Magnesium Combustion Virtual Lab

Interactive virtual chemistry experiment for CBSE Class 10. Drag elements to interact, clean magnesium with sandpaper, and observe the combustion reaction!

Burning of Magnesium Ribbon

Class 10 - Chemical Reactions

⏱️ Duration: 5-10 mins

📚 Topic: Oxidation

🧪 Interactive Simulation

MrChemCoach Virtual Lab

Sand Paper

Step 1: Drag the sandpaper to the magnesium ribbon to clean it

Experiment Controls

Clean Mg

Turn on Flame

Burn Mg

Observe MgO

Chemical Theory

2Mg(s) + O₂(g) → 2MgO(s) + Energy

Magnesium burns in air (oxygen) with a dazzling white flame to form magnesium oxide. This is an exothermic oxidation reaction.

Why Clean Magnesium?

To remove the protective layer of Magnesium Oxide (MgO) or Carbonate formed due to reaction with air, exposing fresh metal.

Observations

Dazzling white flame
White powder (MgO) formation
Heat energy released

Step-by-Step Procedure

Clean the magnesium ribbon with sandpaper.
Hold the ribbon with tongs (drag it).
Bring it near the Bunsen burner flame.
Observe the white dazzling flame.
Collect the white ash (Magnesium Oxide).

Quick Knowledge Check

Q1: Why is magnesium ribbon cleaned before burning?

To remove oxide layer

To make it shine

To reduce weight

⚠️ Safety Precautions

Eye Protection

NEVER look directly at burning magnesium. It can damage your retina (UV light).

Fire Safety

Magnesium fires are hard to extinguish. Do not use water.

What this experiment shows

Magnesium burns in air with a brilliant white flame to give magnesium oxide, a white powder. It is the classic demonstration of a metal combining directly with oxygen, and it is also the classic conservation-of-mass experiment: the product weighs more than the ribbon you started with, because the oxygen from the air has been added to it. Magnesium oxide is basic, so it turns damp red litmus blue and dissolves a little in water to make an alkaline solution.

2Mg + O₂ → 2MgO

What you need

A short length of magnesium ribbon, cleaned with emery paper
Tongs and a Bunsen burner
A crucible with a lid, and a pipeclay triangle
A balance reading to 0.01 g
Eye protection - do not look straight at the flame

How it is done

Clean the ribbon with emery paper to take off the dull oxide layer.
Weigh the empty crucible and lid, then weigh them again with the ribbon inside.
Heat the crucible strongly, lifting the lid briefly and often to let air in.
Keep heating until no more white smoke escapes and the contents stay white.
Cool, then reweigh. Heat, cool and reweigh again until the mass is constant.

What you should see

A bright white flame, too bright to look at directly.
A white ash - magnesium oxide - is left where the silvery ribbon was.
The mass goes up, because oxygen from the air has combined with the magnesium.
The oxide turns damp red litmus paper blue: it is a basic oxide.

Where marks are lost

Not cleaning the ribbon. The oxide coating already present makes the mass gain look wrong.
Lifting the lid too far, so white smoke escapes and the product mass reads low.
Saying mass is "created". It is not - the extra mass is oxygen that was already in the air.
Only heating once. Constant mass means heating and reweighing until two readings agree.

Questions students ask

Why does the mass increase?

Oxygen atoms from the air are now chemically joined to the magnesium. Nothing was created; the oxygen simply moved from the air into the solid.

Why is a lid used?

To stop the white magnesium oxide smoke escaping, while still being lifted often enough to let fresh air reach the metal.

Is magnesium oxide acidic or basic?

Basic. It is a metal oxide, it turns damp red litmus blue, and it reacts with acids to give a salt and water.

Try these next

Written for Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry 0620 and CBSE Class 9-12 by Ajay Shekhawat, founder of MrChemCoach. Run the simulator above, then check yourself against the questions.