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jdurg

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Everything posted by jdurg

  1. Well my friends, This is the world's strongest acid. Oddly enough, it is not corrosive at all, but in terms of acidity, it is the strongest one known to man. (Makes concentrated sulfuric acid look like vinegar).
  2. The octane number is actually a rating on the anti-knock properties of the fuel being used. It is a rating based upon the knocking properties of a ratio of isooctane (100) and n-heptane (0). So a gas with a rating of 92 would have the same anti-knock properties as a mixture of 92% isooctane and 8% n-heptane. For octane numbers HIGHER than 100, it's a measurement of how much tetraethyl lead needs to be added to pure isooctane to give it the same anti-knock characteristics. Many cars built prior to 1971 require gasoline with an octane rating higher than 100, as do high performance engines. So if someone has a fuel with an octane rating of 114, then I believe it means that its anti-knock characteristics are the same as a mixture of 100% isooctane and 14 parts (or percent, I can't remember) tetraethyl lead.
  3. The octane number is actually a rating on the anti-knock properties of the fuel being used. It is a rating based upon the knocking properties of a ratio of isooctane (100) and n-heptane (0). So a gas with a rating of 92 would have the same anti-knock properties as a mixture of 92% isooctane and 8% n-heptane. For octane numbers HIGHER than 100, it's a measurement of how much tetraethyl lead needs to be added to pure isooctane to give it the same anti-knock characteristics. Many cars built prior to 1971 require gasoline with an octane rating higher than 100, as do high performance engines. So if someone has a fuel with an octane rating of 114, then I believe it means that its anti-knock characteristics are the same as a mixture of 100% isooctane and 14 parts (or percent, I can't remember) tetraethyl lead.
  4. I think "oxy-hydrogen" is the slang name for a perfect stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas. In a perfect stoichiometic mixture, the explosion tends to be more violent because the gasses are mixed in the proper proportions to make the end molecule. Therefore, the reacting molecules don't really have to look too far to find their "mate". Oxy-hydrogen is quite dangerous and prone to violent combustion. A small static spark, or any ignition source will make it explode very loudly and very violently. (This is a standard demo in any good chemistry gas. Balloons of just hydrogen are ignited, and then balloons of just oxygen are ignited. Next, a balloon of a little bit of hydrogen and air mixed together are ignited. This produces a louder boom than the just hydrogen balloon. At the end, they fill a balloon with the perfect mixture of hydrogen and oxygen and a VERY loud and VERY big fireball ensues). Another scary thing is that if you have any platinum at all near the oxy-hydrogen, it can ignite. I filled a small balloon with some electrolyzed water, then popped it with a length of platinum wire attached to a yardstick. Just the presence of the platinum when penetrating the balloon made it ignite.
  5. I think "oxy-hydrogen" is the slang name for a perfect stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas. In a perfect stoichiometic mixture, the explosion tends to be more violent because the gasses are mixed in the proper proportions to make the end molecule. Therefore, the reacting molecules don't really have to look too far to find their "mate". Oxy-hydrogen is quite dangerous and prone to violent combustion. A small static spark, or any ignition source will make it explode very loudly and very violently. (This is a standard demo in any good chemistry gas. Balloons of just hydrogen are ignited, and then balloons of just oxygen are ignited. Next, a balloon of a little bit of hydrogen and air mixed together are ignited. This produces a louder boom than the just hydrogen balloon. At the end, they fill a balloon with the perfect mixture of hydrogen and oxygen and a VERY loud and VERY big fireball ensues). Another scary thing is that if you have any platinum at all near the oxy-hydrogen, it can ignite. I filled a small balloon with some electrolyzed water, then popped it with a length of platinum wire attached to a yardstick. Just the presence of the platinum when penetrating the balloon made it ignite.
  6. Well, Lithium, Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, and Magnesium are higher up on the activity series than aluminum, so I don't believe that the thermite will work with the oxides of those metals. (Since if the ions were oxidized back to the metal, the metal would immediately reduce the aluminum oxide produced).
  7. Well, Lithium, Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, and Magnesium are higher up on the activity series than aluminum, so I don't believe that the thermite will work with the oxides of those metals. (Since if the ions were oxidized back to the metal, the metal would immediately reduce the aluminum oxide produced).
  8. Pretty much any metal oxide with a good reducing agent will produce a nice thermite. Thorium oxide and aluminum powder works, as does pretty much any oxide with aluminum powder. (Basically, if you go by the activity series of metals, and metal which is below aluminum will work in a "thermite" reaction. Any metal oxide, that is).
  9. Congrats! Only 80 or 90 something more to go! (Depending upon your goals). I would also suggest trying to get the precious metals of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, rhenium, osmium and iridium next since their prices are going to continue skyrocketing. (Rhodium is insanely expensive right now. Over 1100 U.S. dollars per troy ounce!)
