folder Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 Ebay is an excellent source. I got a 4 pound Magnesium block for $30, and 5 pounds of Zinc for $10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diedra Moose Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 I know this is pretty common knowledge, but how do you isolate an elemnet like oxygen, for instance, from the other elements that make up the air we breathe? I was just reading your posts, and I think what you guys are striving to do it pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 isolating it from air is done by freezing it, nitrogen and oxygen have 2 different boiling points, so one will evaporate leaving the other as a liquid. but for small samples in the case of element collecting, it`s much easier to decompose an Oxidising agent, and collect the Oxygen liberated from this decomposition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 just dont use permanganic anhydride or you'll be breathing ozone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MulderMan Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 thats strange because in school we use potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 how is that strange? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 Woo-Hoo! I just got gas-discharge tubes of hydrogem, deuterium, and oxygen. I now have a sample of every isotope of hydrogen in a relatively pure form. (The hydrogen gas sample I have, now the discharge tube, the deuterium discharge tube, and the tritium in my traser). All I need now is a nitrogen discharge tube and I'll have a neat way to show off every gas out there. I just wish that I could get Max Whitby to agree to sell hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen in gas discharge tubes shaped like the Noble Gas tubes he sells. I've asked him in the past and he said that they get too hot and he doesn't want to deal with the problems that may cause. It would be neat to have them though. Maybe I should get into glass shaping? hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MulderMan Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 how is that strange? sorry, missread your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 jdurg, you have radon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted October 30, 2004 Author Share Posted October 30, 2004 "jdurg, you have radon?" Gee mister, let's not start the nitpicking. "I've asked him in the past and he said that they get too hot and he doesn't want to deal with the problems that may cause." An oxygen discharge tube wouldn't be too practical, as the O has to touch a metal, which would have to be gold or something because otherwise it would oxidize. And the tube would get extremely hot anyway, as you said, as is the case with hydrogen and nitrogen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Well, I may indeed have some radon since I have a hefty quarter-pound lump of pitchblende which is severely secured in a lead lined tube in the far back corner of my closet. There's probably a good deal of radon coming out of that thing. heh. But since my collection only involves elements with a stable isotope, "having all the gasses" means all the non-radioactive ones. (Except for fluorine. For that element I have a VERY pure sample of CaF2 which over time may slowly release very microscopic quantities of fluorine gas.) I'm just very happy to have a pure sample of protium, deuterium, and tritium and have a way of displaying them all. As I said before, the other day I purchased gas discharge tubes of hydrogen, deuterium, and oxygen. While the deuterium tube will give off UV light, and the hydrogen and oxygen tubes will become fairly warm, I don't have my gasses on display 24 hours a day. I have them safely stored wrapped in bubble wrap to prevent accidental breakage. I only turn them on when someone asks to see them or I want to show them off. This helps them last longer and prevents any overheating. I still need to find myself a nice tube of nitrogen gas in order to say that I have them "all". While I know the non-noble gas tubes become quite warm, I'd still like to see Max Whitby come out with tubes of Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen in the shape of the element symbols. In the meantime, I'll just have to deal with the plain old straight-length tubes. But I'm still happy to have some deuterium to go along with my protium and tritium. In other news, I'm very happy to see my platinum order arrive. There is nothing like opening up a package to see a third-ounce of platinum metal inside. Platinum is such a beautiful metal and is so incredibly heavy. Having a 1/10th ounce coin really doesn't show off the density of it, but when you have four of them in your hand at the same time, the overall weight really shows itself. The same can be said with my gold. I still can't get over how dense this metal is. My one ounce bar is so very heavy, and a little bit bent since this metal is incredibly soft. I hope to get one, or both, of my bismuth crystals in this coming week. I ordered a few of them since the only bismuth I have is some cheap little pellets. The photographs of my crystals look very impressive, and from the seller's feedback the bismuth should arrive just as I expect