The theatre was plunged into darkness and, to the music of the Disney classic ‘Frozen’, a musical dance of glowing liquids set off by UV light began. This was the introduction to a small tradition of the University of Graz: the chemical Christmas performance, which took place for the second time at the Schauspielhaus Graz. Around 500 pupils enjoyed a great evening with twelve magical scientific experiments that really whet the appetite for chemistry.
Rector Peter Riedler and Katja Nindl from the Schauspielhaus subsequently emphasised how special this collaboration is. ‘At the university, we have the equipment for chemical experiments. But to make this possible on a theatre stage, a lot of understanding and courage is needed,’ Riedler thanked the Schauspielhaus crew.
‘This year, I had the students scour the various social media channels for ideas for tonight,’ explains chemist Philipp Spitzer. “And sure enough, there were numerous experiments,” says Spitzer. And because it was a lecture, there was also a small quiz for the audience after the experiments. The fastest participants received a prize at the end of the lecture, such as a chemical advent calendar or a nerdy mug.
Contest winners
But before that, the winners of the school contest had the opportunity to present their experiment. School classes were able to apply for a slot via social media. The students from HTL Leoben not only impressed the jury with their glowing (and edible) bubbles, but also the audience.
Afterwards, the students showed how to create ‘warm snow’ with a little tap of the finger. But what looks like magic is actually just crystallisation, which is a chemical process. A good reason to toast together. The fact that there were no bottle openers on stage was not a problem for the aspiring chemistry teachers. There are many creative ways to open bottle caps, whether with a newspaper or a knife. The audience in the front row also received colourful rainbow shots.
Next up was the so-called chemical traffic light. A liquid that changes colour from yellow to green to red just by shaking it. Markus Prechtl from the Technical University of Darmstadt is also a regular guest at the chemical Christmas lecture. He has been working on a colour that rarely occurs in nature: blue. In three experiments, he showed how indigo, azure and so-called Prussian blue are created.
Stage in flames
After that, things got fiery. Flashing flames shot out of ethanol from large water bottles, the calorific value of gummy bears and hazelnut cream was demonstrated with a fiery display, and chemical ‘fireflies’ lit up the stage. In a microwave, students created a plasma and thus created real rubies. The professional fire brigade of the theatre felt quite queasy, especially during the experiment with black powder. The students mixed the explosive mixture live on stage and set it on fire.
Things also got pretty hot during the ‘elephant toothpaste’ experiment, because an exothermic reaction took place that caused a veritable fountain of foam. At the end of this chemistry lesson, there was a small fireworks display in the form of a 25, which was intended to get people in the mood for the coming year.