tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80129099163508641382024-03-18T11:59:31.526-04:00Materials WitnessPHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.comBlogger826125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-11110285267952721762024-03-18T11:59:00.007-04:002024-03-18T11:59:00.247-04:00Rare Artistry Enrich Your Soul with the Relaxing Craft of Venetian Glass Art Design Sylcom Light<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_-i_0_h4BF8?si=u8aVvrP2ikjndnaG" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>Awful video title...beautiful glass art...</div>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-82115318214904765112024-03-15T13:07:00.000-04:002024-03-16T13:18:59.312-04:00Summer Teacher Camps for 2024<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1OmBnMt_DNy1EW7v2M9TYaTUnkZi7aSI&usp=sharing" width="640"></iframe><p>I know what you were wondering: where are all the summer material science teacher camps in 2024?</p><p>Well, wonder no more. Here is where they all are.</p><p>If you don't know what I'm talking about - first, I'm not sure how you found your way to this blog because I think this is just about the only way people find this blog...second, check out the videos about the camp that <a href="https://matsciwit.blogspot.com/search/label/teachers%20camps">I've posted before</a>.</p><p>If you're wanting to sign up for one of these camps, head on over to the <a href="https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps/" target="_blank">ASM Education Foundation website</a> and sign the heck up!</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-3093075844760959112024-03-11T09:56:00.038-04:002024-03-11T09:56:00.160-04:00Enter the Crystalverse<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7nYeIaU0PeJnPzbnQmXDItPhmH6Y-7bfaxqFIN0Z4-m4HB6NXdZf2RQ5EJ8BUor9JEfbG8Ho-exrlQfvD4KsY2NtDsOEjzrx0SnGgMsRdTUTiHZKxYe8Tyn9_MolDeVus7WeIyOvfngOuaDY1q_2PEA0b9TY76BCkApQwbPszjYDBH7AoMjUsTWkLH0/s1615/Screenshot%202024-01-02%20095603.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1615" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7nYeIaU0PeJnPzbnQmXDItPhmH6Y-7bfaxqFIN0Z4-m4HB6NXdZf2RQ5EJ8BUor9JEfbG8Ho-exrlQfvD4KsY2NtDsOEjzrx0SnGgMsRdTUTiHZKxYe8Tyn9_MolDeVus7WeIyOvfngOuaDY1q_2PEA0b9TY76BCkApQwbPszjYDBH7AoMjUsTWkLH0/w640-h212/Screenshot%202024-01-02%20095603.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In our material science class at Princeton - and in most of the matsci classes that originated from the <a href="https://www.asmfoundation.org/teachers/materials-camps/year-one/" target="_blank">ASM summer camps</a>, I would imagine - we grow copper (II) sulfate crystals from solution.</p><p>It's a fairly easy lab to do, and the students have a high success rate.</p><p>For most students, that crystal growing experience is an end, but for others it's just a beginning, a taste of a much richer world of crystal growth.</p><p>For those students, <a href="https://crystalverse.com/" target="_blank">crystalverse</a> would be a great resource as it provides instructions for the diy crystal farmer whether they want to grow crystals of <a href="https://crystalverse.com/copper-acetate-crystals/" target="_blank">copper acetate</a>, <a href="https://crystalverse.com/growing-crystals/" target="_blank">monoammonium phosphate</a>, <a href="https://crystalverse.com/sugar-crystals/" target="_blank">sucrose</a>, <a href="https://crystalverse.com/grow-alum-crystals-at-home/" target="_blank">alum</a>, <a href="https://crystalverse.com/sodium-chloride-crystals/" target="_blank">sodium chloride</a>, <a href="https://crystalverse.com/potassium-ferrioxalate-crystals/" target="_blank">potassium ferrioxalate</a>, or even <a href="https://crystalverse.com/pyramid-salt-crystals/" target="_blank">pyramidal crystals of sodium chloride</a>.</p><p>In every case, the procedure is largely the same - make a solution, let the solution cool and evaporate to form seed crystals, continue to let the solution evaporate to grow the seed crystals larger. The great things about the crystalverse website is that it has loads of tips and faqs to help you troubleshoot your growing.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-7715012667919567692024-03-04T09:39:00.009-05:002024-03-04T09:39:00.273-05:00How to make salt<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eN6U58LzyHg?si=WU6W8cIG4sw51HVw" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Today you get a <i>whole bunch</i> of videos about making salt (all different from previous <a href="https://matsciwit.blogspot.com/2023/06/why-salt-crystals-grow-as-pyramids.html">salt making videos</a>.)</p><p>It seems like such a simple thing - talk salt water from the ocean and boil it down - but there's a lot more to the science of making salt including removing the calcium and magnesium impurities, allowing the crystals to grow to the desired size, and sorting those different crystal sizes.</p><p>Who knew that the rate of crystal growth would affect the size of the crystals?</p><p>More after the jump...</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p>
