Cleaning old sodium metal

[@melkerper]

Step 1 : Dip it in water

[@holasoyalejandro9822]

it reacts

[@zanpekosak2383]

Step 2(only do this if you survive):Throw it in the toilet and RUUUUUUN!

[@maggiep9007]

"And thats the story of why I'm not allowed in the burger king restroom, kids."

[@KrazyKyle-ij9vb]

@@maggiep9007 nice

[@firstletterofthealphabet7308]

@@KrazyKyle-ij9vb nice

[@user-hq2jl6sm1n]

NileRed: this sodium is very DIRTY he’s been a bad bad metal

[@omarmimouni7691]

I came here to say that

[@jakethescientist5332]

Sodium. The bad metal

[@graham1158]

@@jakethescientist5332 kinky metal

[@Stellar-Cowboy]

@@graham1158 help me step metal, I’m stuck

[@mrduke1376]

A naughty one too

[@Yeah73415]

crap is definatly the technical term for the outerlayer of the sodium

[@NileRed]

+Yeah73415 definitely.

[@satkum2101]

Yeah73415 not NaO

[@SuperAngelofglory]

Na2O, Na2O2, NaOH, Na2CO3

[@NetRolller3D]

I'd have never thought sodium tarnishes producing carbon radium phosphide.

[@xander1052]

Sodium Crapide

[@TheBladeOfTheHero]

I clean my sodium with water (Gone Wrong)

[@l4d2160]

+Xylofuse (GONE SEXUAL!!!) (MUST SEE!!!!1!)

[@HilbertXVI]

Bryan Young Ouch

[@louist103]

Bryan Young (in the hood)(cops were called)(fire department was called)(people died)

[@gyrgrls]

@Carl Rosdahl Yes, there are some pretty bizarre fetishes out there...

[@gyrgrls]

@@remus6846 Yes. Her name was Francium. She really radiated the sexual quat.

[@nurdpage5366]

one of the best chemistry channels ive seen on youtube by far , keep up the great work

[@NileRed]

nurdpage Thanks!

[@asjenmensink2740]

+nurdpage you mean THE best chemestry channel on youtube.

[@NileRed]

Asjen Mensink Thanks! :)

[@antpoop2404]

yeah, I'm having a good time pretending i understand what you're talking about, nice vids :)

[@TheDeadMeme27]

@@NileRed guess what this channel is still awesome 4 years later lol

[@MandolinSashaank]

Step 1 - Dip it in water Step 2 - Boom 💥 Step 3 - you get sodium hydroxide Step 4 - Now add magnesium Step 5 - You get sodium! Yay!

[@lewisho8114]

4 should be "add cesium" because cesium is more reactive so it will easily replace sodium.

[@rabi_toge]

@@lewisho8114 It gotta explode lol

[@magusperde365]

@@rabi_toge thats ok just add more cesium and it will stop the explosion

[@lington2270]

If you don’t want the cesium just add francium to get it out

[@rinnx1238]

You need something more reactive than sodium, like potassium or other group 1 metals, but the reaction can be explosive and violent so its not advised. Furthermore, it wouldn't make sense to use other metals to displace sodium from its salt solution and then throw away the salt solution, it would be a waste of metal and resources

[@blzahz7633]

I like the usage of specific scientific terms like: "brown crap" :'D

[@tyttuut]

Just hold it under the faucet and rinse it off, problem solved.

[@michiganmitten1147]

The Tyttuutface a mineral oil faucet tap

[@devvrath123]

Well if it is water then the whole thing will go up in flames lol

[@natreyn1425]

Devvrath woosh

[@Mr_Glenn]

@@devvrath123 you'll no longer have dirty sodium.

[@devvrath123]

@@Mr_Glenn You'll have NaOH lol

[@mheermance]

Interesting, it would be helpful to explain why the isopropyl alcohol causes the sodium to coalesce.

