Aluminum and Mercury - Trying out your suggestions!

[@sleighaaa]

I love how the way he speaks is just perfectly consistent. His intonation is always the same for humour, sarcasm, excitement, disappointment, surprise, uncertainty... it's so perfectly consistent.

[@Flow-.-]

perfectly balanced as all things should be...

[@Hyperlink1337]

@@Flow-.- SAY SOMETHING ORIGINAL OR DON'T POST IT AT ALL

[@Astrages5]

I think we call that monotone

[@Whitecroc]

toDAY I am goING to make a NUclear reACTOR in my PArents' gaRAGE

[@observer2817]

He also consistently says Aluminium wrong.

[@Seapatico]

When his hand reaches in at 3:38, I LOST IT. I was picturing this thing to be like two feet tall, but it's more like two inches.

[@gaefaelevi6670]

Sameeeeee

[@alilvs]

@Jordon Rosen I saw the comment you copied right underneath the comment...

[@JustJaidenism]

@@alilvs I Don't See Anyone Who Asked.

[@vaan_]

@@JustJaidenism I did :)

[@JustJaidenism]

@@vaan_ SHUT UP, VAAN.

[@theCodyReeder]

I think the dark color is due to reacting with water vapor instead of oxygen.

[@gmrads]

Cody'sLab maby some of the Mercury is evaporating. Showing a darker color.

[@mAssbagflyer]

Is water vapor harder to remove than other components of air with a vacuum chamber? Any reason in particular you think that?

[@trymatic7151]

Gmrads Mercury vapour is invissible

[@aetius31]

Or maybe due to the formation of an aluminium suboxide due to scarcity of oxygen

[@cptchromosome2325]

Cody'sLab hay it's Cody! :D

[@AdityaSharma-nh4yt]

8:14, "So the reaction started really quickly" Me: sees the 200x speed at the bottom right , Hmmmmmm

[@tiankuohua5167]

r/hmmm

[@zcarp8642]

He said it STARTED quickly, not that it GREW quickly

[@AdityaSharma-nh4yt]

Zachery carpenter, yeah you are right I didn't thought about it

[@zcarp8642]

@@AdityaSharma-nh4yt no problem, everyone makes mistakes. And honestly I just want to help out

[@oliviawhite158]

8:53 the one on the left looks like a statue of a person :D

[@AussieChemist]

What about doing this in pure oxygen instead?

[@MrBrimstone]

Would most likely break apart faster and you would have a pile of oxide dust. The reaction would go faster, probably able to be seen without speeding up, but you would lose structural integrity gained by a slower rate of growth.

[@andyct1982]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[@hypernic6920]

Aussie Chemist I was just about to put that in.

[@alyasgrey9370]

BOOM. Seriously though, I'd be really curious to see just how fast this reaction would occur in a pure oxygen environment and if the aluminium oxide would continue to be structurally stable under increased growth conditions.

[@prince_keke]

How about chlorine ?

[@alis3240]

he could literally show this footage at the Museum of Mordern Art

[@jamesvogt4739]

alis it’s better than what’s actually there

[@alis3240]

@@jamesvogt4739 true

[@bodyofhope]

If he doesn't, someone else will.

[@rosemurray]

Or a sex education class.

[@apxllo8734]

@@rosemurray who’s having sex like this

[@lordofcheeze2512]

I think when someone commented for towers colliding, they might've meant using two plates at 45-ish° angles towards each other so they would grow into or through each other

[@funky_tree]

Yea i was kinda disappointed

[@Speaker-Beater]

I think they would just go vertical

[@CMZneu]

The change in color is because aluminum oxide growing slower and denser(less spongy) like the rings of a tree, in winter they grow slower but make harder wood. So because they are packed tighter together they appear darker.

[@biboergosum9962]

I don't think it's so much a case of the fibres being packed tighter together, but rather that the individual fibres have grown thicker - this would also explain why that region seemed to hold together better when he pulled it apart 4 about minutes into the video

[@masterimbecile]

Pffffff everyone knows this is the work of Alluminati.

[@bengineer8]

XD

[@rayminazzi2065]

except when you're not in America it's alluminiati.