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PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-3270050053314542842024-02-26T15:57:00.014-05:002024-02-26T15:57:00.270-05:00Self-Healing Material<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DAUl6upA3q4?si=fksRJE3vLLBB-d8D" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Self-healing materials could be pretty cool if we get them figured out.</p><p>I appreciate the brief dalliance into cold welding between metallic pieces in space - <a href="https://matsciwit.blogspot.com/2023/02/in-space-no-one-can-stop-you-from.html" target="_blank">something I've posted about before</a>.</p><p>And I appreciate Steve Mould, of course, who sadly keeps his humour (British, natch) mostly in check for this video.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-54898967432194152612024-02-19T15:50:00.018-05:002024-02-19T15:50:00.132-05:00Accelerated Arrogance: The FIU Pedestrian Bridge Collapse<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/73EScguZZzI?si=psLe-vLIoUyGivj6" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>I'm approximately a million hours away from being a structural engineer, but I think I could look at the cracks shown in the video at 6:49, 10:47, and 16:20 and say that maybe they shouldn't be going ahead with moving the bridge into place.</p><p>I never would have thought of the shifting forces during the movement of the bridge from its initial fabrication location, but the need to constantly restress the concrete with each move is fascinating. I would think that would require the concrete to be stressed and stressed and eventually over-stressed.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-83301885009526338602024-02-12T15:43:00.017-05:002024-02-12T15:43:00.132-05:00Fast-Tracked Failure: The Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jgG-gnpn0os?si=RDfPN_oXFiGb8zZ_" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>I've been watching videos from Brick Immortar of late and will have another one from the same channel next week, but I could pick probably any of these videos and post them here. They all seem to analyze famous engineering failures, quickly recap the incident, then summarize the causes of the failure.</p><p>This one is one I'd heard about and that I've seen discussed as a famous case of plans being adjusted without proper checking to see if that seemingly minor change would be problematic. This is, however, the first video on the incident that I've seen discuss that the original design would have been problematic over time as well.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-3979680289383981242024-02-05T15:29:00.041-05:002024-02-05T15:29:00.132-05:00Why Porcelain Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnoGsbl2ANo?si=GUe09X81RWFYCOsJ" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>I'll admit that I do wish today's video would do a little better job of telling what porcelain is rather than just telling why it's so labor intensive to make.</p><p>So I went looking around the intertubes to find some definitions of what porcelain is.</p><p>From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcelain" target="_blank">wikipedia</a>...</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F). The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arise mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures.</p></blockquote><p>From <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/porcelain" target="_blank">Britannica</a>...</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Porcelain, vitrified pottery with a white, fine-grained body that is usually translucent, as distinguished from earthenware, which is porous, opaque, and coarser. The distinction between porcelain and stoneware, the other class of vitrified pottery material, is less clear. In China, porcelain is defined as pottery that is resonant when struck. In the West, it is a material that is translucent when held to the light. </p></blockquote><p>From <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/porcelain" target="_blank">Webster's</a>...</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">a hard, fine-grained, sonorous, nonporous, and usually translucent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and a feldspathic rock and is fired at a high temperature</p></blockquote><p>From <a href="https://farandaway.co/blogs/the-artisan/what-is-the-difference-between-ceramic-and-porcelain" target="_blank">Far and Away</a>...</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>Ceramic is a broad term for various materials that are made by firing clay or other mixtures at extremely high temperatures. Generally, it includes products such as pottery, tiles, and cookware. The surfaces of ceramic can be painted or glazed to create different finishes and styles. </p><p>Ceramics are usually broken down into three categories: porcelain, stoneware, and earthenware. </p><p>Porcelain is denser than stoneware and earthenware, which makes it the strongest type of ceramic. In addition to its strength and durability, porcelain also has an extremely smooth surface that lends itself well to decorative treatments such as hand painting or airbrushing. Porcelain is also the least porous type of ceramic material, which makes it ideal for use in bathrooms or kitchens where watertightness is important.
