jdurg Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Well I do have uranium ore. I bought a pretty active piece while browsing E-Bay under the influence a few years ago. But I like having actual large samples of the pure elements. That's why I have to avoid many radioactives. If I had a large sample like I would like, I'd probably die. lol. The only radioactive element I have in a pure form is a small sample of tritium gas inside a key chain. I got that because I wanted some tritium to go with my protium and deuterium samples. But my favorite samples are my osmium pellet, bromine ampoule, chlorine ampoule, and iodine ampoule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 why would I have changed my mind in the last 15 mins??? nah, its just the way you said, "IF YOU WANT TO PAY FOR IT" i thought you might mean that there was some other stuff you'd have to buy to make it useable or something, seawead hardly costs that much in the supermarket, although i dont know how much i'd need, your previous figure was wet, maybe i'll just buy a bag or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 to the element collectors! what do you do with your elements? if you start blowing em up then you wouldnt have them anymore, but if you just keep em on a shelf, whats the point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 to the element collectors! what do you do with your elements? if you start blowing em up then you wouldnt have them anymore' date=' but if you just keep em on a shelf, whats the point?[/quote'] What's the point in having a coin collection if you are just going to keep them sealed away in books and never spend them? What's the point in having a toy collection if you're never going to play with them and you just keep them in their box? What's the point in having a comic book collection if you're never going to read them and never take them out of their sealed baggies? What's the point in collecting anything if you're never going to use them? Ya see, the point of collecting anything is because you like what you are collecting and you like being able to see them any time you feel like it. It's just something people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 ok, cool, just wondered if you used them, so do you keep em all on a shelf on display! and then you could have a little oil path for all the alkali metals. or you could make like an element garden: the center a oil bath [for alkalis/reactive ones] then all the other ones surrounding it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 to the element collectors! what do you do with your elements? if you start blowing em up then you wouldnt have them anymore' date=' but if you just keep em on a shelf, whats the point?[/quote'] as a collector myself, I`ll speak only for me, and maybe a few others by incident. we don`t "blow them up" and yes we do keep them on shelves or in drawers etc.. and yes we`ll get them out occasionaly just to look at them and admire them for their intrinsic beauty. the point is Edification, from a personal and scientific standpoint. the same reason people grow flowers, not because they serve any other purpose other than to make you feel good when you enjoy the smell or the colors or fractal paterns. it`s just Nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 cool, which ones are best? this sounds way better than collecting coins or something like that [at the moment, i dont collect nothing] btw, dont say uranium or something, coz im not really gonna be able to get a big lump of it and put it on my shelf! but which are the best just for looking at, that are also easy to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Hey jdurg, if you're looking for pure samples (even for radioactives) technetium, thorium and uranium are probably the only ones you can have in observable quantities. I (personally) like the idea of having all elements that occur naturally on Earth, no matter if they're not too pure. Of course, I'm going to get a >99% of everything I can. And since I've collected gemstones/minerals since I was 5 or something, it's also nice to have cool gems with interesting elements in them (for example rutile quartz (quartz with TiO2 needles in it) which I have, and the uranium-beryllium allanite I talked about, also known as "muromontite", which I don't have, but I would sell my other kidney for a piece of it ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 it doesn`t work like that. each is appreciated for its own beauty, even if it just looks like large grey lump of nothing. the thing to do is start by getting yourself a GOOD poster sized periodic table of elements, stick on your wall were you look at alot, then get wondering "what does this element look like?" and then set out to get some it`s an ONGOING thing, half the fun is in the hunt too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 ok, so just for a starter, which one might have a nice bright colour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 nice and Bright would be Sulpher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 "each is appreciated for its own beauty" Of course, of course! But when you happen to have extra cash, you just might want to get a sample of it in a different form. For example, titanium in a gem, or a spark plug with an unusual element. I think it's great to see not only pure elements, but some items that take advantage of them. Then you go like "who would have guessed that gallium is used in LEDs". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 off to the shops, or internet or somewhere or other where i can get a nice lump of sulphur, im sure i will be tempted to react them, but all the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_73 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 i just thought do you also collect things which are not on the periodic table eg potassium nitrate ect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 For me, some compounds would be an interesting addition. Such as deuterium oxide, a.k.a. heavy water. But I don't think I'd put potassium nitrate in my potassium section. Edit: Also, it's nice to have samples of the same element with different structures; such as coal and a small diamond under C. I don't recommend getting white phosphorous to accompany the red one though, lol. Or U-235 to accompany your small piece of depleted uranium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I personaly collect these items too not just elements, but it`s a hobby, if I get excess or something then sure I use it, otherwise I just keep it and look at it on occasion, my personal faves are triagonal crystals under the microscope, Lithium Nitrate is particularly beautiful if you can keep it 100% dry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_73 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I Lithium Nitrate is particularly beautiful if you can keep it 100% dry why what does lithium nitrate look like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 little tiny pyramids, perfectly clear in color, but with a polarised filter you can actualy see how it was built up during crystalisation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_73 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 surely if you lot [with the element collections] want a compound, cant you normally juts make it yourself? also, i think it would be quite cool talking point to have lump of U-235. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 surely if you lot [with the element collections] want a compound' date=' cant you normally juts make it yourself?[/quote'] yes. that`s also part of the beauty behind it ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 living in the UK, where do you find the best places to buy chemical reserves from is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_73 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 if you want sulphur/ potassium nitrate/sodium nitrate go to garden centers or http://www.gardenchemicals.co.uk or http://www.kno3.com if you want potassium sodium or any other kind of metal use electrolysis to get the metals, just do things like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I`ve rarely to never got any 2 different chems from the same place, so I couldn`t really reccomend any one place to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 cool. i'll shop around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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