Mercury and Aluminium (2)

The following sequence of images show a different piece of aluminium having mercury applied to it. The aluminium had a thin layer of gallium applied as well as being scratched seconds before the mercury was applied. The scratches are visible as 5 diaganol lines.

The reaction above seemed to come to an end quite quickly (15 minutes). As the damage was minimal I moved the mercury to a new part of the aluminium. This is shown in the following sequence.

Again, the reaction seemed to stop quite quickly without causing much damage, so the mercury was removed. After removing the mercury a few small drops of water were placed on the aluminium. The reaction in the first 2 images tends to take just a couple of minutes, but the larger reaction in the 3rd and 4th images tends to take around 15 minutes.

Looking at how much aluminium oxide was produced and looking at the final picture I'm again suprised at just how little damage was done.