Earthenware is the softest type of ceramic material and can be very delicate in nature. It also has a tendency to absorb moisture easily. </p><p>Earthenware pieces tend to be thicker than their porcelain counterparts due to their lack of strength and durability. As a result, they are often produced in simpler shapes with fewer decorative details since any intricate detail may be too delicate to survive regular use or exposure over time. </p><p>Stoneware falls somewhere between porcelain and earthenware in terms of strength and durability making it a popular choice for everyday items like plates or mugs since it can withstand some wear-and-tear but isn’t overly fragile like earthenware pieces tend to be. Stoneware has been used throughout history for many types of items including storage jars, jugs, figurines and table services sets due its versatility in design options depending on the levels at which it’s fired during production processes.</p><p>...</p><p>Porcelain is a fine-grain ceramic material made from kaolin, a white clay mined in various parts of the world. It is used for tableware, tiles, and other applications where strength, hardness and stain resistance are desired. </p><p>Porcelain has an extremely low porosity—it is nearly waterproof—and it is considered to be thermal shock resistant. It can withstand temperatures up to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and it does not react with chemicals in the same way as other ceramics. Porcelain can accept a wide variety of decorative glazes and finishes, which makes it ideal for many applications. </p><p>When comparing porcelain to its relative ceramic, there are some key differences to consider: </p><p>Porcelain has a finer grain than ceramic and its ingredients go through more processing before they can be used as a material choice. </p><p>Due to its high degree of density, porcelain is more durable than ceramics but it also costs more because of the processing involved in producing the material.</p></blockquote><p>So, there you go...</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-40517251198815305622024-01-29T22:20:00.014-05:002024-01-29T22:20:00.127-05:00The Most Reflective Mirror In The World<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JM_lXKmWYDI?si=bD3FRwlBXzJO7c2F" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Arrggghhh, Action Lab again.</p><p>I want to hunt down some of those dialectric mirrors. Their non-isotropic reflective materials sound pretty cool.</p><p>I am amazed that there is no metal in the material. It's just made of transparent polymer layers in alternating materials with different indices of refraction.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-69163647141999250412024-01-22T22:13:00.012-05:002024-01-22T22:13:00.165-05:00How Does Noise-Cancelling Tape Work?<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SK9qpGqBBmg?si=gfQ0vz0zgjhKsp5S" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Argh, Action Lab again.</p><p>I don't care for the host as a video host, but I do like some of the experiments he gives and the experiments he shows...sometimes.</p><p>This video shows noise-damping tape which incorporates a viscoelastic layer to the tape, causing a significant amount of damping for the vibrations in the cookie sheet that Action Lab uses as a frugal gong.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-91359450604048928412024-01-15T21:59:00.028-05:002024-01-15T21:59:00.183-05:00Best Rust Converter? POR-15, Eastwood, Rust-oleum Rust Reformer, Gempler's<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ag46YUovPUc?si=6zbLOw9iKsn3n8qf" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>One of my coworkers recommended this video to me, and I respect the video host's adherence to the scientific method. He tests metal from the same source, prepared in the same way, and has multiple test samples for each coating.</p><p>I'm not so sure, however, what these rust convertors actually do. I found this in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_converter" target="_blank">wikipedia article on rust converters</a>...