher you’ll already know about these. If you’re not a science teacher but would like these experiments demonstrated to your pupils talk to your colleagues in the science department. There are also plenty of online videos if demonstration isn’t an option in your school.
Levitating flame- Demonstrate convection and conduction to pupils as you heat copper gauze above a burner and create a “levitating flame”. This one will be sure to amaze pupils and get the questions and conversation flowing. View the full steps here.
Screaming Jelly Baby (Safety PDF here)– The screaming jelly baby is a classic science experiment that uses potassium chlorate to oxidise the sugar in a jelly baby which results in coloured flames, smoke and a screaming sound.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has a host of other experiment ideas featuring Bunsen Burners (PDF)