[@branflakes2600]

*badum-tss*

[@scottmccarty2134]

not the secret society of metal brotherhood,non ferous metalica al lumin ati

[@blackbird3087]

Bengineer8 hey

[@TheAknativeboy]

Cover the whole plate of aluminum with mercury, like cmon now

[@CallMeMimi27]

Ad one spec of aluminium to a bunch of mercury to see what happens. Reverse the experiment.

[@Jonathan.D]

Imagine what would happen if he pumped in pure oxygen! It would probably be very white and grow much faster.

[@shadow_journey4911]

Wastage of elements if he followed your advice

[@DkingofStuff]

@@shadow_journey4911 isnt that what science is though?

[@shadow_journey4911]

@@DkingofStuff They are only limited nah

[@personmcperson4440]

LOL "...just flip the video"

[@MegaSilvio78]

That was the most retarded shit I've heard him say.

[@General12th]

That's how I invented my first anti-gravity machine.

[@tiankuohua5167]

Ha, ha, very funny.

[@kuro758]

@@MegaSilvio78 he was right though, didn't look any different

[@rishyanth-zh9bv]

@@General12th what what the

[@mj6463]

What would happen if you floated aluminum on mercury? Would it slowly move inwards?

[@N1RKW]

Mundane? Maybe it is to you, but to those of us watching this is extremely fascinating! Kudos for yet another excellent video.

[@NileRed]

Glad you liked it! I spent days working on many runs, so i think it became very very boring to me lol

[@DanielAwesomesauce]

Yeah this is video was amazingly beautiful.

[@clydeheron]

N1RKW kjhhhhj

[@Ezullof]

Meh. Not my favourite video from this channel... Feel like I've already seen everything.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

I found it wonderful too; Mundane seemed so out of order; but he says he was probably oer it; I expected a circle of dots though which would have been wonderful.

[@MiqelDotCom]

I suspect the reason the top towers collapse first is relatively simple: Gravity. The fibers have slightly better tensional strength(hanging as a loosely connected group) than compressional strength(growing upward and increasingly fighting its own weight)

[@sophietaylor9753]

Could the darker grey during the vacuum be due to the lower pressure causing more of the mercury to evaporate, and it gets trapped in the fibres? This would explain why the pure vacuum makes it darker, whereas it looks much lighter in the nitrogen environment.

[@NileRed]

Hmm, that didnt even occur to me. That just might be it!

[@philtripe]

a wick effect...yes

[@pietrotettamanti7239]

Sophie Taylor i thought it too

[@MegaBanne]

I think it is due to the formation of dialuminum dioxide from the low oxygen content.

[@JeremyMcCandlish]

this would be easy enough to check by keeping the nitrogen atmosphere instead of draining it (supposing you have nile's equipment and courage xD)

[@IamOffMeds]

"if you haven't watched the last video, this video might not make sense" bro none of your videos make sense to me but they are just fun to watch

[@tramenari]

When are we going to get a tour of your meth lab?

[@naryosh_]

He's trying to keep the cops off his tail. He'll probably do it on patreon.

[@cseblivestreaming]

What Even is this Diskussion?

[@shallabim912]

Tramenari When they stop looking for him.

[@allenlamb988]

Like so he gets caughts

[@jamesforest5245]

You know he makes illegal shit on the low

[@phillipnewton8910]

You need to be a teacher. Kids would pay attention to you. You have an excellent way of talking and explaining things. Very easy to understand. Kids today need someone like you.

[@undecidedgenius]

Two things I would like to see...one is I see is already mentioned...doing it is an oxygen-rich environment. The other one I would like to see is what would happen if it were in crunched up foil (most likely dip the foil in the acid, then put a few drops in, then crunch the foil up)

[@Auriam]

One of the things I like best about your videos is that you explain everything clearly and your process of determining which variables are influencing the outcomes. You state your hypothesis and your methods very clearly and your conclusions are pretty careful and scientifically thought out.

[@GrouchyGander]

"The result was pretty mundane." Dude, the result of the second three looks like a frickin' cliff face. Don't you dare say that doesn't look cool!