</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Commercial rust converters are water-based and contain two primary active ingredients: tannic acid and an organic polymer. Tannic acid chemically converts the reddish iron oxides into bluish-black ferric tannate, a more stable material. The second active ingredient is an organic solvent such as 2-butoxyethanol (ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, trade name butyl cellosolve) that acts as a wetting agent and provides a protective primer layer in conjunction with an organic polymer emulsion. </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Some rust converters may contain additional acids to speed up the chemical reaction by lowering the pH of the solution. A common example is phosphoric acid, which additionally converts some iron oxide into an inert layer of ferric phosphate. Most of the rust converters contain special additives. They support the rust transformation and improve the wetting of the surface.</blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Looks like they're primarily tannic acid with some organic solvents.</div><div><br /></div><div>The science seems pretty interesting, and I might show this video to my students when we discuss experimental design methods.</div>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-49975669662418288452024-01-08T21:50:00.032-05:002024-01-08T21:50:00.139-05:00Reusable handwarmers that get hot by freezing<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Oj0plwm_NMs?si=xdSsR9jPeBuYTEEa" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>The title of this video is wrong.</p><p>There is no <i>freezing</i> happening. There is recrystallization happening from sodium acetate dissolved in solution.</p><p>That's not <i>freezing</i> - a pure liquid turning into a solid like ice turning into water. The host seems to understand that distinction, but he's sloppy on using the term <i>freezing</i> and <i>freezing point</i> somewhat misleadingly. He also is sloppy on <i>liquid</i> versus <i>solution </i>and <i>melted </i>versus<i> dissolved.</i></p><p>Most of this video is an explanation and comparison of the two types of hand warmers - the reusable sodium acetate solution and the single-use iron rusting type. The video host explains the science behind what's happening and judges the single-use to be the better choice - something that I'll leave up to you.</p><p>I use both in class for different purposes and different chapters.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-38481535128882054072024-01-01T14:38:00.025-05:002024-01-01T14:38:00.137-05:00The Wrong Stuff<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxtXJyTXd1VAtow56xoMgYNh_mcaOEgUB8MAnyFrgj9MdVYLEiiZCDc9cT7VfRam8lhu3OKLE-WExlNNCWjxxJzD8OP1N1ujS3Y9QZHmfQs6i1D1iIs6oGkbJMP2RsaQwK83sEyutzJUg1uuVS8sC5JMlqtpKslk5tVKkgB2Wk5RIZlvAvX4-1E21AzU/s513/the_wrong_stuff.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxtXJyTXd1VAtow56xoMgYNh_mcaOEgUB8MAnyFrgj9MdVYLEiiZCDc9cT7VfRam8lhu3OKLE-WExlNNCWjxxJzD8OP1N1ujS3Y9QZHmfQs6i1D1iIs6oGkbJMP2RsaQwK83sEyutzJUg1uuVS8sC5JMlqtpKslk5tVKkgB2Wk5RIZlvAvX4-1E21AzU/s16000/the_wrong_stuff.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source - <a href="https://xkcd.com/2865/" target="_blank">xkcd</a><br />Rollover joke - The phantom found Edward Everett Hale a century too early; by the time we invented satellites, the specifics of his 'brick moon' proposal were dismissed as science fiction.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>See, it's funny because...building a spaceship out of bricks would be an amazingly bad idea. They're not airtight. They're heavy. They're just not what you should build a spaceship out of.<p></p></div><div>Then again, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules" target="_blank">wooden airplane built for World War II</a> wasn't necessarily a great idea either.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nor was a <a href="https://matsciwit.blogspot.com/search/label/pykrete">pykrete</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk" target="_blank">aircraft carrier</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Horse" target="_blank">Trojan Horse</a>, on the other hand, was clearly a great idea.</div>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-85585697858341748162023-12-04T18:45:00.019-05:002023-12-04T18:45:00.324-05:00Sulfur demo - monoclinc and amorphous<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EqrS_uUADMY?si=miBf-p1AeelnC3nU" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p> </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_O7H6WzqhVQ?si=RRmdYzL4htzWVmUt" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Yeah, that's about how we do it in class and in our summer camps. </p><p>I'm always on the lookout for decently filmed versions of labs that we do in class so that I can post videos for my students who miss those days.</p><p>So I'm happy to have found these videos. Thanks, Bird Among the Trees (?). </p><p>I'll post a couple more videos of the same processes but done differently than how we do them in class, but I'll put those after the jump.