Distilling Mercury Metal

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ย. 2016
  • UPDATE: It was brought to my attention a much much better way to store it. The mercury should be put in the bottle without adding water. The bottle is then stored in a bag full of sulfur. Storing it under water will inevitably lead to it becoming all gross again.
    Okay, I am finally posting the mercury distillation video. This was obviously dangerous to do, so please don't try to repeat what you see here!
    Previous cleaning video: • Cleaning liquid mercur...
    Strawpoll for video after dibenzalacetone: www.strawpoll.me/11734553
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    Nile talks about lab safety: • Chemistry is dangerous.
  • วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี

ความคิดเห็น • 1.4K

  • @bas2362
    @bas2362 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3996

    a Hug without u is just toxic

    • @antonhelsgaun
      @antonhelsgaun 5 ปีที่แล้ว +413

      u will just give me radiation sickness though

    • @absinthe7266
      @absinthe7266 5 ปีที่แล้ว +107

      Hug-u = Hg

    • @obamagamingofficial3558
      @obamagamingofficial3558 5 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      Nice

    • @bookbutterfly6613
      @bookbutterfly6613 4 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      A Cat more like uranium bombs

    • @ninetails6218
      @ninetails6218 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      A Cat Hg is Mercury’s atomic symbol, so remove the u from Hug is Hg, or mercury

  • @stephensmith8812
    @stephensmith8812 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1539

    "I did it because i thought it would look cool" that is what I love to hear.

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +312

      It's the best reason!

    • @stephensmith8812
      @stephensmith8812 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      NileRed how old are you if you don't mind my asking?

    • @samrosiak7464
      @samrosiak7464 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Windows NT Workstation 4.0 same

    • @JadenYukifan28
      @JadenYukifan28 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@NileRed I was wondering where you were doing these experiments and now I know

    • @samalbury9183
      @samalbury9183 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@stephensmith8812 my guess is between 20 and 24, in one of his videos he said that he started while in collage

  • @Von_Hohenheim
    @Von_Hohenheim 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2711

    NileRed "Be very careful" Cody's Lab "i dont think i have any cuts on my arm, lets dunk it into a few hundred pounds of mercury"

    • @theshuman100
      @theshuman100 7 ปีที่แล้ว +453

      Nile red be like, "don't want non of those mercury vapours being inhaled"
      Codys like watch me flush all this mercury down a toilet.

    • @RonJohn63
      @RonJohn63 6 ปีที่แล้ว +383

      Cody even got a blood test to see how much he'd absorbed. The answer was "none".

    • @savvapouroullis7927
      @savvapouroullis7927 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      lel

    • @crackedemerald4930
      @crackedemerald4930 6 ปีที่แล้ว +113

      The skin is fucking badass

    • @gorepuppy
      @gorepuppy 6 ปีที่แล้ว +214

      Most of us played with as a kid in school. Elemental mercury is not likely to do much unless you have wounds and even then it is not as risky as folks scream about. There are compounds of mercury that will kill the shit out of you with even one drop on your hand. Not elemental mercury though. The danger comes from water soluble compounds and ones with an attached methyl group, compounds like mercuric chloride or the massively scary dimethylmercury. Though breathing any metal fumes to include mercury is super bad juju.

  • @aretard7995
    @aretard7995 3 ปีที่แล้ว +85

    "I took a shot of what remained in the distillation flask"
    -NileRed, November 27, 2016

    • @Tubluer
      @Tubluer 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      RIP lol

  • @trenvert123
    @trenvert123 3 ปีที่แล้ว +166

    I'm reminded of the researcher who accidentally spilt 1 or 2 drops of soluble mercury on her gloved hands, and her balance coordination, speech, and memory all deteriorated over the next few months before she ultimately passed away. It was so sad, like she knew she was going to die, and leave her family behind, but she was powerless to stop it. And, the hero that she is, she dedicated her few remaining days to educating others on the proper handling of soluble mercury, so no one else would suffer her same fate. Her name was Karen Wetterhahn, and she was exposed to dimethylmercury.

    • @iguessyoucouldcallitconten8568
      @iguessyoucouldcallitconten8568 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      She will never be forgotten to me, thank you for educating me on this

    • @tz4601
      @tz4601 2 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      The really tragic part of that case is she followed the safety practices of the time to complete accuracy. The standards were just flat out wrong about how long it would take dimethylmercury to penetrate latex gloves -- i.e., about 15 seconds. It's not like she was being sloppy or careless with safety.

    • @drizzt495
      @drizzt495 2 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      That's organomercury. Very different than elemental mercury. The major risk here are RCRA regulations and emissions violations (captured on camera).

