latentheat

Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron mainly. We need trace amounts of many elements in our diet though. Cobalt is found in vitamin b12.

The more positive reduction potential will accept electrons (be reduced). So I don't see why this wouldn't work. And lithium is the most easily oxidized metal as far as I know.

Have a look at the activity series of metals, or the standard reduction potentials table. A metal with a more negative reduction potential can reduce a metal with a more positive reduction potential from its oxide. For example, ferro aluminum thermite works because the reduction potential of Al3+ is -1.66 volts while the reduction potential of Fe3+ is -0.04 volts. Al wants to give up its electrons more badly than Fe, and we know this because it takes more energy to reduce Al from an oxidized state. Here's a good table of reduction potentials... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_standard_electrode_potentials This table is very useful for predicting thermites and other types of single displacement reactions.

It's easy. Extract the acetylsalicylic acid from Bayer pills with a suitable organic solvent and then you will have reasonably pure acetylsalicylic acid. Add the acetylsalicylic acid to sodium hydroxide solution and heat it for a few minutes. Cool the solution, then add dilute hydrochloric acid to preciptate salicylic acid. Filter the salicylic acid. That's the method I used, it was suggested by someone in another thread.

Fe3O4 will stick to a magnet. That's why it's called magnetite. Iron (III) oxide will work, just not as well as magnetite.

It never even crossed my mind two use 2 iron electrodes with alternating current. Thanks for the cool idea.

Is this a good or a bad no? And who is it directed at

Only hydrogen. Chlorine isn't released because the electrode is a reactive metal and loses electrons rather than the chloride ions. This is why iron chloride forms. Oxygen isn't released because it reacts with the iron electrode. Nitrogen and methane are not possible because there was no nitrogen or carbon to begin with in this setup.

It has to be a base to react with the nitric acid. So potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, or potassium bicarbonate would be the ones you would want to use. Like YT said, the latter two are excellent because they give a visual indication of the reaction being finished (the release of CO2 stopping).

In the united states alternating current is 60 Hz, in europe it's 50 Hz. If you use AC, I don't think anything will happen at all beside gas release and possibly you dissolving your electrodes into a pile of mush. Converting ac to dc is easy tho...all you need is a diode. A diode only allows current to flow in one direction, cutting off the side of the sine wave where y < 0. Y= voltage in this situation. Boom, instant DC. It won't be a steady voltage, but it will always be positive and current will flow in only one direction. You also need a transformer, because you have to lower the voltage to a reasonable level for electrochemistry. 120 v is overkill. I tried my best to draw this diagram freehand on a computer, and it came out sort of ok I guess.... Can I ask what the heck rust acid is? If you were to use the iron as the cathode on accident, you wouldn't get iron combined with anything. It wouldn't be oxidized into solution.

No it's DC. I'm just using the outlet because the screws are convenient to change up the anode and cathode for different experiments. Just out of the range of that picture on the right is the rectifier/transformer.

Wouldn't the ozone just oxidize various things at ground level and revert to O2 in the process? I would think it would have to be released directly into the stratosphere for this to even possibly work.

I was a little suspicious too, but I always give people the benifit of the doubt unless the claim is totally off the wall impossible.

JWalker- As much as it sucks to be in this situation, now you know not to underestimate energetic reactions. Please be more careful with future experiments, and stay small scale with energetic reactions.

Here's a picture of the electrolytic method I described above for making rust... I took that about 5 minutes after applying the voltage. The outlet allows me to easily exchange anode and cathode materials for different experiments.

The electrolytic method I use is NaCl electrolyte, iron anode, copper cathode. Iron chloride forms at the anode, and sodium hydroxide at the cathode. When they mix, double replacement occurs and iron hydroxide precipitates out. It's a greenish gunk. Gentle heating of iron hydroxide decomposes it to iron oxide. Some iron oxide does form directly due to oxygen formation at the anode.

Butane torch doesn't work with the iron oxide thermite, I tried it the first time I did it...and I was using reagent grade iron oxide that time. Mg ribbon won't do it alone either. Either try what H2SO4 suggested above (which looks like it should work well), or use a mixture of sulphur and aluminum on top of your thermite pile as starter, with a piece of Mg ribbon on top of the Al and S at the very top. Quickly light the Mg with a butane torch and it will ignite the Aluminum and Sulphur which will ignite the thermite mixture. You can't light the sulphur and aluminum directly, the sulphur will just react w/ oxygen in the air, you need Mg ribbon. Also, home made iron oxide should work. A batch that I made with electrolysis thermited fine.

Depending on the fineness of the Al powder, this mix (called flash powder) can be very dangerous. I dunno...I'd be leary about mixing a chlorate with a fine reducing agent. Perchlorates are safer.

Perhaps it's present in such small quantities that you can't really smell it or taste it. Also, the taste/smell of it is likely masked pretty well by the lemongrass that is also present in this tea (which tastes very good). I doubt there's more than 15 mg of valeric acid in each tea bag. I actually think the roots of the valerian plant may also contain some esters of valeric acid in addition to the acid itself. I'd have to look it up. I think some of the herbal pills that have a stronger effect than the tea contain potassium valerate as the active ingredient I have been wondering about what it does in the body to make a person sleepy.

I take valeric acid (IUPAC name = pentanoic acid), as a sleep aid. I take it in the form of a tea that has valerian root extract in it. It really seems to work.

I think paraffin wax(candle wax) is a mixture of long chain alkanes with n > 20. Also, the protein called enaptin in nerve synapses is an enourmous polypeptide. It's formula is C44189H71252N12428O14007S321

Yeah, and the schools don't do esterification anymore because you would have to use OMG OH SO DANGEROUS CONC. SULFURIC ACID...the HORROR! My chem teacher let us use some hazardous chems, like lead nitrate in one lab. None of the other classes were allowed to use phenolphthalien, but we were. Reason according to the other chem teachers: It's a laxative and someone will be dumb and accidentaly ingest it. My chem teacher, Dr. Istone, just informed us that it was a laxative and that it would be quite unwise to ingest it. The other classes weren't even allowed to burn magnesium. What are these other chem teachers afraid of? I know Dr. Istone would have let us have even more fun had it not been for regulatory laws. For things that regs said we couldn't touch, he did some good demos. Like conc. sulfuric acid decomposing sugar and the reaction between aluminum and iodine. I'm jealous of his sulfuric acid. It's crystal clear and syrupy and all I can find is colored crap contaminated with buffers.

I agree with this. That smell has always made me nauseous. ethanediol smells good. Good enough to drink. Of course, that's a terrible idea, unless your intention is to commit suicide.