Aluminum and Mercury

When mercury is added to aluminum, it forms an amalgam (a mercury alloy). Aluminum is normally protected by a thick oxide layer, but the formation of the amalgam disrupts it. It allows fresh aluminum to react with air to form white aluminum oxide. As the oxide grows, it forms as these cool white fibers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Merch - https://nilered.tv/store ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ■ NileRed is now available on Nebula! https://go.nebula.tv/nilered Join the community: Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/nilered Discord - https://discord.com/invite/3BT6UHf NileRed Newsletter - https://nile.red/home#newsletter You can also find me here: Facebook - https://m.facebook.com/NileRed2 Instagram - https://m.instagram.com/nile.red Twitter - https://mobile.twitter.com/NileRed2 Nile talks about lab safety: https://youtu.be/ftACSEJ6DZA Chapters: 00:00 - Why You Can't Bring Mercury on a Plane 00:20 - Setting Up The Reaction 01:49 - Run 1: It Looks Alive! 04:21 - It Still Grows... 05:15 - Run 2: It Looks Different Every Time 06:38 - Inspecting The Aluminum 07:06 - Practical Uses For This Reaction Music in credits (Walker by SORRYSINES): https://soundcloud.com/sorrysines/walker