[@NileRed]

+Martin Heermance I think the isopropyl alcohol reacts with the sodium oxides on the surface of the sodium. It destroys them and allows the sodium surface to be "clean" and interact with other sodium. Just a theory though. I am not sure.

[@RhetteLawe]

+Nile Red I actually think it works because it forms propyl gas (propene or maybe even propyne, depending on degrees of unsaturation ) and a disodium complex. It still works by breaking up the surface oxide, but you might be able to get the same result if you had a hot steam jet blow over the top of the oil. Disodium Oxide is actually glass clear, and there's a few videos on youtube that show it briefly formed before it explosively decomposes...

[@cheke_hs]

Could it be that it works like the gallium beating heart, maybe?

[@Hambonillo]

+Nile Red I'm no chemist, but in another life I worked in a chemical blending plant. We'd use Isopropyl Alcohol in a spray bottle to break up suds when transferring the cleaning products to containers. I wonder if this effect of killing surface tension would also be the principle in action with the sodium.

[@lloydevans2900]

Sodium oxide is a strong base, so it reacts with the isopropanol to make a 1:1 mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium isopropoxide. These are then soluble in the remaining isopropanol, so are stripped off the surface of the sodium metal. Any water in the oil or isopropanol also gets converted to sodium hydroxide, so this dissolves as well.

[@keelanbrown7747]

"Hey dude check out this weird soft penny I found! I'm gonna go rinse it off in the tap"

[@razzmatazz6125]

Photos taken moments before disaster

[@Dlamond_LAser]

Youuuu areeeeee screweeeddd

[@kingfloridaman5274]

This is weir..boom

[@ownitervi241]

Immaculate humor.

[@ShaneGadsby]

2:33 - This vid was released a while ago now, but in case you've not already heard this advice before: if you put the stir rod agains the rim of the source container, angled towards the target container, the surface tension will reduce underside-dripping very significantly :)

[@NileRed]

Oh yes, i know about this. I just never do it for some reason

[@ShaneGadsby]

NileRed haha, I figured you would, but on the off chance you'd not.come across it, figured I'd throw it out there :)

[@justlingplease]

got recommended this, it's amazing to see how much your channel's changed! it feels weird knowing all of this was done in a garage, and the microphone quality too, but it just goes to show how much you've grown over time :D

[@somefool6409]

I guess you could say it was... Sodium dirty

[@sivalley]

The door; it's over there. 👉

[@somefool6409]

Actually, that's a wall.

[@sivalley]

Connor Steppie Too sharp? I forget sarcasm gets cut off by Google to save on bandwidth.

[@aaronlindros6048]

+sivalley Mmm... salty...

[@Mile-long-list]

na

[@mikejameson7678]

4:04 I am saving this. The delivery of that line gets me every time.

[@squeakalop2658]

This and the potassium metal cleaning video are my favorite.. very therapeutic. Thank you for making these.

[@WTFericFTW]

Great video as usual! Cool to see your channel growing... as it deserves! Grats on the 10K already!

[@NileRed]

PishT_ Thanks! :)

[@carthagehoplite]

channel heritage comment

[@kt8515]

yes

[@PrimeGaming10]

10 k ? Woahhhhhh 6 years of hard work and now he has 3.46 Million !!! OMG

[@AmidaNyorai48]

😄

[@scottcortus9590]

I love how it’s going along all professional then he causally says “brown crap!” 😂.

[@bekahbabie]

1:53 “After all the sodium was added, it had what resembled to me some sort of *underwater aquatic environment……….* Anyway this environment was *quickly destroyed-“* That part genuinely got a good laugh out of me 💀

[@RaExpIn]

Cleaning alkali metals with this mehtod is very nice to watch. I've done this with potassium some time ago and when it cooled down it had a beautiful crystalline surface.

[@Ratciclefan]

I love how Nile's idea of science definitely needs cool visuals

[@PIESISSYSTEMS]

Great videos there man! Have you considered cleaning your Alkali metals by distilling? Although it is quite dangerous (it requires the use of a hand torch) it results in a mirror grade surface and minimum loss of metal and mineral oil.

