Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[UltraValican]

Find a roach.
Make it watch Saw
See if the roach pisses itself.
or
Paper Mache Volcano with hot choclate.

[Neonivek]

He isn't performing science until he uses science

Right now your making him perform "construction"

[LordBucket]

wouldn't powdered magnesium be better?

That's an option, but aluminum and iron oxide are much cheaper and easier to get. Also thermite is relatively stable and safe to store and transport, whereas magnesium powder ignites very easily.

mix it with some powdered magnesium and you have a strong flash powder.

Sure. But thermite will burn holes through cars.

[Valid_Dark]

magnesium would make a better thermite than aluminum would it not?

magnesium + kno3 = flash powder, (explosive powder, grenades, dynamite etc.)


magnesium + metal oxide = better thermite than aluminum + metal oxide
havent tested it, but considering Magnesium by itself burns at  5,610F  and  Aluminum burns at 3,600F
2000 degrees higher, and thats before oxidizing it.

now that I think about it magnesium by itself should be able to burn holes through cars, based on this chart
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/melting-temperature-metals-d_860.html

metal oxide could be iron oxide, copper oxide etc.

and last I checked you can buy magnesium at walmart, it's just a bit more expensive than aluminum though, because it's better than it in every way, it's about 1/3 the weight, burns about twice as hot, lights easier, etc.

[LordBucket]

magnesium
it
lights easier

Yes. But this is not necessarily a desireable quality in something that burns at several thousand degrees and that can't be put out with a fire extinguisher. An aluminum-based thermite also burns at several thousand degrees and can't be put out with a fire extinguisher, but it's so difficult to ignite that you can toss it into a wood campfire and it won't burn. Magnesium can be ignited by simple metal-on-metal sparks, which is why it's used for campfire starter strips.

magnesium by itself should be able to burn holes through cars

Possibly. I don't think I've ever seen a pile of magnesium ignited that was bigger than about an inch in diameter, but if you check youtube there are plenty of videos of people lighting it on workbenches and things and it never seems to do much damage. Though I suspect that's an issue of particle size.

you can buy magnesium at walmart

Magnesium strip from wall mart: $6.88 for one tenth of a pound = $68.80/pound, and you have to file/grind/powder it yourself

Pyrotechnic grade aluminum powder $25/pound, ready-made

If you just want to make a pretty little flash, three minutes with a magnesium strip might be easier. But if you want to make something big and awesome, it's cheaper and a lot less work to simply buy aluminum powder. Also, the quality of your thermite will depend very much on the size of your particles. Smaller particles = more surface area available to make contact with oxygen = faster/hotter burn. Those youtube videos showing people igniting magnesium on workbenches for pretty lights but little effect probably are that way because hand-shaved magnesium generates relatively large particles. Even if magnesium burns hotter than aluminum, you're likely to get a much better result with industrially produced aluminum powder than hand-shaved magnesium.

If you really want to use magnesium, want you probably want is pyrotechnic grade powdered magnesium. The price is similar to that of the aluminum, but you'll have to personally pick it up from their warehouse because they won't ship it.

In any case, I suppose how to best go about it would depend on your goal. If the goal is to have "sciencey fun" then maybe buying ready-made metal powder from a fireworks supplier is cheating.

[Virex]

magnesium would make a better thermite than aluminum would it not?

magnesium + kno3 = flash powder, (explosive powder, grenades, dynamite etc.)

I don't know about that, magnesium reacts easely but the heat of reaction for aluminum may be higher, and if you finely disperse the powders the higher activation energy is not a problem.

[Sensei]

Here's something you can actually do:

Get some round aluminum ducting, about 8 inches wide and four or five feet in length. Drill a hole every 2 centimeters along it in a line. Cover each end with a rubber diaphragm (like a drum). Then cut another hole, and insert a hose for propane and caulk it up. Turn on propane, light each hole. Then, with fire coming out of each hole, use a speaker to player a tone next to one end of the pipe. The fire will make waveforms. Very cool, more than a little dangerous if used in a dance club.

[Valid_Dark]

Here's something you can actually do:

Get some round aluminum ducting, about 8 inches wide and four or five feet in length. Drill a hole every 2 centimeters along it in a line. Cover each end with a rubber diaphragm (like a drum). Then cut another hole, and insert a hose for propane and caulk it up. Turn on propane, light each hole. Then, with fire coming out of each hole, use a speaker to player a tone next to one end of the pipe. The fire will make waveforms. Very cool, more than a little dangerous if used in a dance club.

Can you produce a link? I want to try this but don't want to blow myself up

[Sensei]

It's called a "Ruben's Tube". Here's a video.

[Shadowscales]

Is the anarchist's cookbook even legal?

[Valid_Dark]

What does it matter?

to my knowledge labeling a book illegal only draws more attention to it, and there are ways to read anything no matter it's legality



but as far as science goes, you should make some Kool Aid Pickels, I just posted about them in the fish thread, but figured they deserve to be here too

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq2.html#koolaidpickles

[Levi]

Is the anarchist's cookbook even legal?

Since when were books illegal?

[Skyrunner]

Ach, it has become 'perform mundane science' to 'fun with household explosives"!


For DNA... wouldn't you need an ultrifuge or something? To separate the DNA from the cells :-0

[Shadowscales]

I'm sorry, the "How to kill a man" and "How to grow Marijuana" scared me...