    • @drizzt495
      @drizzt495 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@tz4601 Breakthrough data for organometallics is not rare to find. The only thing that is rare is breakthrough data for leached material that experiences a phase change (aka the metal component becomes a gas temporarily before condensing back to a liquid). In the case of organometallic mercury, the breakthrough studies are very well understood. This is why "silvershield" type gloves exist.

    • @bigredone1030
      @bigredone1030 ปีที่แล้ว

      It’s only mercury bro

  • @Redspeciality
    @Redspeciality 5 ปีที่แล้ว +109

    I wish I’d had the internet 30 years ago. I worked for a spotwelding company that had these old, large electronic glass tubes filled with mercury. I broke them open and collected 35 pounds worth, put it in a plastic coffee container and stored it on the floor in the basement. A couple years later I noticed the plastic had cracked, and about 20 lbs worth was missing. It either evaporated or spilled between the foundation and house wall into the soil. Now I know it was pretty stupid and I’m lucky I wasnt seriously poisoned

    • @petragris1947
      @petragris1947 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      You should let the EPA know so that the current owner can have it remediated. That is incredibly dangerous. Wow.

    • @archkull
      @archkull 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@petragris1947 Bit late after 30 years

    • @petragris1947
      @petragris1947 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@archkull Someone lives in that home, and it may still be contaminated.

    • @sethreign8103
      @sethreign8103 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@archkull the irresponsibility you're displaying is too typical of 2022. Sad you clearly don't care about the only planet you have to live on enough to call poison control.

    • @MrKotBonifacy
      @MrKotBonifacy ปีที่แล้ว +4

      _I wish I’d had the internet 30 years ago_ well, the wonders of American education, innit? I did not have internet thirty years ago, yet well over forty years back I learned (was taught) about the dangers of mercury, back in my 7th or 8th grade of primary school (chemistry classes). And for a good reason - it was the time when mercury filled "body temperature" thermometers were in wide use (no other fancy gizmos!), and every now and then some of it cracked (by accident) spilling its content inside people's houses.
      But this is not to poke fun at whatever system or an individual, and there are TWO very simple and effective remedies for dealing with small mercury spills.
      Yeah, I know - 20 lbs (9 kg, or 0.7 l/ 22.5 fl oz) IS NOT a small spill, but anyway most of it has evaporated by now - so NOW it is "small", and the very first step (kinda irrelevant now) is to gather back as much of spilled mercury as you can. Then try to locate the bigger cracks where it may heave seeped into (UV light may be of help - check "Looking at Mercury Vapour - Periodic Table of Videos" th-cam.com/video/7ZT7xqwk84E/w-d-xo.html
      And then - and this is most important and relevant NOW part - sprinkle the entire floor there with either aluminium powder, or (better still) finely powdered elemental sulphur (that would be "sulfur" in US).
      Spread it all over, use the broom to "push it" to and fro all over the place, so it could get into all cracks and crevices in the floor. Sulphur reacts with mercury at room temperature forming non-volatile mercury sulphide, which is still kinda "unhealthy" but won't do you any harm if left untouched (unlike elemental mercury).
      Aluminium powder works in a similar fashion by forming somewhat non-volatile Al - Hg amalgamate, but then the aluminium becomes prone to further oxidation - so this "trapping"of mercury may not last long (see "Aluminum and Mercury" by Nile Red - th-cam.com/video/IrdYueB9pY4/w-d-xo.html).

  • @levibazen608
    @levibazen608 4 ปีที่แล้ว +686

    NileRed: "work in a well ventilated area, fumes are dangerous"
    Codyslab: *WHO WANTS TO SEE ME PUT IT IN MY MOUTH*

    • @derekriggs7659
      @derekriggs7659 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      if you have amalgam fillings in your teeth, then you already have mercury in your mouth

    • @emperortbw402
      @emperortbw402 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      @@derekriggs7659 Not the same as loose elemental mercury giving of vapors in your mouth. I have ethylmercury injected into my srm on an annual basis, but that doesn't mean it's safento gargle quicksilver.

    • @krisreddish3066
      @krisreddish3066 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@emperortbw402 I mean it is safe to the point they passed it around in elementary school and let us dip our hands it in and play with it. Would have been much worse with ethylmercury that is a water soluble organometal. Gargling it would end you. It is just the dose makes the poison and it has uses in medicine.

    • @MyProjectsTV
      @MyProjectsTV 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      And my (not chemistry) prof. "If I would have a drop of it on the table, you would have to evacuate the entire lecture hall" xD

    • @tomokokuroki2506
      @tomokokuroki2506 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  • @FloyDJode
    @FloyDJode 4 ปีที่แล้ว +285

    "Gonna boil some mercury"
    K
    "Oh also put some glass in it"
    Wat
    "It helps it boil"
    Gotta remember that for some spaghetti

    • @simedinson984
      @simedinson984 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      the glass functions as boiling stones and reduces the amount of flash boiling

    • @benjammin2020
      @benjammin2020 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      It's actually really interesting. I make sweet tea a lot (I'm from the south) and to make the tea, I always heat up water in the microwave to boiling. I usually use old glass measuring cup, but we got some brand new pyrex stuff. I put it in the microwave, and it wasn't boiling, so I put it in the microwave longer, and it still wasn't boiling, so I took it out, and the shock of it hitting the counter caused it to boil violently. The reason is, is that there was nowhere for bubbles to start to form on the new glass.