  10. Anyway, back to the gold bar issue. From the pictures of the gold bars on the auction site, and based upon the rough measurements I was able to estimate, the bars should be authentic. I calculated what the dimensions of the bar would have to be in order to match the density of pure gold, and they are very, very, very valid. So now I'll just have to wait and see. (I've also got 10 grams worth of what looks to be the same gold bars coming in from another dealer, so there's a great chance that it is indeed gold. I've obtained so much gold lately, and my little vial is getting quite full and very heavy. It's a beautiful metal).
  11. Correct. That's because the overall volume has changed. So if you use P1V1 = P2V2 you can calculate the pressure of each gas at the new volume. Then you add up the partial pressures and you have your answer. (I got 4/3 kPa.)
  12. True. It is fun to make your own elements, but sometimes you have to look at the overall cost of doing so. For Iodine, the cost of making it in the size batch you'd probably need will most likely be higher than the cost of buying a small batch of pure crystals. (Now on a large scale, like they do in the industry, it costs less to make it. But on a small scale like most home users would need, the cost may be a bit higher). Of all my elements, chlorine is probably my personal favorite. That's because I made it myself and did not purchase it from any dealer. I took some calcium hypochlorite and concentrated HCl and generated, cleaned, and dried the chlorine gas myself. It was really neat doing that. While the green color isn't overwhelmingly strong, with a white background to the ampoule and particularly in photographs, it really shows up nicely.
  13. When I was in sixth grade, our teacher's husband worked at a chemical plant and had access to a ton of mercury. So she brought in some mercury and we all got to play with it during our science lessons. She only said "don't eat it, put your face in it, or spill it on yourself. Make sure you wash your hands afterwards." It was REALLY neat playing with the mercury. The way it moved and the way it felt in your hand was amazing. Of course, if a teacher did that now HAZMAT would be called in and she would be fired. lol. (Note: This all happened back in 1992).
  14. I did not know that. Very nice explanation of the origin of the term "carat".
  15. Again though, you need to specify what type of reactivity you're talking about. If you're talking about reactivity with water, the order goes from lithium to sodium to potassium to rubidium to cesium in terms of low to high.
  16. I am sorry sir, but you are incorrect. karat is a measure of the fineness of gold, with 24 karats being 100% pure. Carat is a measure of weight, used to weigh gemstones and such. You can google this one if you'd like.
  17. Nitrogen Triiodide is probably the only HE you can get away with making here in the US. That is for numerous reasons. The first of which is just how unstable it is. Since it is so incredibly unstable, people will have a very hard time transporting it since a flea landing on it will set it off. The second is because it's not something you can keep wet and then leave around. It takes a while to dry out, and a big pile of ammonia/iodine fuming "mush" will draw a lot of attention. As a result, the ATF and police really aren't looking for nitrogen triiodide makers. If they wanted to arrest you for something and couldn't come up with any other reason, sure they could use NI3 as their reason. But if a cop came to your door and saw you making/detonating NI3, they'd probably just give you a naughty slap on the wrist and tell you to knock it off. (Even though it is classified as a High Explosive).
  18. Well, I don't think you'd need to light it since mercury fulminate is pretty shock sensitive. If there was a one kg pile of it, a strong gust of wind may set it off.
  19. Well, for me 23 karat gold is close enough to 24 karat gold that it wouldn't matter.
  20. There is a listing posted in nearly every single scientific handbook of the activity series of the metals. These listings have gold, platinum, iridium, etc. at the bottom since are not as reactive in relation to metals such as sodium, potassium, cesium, etc. (The listing usually has hydrogen in there too so you can tell if a metal will react with acid or not). I believe the metals are ranked based upon their reduction abilities. I.E. the metal that is a better reducing agent is listed at the top, and the worst reducing metals are listed at the bottom. A metal at the top of the list will replace a metal lower than it on the list in solution. (I.E. a stick of zinc metal placed into a solution of silver nitrate will replace the silver in solution, and the silver will preciptate out). This is because Zinc is more willing to give up an electron and move into solution and silver ions are more willing to accept an electron and move out of solution. This also works in determining if a metal will be dissolved by an acid. If the metal is above H+ in the listing, it will be willing to give up an electron to the H+ ion and move into solution while the H+ ion will take the electron and move out of solution. This is why magnesium will dissolve in an acid and generate hydrogen gas and why copper metal won't dissolve in an acid. (Though it will dissolve in nitric acid, but that's because of the oxidation power of nitric acid and not the H+ ion). Check out this website.
  21. Exactly. That's why with the weight of the bars pre-determined, I'll be able to do some measurements to determine if the density is that of gold or some other alloy. Also, with the bars being pretty small, if I can bend one of them without much effort, than it would have to be gold. (Since any other bar which could be bent at that small of a size would have to be some incredibly light metal compared to gold).
  22. jdurg

    Caffine

    Two words; Jolt Cola.
  23. Okay. Just making sure you knew.
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