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VT5Sm6UJm7Y?si=wZemfRegVKmrsdj_" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></p><p> </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vyy6TCxz8Nc?si=NffnOxgVctXTcSWG" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-4817030062354041952023-11-27T18:33:00.028-05:002023-11-27T18:33:00.139-05:00Linoleum flooring is cool, actually<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CIWKjBMYfBw?si=BXXdRyHCWL5bLYKS" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>"If there were a floor covering Olympics, marble would probably get gold. Hardwood would get silver. Bronze would maybe go to tile — and linoleum wouldn’t even make the trials. Arguably the most maligned flooring there is, these days linoleum is considered (at best) something you rip out to get to the real floor. But it wasn’t always that way."</p><p>That's the description from the YouTube description as Vox wrote and is shown below the video. I'm not sure I can do much better than that.</p><p>Linoleum sucks. That's the general, modern impression of linoleum, but there's a lot more to the fascinating history and construction of the composite flooring known colloquially as linoleum.</p><p>There's really nothing wrong with linoleum, but it's just way out of fashion. It does require some waxing, but according to this video, it's way more environmentally friendly than vinyl - which I have throughout my entire home, natch.</p><p>Oh, that shot at 0:09 makes me think that the red, gray, and white flooring at Princeton High School is linoleum.</p><p>And the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIWKjBMYfBw" target="_blank">YouTube description</a> includes links to learn more about the history and modern revival of linoleum.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-49774038532103033722023-11-20T18:26:00.019-05:002023-11-20T18:26:00.138-05:00Steel Metallurgy - Principles of Metallurgy<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zCznMbj2Yn4?si=gANUR7NMKZPMYegW" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Again with the m<i>A</i>tallurgy Data channel...</p><p>Maybe they're trying to combine material and metallurgy into matallurgy?</p><p>Whatever portmanteau they're aiming for, their videos are excellent for understanding metals. This one goes over how different metallic ingredients affect the properties of alloy steels, the carbon-iron phase diagram, CTT and TTT graphs (something I haven't seen before, admittedly), hardenability, and ways to strengthen steel.</p><p>It's not necessarily written for my students' levels - most of them, anyway - but it's good background understanding for me to have.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-88658882487588693452023-11-13T18:10:00.024-05:002023-11-13T18:10:00.158-05:00Properties and Grain Structure<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uG35D_euM-0?si=nN7rrtkKZg5CZk-3" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Properties and Grain Structure: BBC 1973 Engineering Craft Studies</p><p>Yup, 1973...that means not only is the narration done with an English accent, it's also paced for a 1973 world meaning I ran the video at 1.5 speed to bring it up to a modern pacing.</p><p>The video shows the etching process for various metals then does it again after cold rolling the aluminum sample, then discussing how the material's properties (ductility, hardness, toughness) change.</p><p>The video then repeats things for heat treating after cold working the aluminium (sp?)...then various carbon steels being annealed, quenched, and tempered.</p><p>I absolutely love the hand-cranked tensile tester that we see at around 8:10 in the video.</p><p>It's a great video for showing the properties and crystal structures of aluminum (sp?) and steel and how the crystal structures coordinate to that.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-30827982122497816222023-11-06T18:02:00.009-05:002023-11-06T18:02:00.152-05:00Understanding Material Strength, Ductility, and Toughness<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WSRqJdT2COE?si=s4dRpvVGZlAHJ-xx" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Strength vs toughness is such a subtle concept for my students to understand.</p><p>That isn't really a tough (sorry) thing to reason out. The two words are used somewhat interchangeably in the non-material science world. </p><p>This video does a great job animating and showing the differences between those words and using the stress strain curve to do so. </p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-47833773503684377892023-10-30T17:47:00.034-04:002023-10-30T17:47:00.144-04:00Understanding Metals<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PaGJwOPg2kU?si=WIuOjcezw-2pZ85O" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Well, that just about covers the entirety of our metals chapter for both our summer camp and our year-long material science course.