[@toastyeeter]

Honestly cleaning alkali metals with a hand torch would probably be one of the less dangerous things NileRed has done

[@lifewithkiyokoandnatsuki8109]

@@toastyeeter yup

[@IvanFazekas]

listening to "8 years ago NileRed" versus the one we have today is awe inspiring -- he's certainly come a long way.

[@sugmadic2030]

“It had what resembled to me, some sort of underwater aquatic environment. Anyways, I destroyed it” was funny to me

[@kylerobik3324]

I love how you just naturally use passive voice the entire time

[@zanpekosak2383]

Why didn't you dump the brown crap thru a sieve to keep the "lost" sodium?

[@kitsumyr9752]

AirsoftSlo the mineral oil was probably way too viscous for him to seive

[@randyzhu9705]

@@kitsumyr9752 why doesn't he rinse the podium with water

[@kitsumyr9752]

@@randyzhu9705 i dont know if youre sarcastic but try adding sodium with water and lets see what happens

[@A_Wet_Duck]

@@randyzhu9705 sodium + water is a very explosive reaction lmao

[@TheOne-ec9ku]

He's obviously an amateur

[@zzdjchris]

This one was really cool. My mind was blown after you added the isopropyl alcohol to get your large chunk. It (to me) was like watching the process in reverse. On a physical visual way I mean. Excellent. Thanks for the vid.

[@dryuhyr]

I am an (extremely) amateur chemist and huge fan of your videos. I don't have any sodium to refine, but I've extracted lithium metal from energizer batteries and I would like to coalesce these into a more manageable chunk with less surface area to oxidize, as the form I get it from is a thin foil sheet. From what I understand mineral oil burns before lithium melts. Is there another medium I could use?

[@NileRed]

+dryuhyr I am honestly not sure. I havent really looked into it. Lithium's melting point does make things tricky though...

[@taya9287]

I know I'm not long for this world coz my immediate reaction to the thumbnail was "oh, I could go for a big jug of bubble tea"

[@MaximilianonMars]

Forbidden bubble tea. Well, if you aren't long for this works, look: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans:3:10,23 King James Version Everyone is a sinner, one sin is enough to send you to hell, however God loves us and provides a way to Heaven, through Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ paid the full price for your sin past, present and future. He offers the free gift of eternal life to anyone who puts their trust in him to save them, not in their own good deeds which can NEVER save them. I have a clear gospel presentation on my channel by a trustworthy pastor. Watch it, understand the gospel and believe it. Get saved today, it lasts for eternity. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 1 John:5:13 King James Version

[@CzarownicaMarta]

Mmmm, deep fried sodium just like granny used to make... I love your professional vocabulary, it always improves my mood flawlessly.

[@SamAronow]

"After I got tired of playing with the sodium" is one of the all-time greatest phrases in the history of science KZbin, up there with "as the loris has shown us."

[@cleetussmith6652]

If you place your glass rod across the top of the beaker (so that in looking down from above the beaker the beaker is like the outline of a clock and the glass rod is the hands on a clock showing the time to be 6:00) and then poured out the mineral oil such that it flows down the glass rod, you will find the pouring process to be without the messy dribbling. This is due to the mineral oil clinging to the glass rod until it falls off the end and not over the lip and down the side of the beaker. This is an old trick used by wet chemists for years. It may take a little practice, ut when you perfect the technique it works well.

[@LA-MJ]

Have you tried it though? Water works, sure, but I don't expect there to be enough adhesion between glass and mineral oil

[@kushpacc]

“Deep frying sodium”

[@jakekimds]

Is there any risk of superoxides exploding like with potassium?

[@NileRed]

As far as i know, not really. Sodium is pretty tame

[@jakekimds]

NileRed Thanks. I love your videos.

[@nfrandom007]

@@NileRed do a video of cleaning Cesium.

