I actually liked that the experiment didn’t show what you expected in the first place. It shows how *real* progress in science is made: not by confirming the expected.
You could try flushing the vacuum chamber with inert gas to help remove the remaining oxygen. You could also heat a very small amount of zinc oxide so all of it turns yellow and it can't 'steal' oxygen from the remaining zinc oxide. These changes might keep it yellow.
Was going to suggest using a heavier than oxygen gas. I'm wondering if he would even need a closed chamber since the gas would just sink to the bottom of the container and it might make it easier to burn the zinc oxide
@@LukeAmaral It wouldn't need to be closed. Just don't bump the container too hard or have an air current blowing over the exit and it will stay inside. It'll easily slosh around like a liquid, but more sensitive to vibrations. I've seen a clip of someone holding a box of sulfur hexafluoride and then tilting it into their mouth to breathe it in to lower their voice.
I was going to suggest running it under argon too, until he mentioned how much oxygen is really getting moved around. I don't t think there's much you could do that would prevent it from reverting, short of having a ridiculous ultra vacuum setup and some way of keeping unburnt pieces away from the sample... Not exactly something you could easily do in your garage.
Hey man, I just want to compliment you in your channel. You manage to demonstrate some actually mind-blowing science in such a simple accessible way. Other channels and tv programs make simple experiments look flash and impressive, but what you display so simply is stuff that actually changes the future! Like I am filled with a little bit of terror and wonder at the potential application of some of these technologies! Kudos to you man!
Good idea. I think I'll try to get the channel link through to my old high school's science department. I think my physics teacher at least would be enthusiastic to play some of the videos. He loved showing us students experiments.
thank you for helping me understand this color change phenomena better. I've been experimenting with making zinc peroxide (ZnO2) which can be done by combining zinc acetate or oxide with excess 3% hydrogen peroxide and a trace of HCL as catalyst-then heating to evaporation. After about 3 cycles zinc peroxide will form and retain the yellow color at room temp
that was a fun experiment. I wonder if you heated it many times in the vacuum chamber over and over, would it start to lose color as a whole or just local to the heat. Would it steal the oxygen from a long distance or just local to the heat? Love your channel.
Even at 1e-6 mbar you still get a monolayer of surface interactions occuring in approx 1s in the vacuum. You need a vacuum in the e-8 mbar range to take this to minutes. A simple rotary will only manage 1e-3 mbar at best.
@@Ang3lUki Experiment to find out is the point, but I still see your point too. I’m not sure what he’s saying is relevant in this case either. Maybe there’s some study to suggest if it is, but even then, worthy of re-testing.
@@deltalimabravo6727 I don't think it's possible from a bit of cursory research about those kinds of vacuum pressures. It sounds like even the carbon in the steel that the chamber is made of can destroy the vacuum in those conditions. The oxygen coming out of the zinc would generate too much pressure if even the chamber's carbon content could do that. Even if it is possible, I know for sure The Action Lab lacks the budget to do so. I do wonder if a reducing gas could gobble up the oxygen before it reacts, I think that would be more effective than a vacuum, but that involves high heat around a reducing gas, which sounds extremely dangerous.
If the zinc is stealing oxygen from the surrounding zinc oxides to drop below the threshold, but not replenishing the oxygen that it's stealing, could you possibly keep heating and cooling it over and over to gradually leech oxygen away? I'm not sure, but I think it might be worth a try!
@@geo3106 ah that's true. I think the idea would be to distribute the heat evenly, that way all the zinc reacts. But that might be a bit challenging to do
What I’m gathering from the comments is people think he’s discussing the things at the end because it didn’t work, when it’s important to remember in science, the goal isn’t to be ‘right’ but to keep open to what’s next, what other explanations (variables) are or might be involved. Regardless, I love that so many are excited by him, science, etc and only mean to point out that is one area many people overlook in science with any notion that (good) scientists just ‘know’ or are bothered by any results because there are no facts in science, merely theories to be continuously tested and retested. We reject hypothesis, but the idea we will ever ‘know’ the final answer to anything is a bit ‘anti-scientific’ (for lack of a better term). It’s a never ending process and learning/understanding with our limitations is the best we have. Scientists can be egomaniacs like anyone, but scientific learning more often makes one humble than not.
