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Natures Natrium
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[*] posted on 1-7-2012 at 05:32


That is a pretty cool way to store an element collection.

I have to ask though, are you sure the silvery chunk in the actinide row is where it is supposed to be?




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DoctorOfPhilosophy
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[*] posted on 1-7-2012 at 19:54


Thanks, the silvery chunk is a thimble of Am-241 from a fire detector. The actual content is 1ug of AmO2.

cyanureeves, the periodic display is built "picture frame style". I hung it on my wall recently. The cubby holes are about 2x2x2 inches. To give you an idea of scale, the cadmium is a solid 1kg sphere. It's a lot more organized now (old pic), but I prefer having it with nothing but the tables and samples, like clocks without ticks or numbers. I know it's pretentious, but I have the elements memorized thoroughly.

PS. I also have a pic of 1kg of 99.99% gallium metal coming!


[Edited on 2-7-2012 by DoctorOfPhilosophy]
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MrTechGuy1995
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[*] posted on 1-7-2012 at 20:39


Found some interesting Vanadium Crystals I grew in my lab.
Still trying to figure what the hell they are.

Either sodium vanadate, or Vanadic Acid.









NaOH + V2O5 ---> NaVO3
NaVO3 + HNO3 ---> ???? //Black precip and Yellowish solution. Which from the solution, came those amazing crystals. Small but interesting.


[Edited on 2-7-2012 by MrTechGuy1995]




Currently in college, studying Computer Science. Missing my home laboratory, and all the fun things I got to do. Still trying to explore the outskirts of chemistry for curiosities sake.
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Poppy
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[*] posted on 1-7-2012 at 22:30


nice seeds!!
Humm.. seems like they are the outcome of some high molecular weight crystal double salt




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Rogeryermaw
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[*] posted on 2-7-2012 at 21:41


maybe not so pretty but ammonium sulphate crystals.



ammoniun sulphate.jpg - 154kB
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White Yeti
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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 07:25


Here is a copper acetate crystal that took me about a month to grow. I used flash to show the crystal faces, but it washed out the scale just a bit. The shadow is actually that of the lens of my camera. It's a shame that the colour doesn't show up. I guess that's the price to pay when you get an enormous crystal:)

copper_acetate downsize.jpg - 190kB




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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 08:40


Quote: Originally posted by White Yeti  
Here is a copper acetate crystal that took me about a month to grow. I used flash to show the crystal faces, but it washed out the scale just a bit. The shadow is actually that of the lens of my camera. It's a shame that the colour doesn't show up. I guess that's the price to pay when you get an enormous crystal:)



Beautiful crystal, I love copper acetate for that reason!:)




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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 09:39


Quote: Originally posted by White Yeti  
Here is a copper acetate crystal that took me about a month to grow. I used flash to show the crystal faces, but it washed out the scale just a bit. The shadow is actually that of the lens of my camera. It's a shame that the colour doesn't show up. I guess that's the price to pay when you get an enormous crystal:)



Wow, that's a huge crystal. Nice. :)

You could try combining long and short exposure, even during the same shot. Light your crystal from beneath and capture the scene using few seconds of exposure, and while the lens are still opened, turn on previously positioned lamp, but very briefly. It takes more than just a few shots to get it right, but the results are always nicer than combining two photos in an editor. Of course, don't forget the macro focusing.
A nice setup is a black sheet of cardboard with a hole through which light comes into the crystal positioned on it.




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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 10:33


Thanks for the advice Endimion. I wish I could take it, but I have tried to control the shutter speed of my camera several times prior and I was unsuccessful every time. Any tips?

Also, if I were to light this crystal from the inside I would need a very powerful lamp because the crystal is almost opaque; the thickness is such that almost no light comes through.




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Poppy
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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 10:56


Quote: Originally posted by White Yeti  
need a very powerful lamp because the crystal is almost opaque; the thickness is such that almost no light comes through.


Okay that was nostalgic ^^ nice crystal though
What if the crystal has too many veins?

[Edited on 7-3-2012 by Poppy]




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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 11:32


Quote: Originally posted by White Yeti  
Thanks for the advice Endimion. I wish I could take it, but I have tried to control the shutter speed of my camera several times prior and I was unsuccessful every time. Any tips?

Also, if I were to light this crystal from the inside I would need a very powerful lamp because the crystal is almost opaque; the thickness is such that almost no light comes through.


If the camera doesn't allow changing the shutter speed, there's not much you can do. Changing the ISO will probably mess up things, adding grain.

Is the crystal opaque, or is it only very dark, as it is supposed to be? Opaque would mean there are lots of impurities inside, so you probably can't do anything about it.

However, if it's just very dark, you can use a green laser. AFAIK, copper(II) in most of the solutions absorbs mainly in the red part of the spectrum. I think there's hardly any absorption in the green part.
A reasonably strong laser (tens of miliwatts) would make it look transparent and shiny. The only thing is that the colour will not be the original one, which can be corrected in a photo editor.
Or you can use a blue laser, though they're much more expensive.
(eye protection is always needed)




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[*] posted on 3-7-2012 at 16:03


How did you grow it? Weight?

I just made a lot of copper acetate, would love to try my hand at this. Doubt it will turn out as nice as yours though.

[Edited on 4-7-2012 by liquidlightning]
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[*] posted on 7-7-2012 at 19:07


There's some really nice pictures in this thread.

kristofvagyok, the quality of your photos really stands out. The Budapest sunset is awesome.