[@monarchatto6095]

N&F random oh no oh fu-

[@khunagnes1364]

No no wait do a video of cleaning francium

[@korkthekorkest4727]

2:54 forbidden caviar

[@scarface.8325]

3:03 the forbidden boba ice tea

[@samuelh1766]

I remember watching this years ago. The internet is so useful for chemistry!

[@Sillimant_]

At least until it says mixing ammonia and bleach make cool srystaks

[@calipete]

Hey Nigel, another great video! Thanks! Watching it, three questions came to mind: 1) Have you ever tried working with sodium in an oxygen free environment like an anaerobic glove box? I know these are usually used for growing anaerobic bacteria, but who says you can't branch out? 2) Can the mineral oil be fully dried either with heat under vacuum, or with 3A molecular sieve zeolite? 3) Have you ever tried using silicone oil (random, whatever weight) to either purify or store sodium? Thanks again for making these awesome videos and teaching me new stuff all the time! You're bringing back some fond memories of chemistry class with a teacher whose fondness for setting substances on fire closely matched mine! Cheers!

[@Bigcubefan]

1.) Bro, "anaerobic" glove boxes are used in chemistry literally everywhere and all the time to handle and store and analyze air and water sensitive compounds. But since he makes these videos at home he most likely can't access one. You totally can use sodium in a glove box though, in fact, you even should if you're doing "real" chemistry with it. 2.) If the vacuum isn't too strong then probably yes? Not sure if molecular sieves would work because the oil is so viscous. Perhaps if you wait long enough? But to be honest, I've never seen anyone have a use for dry mineral oil, so it's usually no point of concern. :D

[@sova1235]

Oh my god this video is 6 YEARS OLD and I just got a notification about it?!

[@swifty3598]

Oh my god old NileRed is just as good except crunchy

[@RahulSharma-oq2ut]

I was gonna make a sodium joke ... But Na

[@missingno2401]

6:22 the oil mcdonalds uses in their fries

[@FerroequinologistofColorado]

This is my favorite NileRed video. It’s so satisfying for some reason

[@ExplodingPiggy]

Ah this is exactly what I was looking for, I've got a huge pile of sodium in my living room and it's so filthy the neighbours have started complaining, it's really embarrassing as everybody else keeps theirs spotless Thanks KZbin 👍

[@lordraj365]

Earlier this channel was more of a formal chemistry channel instead of being so much fun today.

[@ELNS97]

Covered in brown crap- Nile Red 2015 You’ve come so far

[@martyruth77]

legitimate question: why is so much sodium just accepted as a loss? is there no filter that would allow the mineral oil through and not the sodium?

[@XninjazXxx]

Could you make a video on making anhydrous hydrogen peroxide? Also, love your videos. Keep on doing what you do!

[@NileRed]

***** I think I could die doing that! :p

[@nickmullins653]

There's a video on yt going over the process. Look for rocket belt videos or c-stoff. I found it under one of the two.

[@Lwnmwrboy5]

If you have the proper glassware and safety equipment, refluxing in toluene would be more effective and easier. The sodium will still melt and it is much easier to decant toluene repeatedly. You can also filter the toluene after (and you've also prepared anhydrous toluene) and re-use many times for this purpose. You would also save a lot of time by cutting away all the oxidized surface initially.

[@StrokeMahEgo]

The best way to clean/wash your sodium metal is to just simply put it in the dishwasher. light cycle. air dry only. /sarcasm

[@damonjackson5857]

StrokeMahEgo *house burns down

[@TheBlork74]

Why just not wash it with water ?

[@Spit823]

give a shot and let us know if it works.

[@khaliduyt]

because the sodium will react with the water and make some cool things, you should try it sometime and see the pretty reaction

[@xiuxiu1108]

Mark Schulz IV Try it out yourself! After all science is all about experimenting. Oh, and take a video of it too and make sure you have home insurance!

[@opgg736]

yeah, that would be a great idea but do not forget to distill the water first

[@ryansample6016]

The sodium will violently react with the water.

