Materials & Processes Lab

Recently in our Materials and Processes class, Mrs. Massic assisted her students in conducting the lab, "Glass Bead on a Wire". 

In this lab, students used copper and nichrome (nickel-chrome) wire to perform a Borax bead test to determine what color beads are produced from each type of wire under different heating conditions. The bead test has traditionally been used to test for the presence of certain metals. The Borax bead test is one of the oldest versions of the bead test and was developed by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1812! The Borax bead test consists of making a small loop at the end of a wire and heating it in a Bunsen flame until red hot. The loop is then dipped in powdered Borax and placed back in the Bunsen flame. The solid powder adheres to the hot wire and swells up as it loses its water of crystallization. It then shrinks, forming a transparent glass-like bead. The bead’s color is dependent on the metal ions that were present in the wire.