Exotic Elements vs. Magnet | Rare Earth Metals | 7/7

[@anapananapa]

You know, I actually really appreciate that your warnings/disclaimers aren’t just “Don’t do this at home.” And are far more informative and cautionary.

[@eugenetswong]

I agree. Unless he gives a specific danger, it is easy for people to think that they took all precautions. I always thought that we were supposed to protect soft tissues, as opposed to be concerned also for bone crushing.

[@alexdrockhound9497]

I third this notion. People are much less likely to listen when they just are told."don't'nt" When the actual reason is explained so they can understand why its a bad idea, theyre much more likely to listen.

[@teresashinkansen9402]

I have trouble handling his exaggerated safety measures and ominous tone of the music when doing the simplest low risk things. I mean wearing gloves just because a 10W halogen light bulb can emit a few microwatts of UVB?

[@CnCDune]

0:50 when you whipped that thick book, I knew I was in for a treat.

[@davidrell-dukai8250]

1:50 *

[@WalterBurton]

Your patient focus on the goal doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

[@Vidar_Odinson]

Great use of Lego Technic :D

[@brainiac75]

Thanks :) Technic sets have always been my favorites. Don't think I will ever get too old for them x)

[@savagesarethebest7251]

@brainiac75 I would not have thought that I was going to see a respectful scientific application of Lego technic like this. Kudos to you!

[@3VFtetsu]

Danish engineering at its finest

[@JohnDlugosz]

@@brainiac75 I build the Bulldozer set (over 4000 parts IIRC) and a contractor I had over (I forget for what; might be HVAC) spotted it and I showed him how it's motorized. He asked if I think it's something he could build with his kid, and upon reflecting for a moment, I said "no". The instructions for the gearbox and surrounding areas are not that good and it needs someone who knows how to troubleshoot. The first half anyway (the build instructions are in two volumes) is for adults really -- someone experienced with making things and getting them to work right. And of course, the price! (I even got the 3rd party lighting kit, ans sourced an original Technic Lego figure ( *not* a mini-figure) to put in the driver's seat.)

[@Petertronic]

@@brainiac75 I'm 53 and still build a Lego kit now and then, you can never be too old, haha

[@WobblycogsUk]

Many years ago when I was a chemist I devised an experiment very similar to this. We had a C shaped frame with high strength magnets on each end of the C. The gap between them was just large enough to fit an NMR tube. The magnet assembly was placed on a high precision scale (4 or 5 figure) and an NMR tube with a known weight of sample was put between the magnet. The scale would deflect based on the magnetic susceptibility. It was a surprisingly accurate set up considering the materials we had to work with.

[@JohnDlugosz]

That pressure gauge module gives me a strong sense of _déjà vu_ even though I've never owned the pneumatic Lego Technics.

[@anthonywilliams7052]

Looks like we need to try some new alloys! There's your next project!

[@brainiac75]

Oh yes. There are some interesting alloys out there and they might have completely different magnetic susceptibilities than the elements used for the alloy. Thanks for the early watch!

[@anthonywilliams7052]

@@brainiac75 Maybe team up with some of the other great channels out there to make some?

[@TerryLawrence001]

a poor man's mass spectrometer :-)

[@brainiac75]

Gotta use what you've got ;) Thanks for the early watch, Terry!

[@TerryLawrence001]

@@brainiac75 You do my kind of Science!

[@justassimple8328]

I’m glad that this series continues it’s been years ago and I thought that video is the end of the series

[@Joe3D]

All pieces should be only one to avoid magnetic field debilitation AND be the same weight/magnetic force ratio.

[@brainiac75]

Yes, and the glass ampoules are also too different in size. Worked out better than I was hoping for though :D Thanks for the early watch!

[@darkknight8139]

Great video, and a great test too. It may be simple, and maybe the "official" test was way more complex, your test proves the point that the set is genuine. Fascinating, these rare earth metals. Thank you for the video!

