hermanntrude

goes off to elecyrolyse some calcium carbide

I knew that:mad:

a "double displacement" reaction is better described as a redox reaction. An example of a polyatomic cation: [ce] H3O+ NH4+ NO2+ UO2+ VO2+[/ce] although those last two could be considered metallic in that they contain a metal. There's also [ce]Hg2^2+[/ce]

to get a degrees symbol, simply hold down alt and press 0176, then release alt.

thanks for letting me know. I knew it was nastily toxic but i didn't know it was a carcinogen. I have people who deal with waste for me so i guess it makes no difference except it'd be more expensive. All I have to do now is actually locate my cobalt nitrate and my cadmium nitrate. Just because the database says it's there and the stores are in "alphabetical" order, doesn't mean the stuff is actually locatable on this plane of existance

Ive been looking at my inventory and a table of reduction potentials. It seems I may be able to reduce some cobalt and perhaps cadmium too in a similar manner (i have both nitrates, and I think their potentials are low enough that the water won't get electrolysed first)

could you send me a Pm or post here to explain exactly what you did to get the crystals? did you dissolve the SnCl2 in HCl?

I made bismuth crystals. You don't need electrolysis for that, though

Yeah I was just thinking this'd work with any metal with a solution of the same metal, wouldn't it? copper crystals must be beautiful

that's what she wants, isn't it?

no problemo, old fellow

Yesterday, since I'm teaching electrochemistry at the moment, I decided to try to replicate THIS experiment. I had some pure lead sheets, which I tore up to make electrodes. It worked beautifully, and I had none of the troubles with the strange material from the anode, which to me suggests that Woelen's hypothesis that the material is to do with the impurities in his electrodes is correct. I'll take some photos one day perhaps maybe.

god damn you guys

I did the simpler version this week. Took some silver nitrate and dumped in a copper coin. Very quickly the coin was covered in beautiful crystals of silver. Of course as soon as you rinse the coin the crystals fall off, but there's a good coating of silver on the coin. Makes it look like a nickel instead of a penny... i'll be rich soon!

Your guess is correct. the solubility rules predict that AgCl is insoluble, and so we have a reaction. with regard to your next question, the reason the chloride and the silver ion get together is the same reason that the Na+ and CH3CO2- ions get together. The difference is that because AgCl is insoluble, they STAY together, and precipitate out of solution. If AgCl were soluble, you'd just end up with a mess of four ions in solution, and you would say that no reaction had occurred.

copper sulfate is also enormously toxic. I'm not sure if it's sulfuric acid that's forming... perhaps it was already there? sulfuric acid, once dissociated has essentially no desire to re-form

can i use this?

theo, perhaps you'd be one of the few people who could safely do this at home. I've seen your posts and your methods actually seem to involve some safety precautions. Many other people arent as smart as that and it's mostly them i'm talking to.

what's the point of a newborn baby?

this is another reaction i'd say is way too dangerous to try at home. If you've done it without hurting yourself consider yourself congratulated. If you havent, try to at least think about it first.

OK with a question like this it's important to know your solubility rules. Have a look at wikipedia, I expect they have an article on them. Once you've got a copy of the solubility rules to hand, try to imagine the ions in solution. There are four ions, two cations and two anions. Notice that one of them is a big polyatomic ion (acetate), but it makes no difference. Then try to imagine what compounds could be formed by combining those ions. There are four possible compounds... two of them are the reactants. Then look to see if any of the possible compounds is insoluble. If it is, the chances are your reaction will be a precipitation reaction, and the insoluble ion will precipitate out leaving behind a solution of the other. If you can't figure it out, let me know and i'll give u some more ideas.

Rob do you know how many threads there are in this forum about some n00b wanting to make sodium so he can make girls like him? Use the search engine

in most criminal cases where someone has tried to destroy evidence by dissolving in acid, it has turned out to be innefficient and not entirely useful. So many of the objects you mention above consist of parts which would dissolve and parts which wouldnt. You'd need to spend a long time working at it to chemically corrode everything. Best not to commit the crime in the first place in my opinion. Also best not to piss about with incredibly dangerous chemicals, thinking it's "cool". Of course you can't tell that to anyone here.

the decomposition of copper hydroxide even works in boiling water. We did that in the labs the other day.

i suspect the reason aluminum doesn't easily react with chlorine is the aluminum oxide on its surface because bromine definitely does react with aluminum and very violently, too. and no, you're NOT sure what they are. You can never be sure without at least a few tests. You're probably right that you've made some BrCl, but you probably also made a few other things and you don't know much about the quantities or purities. Some of the reactants and by-products could still be in there and all of these possibilities add to the chances of some unexpected happening, right in your face. In future, I'd feel a lot better if you kept halogens away from metal lids, and read the MSDS sheets for everything and anything you might or do make, and all the reactants too. At least then you'll have a clue what the hazards are and perhaps think again before rushing in. I don't want to quell the spirit of investigative science in you but I must remind you that people hurt themselves by either a lack of knowledge or by a lack of preparedness. For instance, what would you do if there was a fire in your "laboratory"? where is the nearest fire extinguisher? what type is it? Who would you call if you spilt some of your BrCl mixture on your skin? Would you be able to overcome your pride and admit it when somethign went wrong?