    • @luisp.3788
      @luisp.3788 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@simedinson984 is the word "joke" not a thing in your world

    • @simedinson984
      @simedinson984 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@luisp.3788 oh yea i understood that he wouldnt but glass in his pasta but wasnt sure if he got the point of having it in the mercury

    • @luisp.3788
      @luisp.3788 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@simedinson984 hm, ok

  • @theCodyReeder
    @theCodyReeder 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2478

    More beautiful than expected! The vapor pressure of mercury at room temp is in the range of 10^-6 atm so I wouldn't expect any mercury to have visibly gone into the trap. I think the remaining mercury was shiny because the mercurous oxide decomposes at a fairly low temperature. Also can you tell me why you didn't distill to completion? I know in normal distillations with water, but I cant think of any contaminants that would cross over here. My distillation apparatus is steel and I cannot see inside so I always heat it until the temperature rises above the boiling point of mercury, at which point I know its done. Should I not do that?

    • @Sam-ze9mo
      @Sam-ze9mo 7 ปีที่แล้ว +72

      Hi Cody!

    • @robertgrenzray7657
      @robertgrenzray7657 7 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      Good to see you got verified!

    • @thefriendlymadman229
      @thefriendlymadman229 7 ปีที่แล้ว +50

      Whoa its Cody on nilereds video.

    • @josh2531
      @josh2531 7 ปีที่แล้ว +115

      Probably worried about overheating the flask and cracking it.

    • @thatsanginman6930
      @thatsanginman6930 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Cody'sLab omg it's codys lab

  • @TheMrWillje
    @TheMrWillje 4 ปีที่แล้ว +291

    "so how did you get mercury poisoning?"
    "I was distilling my own mercury"
    "why"
    "I thought it would be cool"
    Godspeed you magnificent bastard

    • @peronkop
      @peronkop 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Mercury poisoning is terrifying.

    • @TheMrWillje
      @TheMrWillje 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @Public Commenter comes from the middle English 'God spede you' which means 'God prosper you' ie 'have a prosperous journey' or 'I hope you prosper'

    • @darkshadowsx5949
      @darkshadowsx5949 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      mercury vapor is the main reason people actually get poisoned.
      absorption of liquid mercury metal is very low even through skin and intestines. excessive prolonged contact will still eventually poison someone though.
      you cant see the vapor which is why its considered highly toxic and a bit exaggerated to the extent you might get the (dont even look at it or your dead) vibe.

    • @darkshadowsx5949
      @darkshadowsx5949 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Shrimpinf because it sounds cool to them?
      godspeed

  • @jacksonbrown1830
    @jacksonbrown1830 5 ปีที่แล้ว +181

    mercury and broken glass, breakfast of champions

    • @nahfid2003
      @nahfid2003 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Trying not to imagine their dump after

    • @TheTdw2000
      @TheTdw2000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Welcome to the Salty Spittoon, how tough are ya?

    • @rubywest5166
      @rubywest5166 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ...I think I prefer sex tbh

    • @hairybass480
      @hairybass480 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@rubywest5166 yeah of course but you are still here commenting. 😆

  • @awiewahh
    @awiewahh 5 ปีที่แล้ว +219

    NileRed: Wears gloves and works in fume hood.
    Cody'sLab: Fills a toilet with mercury and puts his hand in it.

  • @eier3252
    @eier3252 4 ปีที่แล้ว +155

    *My chemistry teacher:* Put the dilute muriatic acid back under the fume hood, it's extremely toxic
    *This guy:* How to Distill Mercury

    • @pixelrickk9978
      @pixelrickk9978 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      You think that’s a jump watch codyslab

    • @eier3252
      @eier3252 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@pixelrickk9978 I already ordered my mercury powered toilet

    • @pixelrickk9978
      @pixelrickk9978 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      TRAS̸H DØVE got mine last week, be careful it’s got some deadly splash back

    • @adrianbustoscarrillo639
      @adrianbustoscarrillo639 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      your teacher its right, the muriatic acid, or hydrochloric acid (its the same) its extremely toxic, if you smell or touch it, it may causes corrosive injury in your skin and irritation, laringeal edema or asphyxia

  • @bunnybro5977
    @bunnybro5977 4 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    "I was really sick the other day,but after working in the lab I felt a lot better "
    "Were you working with mercury? "
    "Why,yes,how did you know"
    "Here's a rose"
    "What?"
    "I'm afraid I have a tight schedule and I cant attend the funeral this weekend"

    • @luisp.3788
      @luisp.3788 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      chemophobia in a nutshell

  • @maybewise
    @maybewise 5 ปีที่แล้ว +54

    I like that you're not a know-it-all, and are willing to admit when you've made errors in judgment, or just don't know something.