[@spiderzvow1]

Alternat title "adult man plays with legos magnets and rocks." Love ur content

[@exaltedb]

The finale of probably my favorite series on KZbin is here!

[@brainiac75]

Glad you like it :) I will not call it the finale yet. There are still a few elements I should be able to test in liquid form in the future. Thanks for the early watch!

[@exaltedb]

@@brainiac75I saw 7/7 and thought as such, maybe I shouldn’t jump to such conclusions

[@SilentRacer911]

It’s a good thing you turned the tray, if the fast ones had more time to accelerate, I believe they might have broken the vial. And your Thulium sample looks to have a sponge material and then a more condensed version on top with the denser one having the better attraction

[@llearch]

On that subject, I'd be interested to see Gadolinium at the longer range - with, for safety, a padded block after about the distance it travels at the shorter range, so we don't end up with it absolutely zipping along and breaking, naturally. Sort of a "this is how much more reactive this Gadolinium is than one of the lower paramagnetic options" demonstration, as it were. Similarly, I'd be interested in the Thulium sample in the same situation, but sideways, with the two half-samples at either end of the ampule, if it could be done. Setup would be extremely difficult, tho.

[@Bricknut34]

It could also be possible that some eddy currents could be formed in the metals. The metals have different resistance. Therefore, the effect could vary in different samples. I look forward to the next video 🫡

[@ExploringNew1]

2036 brainiac: "I featured this set way back in 2024. Man, Time flies"

[@doubledarefan]

Yup! Every dozade. (dozade = 1 Dozen years)

[@BassBiest]

Quick Idea here, If you bring the thulium sample closer to a magnet from below, one of the pieces should lift earlier if they are indeed different. That way they can be tested individually, but only qualitively, off course.

[@vicr123]

Glad to see this series come back

[@asdfghjkl7507]

8:30 Just a surface-level observation: the seemingly more magnetic piece looks less porous, so it might have a higher density.

[@Mario4445d]

One of your best videos that you ever made with magnets, cool. and is obvious that the shapes makes angles and orientation constantly change for tests and Thulium must have some impurity most likely.

[@erickvond6825]

It was worth watching for the Lego contraption alone. I have a Rubbermade tote full of those things somewhere. Fond memories...

[@PiotrBrykalski]

WOW! (I'm speechless.) I've been watching your videos for years now. But after this one, with such a detailed approach and taking into the account so many variables, makes me finally comment for the 1st time and subscribe your channel. Just a great video. All other content also very useful and simple splendid! Thank you for all work. 🙇‍♂ Keep it going! 👍And again... WOW!

[@maple95377]

Part 7 finally Excellent work and videos!

[@TuTAH_1]

That's the most professional pneumatic gate I have ever seen. Love the way it opens and pumps 🤣

[@RafaCB0987]

Loved the more "freestyle" way of testing the samples

[@plushquasar653]

Very cool test apparatus! I’m impressed.

[@bishun]

Cool experiment, a scaled down version would make an excellent science project for kids.

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

Until I saw the book, I'd forgotten I have a copy...but a bit older, since I'm pretty sure I picked it up before 1985. I really need to put my bookshelves up, and empty all those boxes. Some of them have been closed since the late 80s....I keep moving, and then not opening all the boxes--it adds up. I had no idea the rare metals had magnetic attraction, at least, not as much as they clearly are.

[@MI-wc6nk]

Great work as always! Another variable you might be able to estimate, is the impact of the empules weight - using some ball bearings in variable weights in this setup, calculating the effect of the weight diff on the drag, which you can use to calibrate all samples to more standard/comparable weights.

[@flydrop8822]

Amazing work as usual! With the new bigger and badder 6x4 neodymium magnet, it really was worth going back to those early tests to make a more precise measurement of the weak attraction values involved. And it really is a treat to see how big the difference between these metals' magnetism is! Considering how cold Denmark gets at times, I wonder if you could crank the magnetic power further by doing this test outside in the winter? This could lead to even larger differences in the magnetic forces, though there would be some major challenges involved (is it even safe to be outside during the winter? I have never been at such a cold place before).

