tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post4285933668260798381..comments2024-02-19T02:06:27.010-06:00Comments on The Home Scientist: Titanium Thermite & Calcium SulfateDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06495614313702847298noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-52092282663414472002015-01-09T17:28:10.251-06:002015-01-09T17:28:10.251-06:00Hi. I did a couple of the titanium thermites and I...Hi. I did a couple of the titanium thermites and I really got very tiny bulbs of titanium although some the titanium pieces looked bronze and some were like orange chunks with holes. Do you have any recommendations of how to get clean big pieces of titanium? Also what did you do with the slag? Can you purify the slag to make more titanium? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-36898728483640183422014-05-18T19:50:40.172-05:002014-05-18T19:50:40.172-05:00I actually just prepared some silicon thermite tod...I actually just prepared some silicon thermite today, but instead of using sulfur, I figured I'd add some sodium nitrate to keep the reaction going and sodium chloride as a flux. I highly recommend this method, I imagine potassium chlorate would be even better. The thermite worked great, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to scale it up for any considerable nodules to fall out. Anyway, thanks for your quick response!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-32043582797272222302014-05-18T15:03:10.551-05:002014-05-18T15:03:10.551-05:00Extracting the pure metals from any thermite is ve...Extracting the pure metals from any thermite is very easy, and once you've done it once or twice you'll be able to spot things very quickly. If you watch the first video I linked in the article, the very end shows the product "cake" after I cracked it in half with a hammer. You can clearly see the Ti metal as shiny spheres. Further tapping with a hammer shatters the brittle aluminum oxide slag and these nodules fall right out. It's much the same for any type of thermite - the product metal will be shiny (usually), in spherical nodules or one large lump at the bottom of the cake, and will be much harder than the surrounding slag. A few raps with a hammer breaks up the oxide and frees the metal. This particular thermite didn't really have the sulfur smell at all. It's locked up in the sulfate anion and not much is liberated as elemental sulfur. My silicon thermite, on the other hand, seriously reeked of rotten eggs!Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495614313702847298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-70562519190223266822014-05-18T12:18:49.792-05:002014-05-18T12:18:49.792-05:00Hi, mrhomescientist! I'm an aspiring home chem...Hi, mrhomescientist! I'm an aspiring home chemist myself, and am also in the process of building an element collection. I wanted to ask you how you went about extracting the Titanium pellets from the slag after your thermite cooled. I'm looking for a way to do this without producing a lot of Hydrogen Sulfide gas, as I live in a pretty cramped neighborhood and that would not be good for the neighbors. Thanks for making your videos for us, I've got you subscribed on YouTube and I can't wait to see what you do next!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-41139253412716898402013-02-05T22:59:31.723-06:002013-02-05T22:59:31.723-06:00Thanks James! If you don't want to go through ...Thanks James! If you don't want to go through the trouble of disposal, I'd be happy to take some chemicals off your hands :)<br /><br />Funny that you asked about my element collection, because when you wrote that comment I was just putting the finishing touches on five posts and a video featuring it! I built a fancy display unit for the collection, which I go into a lot of detail explaining. Check out the intro post here: http://thehomescientist.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-element-display-introduction.html . I'll be posting a few videos going through all the individual elements in the near future.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495614313702847298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-71296275674137681172013-01-28T20:12:38.794-06:002013-01-28T20:12:38.794-06:00Dan,
I'm enjoying reading your posts as well a...Dan,<br />I'm enjoying reading your posts as well as watching your videos. Nice work. <br />I found you while looking for information on how to deal with old chemicals. I'm a new teacher (alternate route... I'm 57!) and part of my job is to inventory the chem lab store room. Our school just took over an old Catholic high school and there are loads of chemicals, some dating back almost 40 years. I think I'm going to neutralize the majority myself to save us money.<br /><br />But what really caught my interest was your element collection. I'm going to talk my science department into putting one together. So, do you have any posts or videos I missed that show your current status? I'd love to see the collection. <br /><br />Jim Shaw<br />Elmwood Park, NJ<br />jpshaw55@gmail.comJames P. Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10640773296073243692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-25998668711321005382012-11-09T20:40:22.140-06:002012-11-09T20:40:22.140-06:00Hello Dan, I'm Dragonetti1976, listen i'm ...Hello Dan, I'm Dragonetti1976, listen i'm trying to currently develop a great idea for a invention, you are a very interesting fellow who know's his elements, thus i would like to ask you for some help, some questions that i need answering to, to accomplish my modern day invention so that people can benefit from it, and i need a partner with this kind of expertise in this field, to be-friend and possibly make tons of money with the right person, i'm not a science geek, but an idealist with drive,I'm a hard working person who's just trying to talk to the right people, i'm currently working a 40hr. job, 9yrs, with a good company,trying to support my family and start something new with my life. can you please e-mail me back at "Dragonetti_76@yahoo.com" for your interest, no pressure here, i don't normally do this, this is kind of a long shot I'm doing here writing to you. Thank you for hearing me out, Joe S. Milwaukee, WIJoe S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-46177543155994237142012-10-28T21:30:30.215-05:002012-10-28T21:30:30.215-05:00I tried commenting on your article but for some re...I tried commenting on your article but for some reason the comment window never showed up, hopefully it notifies you of this one!<br /><br />I read your page and that was very interesting! I think I know what happened. Damp-Rid contains anhydrous calcium chloride, in the form of white flakes. When you open this up to the air, it absorbs moisture, and does this so readily that the chemical dissolves in the water it takes up. That's when it liquifies and drips down into the bottom. What I believe happened is that your Damp-Rid came into equilibrium with its environment in the closet, meaning it would absorb no more water and also would not evaporate away. When you moved it to another environment, it must have been a bit drier than your closet. This caused the water to evaporate back into the air, and you were left with (fully hydrated) calcium chloride crystals! If you put them back in the closet, they may not liquify again because in their current form they already have a lot of water trapped in the crystal structure, and so are not nearly as powerful of a moisture absorber. Hope that helps!Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495614313702847298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563481695249610141.post-71390478496749131762012-10-26T08:56:41.082-05:002012-10-26T08:56:41.082-05:00I found your blog trying to figure out why my Damp...I found your blog trying to figure out why my Damp Rid Crystallized http://the-alice-of-wonderland.blogspot.com/2012/10/crystalized.html<br /><br />Do you think you could answer that?<br /><br />Anastasiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07767666308093045984noreply@blogger.com