    • @BeepingSheep
      @BeepingSheep 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Thanks

    • @juvnchy
      @juvnchy 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Denton Unger 😂😂 what?

    • @arthurmead5341
      @arthurmead5341 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@juvnchy he is his agent

  • @karamboubou8579
    @karamboubou8579 4 ปีที่แล้ว +52

    nilered with mercury: DANGER DANGER, MAXIMUM SAFETY MEASURES MYST BE TAKEN.
    cody with mercury: do i have any cuts on my hand? no *shoves it into mercury*

  • @AsymptoteInverse
    @AsymptoteInverse 7 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    I'm glad you finally did the distillation. Partly because I'm curious, and partly because there's no other way I'd ever see this happen.

  • @bryanstellfox8521
    @bryanstellfox8521 5 ปีที่แล้ว +52

    I know it seems so small, but seeing how to find the volume of a substance with the mass of the same substance is really awesome. I'm just getting back into chemistry and physics after several years away from school, so I'm definitely enjoying picking up small things here and there.

  • @Flyingroadkilz
    @Flyingroadkilz 6 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    ive always loved chemistry but i fell out with it after secondary school, your vids are reigniting a passion for it

  • @thunderloong
    @thunderloong 6 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    Mildly humorous anecdote: There IS a class of vacuum pump that uses liquid mercury in motion as a pumping medium.

    • @ssmith7074
      @ssmith7074 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Old. It's basically an aspirator with mercury instead of water.

    • @cineblazer
      @cineblazer 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yeah Cody's Lab made one

    • @soylentgreenb
      @soylentgreenb 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      There is also the most sci-fi looking obsolete equipment ever made; the mercury arc rectifier.

  • @QueenNyrak
    @QueenNyrak 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I almost cried when he put that beautiful, pristine mercury into that grimy looking jar😩😩😭whyyyyy

  • @michaelhanson5350
    @michaelhanson5350 4 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    Ooh! Have you tried making vermilion (mercuric sulphide)? Apparently it's a visually interesting process with bright red crystals condensing out of the mercury and sulphur vapours and there are different methods which produce different shades from bright orange to deep red. It used to be the most important red pigment in the paintings of the old masters.

    • @FirstnameLastname-jd4uq
      @FirstnameLastname-jd4uq ปีที่แล้ว

      But it was toxic

    • @georgeparkins777
      @georgeparkins777 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@FirstnameLastname-jd4uq You don't say?! A historic pigment was toxic? A mercury compound, even? REALLY??? This is news to me!!!

    • @MrKotBonifacy
      @MrKotBonifacy ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@FirstnameLastname-jd4uq And the green pigment was arsenic based, yellow one was cadmium based, and there was this "lead white" too... Yeah, "do you remember the time when sex was safe and painting dangerous...?"
      ;-)

  • @Neumonics429
    @Neumonics429 7 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Thank you for informing the viewer of the steps you took to make it safer, most youtube videos omit or play down the risks asociated with using dangerous chemicals

  • @ProfessorWaltherKotz
    @ProfessorWaltherKotz 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I love your channel so much I give a thumb up to every video to remember which of them I've already seen.

  • @dopefiji3431
    @dopefiji3431 7 ปีที่แล้ว +199

    You should do a collab with Cody's Lab

    • @letsreview3039
      @letsreview3039 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      they live so far apart tho

    • @PlinkyVR
      @PlinkyVR 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@letsreview3039 plane and or car

    • @Tyler-hu2ns
      @Tyler-hu2ns 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@PlinkyVR nah, walk

    • @PlinkyVR
      @PlinkyVR 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Tyler-hu2ns that or a corvette stingray road trip sounds fun

    • @luisp.3788
      @luisp.3788 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      the profile pic of the op is god now

  • @rttr5777
    @rttr5777 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    i remember when your subscribers where 10,000 when I started watching your videos, good job nile red good job

  • @atlys258
    @atlys258 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    It never occurred to me how dense and heavy unicorn blood is..

  • @thecarrasius
    @thecarrasius 7 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    NileRed...You are a legend!

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Thanks!

    • @madfoxmax4600
      @madfoxmax4600 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Faffing Around With Chemicals im sorry but i like both Nerdrage and NileRed I can't make a decision between the two

    • @thecarrasius
      @thecarrasius 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Agreed. Both have many merits. :)

    • @thecarrasius
      @thecarrasius 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      ChemPlayer is pretty awesome too.

