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Jor
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Mercury sources
Does anyone know a cheap source for mercury metal, wich is ampoule sealed?
I want some for display purposes. I only need a few mL at most , ampouled.
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a_bab
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Some switches contain exactly what you need: ampouled mercury: http://images.google.com/images?q=mercury+switches
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YT2095
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I can help you if you like, I glass seal my own in Vials, I have about 50g of mercury metal (more than enough for me), and would be happy to send you
a little if you have a paypal acct.
if you wait a bit, I`ll take a picture and post it here.
excuse the blur, but the macro isn`t working on my camera.
[Edited on 31-3-2008 by YT2095]
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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Jor
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Yes, YT2095, I would be very interested in the mercury. I do have a PayPal acount.
But you live in the UK, I live in Holland. Is it possible to send an ampoule , wich may break? If yes, how much total money do you want for the
ampoule + shippings?
Am I getting the ampoule in the picture then, or a new one? Please note how much mercury will be in the ampoule if you make a new one.
And where do you get those mercury switches? I have a very old house. So is it in the electrical circuit or something?
[Edited on 31-3-2008 by Jor]
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YT2095
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I`ll send you the one in the pic if you like, that`ll make describing it a load easier 
I don`t know how much in mililitres it is, but there`s a couple of gram at least, and it does show the mercury off quite nicely (although the picture
above doesn`t do it justice).
Yes I post to Holland quite regularly (to Woelen), so that`s not a problem.
as for postage cost I have no idea, the best thing to do would be for me to just post it and let you know how much it was (shouldn`t be more than
2GBP).
and if it`s for Display and not to be destroyed for use, then you can have it as a Gift
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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Jor
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Yea , the one in the pic would be great 
Yes its for display purposes 
If I would want to use it for other purposes, I would just buy the 100gram for 19,00 or something from the chemical supplier.
I will give you my adress via eMail. What's your eMail? <sub>{Edit by Nicodem: personal email data removed on request}</sub>
And 2GBP is a very good shipping costs!!!
Just tell me how much money you want me to send to your PayPal. And as a Gift? That would be extremely kind of you !
You can contact me through eMail.
[Edited on 16/9/2010 by Nicodem]
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YT2095
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ok, done and sorted
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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woelen
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YT, very nice that you are willing to ship this mercury tube to Jor, but keep one thing in mind. Mercury is very dense, and it does not wet glass and
contracts into compact globules. Shaking of this thin tube in the post causes the contents to slosh from one side to another, and this may cause
breaking of the tube during transport. Mercury is remarkably dense and the risk of breakage during transport is quite large.
I myself have a mercury sample, and this is in a very thick walled glass ampoule:
http://woelen.homescience.net/science/chem/compounds/mercury...
This was sent to me by mail, and around this thing, three layers of bubble foam were added, and this in turn was tightly put in a plastic bottle with
screw cap, just in case, that if it breaks, then the droplets would be contained in the plastic bottle and not all over the parcel.
I once have seen a test tube being broken, simply by pouring in some mercury (this luckily was not at my home, it was long ago, at school, in the good
old days that mercury still was allowed at high school).
Well over a year ago, I had a similar experience with a vial, in which some nice samples of arsenic were put. When this arrived at my home, the vial
was broken, also due to shaking during transport. Fortunately, the vial was very well contained in multiple baggies, so no nasty things happened, but
this demonstrates that shipping things in thin glass containers is not very safe.
So, package the sample in such a way, that if it breaks, then no damage is done and the droplets of mercury are safely contained.
Edit(woelen): Made link work again.
[Edited on 30-7-16 by woelen]
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YT2095
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it`ll be wrapped in sulpher powder 1`st, not a problem
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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MagicJigPipe
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I have a few mercury switches that I have yet to break open and I shake those around (sometimes with great force) all the time and have had not one
breakage. I do feel how dense it is though. Hg is great.
My Mom told me that her and her brothers all used to play with the mercury from broken thermometers all the time as kids and they are some of the
healthiest people I know today. Just thought I would throw in that anecdote.
I also found out recently that most cars made before 2000 or so have mercury switches that control the trunk and hood lights (probably more, too).
Needless to say I thought about going to U-Pull-It and other junk yards to buy all of their trunk lights!
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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Jor
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Is the glass thick enough, such that I can show other people the mobility of the liquid, or does shaking break the glass? Can you please test that for
me YT?
Oh and now im talking anyways , who has some gallium for me to buy ?
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YT2095
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LOL, funny you should mention the switches and years ago.
my Friends dad (and electronics engineer) used to put one of these and a little peizo buzzer and 9v batts in all his sons x-mess presents, as he had
of shaking them to see what was in it! 
the package is done now anyway, it`s the glass vial in a semi rigig heat seal plastic tube with Sulpher in there, all wrapped in tissue and put into a
screw top plastic test tube, then in a padded jiffy bag.
I think all will be safe 
as for Arsenic, I need a small amount of that for my element collection, I have the pentoxide but it`s not the same thing, As and Tl would complete 2
groups for me, but I`v never Once come across a source for elemental Thallium or Arsenic 
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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microcosmicus
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Also, old fluorescent lamp starters have mercury switches as well.
The lamps, of course, also have mercury, but in too small
quantities to be worth salvaging. When I was small, I used to
play with mercury from old quiet switches.
From what I understand, arsenic can be reduced using charcoal,
presumably like phosphorous, so maybe you could prepare yourself
a small quantity of elemental arsenic for your collection.
