Extracting iron from breakfast cereal

A variety of different breakfast cereals in bowls on a wooden surface, with a glass jug of milk and spoons at the side

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Try this class practical or demonstration to extract food-grade iron from breakfast cereals using neodymium magnets. Includes kit list and safety instructions.

Several breakfast cereals contain iron as a mineral supplement. The iron is in the form of iron powder. In this experiment, students can extract the metallic iron from a suspension of crushed cereal in water using a strong (eg neodymium) magnet.

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