Mercury and Aluminium (3)

In this experiment larger amounts of mercury, gallium, and aluminium were used.

When the mercury was first applied to the aluminium it instantly mixed with the liquid gallium to form a dirty grey liquid, which soaked into the aluminium. I was then suprised when clean shiny mercury came out of the side of the aluminium some time later. This is shown in the first image in the following sequence.

As the reaction had slowed down I applied a few drops of water in the first image in the next sequence and then a lot more water in the second image.

Once the water had seemed to stop doing anything I washed the aluminium oxide off to reveal the aluminium below it. Quite a lot of the aluminium oxide was taken out of the picture during the washing.

The aluminium was then left over night for around 12 hours. When I returned in the morning the aluminium looked quite different. Please note that the powder in the following image was not altered in anyway. I didn't spread the powder out for the sake of the photo.