[@SKyrim190]

It reminded me of a gothic cathedrals

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

Creepiest looking experiments ever! That perfectly smooth motion of the growth is something you normally only see courtesy of digital effects (e.g. on a ghost rising). Thanks for revisiting this.

[@MetroDET2011]

What if instead of using a aluminum plate you used aluminum powder?

[@MrBrimstone]

It wouldn't work too well. In more than one way. Let's assume you mean something around the size of a grain of sand. Each granule is already coated with a layer of aluminum oxide from just existing in an oxygenated environment. I'm not sure exactly how the mercury gets more un-coated aluminum to amalgamate (does it move underneath the oxide layer?), but I'll guess it wouldn't work so well having to remove the oxide coating from each and EVERY single grain of aluminum. And, since a pile of sand sized particles isn't held together to begin with, you'll end up with a pile of oxide powder and no real structure to look at.

[@pietrotettamanti7239]

Matty Ice removing the oxide layer with HCl from aluminium powder. It just reacts too quicly

[@randomsomeguy156]

Mr Brimstone what about putting the powder inside hydrochloric acid drying quickly and putting mercury on it

[@Leandro-vy7nj]

7:27 Maybe it's this mysterious force called gravity XD

[@SirGarthur]

No such thing

[@ilikechips6630]

What is gravity?

[@Lussimio]

Mom warned me about these conspiracy theories

[@JustJaidenism]

@@ilikechips6630 I Actually Do Wanna Know What Gravity Is, Cause I Just Float Around.

[@science_and_anonymous]

how can you recover the mercury from the amalgam? redox reaction?

[@science_and_anonymous]

anonymous great idea, but mercury is alot more valuable than aluminum hahahah. I want my mercury back from the reaction

[@joysandy333]

science_and_anonymous if you got the right setup just distill the Hg

[@NileRed]

The amount of mercury in there is really really low. It wouldnt be worth trying to cover in my opinion

[@lordsousaphone2923]

NileRed l

[@theCodyReeder]

just dissolve the aluminium oxide in sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid.

[@arnejakobsen3296]

Wow, good thing I went and watched that previous video. I absolutely understand everything now!

[@inquaanate2393]

Try a higher oxygen percentage

[@drill6452]

genius

[@swhqyt]

I love the way how it grows and becomes weak

[@davidonfim2381]

How about doing it underwater? Would the buoyant force on the amalgam possibly make the towers be able to get bigger? Maybe salt water would work better.

[@davidonfim2381]

Well, you see in the video that it can still work under close to a vacuum. I'm sure more oxygen can dissolve in water than there was in the vacuum chamber.

[@skoonthatraccoonskunkguy3865]

If you put aluminum in a caustic solution of sodium hydroxide various things happen but, long story short the aluminum will pull the oxygen out of the H2O itself! Not really an over all efficient way to do so but it is one way to generate hydrogen for stuff.

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Why not try it and make a video? Post it and then we will know. Sometimes it is just not enough to question...one must ACT!

[@YodaWhat]

+Nile Red +David Enrique -- Also try it with Hydrogen Peroxide -- H2O2 -- which can supply a ton of Oxygen.

[@mlgsamantha5863]

the aluminum would react with water instead of oxygen, and I don't know if aluminum hydroxide would form the same sort of strands that aluminum oxide does

[@VictorTheRandomCultist]

2:14 I theorized that since the amount of oxygen is reduced, the reaction was put in a state where, in order to continue, needed to use more mercury. And so the color was a darker shade because more mercury was used than oxygen.

[@PacesIII]

NileRed: Many years ago, I was told to use mercury on my silver coins to shine them up. Worked for a few hours, then very dull. Looked further and found I should wrap them in aluminum foil. Both the coin and foil had exothermic reactions and the foil turned to ash as per your video. Would the silver have had any additional effect in this process?

[@verdiiiixzs_]

I always go to sleep watching these videos,your voice is so calming 👍

[@livingdaystodaze6201]

For your next edible chem video should try making non-dairy creamer.

[@khalilabushehade3005]

Did you try it with different tempratures? Or combining different temperatures with different pressures? Playing with the first law of the thermodynamics...