I noticed the intake/exhaust pipe used on my little jam jar snorkeler submerged in water acts as a kind of thermometer too after it runs for awhile. About 7 minutes after starting it, a yellow appears on the galvanized pipe, but seemingly just on one side as if there's a bidirectional airflow occurring or just cold air favoring one side of the pipe. The video is Piglet Snorkeler Takes a Bath
This is the first day I subscribe to your channel honestly I liked the clips you publish they are very useful and I hope that you continue and we will help you with any information you like to know.👍
nice one revised everything from the color changing of ZnO (and now i will never forget it) to the frankel defects... some high school chemistry stuffs
I think in a perfect vacuum, you could take away enough of the excess oxygen that was simply trapped in the crystal lattice(if you heated it up) and the whole thing would be yellow permanently.
@@alexalvaradocali3863 Yeah maybe using a steel or titanium vacuum chamber so the zinc oxide could still be heated for hours while under vacuum could produce a zinc oxide that stays yellow. Or at least stays yellow until oxygen leaks back in.
@@ninjahunterx7497 there was still a relatively large amount of oxygen trapped within the powder itself after heating, he only has a single stage vacuum pump which isn't anywhere near a perfect vacuum, so the results are definitely skewed. If he revisits this experiment he needs to use a diffusion pump or a turbomolecular pump while simultaneously heating the entire pot of Zinc Oxide evenly and thoroughly, while giving it sufficient time for the powder to off-gas and the chamber to pump down. I guarantee you it would stay yellow if he did that.
Really cool! I have seen that my self when for example heating something galvanized (which forms a layer of zink oxide on the outside of the zink coating).
I'll bet that the reason is due to the slowness of the cooling allowing the molecules to rearrange to a more uniform configuration, eliminating the quantum traps which cause the yellow appearance, whereas rapid cooling would preserve the non-uniformity of the structure and also preserve the quantum traps. So, what if you could quench the zinc oxide with something oxygen-free, like liquid nitrogen? Then the yellow might stay?
mah mans been teachin yall basic science syllabus since the dawn of time... the reason we find all this new cuz we just not usually pay attention in class...
This looks and acts very similar to a material I discovered in my fire pit ash, except in my case I’m pretty sure it’s a calcium or potassium byproduct, not zinc. I made a stupid video about it on my channel that I sent to some friends to see if they knew what it was and leave it to the internet to come to an answer before my friends did. It’s neat that zinc does that. I presume calcium and potassium do that as well which further confirms our suspicions of what the material in the fire pit ash is.
Flush the bell with Nitrogren before vacuuming (you can even cycle it a few times), and only put the oxide right around the heating element so it all yellows. Will it still return to white again?
So if this could be added to a Lattice like structure and then applied as a screen or filter within catalytic converters it could make them more efficient
In fact, the effect is not because of Oxygen vacancy in the ZnO, instead, at high temperature, the Bandgap of semiconductor materials changed. In this case, it decreases, so it started to absorb blue light. The ZnO Oxygen vacancy indeed increases at high temperatures, but the effect is too small to be observed directly with naked eyes. You need a special instrument for that. Hope it helps.
I always thought burning stuff is oxidizing stuff. But if it's a zinc _oxide_ (i.e. already burnt), then how can you burn it even further? In other words, I don't think the change in coloration is due to the zinc oxide "burning".
Actually you *can* burn some oxides even further. Carbon monoxide is an example, it's oxidized only partially and can be oxidized further into carbon dioxide. But here, he doesn't really burn the zinc oxide in a proper chemical way, he just heats it up and it *looks* burnt. That's why he decided to put "un-burn" in double quotes.
In India IIT JEE chemistry is too much calculative, full of high concept. So, I can understand your way of practical + conceptual understanding. Tnz, bro, Wish a Better tomorrow & happy life. Thank you 💟
That was my hypothesis of what was happening just by seing the thumbnail. It is so funny to think that this compound unburns itself when you try to burn it, and then reburns after you take away the heat source.
