If a cloud of pale yellow gas ever forms around you, run! Carl Scheele, a Swedish pharmacist, noticed a yellow green gas formed when a mix of hydrochloric acid and manganese dioxide were heated. The choking gas would dissolve in water slightly, forming a solution that tasted acidic (this proclivity to taste chemicals is a likely cause for his premature death at 43!). Chlorine gas is one of the angrier elements on the periodic table, and it reacts violently with many things, like our lung tissue if we accidentally inhale it, or these bubbles of acetylene gas that are being generated in water. This reactivity actually makes it useful for lots of things, its great for killing bacteria as well as making pharmaceuticals and plastics and supports combustion . And I think it’s interesting that while elemental chlorine is a toxic gas, chloride ions (which our body gets from the salt we eat) are essential to life! The reactions that you see me perform in this video show a few things. First, tha...