I'm very excited to announce that I will be participating in the Gulf Coast MakerCon on April 5-6, in Tampa FL! This event is similar (but not affilliated with) the Maker Faire in California, and is made up of people that make or do interesting things. There's a huge variety of participants - 3D printing, robotics, custom jewelry, cosplay, tabletop gaming, and much more - so you're bound to find something that interests you! The MakerCon folks featured me in one of their Meet the Maker segments as well.
I will be hosting a booth featuring my Element Display, which is now nearly fully stocked with samples! I only have about 13 left to collect. I will also have an outdoor area where I will be performing live chemistry demonstrations every few hours, including exciting experiments like thermite reactions. I haven't finalized my list of demos, but I'm leaning towards 3 per show, with the theme of wresting elements from their compounds.
If you are in the area, I definitely recommend you try coming to this event. It promises to be very educational, exciting, and lots of fun! Come visit my booth and say hi!
Congratulations. Sounds fantastic. You have inspired me with your blogs and videos. (My element collection is just beginning.) Now you can inspire some others.
ReplyDeleteJ.
That's great! Thanks so much for the support. It really keeps me motivated and excited about sharing what I do. I'll be posting a recap of the show afterwards, and will hopefully be able to record some video of my presentations. Good luck with your collection!
DeleteHey, I gotta ask...
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of sample do you have for fluorine? I noticed you did have something in your element display but I can't imagine that you managed to fill an ampoule with elemental fluorine.
For several elements in my own display I intend to use gas discharge tubes. But I think fluorine will present the same problems in a discharge tube as it would in an ampoule. Is there a way of showing the characteristic spectrum of fluorine without having it in elemental form? Just wondering.
J.
My sample is Teflon, which is 76% fluorine by weight! That's about the best you can do, because you're right that fluorine is nearly impossible to store in a transparent container. I say nearly because there is one guy that, amazingly enough, figured it out. See Theodore Gray's awesome website on his periodic table display: http://theodoregray.com/periodictable/Elements/009/index.s7.html
DeleteScroll down to "Real visible fluorine" - pretty crazy!
As for showing the spectrum, I suppose you could burn a fluoride compound as in a flame test. I wouldn't advise messing with fluorine too much though!
Interesting you should mention Theodore Gray. i was lent a book of his the other day and just finished perusing it 0 Experiments you can (and probably shouldn't) do at home.
DeleteGood idea on the teflon, but I would love to improve on it if I can. HF has a higher proportion of fluorine but is boring to look at and has most of the same storage issues. I would like to avoid compounds where possible and really highlight the features of the elements. I have seen two element displays that have used quartz ampoules that realistically lasted in the order of months. I have also come across the one you mention that is estimated to be viable for years. Frankly it sounds fiddly and technical and beyond my ability with the equipment I have access to. I have also heard of a couple of collection that have used calcium fluoride, but I think they miss the point of an element collection.
My idea was to coat the inside of a gas discharge tube with a fluoride compound that would fluoresce with a spectrum close to that of elemental fluorine. Probably low priority at this point but worth asking the question and beginning research. Doable you think? Or is this a dead end?
J.