[Robotgroup] BS2 to Sabretooth 2x10 RCMC?

[Def Egge]

At 10:01  2008-08-21, you wrote:
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 >Speaking of steel wool, when you pour hydrochloric( or was
 >it nitric)acid on steel wool, hydrogen gas is produced. I
 >performed that experiment in front of my mother when I was
 >a kid. I proved that it was hydrogen gas by lighting the end
 >of the test tube a watch it exploded in front of us(not
 >planned).It blew the stopper and glass tube into the ceiling.
 >I convinced my mother that I planned that and it wasn't
 >dangerous. Steel wool and acid maybe the answer to the energy
 >crisis.   Marvin


[brevitized]


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Either should work, Marvin, but HCl (aka hydrochloric acid, readily 
available as muriatic acid) is / was a lot easier to come by.

If you want some REAL hydrogen generation with readily-available 
materials, try a pouring a little concentrated lye (NaOH aka sodium 
hydroxide) solution over aluminum filings or shredded aluminum 
foil.  The reaction tends to get hot and the hotter it gets, the 
faster it goes.  Sodium metal or potassium metal in water will do 
much the same but are much more difficult and expensive to obtain 
(and a pain to store since they must remain submerged in oil to 
prevent contactwith moisture).

At the 8th grade science fair, one of my elementary school buddies 
was demonstrating electrolysis of water to H2 and O2 gases.  A 
glowing wood splint will burst into flame, demonstrating the presence 
of the oxygen.  A match over a standard 10 mL test tube of hydrogen 
gives a loud pop!  The same over a 100 mL test tube sounds like the 
report of a .45 cal ACP.

After a warning that the noise was too danged loud, this fellow 
decided to secretly accumulate his liberated H2 gas in a large 
(probably 5 liters) glass bottle instead of the 100 mL test 
tube.  When he held the flame to the bottle, the resulting explosion 
tore the bottle to small shards.

His exhibit and those around it looked like they had been shotgunned 
with 00 buckshot.  There were pockmarks in the painted cinderblock 
walls and glass shards embedded in the ceiling ... there was a 
basketball court in that room so the ceiling might have been 20 feet 
tall.

Aside from his sorry, bleeding self, no other injuries were reported 
although I suspect more than a few pairs of shorts needed 
changing.  He must have turned his head away as he brought the flame 
to the neck of the bottle since his face was largely untouched and he 
was not blinded.


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All the best....

Mike