jdurg

Yeah. Atom/Atomic is from the Greek meaning 'without cut'. (Since 'a' means without, and 'tomos' roughly means 'cut'. So atomos means without cut, or 'uncuttable'). As posted earlier, matter is something that has mass and takes up space. So anything that has mass, no matter how small it is, is matter. If it is massless, then it would probably be considered a form of energy. (Though when you get really far down into quantum mechanics and whatnot, the whole area become intensely convoluted). Matter being converted into energy happens all the time. If you look at the decay of a radioactive element and add up the mass of the decay products and compare it to the mass of the parent atom, you'll see that there is a very tiny difference. That small difference in mass, known as the mass defect, is converted into energy. For one atom it doesn't seem like much, but if you have a large mass of those atoms the energy builds up VERY quickly and a LOT of energy is given off. The amount of energy is calculated by Einstein's famous theory of relativity equation.

Also, do this in a glass or ceramic pot. There are far too many stories of idiots out there who read about how to concentrate battery acid online or in the "Anarchist's Cookbook" and went ahead and did the concentration in a metal pot. Let's just say they weren't too pleased with the results. (Even better are those who used a copper pot since they figured copper would only react with HNO3. Little did they realize that as the acid was concentrated at an elevated temperature it would be able to oxidize the copper as well. lol).

I too live in southeastern New England and don't readily see battery acid available at any auto stores. If you can get it, you have to ask for it and for some reason auto parts stores will try to sell you a new battery instead of giving you the battery acid. I have seen sulfuric acid used in drain cleaners as well, but the ones I always find have so much other crap in there that the acid becomes almost useless. There are either some type of perfumes or thickeners to make it act like a sludge instead.

Another thing to remember is that the cells in our body are programmed to "kill themselves" if their functioning parts are damaged enough. In a normal cell, if radiation comes along and damages the DNA or other molecules in the cell, that should trigger the 'suicide' aspect of the cell causing it to die so that it doesn't mutate as it grows. With cancer cells, however, many times this 'suicide trigger' is damaged so that the hurt cell continues to replicate and mutate and doesn't die like it should. This make the cells somewhat tougher to kill since the normal methods of chemical attack just won't work. A growing fetus is VERY susceptable to radiation damage, but that radiation damage would have to be pretty specific in order to turn off that 'suicide trigger' as well as cause DNA damage on the rapidly growing cells. As for the tobacco being radioactive, the idea that the fertlizer used only on tobacco is high in Radium content is not valid. The tobacco plant is VERY good and harnessing heavy metals and their ions which is why they have a high amount of lead and uranium/thorium in them. Tobacco tends to grow in soil where there is a greater concentration of uranium and thorium then elsewhere. As a result, they pick up these radioactive elements and they become a part of them. However, the danger from smoking cigarettes is more due to the carcinogenic chemicals created by incomplete combustion than it is by the very, very, very, very slightly elevated levels of radioisotopes. The radiation hazard is brought up because anything you can say to make cigarettes seem even more dangerous is usually said no matter how insignificant it is.

The only thing I remember about the anesthesia I had when I was about 9 years old was that it smelled like a bad nail polish remover, and when the doctor said "count backwards from 10" I was out before I hit 9. lol.

The only drug that I can see any possible reason for legalizing is marijuana, and even then only after intense, long-term studies have been performed. If all of a sudden every illegal substance on earth were legalized, you'd have MASSES of people going and trying them which would result in massive overcrowding in the ER and people messed up on the drugs and unsure of how to handle themselves. Think about what it was like the first time you ever got drunk. Did you wind up drinking too much and getting insanely ill? Did you not know what was going on and get nervous or start doing stupid thing? If your answer to any of those is 'Yes', then multiply it by about a 100 and you'll know what it's like to take an 'illegal' drug for the first time. There is a very fine line between a major dose and a little dose. It will either work, or it won't. Marijuana is probably the only 'illegal' substance I know of that people can use in small quantities and slowly get used to its effects. While I would love to see it legalized, I will really only feel comfortable with that if long term studies are performed in an unbiased setting. (I.E. not by the government and not by pro-marijuana groups. I'm talking independent institutions and researchers). The first step should be legalization for medical use, then research, then restricted legalization for general use. (As for the medical use, the United States approves of its use but only in the form of a pill known as Dronabinol/Marinol. It's kind of hypocritical, however, since they classify Cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug meaning that it has high potential for addiction and no known medical use or safety data. However, Dronabinol/Marinol is a marketed drug which is made from the active indgredient of marijuana and has FDA approval. For FDA approval, safety testing has to be performed. So cannabis does not fit the Schedule 1 designation per the Government itself, yet the DEA refuses to move it.)

