Experiment: Vanadium Pentoxide Thermite

Here's a quick one. This thermite was a 2.02:1 mix of V2O5:Al powder. Vanadium pentoxide is a (fairly toxic) orange powder, and it made a sandy colored thermite mix. It reacts via the equation

10Al + 3V2O5 -> 5Al2O3 + 6V

I was only able to get one good picture of the actual reaction because it happens so fast - its more like a small explosion! It produced some very bright white sparks, a color that the camera didn't capture too well. I thought it was going to start a brush fire afterward, as you can see in the last two photos by all the fire! I was able to find some small pieces of vanadium in the aftermath - a lot of which was lying in the sand nearby. Some pieces had some tarnish on them, giving them a neat iridescent purpleish shine.

I've also recorded a video of this reaction in action, so you can see how quickly it goes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j-7LxavEJ4

The vial is filled with small pieces from the reaction pictured below and the one in the video.

The video version was a much larger batch, and produced the large single lump of vanadium metal seen below.

Here's some photos of the original (smaller) reaction I did.

Vanadium is actually a really interesting and versatile element, and it has some really beautiful chemistry. Take a look at ChemTalk's post on Vivid Vanadium, and learn all about its many oxidation states, the beautifully-colored solutions they can produce, and much more about this element!