</p><p>If my students could understand the totality of this seventeen-minute video, they would rock my end of chapter test. It covers...</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>BCC/FCC/HCP</li><li>crystalline v amorphous</li><li>slip planes</li><li>defects - point, line, and screw</li><li>grains and grain boundaries</li><li>cold working / work hardening</li><li>alloying - both substitutional and interstitial</li><li>heat treating</li><li>two-phase alloys & precipitation hardening</li><li>the iron/carbon eutectic diagram with ferrite and austenite</li></ul><p></p><p>Thankfully the video is incredibly well laid out, animated, and presented. This would make a great end of the chapter review for students to watch.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-47587953209923085182023-10-23T16:36:00.002-04:002023-10-23T16:36:00.166-04:00Can you GROW an Opal?<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d7MvGFX_VKo?si=_qmLa_GBNJVWxzWp" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>Opals are pretty.</p><p>Full stop</p><p>And they are incredibly rare and labor intensive <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHecdSDz4uU" target="_blank">to mine</a>.</p><p>So why not just make them at home?</p><p>All it takes is seven or so months, a fume hood, some ethyl alcohol (purer is better), tetraethyl othosilicate, ammonium hydroxide, a stirrer, water bath, hot plate, resin, a vacuum chamber, and apparently infinite patience.</p><p>I looked into buying them, and even the <a href="https://www.synthetic-opals.com/synthetic-opal-shop.html" target="_blank">synthetic ones aren't terribly cheap</a>.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-18165545351172874202023-10-16T17:39:00.055-04:002023-10-16T17:39:00.160-04:00Wind energy has a massive waste problem. New technologies may be a step closer to solving it...and...How can companies recycle wind turbine blades?<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6wyZ9P15YebZgK-DcUWLZOPjFw5ByaZ9JfFEWrnuMtAs1s4_YhkuH2ZE7G7lLWRQQ3e65mNDO4Yb863dmSA1RbS10JFFGLD1PhWDJyXj_DcLbma54G2CjUZqLChmowE-Evk3STnfywX0OwsmmxGVWGAjazbTcPYpAonCYW9qLK9IApabm_hrmdZriT4/s1280/230216171424-03-wind-turbine-blades-recycling-climate-restricted.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6wyZ9P15YebZgK-DcUWLZOPjFw5ByaZ9JfFEWrnuMtAs1s4_YhkuH2ZE7G7lLWRQQ3e65mNDO4Yb863dmSA1RbS10JFFGLD1PhWDJyXj_DcLbma54G2CjUZqLChmowE-Evk3STnfywX0OwsmmxGVWGAjazbTcPYpAonCYW9qLK9IApabm_hrmdZriT4/w640-h360/230216171424-03-wind-turbine-blades-recycling-climate-restricted.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/28/world/wind-turbine-recycling-climate-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN article</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Wind energy might be the solution - or at least <i>part </i>of the solution - to our energy problems. We absolutely need to stop burning things (methane, oil, coal, wood, trash, <a href="https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/most-valuable-beanie-babies" target="_blank">retired Beanie Babies</a>) to make energy. That is not in dispute.</p><p>One of the things that is in dispute, however, is how to deal with the waste from retired wind turbine blades. From the same article, "[b]lade waste is projected to reach 2.2 million tons in the US by 2050. Globally, the figure could be around 43 million tons by 2050." The blades are, as a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/28/world/wind-turbine-recycling-climate-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN article</a> writes, "made from fiberglass bound together with epoxy resin, a material so strong it is incredibly difficult and expensive to break down." </p><p>Recycling the themoset resin is challenging, though a company named Vesta "has been working on in partnership with Aarhus University, the Danish Technological Institute and US-based epoxy company Olin, uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blade into epoxy fragments and fibers. The epoxy resin is then sent to Olin which can process it into 'virgin-grade' epoxy"</p><p>There are other possible solutions mentioned in the article - pyrolitic separation of the resin and fibers allowing both to be reused, chopping the composite blades into fragments to then mix into cement, and...well...not much else.</p><p><a href="https://cen.acs.org/environment/recycling/companies-recycle-wind-turbine-blades/100/i27" target="_blank">A C&EN article</a> explores the same issue and adds in an option of repurposing the blades rather than recycling them, showing an image of a playground made of decommissioned blades in the Netherlands and saying that they have also been turned into bus shelters and other public structures. The article also reports that there are companies exploring making the blades out of more easily recycled materials, though little detail of what those materials could be are provided as the materials and processes are still being devloped.