Man Could you please appreciate the fact that in this world of tik tokers and other party clown trying to make money through loads of BS cringe, there are GUYS LIKE THIS, who still have kept my faith in humanity. People like him didn't sell their soul for clout. Thank you And keep them coming.
The thing about stealing oxygen from the other ZnO seems like the most likely occurrence to me. Wonder if you were to use a small amount of ZnO and turn it all yellow within the vaccuum.
I actually liked that the experiment didn’t show what you expected in the first place. It shows how *real* progress in science is made: not by confirming the expected.
Yeah that’s cool. We’re learning together, which is also nice!
Yeah. That is true. It also means we have more parameters to control.
Agreed. Very refreshing to see someone post an experiment that didn't work as expected.
Reality is often disappointing and or unexpected.
Unrelated
You could try flushing the vacuum chamber with inert gas to help remove the remaining oxygen. You could also heat a very small amount of zinc oxide so all of it turns yellow and it can't 'steal' oxygen from the remaining zinc oxide. These changes might keep it yellow.
Fill glass dome with argon gas (welding gas), nitrogen, or any other O2 free gas.
I was thinking of this as well. Argon is heavier than Oxygen so it would float on top of it (near an exit?) unable to get back down to the Zinc.
Was going to suggest using a heavier than oxygen gas. I'm wondering if he would even need a closed chamber since the gas would just sink to the bottom of the container and it might make it easier to burn the zinc oxide
@@LukeAmaral It wouldn't need to be closed. Just don't bump the container too hard or have an air current blowing over the exit and it will stay inside. It'll easily slosh around like a liquid, but more sensitive to vibrations.
I've seen a clip of someone holding a box of sulfur hexafluoride and then tilting it into their mouth to breathe it in to lower their voice.
I was going to suggest running it under argon too, until he mentioned how much oxygen is really getting moved around. I don't t think there's much you could do that would prevent it from reverting, short of having a ridiculous ultra vacuum setup and some way of keeping unburnt pieces away from the sample... Not exactly something you could easily do in your garage.
He’s such a great teacher and TH-camr at the same time.
Hey man, I just want to compliment you in your channel. You manage to demonstrate some actually mind-blowing science in such a simple accessible way. Other channels and tv programs make simple experiments look flash and impressive, but what you display so simply is stuff that actually changes the future!
Like I am filled with a little bit of terror and wonder at the potential application of some of these technologies! Kudos to you man!
You make complex subject matter easy to digest and I love you for it; thank you!
As a science nerd I have to say thank you for doing all these science experiments!
I'm glad to be mentioned in a video :D
I wonder if schools ever play these videos to the students? Great educational videos for people of all ages.
Good idea. I think I'll try to get the channel link through to my old high school's science department. I think my physics teacher at least would be enthusiastic to play some of the videos. He loved showing us students experiments.
thank you for helping me understand this color change phenomena better. I've been experimenting with making zinc peroxide (ZnO2) which can be done by combining zinc acetate or oxide with excess 3% hydrogen peroxide and a trace of HCL as catalyst-then heating to evaporation. After about 3 cycles zinc peroxide will form and retain the yellow color at room temp
If you have bloopers of your episode, you should add them at the very end. Mistakes are not only funny but can also be educational!
Getting a surprising result really makes you think about the assumptions you make.
that was a fun experiment. I wonder if you heated it many times in the vacuum chamber over and over, would it start to lose color as a whole or just local to the heat. Would it steal the oxygen from a long distance or just local to the heat? Love your channel.
What if you replace air with inert gas? Would it work better?
Even at 1e-6 mbar you still get a monolayer of surface interactions occuring in approx 1s in the vacuum. You need a vacuum in the e-8 mbar range to take this to minutes. A simple rotary will only manage 1e-3 mbar at best.
The oxygen coming out would likely quickly destroy that vacuum too.
@@Ang3lUki
Experiment to find out is the point, but I still see your point too. I’m not sure what he’s saying is relevant in this case either.