[@deanmoncaster]

Thank you so much for this video. I have absolutely tons of tarnished sodium hanging around my house and I've tried Mr muscle, soap and water, windowleen, elbow grease, brasso.... Or rather the metal namesake, sodiumo, but nothing seemed to keep it clean for long enough. Now I am finally able to clean my copious amounts of sodium successfully. Also you mention about the bubbles in the mineral oil, did you note the irony in what you said? In order to remove the risk of your storage container blowing up because you didn't release the bubbles created by putting sodium in mineral oil, store some sodium in your mineral oil before storing your sodium in your mineral oil and release the gas each day before putting your sodium in the mineral oil to store.......

[@buggsy5]

No irony at all. You just don't tightly cap the container containing the mineral oil when you are drying it with sodium.

[@lunifae9430]

The thumbnail looks like forbidden Boba

[@tachyon3.14]

Welcome to McDonald’s! What would you like? Me: I’d like some spicy fried sodium please!

[@adarshvishwakarma1099]

Sir you want deep fried or pan fried

[@tiget8627]

I want boiled sodium

[@illusions7457]

@@tiget8627 with sodium bubble tea

[@BenignSteak2716]

Step 1: sodium dissolves in oil Step 2: wait for it to oil Step 3: cover yourself in sodium Step 4: dissolve

[@lagerbergn]

Won't adding isopropyl alcohol cause the formation of sodium isopropoxide, which may be the surface impurities you see when you're adding ipa to the oil?

[@breakfastboii]

I get hungry when I see sodium metal

[@MrThmaos]

Am I the only one that was so stressed by that amount of sodium? Damn this thing always makes me nervous!

[@tiget8627]

Accidentally uses water instead of mineral oil Oops m-

[@Desi-qw9fc]

You can make a self-burping jar by holding the lid down with a rubber band instead of using the steel latch. The pressure will force the lid open before the bottle explodes.

[@jay-leevanderberg8174]

To reduce the loss of sodium can you use a strainer of some sort?

[@cnukeplayz180]

you should try to do things under a huge container with argon atmosphere(argon is denser), so the metal won't react with oxygen.

[@cameronbigley7483]

0:22 If you would theoretically need one washing to make a big blob of sodium, couldn't you just do that first, then split into small beads afterwards?

[@tracybowling97]

This is my all-time fav video! I ❤ stuff like this! More plz!

[@toothpick993]

With the reaction between Sodium Hydroxide and Magnesium turnings, can the slag be put into hot mineral oil to coalesce and separate from the byproduct?

[@Drukranos]

Search for NurdRage or so on YT he did many experiments to this i think it didnt worked (one of his newest videos)

[@UOttawaScotty]

I had milk and cereal coming out of my nose at the first "brown crap" comment lol, ah man...golden !

[@fencserx9423]

Someone’s got a “clean my dirty chemical” fetish somewhere

[@amberblyledge7859]

Not a fetish, but I go to sleep to this and his other videos.

[@taraswertelecki3786]

To think nuclear reactors full of liquid sodium have been built.......imagine what a leak would result in aboard a submarine.

[@gracewhang7406]

Great video! Is there a way to remove the mineral oil from the sodium when it’s ready to be used?

[@brandonwatson883]

Don't know if you still want to know. Many methods, usually starting with washing with dry hexanes, quickly drying off hexanes, followed by the dry solvent of choice for the reaction/mother liquor.

[@knottreel]

This is the best chemistry channel online. Thanks!

[@robertbradbury6962]

What about using calcium carbonate to dry the mineral oil?

[@petrolak]

+Robert Bradbury calcium chloride or magnesium sulfate would work better, I think

[@Dougretseverything]

"Ive been a very very dirty element" -sodium

[@huyphungnhat9479]

Why you did not use a cylinder to suck the oil instead of slanting the baker?

[@kefirpsj4660]

aurora borealis

[@0x8badf00d]

Located entirely within your kitchen?