[@Pluna-di6vw]

I love these videos you make, they are very informative on stuff ill never be even close to, nor will ever use probably But they are entertaining in how the world of physics and chemistry work

[@brainandforce]

Well, if you ever feel the itch, it's not too expensive to acquire a few grams of rare earth metals, especially cheaper ones like samarium and gadolinium.

[@michaelpipkin9942]

This just makes me want to play with Erector Sets, the mech arm reminded me.

[@poneill65]

Perhaps mount the ampules vertically, giving less freedom for the metal inside to spread out. Also have the ampule at the dead center of a round float so it can rotate to it's best crystal orientation wrt magnetic field (and always ends a fixed distance from the magnet). Or, do none of that because, by the look of it, it's all good! 🙂

[@NebulonRanger]

Hell yeah, new magnetism video from Brian!

[@JustPyroYT]

Yaaayy a new Epdisode of this series! :D Great Video as always! :)

[@brainiac75]

Yep, a very delayed one, but not the finale yet ;) Hoping to test some more elements in the future. Likely in very cold, liquid form... Thanks for the early watch as always, JustPyro!

[@gretalaube91]

Excellent work!

[@barongerhardt]

It seems unlikely a scammer would have tested for and selected for magnetic properties. I would put a high confidence that the samples are real, but unable to verify advertised purity.

[@dav1dbone]

Exploring Curie points would be an interesting video, obviously some elements might be tricky due to requiring cryogenic environments. That thulium vial could be broken and maybe you could show its properties like cutting with a knife.

[@MahBor]

You should build a periodic table with real elements

[@Graham_Rule]

Now I know why I had a gadolinium compound injected during an MRI scan. That stuff really responds to magnetic fields.

[@CrudelyMade]

what if... you had a scale, like the old style where you have a weight you move out on an arm.. the element would sit in a sling (3d printed?) on top of the magnet. (doesn't have to be super large magnet)... increase the scale weight until the element moves away from the magnet. this should give exact weight of the element and effect of magnet. another approach might be using a precise electronic scale, a pivot arm, brace one end of the arm against the scale, the other end of the arm holds the glass container at a set distance from the magnet. however much the magnet pulls will be reflected on the scale, less friction at the joint, but a

[@sonofasalesman]

The reason why it had to be so close is cause (at least I assume) that magnetic field strength decreases with one over r CUBED not squared the distance, so its strength falls off rapidly

[@AppliedCryogenics]

I bet some company would donate an X-ray spectrometer to the cause. That would be an alternate method, right?

[@BackYardScience2000]

Wouldn't you have to remove them from the glass to get accurate readings though? Many of these elements are pretty reactive, even with air. They would degrade very quickly if removed from the vials unless held under an inert atmosphere.

[@brainiac75]

Oh yes, XRF is a fantastic technology. Would love to have one but their price sure is a problem :( I don't think they will work great through glass though? Thanks for the early watch!

[@TheCatherineCC]

@@brainiac75 You have a radiacode, you can use that, just get a gamma source and some lead to shield it.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

@@brainiac75 I know that they work through plastic containers. I'm not sure about glass, but it was pretty astonishing to see demonstrations even of smaller units in action.

[@foo0815]

@@brainiac75 Depending on build, XRF ignores atomic numbers below a certain threshold, varying from 11 (Na) to 20 (Ca), so Si (14) doesn't interfere, if you choose the right model.

[@GlenHunt]

6:50: 20°C is 68°F, not 78°F. Doesn't change anything, though. The Earth keeps spinning all the same. :)

[@mikereilly2745]

Hi Brian, I have liked and commented on some of your past awesome videos. I just subscribed. re; mag paint etc.. I too have tried many ways to capture a 3d model of a magnets magnetic field. I like your mag paint on plastic demo/art piece. When I was young, I grew magnetic crystals , like home grown crystals that you buy as a kit and grow over weeks/months etc... I doped mine with fine pure Iron particles, I grew them in the presence of a extremely powerful magnetic field (used a electromagnet) It was interesting, I thought I might grow a perfect magnet , with almost all the atoms being aligned perfectly, slowly over time, atom by atom , forming molecular lattices with perfect even layering and spacing , real efficient , no defects , yielding a superior magnet. well, I grew pretty, fragile, rust crystals LOL! Not much of a magnet. I really love your work. Thank you for all you do.