Lol. Yeah, when I saw that I was like "okay, a contaminant that is worth far more than the actual thing. I can't complain." However, those numbers are parts per million, so even 94 is nothing. (It's only 0.0094%).

I also have sampels of tungsten, tantalum, and other 'dense' metals which are similar in size but are lighter in weight than the Ir.

I'm sorry to say it, but you're wrong. I've got the materials analysis sheet right here, and here is what it says: (The sheet coming from the company which made the metal), "Certificate of Spectrographic Analysis" 99.98% Iridium metal. Parts Per Million of Contaminants: Pt <1 Au 1 Ru 11 Ag 1 Cu 2 Pb 9 Sb 8 Al <1 Ca 2 Mg 1 Mn <1 Ti 2 Cr <1 Co <1 Pd <1 Rh 94 Os 3 Ni <1 Fe 12 Te <1 As 5 Na 5 Si 29 Zn 2 Bi 3 Mo <1 Sn 1 So based on the chemical analysis of the sample, I can guarantee you that it is not an alloy. Also, the button was made via arc-melting from the powder and not sintering. Sintering generally results in a more uniform shape due to the pressure being applied. The other side of the ingot shows a very distinct surface where you can see how the metal was flowing as it was formed.

I purchased it for about $400 US Dollars from Dave Hamric at http://www.elementsales.com. I don't generally see it sold from many dealers, so I can't complain too much about the price.

Thanks. I have a single, ultra smooth, 5-gm button of Osmium. (Though it may be 10 grams. I bought it a while ago and just can't remember). I'd love to have a one ounce button of Osmium, but that's insanely expensive. Iridium has virtually the same density, and depending on what day of the week it is, it might actually be a smidge denser. So at least I'm able to know what it feels like to hold a lump of osmium. lol.

I finally got a chance today to photograph my new 35 gram button of Iridium, and I'm just floored by the density of it. I have never held anything like this. It is simply incredible! I decided to take its picture next to a one ounce silver coin that I have. The Iridium ingot weighs 35 grams, and the silver coin probably weighs around 32 grams if you include the holder. The coin is only a tiny bit thinner than the button is, but not by much. (Maybe 1-2mm thinner). Anyway, just look at the difference in size! That is incredible. This is why I collect the elements. Hearing about how dense something is means nothing. Seeing and feeling for yourself the density of it is a great experience.

I've had a bunch of things happen to me that have hurt, but here are the worst. 1): Spiral fracture of my left tibia. I was a junior in high school and just woke up in the morning ready to get into the shower. My leg was half asleep still and there was a slippery spot on the bathroom floor. My left foot hit the slippery spot and started to slide. It was still half numb so I didn't really notice it too much. (Plus I was not quite with it yet). As a result, I started to fall down. However, the foot regained traction and stuck on the floor. I twisted around while falling and landed right on my left leg. There was an immediate POP and my leg swelled up like crazy right in the middle of my shinbone. When I tried to move my feet I could feel the ends of the bones sloshing around inside my leg and the pain was insane. The breaking of the bone didn't hurt, but afterward everything hurt. When the doctor set the bone for the x-ray, I actually passed out from the pain. God that hurt. 2): My senior year of high school I was playing 'Human Foosball' where it's like an indoor soccer area where they tie you to metal rods going across the field. I was playing with normal sneakers on and somebody else, who was on the pole across from me, had steel-toed boots on. We both went to kick the ball when it made a strange hop and our toes met straight on to each other. My right big toe turned purple and swelled up a bit. It hurt to walk for about three weeks. I never got it looked at because there would really be nothing they could do, but my god it killed. I figure it was broken. 3): A few years ago I came down with back spasms and was unable to do anything for about two weeks without being in intense pain. Amazingly enough, the spasms went away just as suddenly as they came on. Still, I couldn't believe how much they hurt.