  • @rosenvitae
    @rosenvitae 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Cody sends his regards. Great video. I will say, your safety measures for handling mercury is refreshing. Cody himself seems incredibly lax about it. I'm sure he knows what he's doing out in his middle of nowhere, but still, I'd probably handle mercury like you do here.

  • @UhhhJdragonR
    @UhhhJdragonR 7 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Your videos have progressed from good to amazingly interesting! Keep it up!

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thanks!

  • @GDaddyTx
    @GDaddyTx ปีที่แล้ว

    Don’t understand most of what you say, but I find your videos so fascinating. Please keep sharing.

  • @hedgeclipper418
    @hedgeclipper418 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Now that you have distilled your quicksliver, you are pure of heart.

  • @SonGoku-97
    @SonGoku-97 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    5:10 looks like a crazy smoking contraption my friends would make when they didn't have a bong

  • @TrasherBiner
    @TrasherBiner 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Nile you are the best. This was super interesting to watch, albeit dangerous (which makes it even more fun because my butt isn't at sake). Seriously though, thanks for this great video. I specially like your videos about Hg

  • @MegaPoxie
    @MegaPoxie 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love the way the Mercury beads bounce (at 11:48+) inside the distillation tube. Great video, thanks.

  • @Tgolden069
    @Tgolden069 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’m not sure how I got into watching your videos but I’ve learned more watching your videos than I ever did in school.

  • @daveotuwa5596
    @daveotuwa5596 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    One day in my hometown, there was a Hg spill in a gymnasium. Consequently, the school in where the gymnasium is situated had to close until the Hg is wiped to the bone.

  • @alanwatts8239
    @alanwatts8239 5 ปีที่แล้ว +116

    I was going to make a sodium hydride joke, but NaH

  • @666aron
    @666aron 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video, as always. Oh and I like when things heat up in your videos.

  • @Fr8gm3ntLives
    @Fr8gm3ntLives ปีที่แล้ว +1

    When I went to school they had a huge open tub of mercury that we used to make barometers. We were allowed to play with it and submerge our hands in it without any ventilation or safety equipment.

  • @TonboIV
    @TonboIV 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Mercury vapor + elaborate glassware + lots of heat? Whooo! Sounds like a fun afternoon!

  • @kenny.aviation7645
    @kenny.aviation7645 7 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    Best video I've ever seen TBH

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      thanks!!

  • @nicholi8933
    @nicholi8933 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That was really neat, I have done a vacuum distillation. I have used a rotovap, which is very similar, but this was really neat.

  • @irvingkurlinski
    @irvingkurlinski 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Good idea with your secondary collection flask. I've wrecked some flasks using high heat, but I found that using a clean hot sand bath (if you have a high flame source) worked out (so far).

  • @anonamouse5917
    @anonamouse5917 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Now she's back in the atmosphere
    with drops of mercury in her hair
    hey hey hey

  • @salvatoreshiggerino6810
    @salvatoreshiggerino6810 7 ปีที่แล้ว +67

    8:37 Why can't they make solvent containers that don't dribble down the side every single time you try to pour some?
    I know fluid dynamics is hard, but come on!

    • @bluechem5479
      @bluechem5479 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Salvatore Shiggerino ^rt

    • @leocurious9919
      @leocurious9919 7 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Hes simply doing it too quick - the angle is too shallow for the remaining amount of i-PrOH in that bottle.
      The usual "dribble" u might be talking about is due to surface tension. Since the container is not made up of a super hydrophobic (and oleophobic) material, the liquid will stick to it and not seperate right away.
      However... there is no such coating. These pictures or videos of repelling coatings are useless... rub your finger over that area once and the coating is gone. There is also no cheap material. But even if u pay the VERY high price for FEP (a polymer like PTFE) bottles... u get the downside of the large diffusion area. But at least you can pour everything (droples all come out) out of there with no spilling. ;)

    • @benearhart1224
      @benearhart1224 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      it's called surface tension bro. Take a stirring rod and hold it as you would to prevent water or alcohol from dribbling but hold it nearly horizontal so that the tip goes underneath the spout. Or, just use a clean pipette to pull it out.

    • @EdwardTriesToScience
      @EdwardTriesToScience 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Its so you waste tons of it and you have to buy more (you could always use a glass rod to guide the liquid)

  • @ZepLedastic
    @ZepLedastic 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great video Nile! Love it when they show up in my feed.
    Was wondering what vacuum pump you're using here?

  • @7akziz584
    @7akziz584 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    i sure will watch this again in years time

  • @daskaffeetschal8635
    @daskaffeetschal8635 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Amazing! Simply baffling! In my recommendations was this video and one below, a song by queen(from Freddy mercury)

  • @DN-zn2li
    @DN-zn2li 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You deserve much more subs!!

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      thanks!

