Making compounds

This worksheet guides students through the relevant observations in an experiment involving the heating of metals over a Bunsen burner. As stressed on the worksheet, this goes hand in hand with, and not as a replacement for, clear teacher guidance and supervision, as the risk assessment, particularly for the burning of magnesium, is significant issue . The concept that compounds are very different from the elements they are made from is the key focus (eg. a shiny, silvery metal reacts with an invisible gas to become a white powdery substance). The aim is for the students to have controlled, safe, fun finding this out.