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Author: Subject: The Short Questions Thread (4)
Texium
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[*] posted on 6-9-2014 at 16:38


One thing I've always wondered about, what causes HCl to turn bright yellow when it reacts with concrete? I always refill my small bottle over concrete, and if I spill any it always bubbles up and turns bright yellow.



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DraconicAcid
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[*] posted on 6-9-2014 at 17:32


Iron impurities, probably.



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[*] posted on 7-9-2014 at 14:53


Thanks Cheddite Cheese!
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[*] posted on 8-9-2014 at 09:55


What is an ideal container for storing lithium metal? I have some xylene and one of those 8 oz flasks that you can find at a Wal-Mart, but I fear it'll be too difficult to remove the lithium, as the neck is narrow.

Also, would it be a good idea to add a few drops of methanol to clean the metal surface, or is it too reactive for this?

[Edited on 8.9.2014 by Brain&Force]




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AlphaDecay
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[*] posted on 8-9-2014 at 16:32


I've already asked this before but I really wanna make sure of it. Does mixing ammonium sulfate and potassium nitrate really make ammonium nitrate? Has anyone really tried this reaction? I dont want to any waste chemicals.
Here is my post: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=29592#...
Sorry if I'm asking this again, but I really want to be sure of it.
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[*] posted on 8-9-2014 at 17:36


Yes, but the ammonium nitrate will still have some potassium and sulfate in it.



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[*] posted on 8-9-2014 at 19:12


If you mix them in a solution you wont have either of those things, you will have a mixture of ammonium, potassium, sulfate and nitrate ions in water. If you want to see which one will crystallise out first, I suggest you check the rather comprehensive list on wikipedia, it's quite useful.
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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 06:46


Potassium sulfate will crystallize first, but it is still pretty soluble, so you won't get all of it out.



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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 14:02


Ok, thanks. Another question, sorry if it will sound stupid, but, it is better to ask first than regreting after making a mistake. Consider a stand with clamps attached to it. If I'm going to hold an erlenmeyer in the clamp, for example, can I break it by forcing the clamp too much? Or this harldy happens? I am confused, if I don't force it enough, it will fall, if I force too much, will it break? Imagine if it falls during an chemical reaction...
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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 15:24


Well I doubt it will fall because of the lip on the flask so i don't put it on too tightly. Also what does SWIM mean? I keep on seeing it here.



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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 15:53


SWIM means "someone who isn't me", and is common slang (and a massive red flag) for drug dealers.



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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 16:00


My advice would be to clamp tight enough to hold, but without forcing. I've stripped the threads on the screw to one of my good three-fingered clamps this way.

SWIM means "someone who isn't me," and is a long-since abandoned way of avoiding self-incrimination. I think it got started at the Hive? Anyway, it has no place here, but wannabe drug cooks and kewls and whatnot still seem to like to use it.

Whoops, haha, beat to it.

[Edited on 10-9-2014 by Crowfjord]
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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 17:08


Sorry the ignorance but, is this "strip the threads on the screw" an expression?
What does it mean?
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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 17:25


Nope, it was meant to be taken literally. The threads are the helical (spiral) part that make a screw what it is. To strip them means to remove or break them off, smoothing the shaft of the screw, thereby making it non-functional as a screw.
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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 17:38


Oh, I see... Also I bought a 1L distillation flask, is it suitable to distill nitric acid from H2SO4 and KNO3? Or it needs to be a complete aparatus?

[Edited on 10-9-2014 by AlphaDecay]
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[*] posted on 9-9-2014 at 18:55


Assuming the flask is really just a flask (not a retort or something similar) then a complete apparatus will be needed. This includes a distillation head, condenser (either a Liebig or West type will do), a take-off adapter (optional, I suppose), and of course some sort of vessel with which to collect distillate.
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[*] posted on 10-9-2014 at 09:04


Damnit, it is one like this http://m.ebay.com/itm/170984880403?nav=SEARCH ...
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[*] posted on 10-9-2014 at 10:05


Hmm, yeah to use that you will need a non reactive stopper of some sort to plug the top with, and probably a condenser. It depends on how long the side arm is, but if it is as small as the one in that photo, a separate condenser would probably be the safest and most effective way to go.
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[*] posted on 10-9-2014 at 10:13


In fact the flask is about to arrive. So when it arrives I will post here the lenght of the side arm, then you tell me if its ok to distill without a condenser.
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[*] posted on 10-9-2014 at 14:06


Yeah, you'll definitely need a condenser, but you won't need the distillation head since your flask already has the side arm.
Basically, something like in this picture:




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[*] posted on 10-9-2014 at 14:34


That makes things much easier, just need to get some money to buy a condenser :P ...

[Edited on 10-9-2014 by AlphaDecay]
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[*] posted on 10-9-2014 at 18:53


Quote: Originally posted by Brain&Force  
What is an ideal container for storing lithium metal? I have some xylene and one of those 8 oz flasks that you can find at a Wal-Mart, but I fear it'll be too difficult to remove the lithium, as the neck is narrow.

Also, would it be a good idea to add a few drops of methanol to clean the metal surface, or is it too reactive for this?

[Edited on 8.9.2014 by Brain&Force]


I used to store my lithium in a mason jar (cheap, airtight, wide neck) and use a relatively rigid wire twisted in the shape of a disk with one end coming out of the oil (to lift it without a mess) to keep the lithium pushed under the oil.




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[*] posted on 13-9-2014 at 09:42


I heated some copper(II) carbonate to make some copper(II) oxide for use in a later experiment, and it turned out unusually brown... Normally I'm used to seeing CuO be solid black, but this particular stuff is very dark brown, like coffee grounds.
Any ideas about what is causing this?
If it helps, I used copper carbonate that I made a long time ago that was cleaned very thoroughly, and I heated it strongly with my Bunsen burner while stirring it until it had all changed color.

Edit: I had 2.00g of CuCO3 to start with, and now I have 1.70g of CuO, which would be about .005mol of CuO more than there is supposed to be (theoretical yield of CuO should be 1.29g), so I'm thinking that the discoloration is caused by carbonate that didn't decompose. That surprises me, because the first batch of copper carbonate that I made would go black from the heat of a space heater, while this batch can seemingly survive a few minutes of roasting from a Bunsen burner...
Later I'll put it back in a crucible and heat it more, and see if it will look more black and weigh the amount that it's supposed to.

[Edited on 9-13-2014 by zts16]




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[*] posted on 13-9-2014 at 17:25


Any possibility that some of your copper is still copper(I)? A bit of red Cu2O might give you a brown oxide rather than a solid black one...



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[*] posted on 13-9-2014 at 17:41


Quote: Originally posted by bbartlog  
Any possibility that some of your copper is still copper(I)? A bit of red Cu2O might give you a brown oxide rather than a solid black one...
I highly doubt it, as it would have had to have been reduced from copper(II) since I started with CuCO3, and that would have made it weigh less than it was supposed to since it would contain less oxygen.



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