it. Finally, earlier today I was able to pick up a very nice lump of pure Nickel metal from Dave Hamric. I've got some nickel in the form of some candian coins made out of pure Ni, but nothing in a big "chunk" form. Dave was able to supply it for a very good price and I cannot wait to receive it. I've bought a lot of stuff this past week, but all for very good prices. It's fun when you upgrade your samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted October 31, 2004 Author Share Posted October 31, 2004 I'd like to get my hands on a 1kg tungsten bar. RGB and Smart Elements sell them, but the price is quite high. I'm hoping to get an ounce bar of both gold and platinum too. And for silver, I think I saw a kg ingot somewhere... can't remember where it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_73 Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 you can get gold and silver bars from ebay i have seen loads of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted October 31, 2004 Author Share Posted October 31, 2004 "you can get gold and silver bars from ebay i have seen loads of them" Yeah I know. The prices are usually right too. I'd like to get my hands on larger pieces of relatively pure uranium and thorium metal pieces too. Edit: I'm not sure if I literally want to get my hands on them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 You can always get gold, silver, palladium and platinum from E-Bay, but a LOT of the time you'll be paying a very high premium over the spot price. That's because if the spot price drops after the auction has been posted, the seller generally isn't going to cancel the auction just to lower the price. Also, you'll get the people who don't care about the price and will just bid until they win, thus jacking the price up quite a bit. You then have to factor in the insane shipping fees that a lot of the people on E-Bay charge. (I'm sorry, but 12 bucks to ship a tiny platinum coin is downright robbery). Probably your best bet for the common PGMs is to find a B&M coin shop that you can go to. Then you don't have to worry about shipping costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Oh yeah, I'd LOVE to get a 1 kg bar of silver or gold. God that would be nice. VERY expensive and not going to happen on my salary, but nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Yay, my lanthanide set (no promethium, but scandium and yttrium ) from David Hamric arrived today. The thulium looks exceptionally nice, as do all the other samples. Quite big pieces too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 I envy you. I ordered gold and palladium foil a few days ago. Im thinking of geting mercury today. Ill probably buy a bunch of mercury switches and just empty them into a vial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 "Ill probably buy a bunch of mercury switches and just empty them into a vial." http://www.elementsales.com/pl_element.htm#hg <- nice 60g vial of mercury for 35$ I wonder where I could get cheap promethium... then I would have all the lanthanides. I know RTB sells promethium watch hands, but the 45$ is quite much for such an item. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_73 Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 "Ill probably buy a bunch of mercury switches and just empty them into a vial." http://www.elementsales.com/pl_element.htm#hg <- nice 60g vial of mercury for 35$ Thats expensive even http://www.kno3.com sell 500g of mercury for £50 and they are very expensive also http://www.lappakchemicals.com sell 500g of mercury for £16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Yeah but you get a COOL glass vial that says "Hg". Edit: btw boris, the correct url is http://www.labpakchemicals.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 mmm... mercury would be so much fun if it wasnt toxic. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3849073147&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT 100 grams for $33 uncluding shipping Edit: I'm not sure I really want a whole lot of mercury though. It would be real cheap just to buy a few switches and either keep them there or empty them into a vial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Mercury, thorium and depleted uranium are alike in the aspect that a lot of them exists, yet they are so dangerous and regulated that they're not usually sold to public (especially with the depleted U). Btw, I wonder what the nice ladies at the post office thought today when I collected the lanthanides. Huge package that says "Metals for research use" and then comes a 16-year old to collect it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 I just got my gold and palladium foil in the mail and as much as I would want a kilo of both I think they are great samples. here is the link to the guys auctions. If he doesnt have them listed you can just email him about them (thats what I did). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Hey, that's the guy with the crazy radium watch hand I saw on eBay some time ago. Seems like no one hasn't bought it yet. With 60 000 CPM counts, I can't think of a person who would voluntarily have it around... except for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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