[@MrBrimstone]

I'm thinking that the darker grey is formed somewhat like how rings on a tree form. A slower growing tree will have a denser composition than a fast growing tree, as the amount of material added is smaller and more compacted. When the aluminum is growing quickly with plentiful oxygen, I bet the strands/grains formed are much more loose due to the rate of creation, while the darker aluminum band is simply denser and more uniform. I think that if you were to look under a microscope or something, you would see the oxygen deprived parts would be more uniform, tightly packed, and straighter than the quickly formed parts. (You can already sort of see this when you break it apart)

[@smokeduv]

Mr Brimstone that’s what I thought, although his idea seems convincing too. You may have to see it under a microscope or analyze the mercury content on the different sections

[@MrBrimstone]

Well, if it is the case they are more densely packed fibers/crystals, wouldn't it make sense that the color would become darker?

[@skoonthatraccoonskunkguy3865]

My guess as well.

[@NileRed]

Very very possible. Good input!

[@Vantasies]

High key learning more about chemistry watching old NileRed videos than I did in 4 years if college level chem classes.

[@darthbuzz1]

Amazing, they would look great as mini alien world backgrounds.

[@R-MD]

If you look at the grey bands, there's structural and density differences too.

[@marbleswan6664]

This vs Pharos serpent, and also try adding color to it.

[@annemarievanpeer120]

When doing a top and bottom tower, i strongly suspect the top tower collapses more quickly because of gravity! The structure is a little weaker it seems than the tower in your previous video, so it simply falls over because its side walls can't support the structure, while the bottom tower just gets to follow gravity down, which is a lot easier, doesn't cause it to fall sideways and thus doesn't compromise the integrity of its side walls so it can hold its shape longer!

[@Deb_Boi]

What happens if you add Oxygen to it? Compressed O2?

[@luisp.3788]

@Adarsh kumar no

[@grandpabear5493]

Be nice if there was a way of saving the little teepee towers in acrylic or something similar so you could keep or sell/raise money for additional demonstrations. Love your work.

[@fpsfun7954]

3:36 colorblind VLC player icon xD

[@Miltiades178]

I agree

[@Angie_suv]

This is the best channel on YT thank you for your work !!

[@Angie_suv]

Just watched an ad for you, I just love your videos so much

[@B4iCQ]

I had to laugh at the "upside down" explanation. No idea.

[@va6tj774]

Fascinating. Have you tried heating the alumina whiskers to expel residual mercury? What is the aspect ratio of the whiskers? Have you made any SEM pictures and XRF scans of the whiskers before and after heating, with and without free O2?

[@falconshadow4856]

Broke: the three towers are enemies and are at war Woke: the three towers are bros that support each other

[@888ian2]

Pls do more of this, its super interesting and nobody else will do it. Id love to see a really big tower with a bigger plate

[@breadleymcthicc5444]

I could watch that reaction for hours. Super satisfying.

[@slow2serious860]

Regarding upside down tower not falling as fast as the normal one: it's purely physical phenomenon. When growing upwards, any slightest deviation from the vertical course make the whole structure lean more and more to the side, but it ends up straightened up by gravity when going downwards. If you hold a pencil with two fingers and try to balance it pointing up/down, it will follow the same principle.

[@DragonaxFilms]

8:53 the one on the left looks like a statue of a person :D

[@suvangoyal421]

?? whereeee

[@ojkolsrud1]

I wonder if it would be possible to slowly fill the container from the bottom with a slow-setting resin? It might end up looking pretty cool.

[@r1w3d]

Awesome still reminds me of fibrous tremolite asbestos. 👌

[@shumeister1059]

I've never enjoyed watching aluminium oxide grow so much. I like that you can get dark and light stripes out of it.

[@shaneblankenship8193]

8:46 The Wedding of the Cousin Itt Sisters.

[@FunTheLaw]

I was wondering from seeing the first mercury vs. aluminum video what would happen if you ran a small current through it enough to light a standard bulb maybe.

[@zacharykokot6625]

Your previous video was featured on Daily Planet

[@1TW1-m5i]

Isn't that the company superman works for?

[@Sqwidiot]

there are 2 ways of pronouncing Aluminum. personaly i think you chose correct

[@joker_storm2232]

I wanna see this reaction in a 100% oxygen atmosphere

[@AwakeningEnthusiast]

I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!