  • @urbanstein69
    @urbanstein69 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I had a small amount of mercury covered with water in a small glass container. When I wanted to remove the water I placed the container of mercury in my freezer, waited for the water to freeze and then removed the ice.

  • @RCaIabraro
    @RCaIabraro 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    An excellent video. Informative and fascinating to see.

  • @albertoterk9668
    @albertoterk9668 7 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    That boil, Chemistry Horror Movie right there, ahahahAs chemist undergraduate i love your videos

  • @Zi7ar21
    @Zi7ar21 5 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    10:50 what mercury sees when I stare at it distilling at 5 am

  • @sdswartz2000
    @sdswartz2000 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My thesis advisor told me in the days of Mercury based diffusion pumps it was common practice to use depleted Uranium chunks as boiling chips to suppress the boiling issues you encountered when cleaning the Hg. Wow hot Mercury and DU in the same process. God bless diffusion pump oil.

  • @joeestes8114
    @joeestes8114 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great video! the mercury that was cleaned looked really good!

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks!

    • @joeestes8114
      @joeestes8114 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      I really enjoy your videos and watch some of them two or three times!

  • @shredboy9163
    @shredboy9163 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    “You can see my house”
    That's a beautiful house.

  • @Mekadrom
    @Mekadrom 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Does solid (frozen) mercury do anything interesting? Would love to see more mercury exploration!

  • @Soitisisit
    @Soitisisit 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    This video really reminds me of the old origins of chemistry. I feel like this is about as "classic" as it gets as I could imagine crude mercury distillations with nearly the same process in a less refined form going back hundreds, maybe thousands of years depending on what culture you look at. ( In particular I'm reminded of how Chinese myth treats mercury and what some emperors supposedly did in order to refine it. ) For me it really straddled that line of philosophical question of "What is magic anyway?" So I'd say you're spot on with the "because it looks cool". Sometimes I wish I could work in a chem lab and this is definitely one of those times but I don't think I could do it as regularly as you do. Especially because I'm not near so careful.

  • @geodeaholicm4889
    @geodeaholicm4889 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    nicely done & explained.

  • @vipclubhitzz
    @vipclubhitzz 7 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    How do you get your glassware so shiny after using it over and over in "dirty reactions" again?
    Greetings from Germany

    • @zanpekosak2383
      @zanpekosak2383 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Dennis Hufe He cleanes it with a base and acid bath.

    • @otacon1024
      @otacon1024 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      th-cam.com/video/AsPpxQtZcUg/w-d-xo.html

  • @arrowed_sparrow1506
    @arrowed_sparrow1506 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    @ 1:42 I thought you set your boiling flask in a frickin pie... My brain might be telling me to sleep, but what does it know... MORE SCIENCE!

  • @cybercat8819
    @cybercat8819 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    hello just wanted to thank you for your work and say that this makes me able to take dumps that im usually not available to

  • @coleramsey6705
    @coleramsey6705 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yay it's finally here!

  • @LiMCRiMZ
    @LiMCRiMZ 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    "I did it in a very well ventilated area"
    Outside. He did it outside. 10:06

  • @Biomaterials_Science
    @Biomaterials_Science 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Doesn't the mercury oxide (main contaminant) reduce under the distillation conditions? I think this would explain why your remaining mercury is so shiny.

  • @LucaFotoSF
    @LucaFotoSF 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Nice Adams & Chittenden Glassware!

  • @channelVlogger
    @channelVlogger 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Mercury to me always stresses how weird chemistry is. I'm an undergraduate in it, I know the stuff that happens in most of your vids, but especially your cleaning series is showing how strange a world we are living in.

  • @darylcheshire1618
    @darylcheshire1618 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I never distilled mercury but my impromptu method was to use a funnel with filter paper with a pinhole in it.
    The crap would stick to the paper and the mercury is much cleaner looking but obviously not as pure as distilled mercury.

    • @luisp.3788
      @luisp.3788 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      He actually did that in one or maybe both of the two videos where he made mercury.

  • @darianballard2074
    @darianballard2074 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Like all your videos very good. :)

  • @ProfeRuizFD
    @ProfeRuizFD 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Excellent video!!

  • @campbellmorrison8540
    @campbellmorrison8540 ปีที่แล้ว

    Excellent overview of the safety aspects of this. All to often this is assumed and the unwary ( those with enough knowledge to be dangerous ) get caught.

  • @martynridley3671
    @martynridley3671 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I seem to recall that a Japanese emperor (can't remember his name) was so obsessed with mercury, that he had an underground cavern built, in which was a landscape of all the rivers of Japan, - all filled with mercury! He also had an apothecarian make up some balls of mercury mixed with clay, which he regularly consumed because he believed it to have magical life-giving properties. I'm pretty sure he died young!

    • @darthrevan1281
      @darthrevan1281 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      That was probably Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. High levels of mercury were in fact detected in the soil around his tomb, which is the main reason why they haven’t tried to open it.