Maybe there’s some study to suggest if it is, but even then, worthy of re-testing.
@@deltalimabravo6727 I don't think it's possible from a bit of cursory research about those kinds of vacuum pressures. It sounds like even the carbon in the steel that the chamber is made of can destroy the vacuum in those conditions. The oxygen coming out of the zinc would generate too much pressure if even the chamber's carbon content could do that. Even if it is possible, I know for sure The Action Lab lacks the budget to do so. I do wonder if a reducing gas could gobble up the oxygen before it reacts, I think that would be more effective than a vacuum, but that involves high heat around a reducing gas, which sounds extremely dangerous.
We should try everything always. It's what helps to learn.
This was one of the best Science videos I have seen on TH-cam. I love this channel.
If the zinc is stealing oxygen from the surrounding zinc oxides to drop below the threshold, but not replenishing the oxygen that it's stealing, could you possibly keep heating and cooling it over and over to gradually leech oxygen away? I'm not sure, but I think it might be worth a try!
Maybe, it’s not a bad idea 👍🏼
The amount of oxygen that can be held by the zinc also has a threshold, so if you heat it, oxygen will also be released.
@@geo3106 ah that's true. I think the idea would be to distribute the heat evenly, that way all the zinc reacts. But that might be a bit challenging to do
The defects probably also collapse when the ZnO cools down, forming small clusters of Zn.
What I’m gathering from the comments is people think he’s discussing the things at the end because it didn’t work, when it’s important to remember in science, the goal isn’t to be ‘right’ but to keep open to what’s next, what other explanations (variables) are or might be involved.
Regardless, I love that so many are excited by him, science, etc and only mean to point out that is one area many people overlook in science with any notion that (good) scientists just ‘know’ or are bothered by any results because there are no facts in science, merely theories to be continuously tested and retested. We reject hypothesis, but the idea we will ever ‘know’ the final answer to anything is a bit ‘anti-scientific’ (for lack of a better term). It’s a never ending process and learning/understanding with our limitations is the best we have. Scientists can be egomaniacs like anyone, but scientific learning more often makes one humble than not.
I love every experiment where you're surprised by the results. Disproving yourself is the core of science, and is where the real learning takes place.
It would be interesting looking at ways to test out which of them actually explains why it turns back white.
I noticed the intake/exhaust pipe used on my little jam jar snorkeler submerged in water acts as a kind of thermometer too after it runs for awhile. About 7 minutes after starting it, a yellow appears on the galvanized pipe, but seemingly just on one side as if there's a bidirectional airflow occurring or just cold air favoring one side of the pipe. The video is Piglet Snorkeler Takes a Bath
Thank you for making a very nice video! I learned a lot!
This is the first day I subscribe to your channel honestly I liked the clips you publish they are very useful and I hope that you continue and we will help you with any information you like to know.👍
When you said "Frenkel defect" I wasn't aware of this term... I was thinking Frankenstein... of course now I'm thinking about Frenkel-stein LOL
Just today i was studying about frenkel and shotkey defects it was interesting to see this
JEE/NEET preparations?🤣
My best TH-camr making videos in pink PJ just made my day!!!
Surprising result! Nice methodology.
nice one revised everything from the color changing of ZnO (and now i will never forget it) to the frankel defects... some high school chemistry stuffs
Even if in a perfect vacuum, wouldn't it just take back it's own oxygen atoms? Or is there a reason this can't happen
I think in a perfect vacuum, you could take away enough of the excess oxygen that was simply trapped in the crystal lattice(if you heated it up) and the whole thing would be yellow permanently.
@@alexalvaradocali3863 Yeah maybe using a steel or titanium vacuum chamber so the zinc oxide could still be heated for hours while under vacuum could produce a zinc oxide that stays yellow. Or at least stays yellow until oxygen leaks back in.
He had the pump in though, so the realesed O2 was sucked out.