[@dotz0cat]

I think rubies are made of alumina. could you try growing them with the fibers via flame fusion?

[@carterdobson8363]

Dotz0cat aluminum u mean?

[@Molb0rg]

Carter Dobson Aluminium u mean?

[@Molb0rg]

i definitely all hands up for flame fusion. As for getting Al2O3 there are easier ways to get it in required quantities.

[@carterdobson8363]

Molb0rg no it’s spelled aluminum not aluminium or alumina

[@budmeister]

Carter Dobson Alumina is the common name for Aluminum Oxide.

[@richeyfehringer3428]

Mind blown.......im new and man this channel is awesome yay science

[@Sqwince23]

What does this stuff look like under high magnification? Could it be used for anything like Carbon Nano tubes?

[@naryosh_]

Carbon nanotubes are made of *carbon* and Aluminum Amalgam is made of Aluminum and Mercury so nope

[@Sqwince23]

100 yeah. I am well aware of that. Just wondering if the long very fine threads could be used for anything.

[@med8615]

no

[@jamzee_]

I believe the color diffractions are due to only reaction with the oxygen. Since the aluminum’s color in the vacuum is much more like its original/polished color, this can tell that the aluminum is much purer. There’s less oxygen so it just doesn’t oxidize. Since, and i have not looked into it (simply a guess), aluminum that is polished is just unoxidized aluminum covered in a protective polymer or oil, it can be safe to assume that the same is happening here just without the protective cover. So most likely after a while of sitting out even the dark bands of aluminum amalgam would oxidize from not being protected.

[@MuzikBike]

Why not try out a bunch of commonly available metals? Like copper, iron (this one doesn't actually do much with mercury apparently, which might be an interesting demonstration of the whole rock papers scissors nature of chemistry), titanium, lead, tin, and maybe even tungsten lightbulb filaments.

[@fancyhat_]

Muzik Bike last I recall, it doesn't do much with metals other than Aluminum and Gold. Silver, maybe, but most are just neutral.

[@GabrielAKAFinn]

Well not with mercury but something has to bind with them no? But it would be the same towers I'd guess

[@theEVILone0130]

what's got me intrigued are where the dark bands and while the proposal about the Mercury evaporating off. but that got me to thinking one about it being almost empty inside when I realized the dark is almost a stain on the outside but didn't affect the inside it was untouched...

[@ballisticbonzai]

8:46 now we just need someone to fly a plane into it...

[@tiankuohua5167]

r u sure?

[@electronicblues]

NO

[@niquehumerickhouse5174]

If you have access to it. You might want to try using sulphur hexafluoride gas. It is clear and will definitely block out the oxygen. Being much denser than air it will stay in the container and not disapate, so no need for a cover or vacuum.

[@WaitingForStorm]

when you search for "How to make pasta" and get: 6:50

[@TheScarab117]

In a lot of materials air bubbles can act as mirrors, reflecting more light and giving the material a white look. With less air there was probably less air bubbles, so less reflection.

[@AshrZ]

So you're telling us that if Pinocchio's in a vacuum, you can't tell if he's lying?

[@strawberrylemonadelioness]

These videos are always so cool, I love them!

[@dgf8768]

what if you done the test in a 0 g environment which way will it go

[@TheMegaPingasMobile]

It already goes away from the source so safe assume it wouldn't look much different. I mean it already goes up against the gravitational pull

[@evepsyche]

the weakening of the center and left pillar or whatever might be caused by the right pillar growing much faster, dragging mid and left

[@christianhogue8799]

8:19 me when I am carrying my team in apex.

[@buckstarchaser2376]

This can't possibly be the last video on the subject. There are so many things to try now. I personally would like to see multiple small pieces of aluminum/mercury, separated in a hexagonal grid, on a turntable, inside the vacuum chamber, with a thin oxygen atmosphere (or whatever other ingredient that makes the towers not grow when the air is missing). Then, I want to see some attempts to make the structures rigid, like some kind of hillbilly aerogel. Testing the electrical and thermal properties would also be something I'd like to watch someone else do. I wonder if that product called Cactus Juice would make the structures permanent without crushing them during pouring.