  • @multimoron11
    @multimoron11 7 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    Make liquid hydrogen. It would be truly fascinating but I understand that you probably don't have everything you need to do it.

    • @humanppplus4306
      @humanppplus4306 6 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Liquid helium is much much better but it’s extremely difficult to make because of the extremely low freezing point. It would be even cooler to see superfluid helium

    • @jauume
      @jauume 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      GD humanppplus isn't helium's boiling point close to absolute zero? Or is it the melting point?

    • @cherrybacon9790
      @cherrybacon9790 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      yeah but you best need liquid He to make it...

    • @apolloniuspergus9295
      @apolloniuspergus9295 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      mAkE sOLiD HeLiUm

    • @unholy_ghost1119
      @unholy_ghost1119 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Joe Holland how about being a superfluid/superconductor

  • @nicholi8933
    @nicholi8933 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    All the students in the chem 131 class recently got to aldehydes and ketones and so Tollens and Benedicts test is in that chapter. I have been helping them with it at work.

  • @jakovbrizic
    @jakovbrizic 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    9:15
    "Martha! Martha! The neighbor is at it again!"
    "Oh George, just sit down and read your newspapers."
    "No Martha! This crazy kid is going to poison all of us one day!"

  • @Alondro77
    @Alondro77 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I am immensely impressed that you did this and your nervous system is still intact. A testament to your chemistry expertise.

    • @cabrondio
      @cabrondio ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh! Yesss.
      But this syntesis is with elemental Mercury (inorganic vapors).
      However, be special careful with accidentals ORGANIC MERCURY SALTS OR VAPORS→Very serious injuries accidental inhalation 🫁 ⚗️🧬 or contact exposure by the skin !!!! 🖐🏽🧠💦
      Remember: Karen Wetterhahn (October 16, 1948 - June 8, 1997), also known as Karen Wetterhahn Jennette, was an American professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, who specialized in toxic metal exposure. She died of mercury poisoning at the age of 48 due to accidental exposure to the extremely toxic ORGANIC mercury compound
      dimethylmecury (Hg(CH3)2).

  • @ColinRies
    @ColinRies 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    You should have calculated the volume by multiplying the radius of the bottle squared with pi and the height of the mercury. Would have been really precise

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      When preparing, I did that as well, to confirm it was close.

  • @OrcaBrigade
    @OrcaBrigade 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    so glad codyslab mentioned this vid

  • @kyleosbun
    @kyleosbun ปีที่แล้ว

    Love the vids. But all i can think about is how cool of a bong could be made out of all the cool glass setup lol

  • @rxistprepps1120
    @rxistprepps1120 7 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    just a thought: you might want to do a blood test to check you Hg levels. as a scientific inquiry.
    pre experiment (ideally, though not necessary since normal serum Hg levels are undetectable) and post experiment just to determine whether or not your safe guards were sufficient. i'm sure they were good enough to avoid exposure, but still, if it were me, i'd be curious.
    great vid, as always man

    • @C134B
      @C134B 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Rxist Prepps he may just use a couple hairs and liquid chromatography, that is cheap and can detect low concentrations.

    • @ColinRies
      @ColinRies 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Rxist Prepps Cody from Cody's Lab did that after playing with really big amounts of Hg and even putting his arm half way in it. His levels were not even close to exceeding the normal range.

    • @duroncrush
      @duroncrush 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Colin Ries I saw the one where Cody for tested. The other real problem is that all the tiny amounts of HG that escape into the environment collect and build up.

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      I was genuinely considering it. Mercury thiocyanate, mercury fulminate, mercuric chloride, mercury distillation...eating tuna... I probably have a nice mercury collection in my body

    • @ColinRies
      @ColinRies 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      NileRed nice that you list eating tuna after listing all the chemicals... I don't imagine it would play a big role compared to the other stuff haha. BTW, what about a "extract mercury from tuna" video :P

  • @lajoswinkler
    @lajoswinkler 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    It was a very dangerous thing to do and I'm glad nothing happened (good thing you did this outside), but you should've removed the water. Before distilling, you can just push mercury through cotton filter. It will absorb any liquid surface contaminants and you'll get a shiny metal happily bouncing in the beaker. No oil to burn in the distilling flask, no water vapor lingering around.
    Few more advices:
    - a plastic tub isn't a barrier against hot mercury; steel trough would be ok
    - cushion all of your vessels; glass ones like to snap with mercury inside bumping on contact with hard surfaces
    - store mercury in a steel or plastic bottle - less chance of breaking; that storage bottle of yours has a high chance of just losing it lid; mercury is notorious for this awful trick
    And you shouldn't add water on top of clean mercury. If you're gonna cap it, that's it, it won't leak the vapors out and you can put it in a bag with some sulfur which will stay yellow if everything seals. Water is useful to lower the rate of evaporation and can be used in some uncovered applications, but in a sealed vessel, it's gonna build up again.
    Only extremely pure Hg will be ok around pure water. If there's even a bit of contamination, it will make the water murky and cover the metal with gunk, so you created the conditions for another cleaning in the future.