[@peter360adventures9]

Awesome test.

[@hoggif]

It seems you need an xray fluoresense analyzer just to be absolutely sure but probably a bit out of scope of this channel.😃 Quite a clever idea of making a test with magnetic field. Great use of legos too!

[@warp.routine]

I get irrationally excited when I see you have a new video.

[@DExUS5]

yes, we want to see it !

[@garage5125]

we all have to appreciate than he filmed the experiment again just because of slightly bad focus shots

[@christopherleubner6633]

Warm up the gadolinium and you will be surprised that it is a lot less magnetic also cooling holmium makes it VERY magnetic. That stuff is used for pole pieces used in superconducting magnets for NMR analyzers.

[@SpoookySoul]

Love the vids, also i wonder if someone could try making their own neodymium magnets from one of these sample ampules.

[@tommiller1315]

Maybe change the experiment from water bourne, to suspending the sample in still air a fixed (safe) height above the magnet, by a fishing line. Measure the horizontal distance by moving the magnet for a repeatable angle of deviation for each sample, say 5 to 15 degrees.

[@jansenart0]

I never knew paramagnetism was a gradient but I guess I should have suspected.

[@corwinhyatt519]

Testing with the ampules in Z orientation worries me a little, especially with the more sensitive minerals. If/when you do that test I hope the ampules don't break.

[@flydrop8822]

he would probably need to get a new shape for the styrofoam boat in that case to make sure the ampule doesnt fall underwater

[@sapphoenixthefirebird5063]

Braniac, how about testing the remaining gaseous elements? I noticed none of them (perhaps except chlorine, nitrogen, and oxygen) have been tested. I'd like to especially see the noble gases!

[@daysejones968]

One day you'll end up finding a new property of a strange metal, i bet

[@Margoth195]

det er altid godt at se en dansk videnskabsmand bruge lego til eksperimenter. tak for en god video

[@pattheplanter]

Time to learn glass-blowing under an argon atmosphere. A furnace that can handle 800 to 1700°C in a modified atmosphere would be needed to produce those exotic ball-bearings as well. I think I am joking but I can never tell with you, you always surprise with your projects.

[@abdulazizaljuaid2888]

Lmao waited forever for this!

[@brainiac75]

Sorry, I did take me sweet time with this one ;) I was hoping to include at least one new element, but still working on that... Thanks for the early watch!

[@ulrichraymond8372]

Would love to see the magnetic field strength of materials under uv radiation vs induction heating.

[@Gameboygenius]

If you ask around, or just drop the money, you might be able to test the samples with XRF, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

[@Laralinda]

Maybe not for any video but just for your curiousity you could ask at an university if they could analyse this with xray spectroscopy. I bet they are also curious enough to help you out.

[@TundeEszlari]

I love your contents.😊

[@davidbandler]

You'd get a more error-free test result if you used a more reliable, accurate setup - like say a neodymium magnet under a scale and calculate your values based upon the pull force. Too many environmental induced errors using a floating boat.

[@therednask]

Super film. Samemu nie było by mnie stać, psychicznie czy finansowo na taki eksperyment . Ale daje pogląd na sprawę której w sieci nie znajdziesz .

[@Asaad-Hamad]

Hi Brian, thanks a lot for the great content, you are really the best one on KZbin who can explain magnets scientifically and practically, I hope I can get your permission to use one of your measurements ( mapping monster magnet) in my work to conclude the function for the magnetic field for that magnet, I couldn't reach out to you since there is no email address in your channel, I will be grateful if agree and thank you again for the useful content.

