Gallium Induced Structural Failure of an Aluminum Sheet
In this video we cause an aluminum sheet to fail structurally using gallium metal.
For this experiment a 1mm thick aluminum sheet was used.
Simply score/scratch the surface and apply molten gallium. The sheet must be kept warm while the gallium diffuses in so it should be kept in a warm room. Otherwise the gallium will freeze and the diffusion stops.
What's happening is the gallium is dissolving some of the aluminum as well as diffusing between the grain boundaries of the aluminum microcrystals and disrupting their bonding. This causes the aluminum sheet to greatly weaken so it can easily be destroyed just by punching it. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZkzxWZETds
Diamagnetism is the property of a substance to be repelled by a magnetic field. Interestingly enough, water shows this effect. We build a simple, but very sensitive detector to show this. We also show pyrolytic carbon that is so diamagnetic that it can float above magnets if they are arranged the right way.
Water is diamagnetic, meaning it's slightly repelled by a magnetic field. But in everyday life this is almost impossible to notice. We need to build a very sensitive detector to see it.
Just get a basin of water and float a styrofoam block in it. Styrofoam is very light and so even the small repulsive force of a test tube of water will have a noticeable push on it. Push the test tube of water into the center of the block and simply hold a strong neodymium magnet as close as possible to the tube without touching it. It's a very small force, but eventually the block will start moving away from the magnet.
Pyrolytic graphite, also called pyrolytic carbon, exhibits the same effect and can even be made to levitate on top of a magnet. A single magnet is unstable since the graphite will like to fall off the side. But having four magnets and arranging them like in the video will create a "void" in the center that the graphite "falls" into and remains stably levitated.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyqOTJOJSoU
In this video we show how Flameless Ration Heaters and self heating food containers work.
Inside of them is a water activated exothermic chemical reaction. The most common one is magnesium iron alloy and salt. When water is activated it produces magnesium hydroxide and plenty of heat. Less common mixtures include sodium hydroxide and aluminum, magnesium metal and sodium bisulfate, aluminum and calcium hydroxide, and calcium oxide alone with water.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPwJbYM6iY
In this video we make Potassium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrate using the easily obtained Calcium Nitrate.
Potassium nitrates and sodium nitrates are sought after for their pyrotechnic uses as well as for making alternative aqua regia. I've previously shown how to make them from ammonium nitrate, but ammonium nitrate is getting harder and harder to find as stricter regulations are enacted. Fortunately it seems calcium nitrate is widely available as fertilizer and has much less restrictions. I could easily buy it online from various e-commerce vendors.
Calcium nitrate by itself is usable to make nitric acid directly, but potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate themselves are specifically desired, then it can be converted. To do so, Calcium nitrate is first identified by looking at its NPK value to determine the exact form and the molar nitrate equivalent is found. That quantity is then reacted with equivalent amount of alkali, like potassium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, and then filtered. The filtrate contains the corresponding alkali nitrate that can then be dried or crystalized.
For potassium nitrate specifically. Potassium chloride may be reacted with calcium nitrate and the solution heated until dissolved. Then filtered and allowed to cool and the potassium nitrate directly crystalizes out. This is filtered and retained. Although it is rather impure and needs to be recrystallized again for best purity.
Related videos:
Make nitric acid from calcium nitrate and sodium bisulfate: https://youtu.be/Xa2OMNaHn_Y
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Through Youtube Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgKGGJkt1MrNmhq3vRibYA/join
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOQZdex2l7A
In this video we recover the gallium that was used to induce structural failure in various aluminum objects.
First, the aluminum is covered with about 10 times its mass in water and a stoichiometric amount (to the aluminum) of sodium hydroxide is added. So for 27 grams we add about 40 grams of sodium hydroxide. This reacts with the aluminum and converts it sodium aluminate. Most of the gallium will remain.
Eventually the alloy should liquefy as the gallium proportion increases due to the loss of aluminum. The solution is cooled and the alloy is allowed to solidify.
The alloy is then added to 10-30 times its mass of water and heated to near boiling. The remaining aluminum should be consumed by the reaction with water. Once the gallium stops bubbling it is allowed to cool.
The gallium obtained has bits of aluminum oxides and slag embedded in it and this can be removed by melting the gallium in a solution of 20% sulfuric acid.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUSjWfBBu2Y
We make sodium silicate from drain cleaner and those little gel beads you find packaged with electronic items for humidity control.
The procedure is really simple, just make a solution of 10mL with 4-8grams of sodium hydroxide, use the full 8 grams if you want stoichiometric sodium silicate, and 4 grams if you want "liquid glass" solution for doing the chemical garden experiments.
Heat the solution and add in 6 grams worth of crushed silica gel beads. The finer the better. if they aren't dissolving, you might need to add more water.
Once it's dissolved, you'll have a concentrated solution of sodium silicate.
For experiments using Sodium Silicate solution, check out these videos:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xltvwhogklI
In this video we make copper formate, a useful precursor to copper conductive ink.
We simply dissolve 65g of copper sulfate in 250mL of water and 33g of sodium carbonate in 150mL of water. Then we mix the two together. Copper carbonate hydroxide precipitates and we filter that off. Then we react the copper carbonate hydroxide with formic acid to create copper formate.
Copper formate has the useful property that it decomposes into copper metal (along with carbon dioxide and hydrogen) when heated. The copper produced this way isn't well bonded and not very conductive. But in upcoming videos additives may be added to improve the quality of the product.
Related videos:
Silver conductive ink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBlqPS8boLI
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auyCK8-DMP0
We show how to make an Aluminum Air Battery
"Air" batteries are batteries that use oxygen from the air as an oxidant for their chemistry. Most batteries on the other hand carry another chemical as their oxidant. Air batteries are currently being researched by scientists as a means of energy storage for everything from cars to laptops.
The aluminum air battery is one of the simplest to make. To do just mix 60 grams of salt with 300mL of water. Then attach wires to a ball of aluminum foil and a piece of steel wool. Put the aluminum in the bottom of the salt water and place a paper towel over it. Then place the steel wool on top.
You now have an aluminum air battery. The iron in the steel catalyzes the reaction of oxygen with water to make hydroxide and the aluminum reacts with the hydroxide to make aluminum oxide.
The power isn't very good because aluminum metal tends to passivate under these conditions. Better chemicals and electrode materials usually fix these issues, but that's beyond the ability of the home lab.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FxIzMwOF00
Just sticking together and then pulling apart two pieces of duct tape will cause them to produce a blue line of light in an effect called triboluminescence.
Special thanks to Ashi58 for letting me use his footage, his channel can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ashi58
What's happening is that the action of pulling apart the glue causes charge separation in the two strips. The charges then attempt to recombine and collide with nearby molecules (of tape, glue, or air) exciting them and releasing light.
Interestingly, in a vacuum there is no air to slow down the charges so they collide at full energy and release x-rays. This serves as the basis for the sticky-tape x-ray machine published in the journal Nature.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54R6q2_-4Yo