Yes, but you also need to take into account the surface area of exposure. It doesn't matter if it's 100 times more solution in the beaker than in the drop if that beaker solution is spread out over a larger area. The initial question should have specified the type of damage being looked at, and whether the 'damage' is considered over a short period of time or a long period of time. (For example, a very dilute solution of hydrocyanic acid is potentially more damaging than a concentrated solution of acetic acid). So some more specifics really need to be setup for this question in order to get any type of valid answer.

The drug market isn't the main reason why these chemicals are regulated. The main reason why obtaining chemicals is a chore is due to explosives and terroristic purposes. It's far easier to make things that explode or are toxic or terrorize people than it is to make drugs.

I've tried in the past to order chemicals from main companies, and it was all a matter of futility. They generally ask you to purchase via a purchase order which would have to come from a main company and personal credit cards generally aren't accepted. Also, I know a lot of the suppliers require you to purchase quite a bit of stuff from them at one time. I guess that if you purchase stuff in bulk and sell of your extra, you may be able to work something out, but generally speaking chemical suppliers just won't sell to individuals for legal reasons.

Yes, you easily can. What you have to do is collect a MASSIVE amount of urine and let it putrify. this will cause the formation of a large amount of phosphate ions. You then take the putrified urine and roast it with pure carbon. This will release white phosphorus which will spontaneously ignite as it's formed unless the roasting with Carbon is done in an oxygen free atmosphere.

Well, Smart-Elements is a ripoff, I'm sorry to say. They purchase goods from people like Max Whitby and various other element dealers and then mark them up considerably. I see that they are selling 1 Oz. Pd ingots for nearly $500! That's over two times the actual cost of the ingots. While I was happy to get my cesium sample from them, a lot of their items are just outrageously priced and can be had for much, much, much cheaper elsewhere.

lol. Nah. I'm half Lithuanian, 1/4 German, and 1/4 Irish. On Borazole I would think that there would be some localized charges since the nitrogen and boron atoms do have differing electronegativities. I'm not 100% sure of that though.

Heh. heh. Just remember, I've been building this up for a long time now. (Probably four years I'd say with the bulk of it happening over the past two years). I also had an expendable income based upon my poker winnings which have helped build up the collection. Someday you'll achieve your goal and someone else will look up to you and say 'Wow. I wish I had something like that'. There are still a few VERY high purity, VERY large samples that I would love to get but I'm not Bill Gates so I can't.

I am so happy. I have added two radioactive elements to my collection; Americium and Neptunium. I picked up a couple of smoke detectors and see that the ionization chamber of one has 0.1 mCi of Americium in it, and the other one has the same amount of Neptunium in it. I guess I got lucky with the two brands I picked up in order to get the two separate elements. I'm not going to open the chamber, but I just have the two small cylinders with the labels attached to the casings inside my element collection. Kind of neat knowing that I got two transuranium elements from freaking Wal-Mart.

Take a look here. Emovendo is pretty good and I've never had problems with him.

A tweeter is a speaker which outputs higher frequency sound waves. They are responsible for high pitched instruments, voices, and general sounds you hear in movies and music (Basically the treble part of a sound setup). Woofers are designed to output the lower frequency sound waves. They are generally responsible for the bass sounds in music and audio. Subwoofers output the really low frequency sound waves and are responsible for the thumping and vibration you feel when listening to music/movies with deep bass. So even the cheap speakers have tweeters and woofers. It's just that the more expensive ones have better quality tweeters and woofers in them.

Ummm......... Benzene is 100%, completely non-polar. Also, the polarity of a substance doesn't define whether or not it is highly reactive. Fluorine gas is a completely non-polar substance, but it's one of the most reactive things known to man. Meanwhile, Nitrogen gas is another non polar substance, but it really isn't all that reactive. So you can't define reactivity based upon the polarity of a compound.