[@jonmarquez128]

@Braniac75 Please do noble gases, please! 🙂 Nice contraption.

[@martinus_]

Wouldn't it be more precise to measure the weight of the ampule when the metal is attracted to the magnet using an analytical balance? (ampule placed in a holder that is tied with stings that loops around the balance separated by a distance so the magnet doesn't mess up the measuring)

[@1.4142]

Do the platinum group too

[@foo0815]

You should try to borrow an XRF hand-held analyzer and test all samples.

[@straingedays]

My uneducated brain thinks air/breeze may be fixed by placing test inside a closed chamber, and replacing water with something of lower friction/surface tension? Your point of weight and purity was most interesting on results. Perhaps turn ampules 90° or 180° to average results? Weight/Purity of sealed element + glass would remain an unknown variable. Apologies in advance for my dimwitedness I, thoroughly enjoyed your video throughout

[@MadScientist267]

X ray fluorescence spectroscopy will reveal everything you have without opening the ampoules or having to worry about mass differences. It'll require changing the title of the video but should be empirical proof of what they consist of. They use this method to detect lead in assembled electronic products for compliance with RoHS, it will work with any element.

[@Skandalos]

How deep do x-rays penetrate the material?

[@DangerousPictures]

that would be too easy

[@HerbaMachina]

​@@Skandalos depends on the materials absorbtion properties of Xrays.

[@grantrennie]

Lead solder is essential in the most important devices ,non lead solder is a liability in safety critical electronics

[@MadScientist267]

@@Skandalos It is susceptible to absorption and such but in any case the surface "glows" with the emission spectrum associated with the elements present. For anything below the surface, the xray photons have to be able to get in, and the lower frequency emitted photons have to be able to get out. In this case, the samples are assumed homogenous, so the depth isn't a concern. There will also be emissions from the glass as well, revealing its contents along side the spectra of the elements themselves. It can be used to not only detect the elements present but the relative concentrations, from which molecular information can be extracted. So the oxygen spike in the glass will be approximately twice as tall as the silicon and so on, along with the other constituents. It's an interesting technology. Little handheld thing in the most basic cases.

[@SeanBZA]

Very hard to get the rare earths in a pure form, so very likely the assorted samples with odd properties are just slightly contaminated, probably with the Gadolinium, as even traces in the parts per thousand range can explain the results, and chemically they are near identical, except that the gadolinium can easily be separated as powder and concentrated using a magnetic separator and some cooling, so making it the easiest to separate. but the others are hard to do, especially those in smaller concentrations, needing lots of runs to do the differentiation on the slight differences. A good reason the rare earths are regarded as a very hard item to refine, with all the chemical steps that have to be done time after time to exploit tiny differences in chemical reaction rates, and lots of noxious chemicals used.

[@frogz]

10:20 regarding the difference in glass, presumably they are all made with the same size stock ampule so unless they cut some glass off when sealing it, they should all have the same glass mass?

[@The-One-and-Only100]

Monster magnet vs radiation

[@piconano]

can an XRF spectrometer not be able to tell what's inside the vials, without exposing the elements to the air?

[@killsalot78]

11:08 x and z are only alike from the boats perspective, the magnetic field and the crystal structure of the materials are still in 3d.

[@ulrichraymond8372]

The results would be more accurate if a temperature vs magnetic field graph within the glass ampule.

[@CraftAero]

A pendulum (deflection angle) test may reduce several variables.

[@TH3UZ1M4ST3R]

Me encantan tus videos 𑑎𐩄

[@randomperson1418]

The unexpected finale?

[@brainiac75]

No, just a very delayed episode ;) Too early to call it the finale. It should be possible to test some new, high-purity elements in very cold liquid form... Thanks for the early watch!

[@NicholasWeightman]

I kept meaning to comment on this video. I made an observation during the video which (although unlikely) i thought might need to be looked at - I noticed that the yttrium (couldn't see other one but you can review) were closest to the locking magnets of the case they are stored - i know under normal circumstances that tiny magnet should have no effect, however after 10 years, they might possibly have gained some magnetism? I wonder if that could account for difference?