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yeah, you are right about everything you said. Thanks for the tips! The mercury will probably get muddled over time again. I will do what you said and store it in a bad with sulfur at the bottom.

  • @astralchemistry8732
    @astralchemistry8732 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Amazing video!!! After all the years mercury still scares me more than hydrazine or hydrazoic acid. This reminds me of a mercury spill we had in a lecture room at the university (sloppy professor). The funny thing was that he was not even allowed to use mercury for his experiments.

  • @zetaalpha5110
    @zetaalpha5110 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Im planning to go into chemistry during my second year of highschool, and I've decided that if i ever need to study, i will use this channel and definitely introduce the teacher to it.

    • @EzekiesAcheron
      @EzekiesAcheron 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I blew my Chemistry teacher's mind when I showed him the liquid carbon dioxide video.

  • @edwardatnardellaca
    @edwardatnardellaca 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Could you explain more about how the broken glass would help?

    • @yakir11114
      @yakir11114 5 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      you feed the boiling mercury broken glass to calm it down so it will be less hungry and wont eat your glass container

    • @RCaIabraro
      @RCaIabraro 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      When you boil something, it's good to give it a rough surface area. The rough surface provides a place for gas to nucleate. It prevents you from creating a superheated liquid as you raise the temperature to the boiling point. Superheated liquid mercury would have the potential to flash to a boil, and that would surely be a bad time for all involved.

  • @Tryalittlebit
    @Tryalittlebit 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    "it takes at least several washings"

  • @mensb1936
    @mensb1936 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    boy what a cleaning project

  • @makaylalamy5040
    @makaylalamy5040 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I tried watching you to fall asleep and ended up watching like 20 of your videos

  • @briancowan7854
    @briancowan7854 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    hey brother where do you get your hg? it took me 6 months to hunt down 1lb and it cost just short of a pound of flesh lol.

  • @smallmoneysalvia
    @smallmoneysalvia 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    While it’s expensive, fluorocarbon grease is very high temperature resistant and extremely chemically and vacuum stable. Krytox should do a great job sealing this apparatus if I’m not mistaken.

    • @RCaIabraro
      @RCaIabraro 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      I was thinking Teflon tape; similar stuff.

  • @Ok-cr8cb
    @Ok-cr8cb 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember when I was in science class and we were distillating some water and the water had this red substance in it. After 5 minutes we heard an explosion and the distillation apparatus decided to explode. There was glass all over the floor and there was red water on the roof of the science lab. Luckily no one was hurt. For the rest of the day the class I was in only talked about the distillation incident.

  • @nidalshehahadeh7485
    @nidalshehahadeh7485 ปีที่แล้ว

    I visited Cusco Peru quite a few years back , one of the sites on the tour was gold mining , after they mix the Mercury with the gold they will take the amalgam and filter it in a piece of silk , most of the Mercury will pass through the silk and the gold with some of the Mercury got caught in the silk as a nugget , then they will put it into a furnace and burn off the Mercury .

  • @scron7525
    @scron7525 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    10:00
    Looks like its about to explode.

  • @AureliusR
    @AureliusR 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    @2:08 -- that was an *explicit* warning, *not* an _implicit_ one. You said it straight out that it's dangerous and will produce mercury vapours.

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      I meant i was implicitly telling you guys to not try it yourself. You are right though, the actual warning was explicit.

  • @BigBellyEd
    @BigBellyEd 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Mx mining engineering professor told us about his Visite in a mercury mine in Spain where the heavy meters was spilled all over the floor. And one student was even floating on his back in mercury.

  • @brainytheamateurchemist3741
    @brainytheamateurchemist3741 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    this was a really cool video :)

  • @zendevonys5261
    @zendevonys5261 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    8:48 Weird flex but OK

  • @RobertSzasz
    @RobertSzasz 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Surprised you didn't go with a cheap supplied air respirator, or a proper Hg filtering respirator.
    and would washing the glassware with the dirty mercury work to collect all the tiny droplets?

    • @nardgames
      @nardgames 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Robert Szasz You can see in the reflection he distilled it outside.

    • @RobertSzasz
      @RobertSzasz 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      I hoped I caught that with an edit before anyone saw....

    • @NileRed
      @NileRed  7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Using some mercury to get the last drops isnt a bad idea at all.

  • @TheMeanAdmin
    @TheMeanAdmin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    As one chemist to another - you are insane, mate ^^;

  • @owenbrenton7254
    @owenbrenton7254 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’m not really into chemistry but this is really cool to watch