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-43945617411431101272023-10-09T15:14:00.016-04:002023-10-09T15:14:00.155-04:00Making a BULLETPROOF John Wick Suit in Real Life!<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Eeb4aZObp-0?si=4ao-hnOEj8C6ZJo0" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>I love the John Wick series. It's ridiculous and phenomenally unreal that the main character would survive even the remotest bit of the damage done to him throughout the series of films.</p><p>With that being said, I guess a bulletproof dress suit similar to John Wick's is possible. I say that because this video is about the process of making just such a suit.</p><p>There is a lot of firing of guns - all on a controlled, safety-checked gun range, at least - in the video. The high quality stuff to me is the initial exploration of how they should do the testing to see which materials are bulletproof and the minimum of those materials that they can use. The try to cheap out on the testing methods initially but come to realize that the testing standards are written because the standards describe the ways that actually work. I appreciate that.</p><p>I also appreciate the discussion of composite materials even though the <a href="https://matsciwit.blogspot.com/2023/10/liquid-ballistic-armor-hacksmith-collab.html">sheer-thickening fluids from my previous post</a> didn't seem to provide any advantages, which is a little disappointing.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-27666037946136471822023-10-05T18:08:00.006-04:002023-10-05T18:08:00.144-04:00Glass masters: <blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" data-embed-height="500" style="height: 500px;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/16akbjx/glass_masters/">Glass masters</a><br /> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Anita_Cole/">u/Anita_Cole</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/">BeAmazed</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Nothing much other than making a fluted glass bowl by hand, folks.</p><p>No narration, no story, no info about annealing the glass once it's solidified on the mold.</p><p>Just craftsmen at work doing magic with the coolest material you can watch.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-76264540265409702572023-10-02T14:49:00.016-04:002023-10-02T14:49:00.155-04:00Liquid Ballistic Armor? | The Hacksmith Collab<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4AxiXS9n0dw?si=oapq4pqFxLGjajvd" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>We make oobleck in our material science class at Princeton, and I show the <a href="https://matsciwit.blogspot.com/2012/06/liquid-armor.html">liquid body armor video</a> that we show in our summer camp.</p><p>It's neat and all, but invariably students ask if the oobleck - the cornstarch and water mixture - could actually stop a bullet. Admittedly, this video doesn't answer that specific question, but it does try to make a non-Newtonian fluid that would work to stop bullets as part of a larger <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeb4aZObp-0" target="_blank">project of trying to make a real-life John Wick bullet-proof, black suit</a>.</p><p>In this video they try using opal nanoparticles in polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the non-Newtonian fluid soaked into the layers of kevlar. Wait, opals are just silica nanoparticles. So, I think this is the same silica particles in PEG as the liquid body armor video.</p><p>Circles, man, everything comes full circle.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012909916350864138.post-39325838163591817372023-09-25T14:06:00.020-04:002023-09-25T14:06:00.174-04:00Mechanical Testing of Materials and Metals<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uQOs_tgHZsI?si=v9YtolEE_1jIj-Sl" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><p>The YouTube channel that posted this highly informative and nicely animated video is Matallurgy Data (yes, m<u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A</u>tallurgy, that's not my typo). I'm not sure what's up with that, but I'll check around.</p><p>The video - in a bit of a TedEx animated style with narration that sounds sort of like Kurzgesagt - explains the concepts of four testing methods: Charpie impact, tensile, hardness, and - almost in passing without much detail - indentation plastometry. </p><p>The animation is great and shows each testing method simply, and the narration flows nicely along, explaining what's happening in the animation. Good stuff here.</p>PHSChemGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13704670328790930306noreply@blogger.com0