[Edited on 31-3-2008 by microcosmicus]
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Jor
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My sources for arsenic , from Fisher company are:
-Arsenic, 1 ampoule: 18 EUR
-Arsenic 25Gr under Nitrogen, GR for analysis ACS, from Merck: Need to request price
If you want YT, I can get them for you, but you will have to pay me the money for the arsenic, as it's quite expensive. Also, I do not know how to
ship chemicals internationally, especially something toxic like arsenic. I will have to ask woelen. Woelen can order from the company as well, because
I order from Fisher through a local supllier in the Netherlands. Hes more experienced sending chemicals to you, so you might ask him...
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YT2095
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not a problem, honestly!
I have to wait until next Quarters Science Budget anyway, and I have things more pressing that need to be bought first (photography enlarger lens +
filters and some more sheets of film), then I need to get some Barium and Strontium metal to complete my Sucrate experiments.
so as you can see, there`s no Mega rush for these things and patience has its own rewards.
it`s nice to know that at least One of the 2 elements I`m after is available though, Cheers
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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Nick F
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Check out www.elementsales.com. They have nice ampoules of both Tl and As.
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YT2095
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Splendid, Thanks, I see they have a nicer Boron sample than mine too.
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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MagicJigPipe
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"Also, old fluorescent lamp starters have mercury switches as well."
As in the little semi-cylindrical sometimes silver things?
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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Fleaker
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Well YT, you know who to ask on the barium and strontium. :- )
Jor, I have a good source for gallium from 4N to 6N ranging from 880-1380/kg.
I believe they may be able to direct me to some cheap barium, strontium, and calcium as well.
As I said before, I'm more than willing to buy stuff in bulk for cheap, so long as I know that I won't be keeping 500g of Sr (50 would keep me more
than happy). I can also melt the stuff in vacuo too!
Neither flask nor beaker.
"Kid, you don't even know just what you don't know. "
--The Dark Lord Sauron
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The_Davster
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Nick F
Check out www.elementsales.com. They have nice ampoules of both Tl and As. |
Wow, I have never seen such an unoxidized sample of shiny arsenic!
I have some dull arsenic, I had no idea it was so expensive! It is an awesome element to just have in a bottle, just for the stigma attached to it.
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theobromacacao
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I purchased my As and Tl samples from elementsales and they are excellent! The Tl arrived this morning actually and is very nice. I try to use
various sources for my element collection, and have also just bought a mercury switch off ebay which also arrived this morning, just for my
collection. A nice vintage sample! However, after seeing this post now, I wish I'd asked on here like Jor! Apart from still needing quite a few
elements to complete my collection, there's just the question of how to display them (seeing as I'm no handyman or woodworking expert)!
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ScienceGeek
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Well, you don't have to be an expert to build some racks, do you? I don't know, I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem like it takes a lot of effort.
Speaking of experts: check out this site
PS: I mean no offense to anyone or any profession.
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Fleaker
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Taken from some new laws on the books for high school chemistry (more on that later) classes:
"Comparison of quantities of mercury
Large Spill = 1 pound mercury
1 pound = 453.6 grams = 2 tablespoons mercury = 130 thermostats (NEMA estimates
about 3.5 grams per thermostat)
1 fluid oz. = 394.4 grams mercury
1 gram = a bead the size of a pencil eraser
1 gallon = 104 pounds mercury
1 thermometer = 0.5-3.0 grams of mercury
1 thermostat = 3-5 grams mercury
1 thermostat = 75-100 fluorescent lamps
1 sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) = 70 - 90 grams mercury
Air concentrations: 1,000 ng/m3 = 1.0 ug/m3 = 0.001 mg/m3
Officially, one pound of spilled mercury is considered a large spill and must be reported.
Visually, that is about two tablespoons of mercury. However, even a small spill can raise
the air concentrations of mercury above ATSDR’s safe threshold level."
Neither flask nor beaker.
"Kid, you don't even know just what you don't know. "
--The Dark Lord Sauron
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MagicJigPipe
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That's interesting. I called the poison control center not to long ago to see what they had to say about mercury and they basically told me that
unless the mercury is aerosolized it is nothing to worry about. They said that at room temperature it is almost impossible for liquid mercury to give
rise to immediately (or for a few minutes) harmful amounts of vapor (pressure).
Of course I'm sure constant exposure would be bad but I do believe them to a certain extent. Hg's vapor pressure is so low that, IMO, as long as the
mercury is cleaned up quick it poses little threat. This paragraph is my opinion only and based mostly on an experience in which I experienced no
noticable effects (and an obscure comparison to the vapor pressure versus immediately harmful amounts of mercury vapor).
Sorry if this doesn't make any sense but I just got back from a "show" and I have a headache and I'm tired and... I'll edit if it sounds stupid...
Good day! Night...
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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IrC
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They are of course wrong, Hg puts off more vapor than they are leading you to believe. Shine an ultraviolet light on a screen which glows under Uv,
with the Hg between. You will see the shadows flickering as Hg vapor blocks the Uv light source. This is the best demo I know of for one to get the
full insight as to how much vapor is really coming off at room temperature! I know, I cleaned 3 pounds of Hg squeezing it through chamois (probably
one of the simplest and best ways to clean the metal), and tried this test to see how much vapor I was bathing my lungs in. Did not hurt me at all.
What day is it? Why am I here? I forgot my name again!
Never mind.
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