[@myranutsak4059]

8:35 the council will divide your fate

[@MeiGunner]

2:00 its a diffrent color to , Crazy , keepp the Videos Coming !

[@Xenotric]

woah thats like what happens with aluminium

[@CameronSalazar2113]

I think the dark parts on the tower are there Because that area becomes more dense on the molecular level by the change in speed and amount of O2. Also when you showed the inside of the tower with bands the banded area even look alot more dense. you could figure out if this is true by doing a run with vacuum and without and then weight same amount of both and see which has more material.

[@aud1gen]

That piece of aluminum was a lot smaller than I thought it was

[@pingpongpung]

*aluminium

[@aud1gen]

pingpongpung reeeeeeeeeeeee

[@priyagaya3]

the last video and this video was sick!!!! but I think experimenting with different metals will react a little bit differently, I am just curious on what the aluminum will do to bronze copper (molten metals) etc:-

[@elifasyt3150]

I think everyone wants this... SCALE IT UP!

[@SedentaryGhost]

I think the color is due to the speed of its growth, similar to the way a rubber band looks when stretched out. I feel that if it was moving slower the aluminum and maybe mercury would be collected closer together making a darker color and then when it moves faster it spreads the color out. Just my thought.

[@Daropion]

This reaction makes me very uncomfortable.

[@sypoth]

Nice to hear you saying aluminum right

[@tommyzhao6600]

Do a video on the tree of saturn, theres only one video of it on youtube

[@mrbergchemistry]

The up tower collapses before the down tower because of gravity. Or more specifically, the difference between the tower's strength under compression vs. tension.

[@gigglysamentz2021]

4:00 According to your hypothesis, the second band should be darker, but it isn't.

[@gigglysamentz2021]

Could the darker band have something to do with a smoother surface that builds less aluminium oxide than a rougher surface?

[@abellujan66]

Alluminati confirmed

[@tiankuohua5167]

*ba dum tsss*

[@brendanmatthews866]

From a physics point of view, the tower on the bottom of the dual tower plate may have appeared more stable for longer thanks to gravity not fighting its growth and stability and actually reinforcing them instead, whereas the top one had to fight gravity, eventually collapsing in on itself. Why the top one did not grow as much as the tower of the single tower plate in the first video (which still grew pretty tall despite gravity) is then probably explained by the mercury dropping out of the hole as well as the split nature of the dual tower plate leading to overall less mercury for either tower. Surprisingly, I did not see any comments about this possibility so yeah, but maybe I am wrong.

[@kryss5719]

6:46 when puberty hit

[@c4c4cr0773]

Could the change of color be a change only in the structure itself? Like the reaction is slower, the gap between the fibers is smaller and we can better see the real color of the reaction. A bit like the beige bubbles on the top of a dark cola.

[@-wrsmith-2436]

Ala-min-ium UK Al-um-inum USA

[@ALEXANDERATTACK]

Can confirm, agreed

[@thetessellater9163]

WRSmith - It has always confused me why Americans can't say aluminium properly, and do they pronounce all -inium as -inum? Condominum?

[@1TW1-m5i]

Al-you-min-ium =Australian

[@oussematrabelsi9429]

@@thetessellater9163 because in the American English dictionary it's aluminum.

[@necrodiem15]

Is mercury magnetic? If so, you could use a magnet to hold it upside down without the hole that drips it away. It seemed that the constant presence of mercury was needed for the strength of the tower. So, a magnet underneath the divot, separated by the aluminum from the mercury. If it IS magnetic but the block is too thick, just drill a deeper divot till the field can penetrate . I dont know how you might use the acid though. :( ...Q-tip?

[@thomasbrown7171]

Have you tried aircraft aluminum? Aluminum alloys have less resistance to corrosion. It might cause some interesting variants when interacting with the zinc, silicon, magnesium, etc. used in the alloy.

[@freehat2722]

Awesome. Always get it on video, this is very interesting to watch. Thank you.

[@hvayne]

Try to heat up aluminium to liquid form, or just increase the temperature. Will it react faster?

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Would it go faster in an oxygen-rich or pressurised atmosphere?