New Glassware

I just got in a sizable order of some fancy new glassware! I got a number of specialized pieces that will allow me to do many new and more advanced experiments, and I'm very excited to try them out!

Potassium Iodide and Radiation

This old post serves as the Video Companion to my Potassium Iodide video, linked at the bottom to make sure you read the post first!

This is another rather long post, but I feel it is warranted because of the importance of the content.

Because of the recent earthquake and tsunami tragedy in Japan, there's been a lot of interest recently in an otherwise ordinary chemical compound called potassium iodide. I'll get to that in a minute, but first a brief summary of the situation.

The Long Road to Copper (I) Iodide

It's been a while since my last post, because I've focused more on my YouTube account (linked on the main page). However, recently I did a rather long chain of experiments that I haven't taken video of, and so I thought would work better as a blog post with a few photos. This post, as the title suggests, is long. You were warned.

Update

It's been a while since I last posted here, so I thought I should give everybody an update. My YouTube page has really taken off since I started it back in March, and I already have over 130 subscribers! That being the case, I'm going to focus more on making videos than writing blog posts. I'll still put up things here, but it's hard to shoot video, take photos, and do an experiment all at the same time!

In other news, I bought my first home! Because of this, I won't be doing much science for a bit while I get settled in to my new place. The good news is that I've set aside the third bedroom for my lab space, so I'll have an entire room dedicated to my hobby. I'm very excited to get that all set up! In the meantime, stay tuned to both this blog and my YouTube page and remember to follow and subscribe to both using the links on the main pages.

Experiment: Growing Bismuth Crystals

In this experiment, I'll be growing beautiful iridescent crystals out of pure bismuth metal. These "hopper crystals," as they are known, form completely naturally as molten bismuth cools and solidifies. They aren't found in nature, however, because of the specific circumstances required to make them. People make these in labs and sell some pretty amazing samples on eBay. The process is very simple, and is easy for anyone to do at home.

Experiment: Mercury Beating Heart

This old post serves as the Video Companion to  this video.

This is an extremely cool demonstration of electrochemistry involving one of my favorite elements - mercury. It's a shame that it's so toxic, otherwise it would be incredibly fun to play with. The setup for this experiment is simple, but very difficult to get it to work in practice. A droplet of elemental mercury is placed in a solution of an electrolyte and a strong oxidizer. Next a piece of iron is brought near the drop, which then starts to oscillate and looks like a beating heart.

Get Useful Components from a Lantern Battery

Here's a cheap, easy way to get three very useful items for your own experiments - carbon, zinc, and manganese dioxide. All you need is a 6V lantern battery and a few common tools. You want to make sure you buy a carbon-zinc type battery. If it says "heavy duty" or "ultra heavy duty" on the sticker, then you're good to go. If it says alkaline anywhere on it, this procedure will not work as that uses a different battery chemistry. I used an Everready Heavy Duty battery, which didn't mention carbon-zinc, but I've seen this done before with this battery type so I knew it would work.