Here are some pretty compounds, not very large pictures unfortunately:

http://www.experimente.org/ChemikalienBilder.htm
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[*] posted on 10-7-2012 at 18:38


Quote: Originally posted by Endimion17  
Is the crystal opaque, or is it only very dark, as it is supposed to be? Opaque would mean there are lots of impurities inside, so you probably can't do anything about it.


I'm reasonably certain that the crystal has very few impurities. It seems opaque because of it's size and also because of the overall deep blue colour of copper acetate itself. I don't have a green laser, I destroyed the only one I had by tampering with the batteries and frying the diode. Yes I'm a noob, but that was a long time ago; I wouldn't do something like that again.

Quote:
I just made a lot of copper acetate, would love to try my hand at this. Doubt it will turn out as nice as yours though.


Thanks for the compliment. I find that crystals grow very large when there are few nucleation sites. You can achieve this by filtering the solution, filtering it again and filtering it again. If there are still particles smaller than the pores of your filter, let them settle to the bottom and decant the aqueous portion. Then, place the solution in a spotless jar. The result is that 3 or 4 large crystals form instead of a myriad of small ones. If possible, try to put it in a place where it will be undisturbed, I find that even after making sure there are as few nucleation sites as possible, a fruit fly always finds its way in:mad: My newest solution to this problem is to place a funnel over the opening of the jar. It's keeping the flies out, but the water doesn't seem to be evaporating too well. I might try to use a fine mesh of some kind.

Also, resist the temptation of stirring the solution at all costs. The fewer the disturbances, the larger the crystals.

While I'm here, I'd like to share a method I use to store crystals. Many of you know that crystals grown from an aqueous solution get damaged by humid air, even more so when the solute is mildly hygroscopic. This can be somewhat irritating, especially of the crystal took months to grow.

I find that making a saran wrap pocket around the specimen and sealing the pocket with a hot iron is both easy, cheap and effective. The tab left over from where the plastic re-solidifies is also a convenient spot for a label, as shown below. Yes the picture is not great, but it is meant to show a method, not to be pretty. The crystal is the same one as in my other picture, along with a few others that grew alongside it.

IMG_0680downsize.jpg - 603kB




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[*] posted on 12-7-2012 at 02:13


Nice crystal! I also made one, of gallium, and accidentally. I just left it to cool and when I came back I found this:






Here is the original 1kg packaging. The clear bottle contains XRF spectrometer slides. Confirmed 99.99% purity. I'm actually looking to get rid of it, so if anyone is interested I'll beat any price you find online!

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[*] posted on 12-7-2012 at 05:13


Alkali metals dissolved in anyhrous ammonia makes a lovely bronze colour despite the metals themselves being grey. A solution of lithium in NH3 would make some very pretty pictures indeed.



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[*] posted on 12-7-2012 at 05:17


I'm sure Sedit has shown pictures of lithium ammonia bronze on here...
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[*] posted on 14-7-2012 at 04:55


I've found this not so recent and not so nice photo either.

This is the purest large batch I've ever made. It's completely free of visible impurities and looks like plastic. I've made transparent colorless samples before, but only spheres few mm in diameter.
I guess the next step would be to let it stay molten under dilute chromic acid for a few days when it supposedly becomes transparent, however I'm not sure what happens with its color. I'll try that soon and report the results.




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[*] posted on 14-7-2012 at 06:48


Do tell us what it is? It takes the guesswork out of things...



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[*] posted on 14-7-2012 at 08:00


White phosphorus, of course! ;)
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[*] posted on 15-7-2012 at 09:54


I just got a beaker full of these beautiful sulphur crystals while recrystallizing with toluene.


pic 4.jpg - 103kB pic 5.jpg - 109kB
they look exactly like a little garden.

[Edited on 15-7-2012 by Pyro]




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[*] posted on 15-7-2012 at 11:55


Pyro one time i dried distilled sulfur powder and after a long time i opened the old burned can used for a still pot and broke up the fused blackened sulfur.inside the shiny black rocklike mass was a bright yellow lattice looking stuff almost like your sulfur. i only got a few ml. of liquid and i recall adding a couple of drops to ammonium hydroxide i made from deer hooves and i got a thick gel of nasty goop.
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[*] posted on 15-7-2012 at 15:20


well, distilling is probably best for large amounts and if you have the right equipment available. but I dont have any glass condensers that i feel like cleaning for a bit of sulphur.
I find toluene more appealing, about 20g S per 100ml toluene at 100* C and only a few grams at 20*C. I got the idea from woelen :)
do you have a pic of your crystals? cos bright yellow crystals amidst a big black sounds pretty :P




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[*] posted on 15-7-2012 at 16:34


no pics and no it aint worth it.i went straight to the second pic and only now do i see that the sulfur needles are towering inside the toluene.very nice, looks like the place where jorel talked to clark kent.
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[*] posted on 15-7-2012 at 16:41


I made one of them a bit better with irfanview:

it looks so cool, you should try it just to see them grow.
put 20g of sulfur in 100 ml toluene. then put in a deep pot with a little water, boil for 30 mins with a flask of cold water on top to act as reflux. all the time keep a beaker in the water to get it good and hot. then, after 30 mins filter everything into the clean hot beaker and turn off the heat.
then put on the lid and leave a couple of hours to cool down completely. then you will have crystals like those

picture 4.jpg - 97kB




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