I haven’t done much playing with different elements of the periodic table but Potassium seems like fun. Why were there no learning environments like the Periodic Table of Videos when I was growing up? This interweb thing is making learning to easy. 🙂
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If you think Potassium is fun, check out what you can do with Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) at this site http://jamesyawn.com/
The Potassium Nitrate is combined with sugar to make rocket fuel for hobby rockets.
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right, but Cesium(CS), Francium (Fr) and Radium are the most reactive metals, for example, dropping a piece of radium the size of a pill in a bath
of water is equivalent to throwing a landmine in that tub.
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Thanks for the link John.
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Thanks for the info Alex. I just watched the Cs video, huge buildup to the experiment but I expected a bit more of a reaction. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=zCARhVfeX5U Probably just not enough of the metal.
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Alex.. no. Youve been watching Brainiac – its FAKE FAKE FAKE.
But.. what does this have to do with “hacked gadgets” ?
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I swiped a bottle with potassium metal from chemistry class way back in the day, and had loads of fun with it. I sliced a piece off about 1/8th inch thick and left it out on a hot humid day, and about 20 minutes later it started fire. fun fun!
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In my chem class years ago, the teacher (who was way cool) made potassium/sodium/water bombs with the class. We took old 1 gallon metal solvent cans, filled them with an inch or two of water, then tied either potassium or sodium to a nylon string, hung it inside the can and pinched the string with the screw on cap so the chunk of metal was suspended in the air, then we all backed way off and started tossing rocks at the can to knock it over. The explosion was fantastic, and given the ductility of the thin metal of the can, no shrapnel happened and the side seals broke before the sheeting itself gave way. fun stuff!