[@bayfish_9156]

Hello

[@brainiac75]

Hi! Thanks for the early watch ;)

[@FlameMage2]

Can you normalize the results using the different weight values? Glass to material ratio would be tough to figure out too I'd suppose given the ampule variances. Sorry if overly simple I am just thinking about this out loud in the moment sorta, good video!

[@KhmerCOP-ux2jj]

I found a few metal which I believe it failed from others planet, some are not magnetic and some are attracting to magnet...some are strong attracting magnetic and some are weak magnetic. But I could clearly identify it name.

[@BnORailFan]

Wouldn't spinning the Thulium sample to separate the two pieces on opposite sides then put it on the float give an indicator if the smaller sample is not pure? Do two tests with the larger sample closer then the smaller one further away. Or perpendicular to see if it rotates to the smaller sample.

[@LegendSpecialist]

👌

[@blastjustin]

Where did you get these from? I would love a copy for my collection of periodic elements

[@dav1dbone]

I've bought rare earth samples also which I have had doubts about purity, it's too easy for unscrupulous sellers to relabel low value elements as higher priced ones, and very difficult for the buyer to test.

[@reecec626]

Neat!

[@simbiods3]

Our planet Earth is also magnet?

[@brainiac75]

Yep, but very weak and stable enough to not affect the test runs here. I actually have a video about the strength and direction of the Earth's magnetic field at my place: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZeQkHV4fb6qiKc

[@BH4x0r]

what if you make a holder with a load cell instead

[@sean..L]

Yttrium and Ytterbium should have more distinctive names from each other.

[@garyha2650]

Round boat for counting frames due to rotation

[@garyha2650]

Cylinder in z-test for cushion to avoid collision disaster and lead keel if needed

[@orbnaes]

Run the vials over a magnetism/demagnetize before you do the test?

[@BlueButtonFly]

"Neodymium magnets are not toys". lol. yeah, ok.

[@7636kei]

... yeaaah. Looking back to _that_ first video, looks like the thulium impurity problem is there even back when you shot said vid. As made apparent in this video, even back then your thulium sample acted more strongly than it probably should ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGPHlq1qqalohc0m3s ). So I decided to hop into wikipedia for a quick glance for the impurities commonly popping up in thulium samples, and oh dear. (Editor's note: anything in square brackets mine.) (the second paragraph) > In 1879, the Swedish chemist Per Teodor Cleve separated two previously unknown components, which he called holmia [holmium(III) oxide] and thulia [thulium(III) oxide], from the rare-earth mineral erbia [erbium(III) oxide];... A relatively pure sample of thulium metal was first obtained in 1911. (several paragraphs later, in _Occurrence_ section~) > Thulium is often found with minerals containing yttrium and gadolinium. (Let's hope I quoted the right lines, for chemistry is not my day job. Though even if I did, proving what the blyat is exactly going on with _your_ thulium sample, without tampering with the sample or its glass ampoule, is probably beyond the ken of amateur science workshops.) Otherwise, bravo. I've been around your channel for quite a while now (I definitely remembered you replied my comment on the incandescent vs LED lamp vid), and it's wonderful how this channel have evolved. Though tbf my first exposure of you didn't involve neodymium magnets of any size. It was white phosphorus.

[@Quickened1]

Insta-click!

[@Koopai386]

At this point, I'm wondering if it's even legal to own these😂

[@brainiac75]

No worries. These are relatively harmless :) Thanks for the early watch!

[@Koopai386]

@@brainiac75 that's good to hear.

[@BackYardScience2000]

Why wouldn't they be legal? You can own any element up to certain amounts. Even plutonium if it's under a certain amount and the right isotope.

[@Koopai386]

@BackYardScience2000 i don't think plutonium is legal. According to google, it is illegal.

[@WDCallahan]

They only let you have these if your accent is cool enough.