@@ninjahunterx7497 there was still a relatively large amount of oxygen trapped within the powder itself after heating, he only has a single stage vacuum pump which isn't anywhere near a perfect vacuum, so the results are definitely skewed. If he revisits this experiment he needs to use a diffusion pump or a turbomolecular pump while simultaneously heating the entire pot of Zinc Oxide evenly and thoroughly, while giving it sufficient time for the powder to off-gas and the chamber to pump down. I guarantee you it would stay yellow if he did that.
@@TheExplosiveGuy let's destroy things with fire for "science" am I right.
Really cool!
I have seen that my self when for example heating something galvanized (which forms a layer of zink oxide on the outside of the zink coating).
zinc
@@c0c0nutbeans
Rather odd misspelling for someone who works (experiments) with it. Maybe a younger scientist, which is awesome regardless.
yes I respect it 👍👍 keep experimenting and be safe
@@c0c0nutbeans I'm from Sweden and accidently wrote the Swedish word instead - which is zink instead of zinc
Great video especially the bit about the different amount of atoms xx
I like calcium carbonate or chalk its the same just in reverse the heat makes CO2 leave and it can be used as a CO2 scrubber when cooled
The last part of the video was great. Learned something new that i thought i knew in 10th grade.
Dude I was just learning about defects in cubic cell. And damn this video really helped visualise frankle defect
Thank you for the video! ☺♥
I'll bet that the reason is due to the slowness of the cooling allowing the molecules to rearrange to a more uniform configuration, eliminating the quantum traps which cause the yellow appearance, whereas rapid cooling would preserve the non-uniformity of the structure and also preserve the quantum traps.
So, what if you could quench the zinc oxide with something oxygen-free, like liquid nitrogen? Then the yellow might stay?
You should do this in a nitrogen atmosphere or CO2 (it is heavier then air so you can just fill a bowl with it and it should work
This is pretty amazing.
I keep learning, it is enormous, thank you!
i wonder if you could make an oxygen concentrator based on this effect
Yes you could, but it would be very inefficient, and so a very expensive way to concentrate oxygen.
Was doing that while doing analysis of salt in my college's lab this week 😅
I can only speak for myself but for sure I learn something new each video! Thank you for that! :-)
Over 1k views in under 10mins. You're doing awesome ! 🎉
This channel makes science easy to understand
Not like the boring lecture in the school 🙏
woww this video is a wonderful video and pushed me to some other videos in your channel. great content. thanks for uploads. ....
Good one! I appreciate your videos. So interesting. Thank's.
Is that maybe some weird form of thermochromism
Interesting! Good presentation. The dance of existence peeked at through such a delicate instrument; awareness.
If you ran a current through the ions would they turn into metal?
mah mans been teachin yall basic science syllabus since the dawn of time... the reason we find all this new cuz we just not usually pay attention in class...
that was a cool video about zinc man...would love to see more :D
Great video but the Nike shirt was a bit “loud” haha
If you breathed in that zinc oxide powder, will you get "Metal Fume Fever" like you can when welding galvanized metal, which makes zinc oxide?
This definitely shouldn't get in your lungs in any way im assuming.
The casual way he says "so I'm gonna put a blowtorch on it" cracked me up because it sounds like he nonchalantly puts a blowtorch to everything
Dope shirt and amazing science. What a guy.
is there any chance that this could be caused by thermochromism?
2nd here I'm big fan of action lab he's genuinely smart and he's like me mad and interested in science. His content never ends
*4th :)
3063 :)
@@sudo11 no way!!!
Hey man can u explain if u cover flaming cocktail with ice it produces fume waterfall
TH-cam would not stop recommending this video
You should do a video on Edward Leedskalnin’s perpetual motion holder.
Amazing Video ❤❤❤
This looks and acts very similar to a material I discovered in my fire pit ash, except in my case I’m pretty sure it’s a calcium or potassium byproduct, not zinc. I made a stupid video about it on my channel that I sent to some friends to see if they knew what it was and leave it to the internet to come to an answer before my friends did. It’s neat that zinc does that. I presume calcium and potassium do that as well which further confirms our suspicions of what the material in the fire pit ash is.
Reminds me of JD Vance....super white, but when a little heat is applied, he turns yellow.
