I have magnesium pencil sharpener and I want to obtain magnesium powder from it. I read somewhere that copper in powder form can be obtained from
CuSO4 by adding small aluminium pieces to solution. Could I make solution of magnesium acetate and add small pieces of aluminium to get magnesium
powder? What are ways of making powder with chemistry from ribbon? Thanks Nicodem - 29-7-2010 at 23:22
Please, next time try using any search engine at least for 5 min before giving up and opening new random threads.
I forgot about search engine. Does this mean the reaction can or cannot be done?mewrox99 - 30-7-2010 at 04:21
I don't think so.
If the two half reactions add up to less than 1V then the reaction doesn't happen iircentropy51 - 30-7-2010 at 05:46
See reactivity series. In general, a metal can displace a metal which is lower in the series. Mg can displace Al, but not the converse.zed - 30-7-2010 at 17:07
Not many things can beat out Magnesium. So, makin' it aint real easy.
Fortunately, it's commercially available and it's pretty cheap. So, why not just buy some?
There are certain restrictions on finely ground magnesium. But, you can still buy turnings, and ball-mill them to whatever mesh you wish.
densest - 30-7-2010 at 18:55
Uhhhhhhhhh.... Read Lloyd Sponenburgh's book on ball milling. At the end, he gives a very chilling story about milling flammable metals. Did you know
that burning magnesium radiates in the ultraviolet? A few ounces of magnesium, burning in a fraction of a second, can radiate enough energy to
permanently scar you over every inch of exposed skin?
You want to be sure to put some stearic acid or other oily substance which will adhere very closely to magnesium or aluminum if you grind it very
fine.
For all the chemical applications I've dealt with, a coarse powder or turnings/chips are sufficient.
[Edited on 31-7-2010 by densest]zed - 31-7-2010 at 20:22
Yup! Turnings have always been good enough for me. At least in the past they have.
Turns out finely ground Magnesium can ignite spontaneously? Hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense.
Some authors warn that "Activated" Magnesium may display that property. And, I've been researching the technique of ball-milling Magnesium under
Hydrogen to produce Magnesium Hydride.....Followed by the use of the resultant Hydride to reduce NaBO2 to NaBH4.
Could allow you to make your own NaBH4 without resorting to Boranes, but it appears that the route via Magnesium may be fraught with its own perils.
Ummm. Perhaps Calcium Hydride.
PS....Some manufacturers of LiAlH4, used to sell the material as an oily paste, intermixed with mineral oil. Worked very well.
The oil coating passified the "touchy" LiAlH4, making it relatively safe to work with.
[Edited on 1-8-2010 by zed]
[Edited on 1-8-2010 by zed]peach - 4-8-2010 at 06:48
Stop stealing from your chemistry teacher.
I would admit, the search button is quite well hidden up in the corner as far as beginners are concerned. On other forums, there's either a big button
or a search box right at the top.
It'd be great if the code could implement a feature where it automatically searches the title against the forum before the post goes through, a'la the
'technical support' features of a lot of sites now; "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" "Yes..." "Dunno then... do you know we just released
a new version for just $39.99?!"