Flush the bell with Nitrogren before vacuuming (you can even cycle it a few times), and only put the oxide right around the heating element so it all yellows. Will it still return to white again?
So if this could be added to a Lattice like structure and then applied as a screen or filter within catalytic converters it could make them more efficient
In fact, the effect is not because of Oxygen vacancy in the ZnO, instead, at high temperature, the Bandgap of semiconductor materials changed. In this case, it decreases, so it started to absorb blue light. The ZnO Oxygen vacancy indeed increases at high temperatures, but the effect is too small to be observed directly with naked eyes. You need a special instrument for that. Hope it helps.
is there a way to prevent it from changing yellow? or maybe to another color? possibly mixing in another substance?
I always thought burning stuff is oxidizing stuff. But if it's a zinc _oxide_ (i.e. already burnt), then how can you burn it even further? In other words, I don't think the change in coloration is due to the zinc oxide "burning".
So he burn it to unburn. Then burn itself
Actually you *can* burn some oxides even further. Carbon monoxide is an example, it's oxidized only partially and can be oxidized further into carbon dioxide. But here, he doesn't really burn the zinc oxide in a proper chemical way, he just heats it up and it *looks* burnt. That's why he decided to put "un-burn" in double quotes.
Where did you get that mini vacuum chamber. Was it custom?
In India IIT JEE chemistry is too much calculative, full of high concept.
So, I can understand your way of practical + conceptual understanding.
Tnz, bro, Wish a Better tomorrow & happy life. Thank you 💟
was waiting for such stupid comments thankyou.
That is actually really cool and probably very useful
@TheCar *pulls out UNO reverse card*
No U!!!
is it because of the scottky and frenkel defects in the lattice ?
which makes it paramagnetic
Ah Yes! I like the vacuum chamber experiment.
I love this channel.
Could you use that for that putty that is supposed to like repel heat and expands
Used to read this in class 10 chemistry observations-"Zinc oxide is yellow when hoy, white when cold"
Would that get another pigmentation if you would fill it with another gas? How to calculate it?
I wonder if the zinc oxide would go back to white in the same amount of time if it was heated.up in pure nitrogen, instead of a vacuum.
That was my hypothesis of what was happening just by seing the thumbnail. It is so funny to think that this compound unburns itself when you try to burn it, and then reburns after you take away the heat source.
He took out his phone just to tell 99.993% 😂😂 3:40
Great video by the way. 👍
What if heated up a bucket of this stuff in a small container with air replaced with Carbon Dioxide? What would be the end result?
Dope! Do you know anything about Kratom?
Man
Could you please appreciate the fact that in this world of tik tokers and other party clown trying to make money through loads of BS cringe, there are GUYS LIKE THIS, who still have kept my faith in humanity.
People like him didn't sell their soul for clout.
Thank you
And keep them coming.
Would the result change if the tray of zink oxide was submerged in a container of heavier than air gas, such as argon?
_A good teacher teaches the right things. A great teacher teaches the wrong things first._
I like your tshirt btw 🤩
Ohh! self un-burn, those are rare.
What could happen or what we could get when melting and mixing all metals together 🤔
Try an autoclave
At 0:54 shouldn't the size of Na be bigger than Cl ??
I love how these videos bring all the "experts" out of the woodwork, everyone wants to be teachers in the comment section.
Can you use argon and your filament burn.
what happend when you mix with alcohol and you burn it ?will it show a color? like boeic acid that shows a green color
I love that shirt! Does anyone know where to get it?
A side by side of with vacuum and without would have been good or 2 shots shown at the same stage.
What if you fill up a tank with nitrogen or helium?
Might work better than a vacuum.
Helloo there! What if you try this with argon?
Does the same thing happen with iron oxide?
The thing about stealing oxygen from the other ZnO seems like the most likely occurrence to me. Wonder if you were to use a small amount of ZnO and turn it all yellow within the vaccuum.
This is perfect as an oxidizer for thermite or solid rocket propellant then, since it's so easy to extract oxygen from it...
@@tafdiz Weird, the less energy you need to extract oxygen the more energy you get back when it's burned...