[@kefirpsj4660]

@@0x8badf00d yes

[@0x8badf00d]

May I see it?

[@leandroguzman4384]

@@0x8badf00d Nouh

[@LangSphere]

i think its fun how he explains each part of washing the Na (which just repeats) over and over again. its funny and i dont know why

[@simiousgenious7703]

1:25 21st century humour

[@siesta3002]

Nilered before: talks calmly and is very careful Nilered now: *What i have here is a nuclear warhead, and i am gonna blow it up here*

[@danielzamora9962]

Can you explain how the isopropyl alcohol makes the sodium beads coalesce into on big blob. I thought the sodium would react with the alcohol. Also could you give a ref, I'm quite interested where you found this out?

[@HeckaZecka]

Thanks for letting me know, I’ll be sure to use this new information.

[@TheChemistryShack]

Did you develop this technique on your own, or is it a common lab practice?

[@NileRed]

TheChemistryShack Definitely semi-common. I didn't really follow a guide, but I read things about it online.

[@SafetyLucas]

Nile Red why not use butyl or amyl alcohol? As seen in nurdrage's now deleted video he uses tertiary alcohol as a catalyst but it also seems to keep the metal much cleaner than the isopropanol did.

[@NileRed]

Yeah, the issue with isopropanol is that it is at least 1% water. Also, not everyone has those alcohols. Isopropanol is very easy to get.

[@SafetyLucas]

Nile Red to be fair not everyone has sodium either. But I see your point.

[@NileRed]

ha yeah. I actually do have t-butanol, but I had to order it specially. I have 5L of isopropanol though. You are right though, sodium is the hardest thing to get out of them all.

[@cailegged7485]

nile used to sound so normal he sounds nothing like the insane chemist he actually is

[@Super73VW]

Alright...try doing Li next =P

[@auulauul9328]

Equals phosphorus.

[@bitonic589]

Why Lithium is too easy

[@persephonehades7547]

Forbidden bubble tea.

[@DX413RB8]

Its the boba for your spoiled kids!

[@finerz321]

what's all this with "mineral oil"? can't you just use water? XD

[@andreaquadrati]

People tried it. But it is impossible for them to type with various degree burns over their bodies

[@ficolas2]

Serious question or joke?

[@finerz321]

+ficolas2 a joke. most definetely a joke.

[@0osk]

+Finley Clark Soap and water is actually the best way to clean metal. I know this because when I use soap and water on my car, it gets clean pretty fast, but when I used mineral oil it got all gross and dirty only after a short drive. This guy acts like he's smart, but he doesn't even know how to clean stuff. Hope this helps. : )

[@lol49031]

Yeah sure wash sodium metal with water, wont react at all

[@economicapple2609]

Nilered: does several washing steps Sodium: quickly tarnishes in air Nilered:

[@richardsolomon5375]

"At the bottom of the beaker is all the brow crap and lome sodium, and this is a loss" -codys lab hold my beer.

[@TheJonix55]

The way your mineral oil bottle was just enough for the whole thing is pleasing.

[@skunksociety9420]

just use water how has no one thought of that smh my head

[@housecatwithadegree]

BOI

[@poop_guy]

*shaking my head my head*

[@benmorris5046]

Those small shiny beads of sodium were oddly satisfying to look at

[@THEWRNGLER101]

All you had to do was use soap and water

[@evanmadurai966]

incase your not joking, sodium fizzles away in water

[@eoghanbostock958]

^Technically correct. To put it more clearly, sodium reacts violently with water. Like bomb violent.

[@bobby8012]

allahu akbar violet level

[@stockingsstuffer6302]

"oh shit there's flaming molten sodium all over the kitchen" violent

[@THEWRNGLER101]

guys it was indeed a joke lawl

[@DineshKumar-eg7do]

I don't like chemistry or anything, but I don't like to stop watching your videos

[@whiehanngomes6307]

Non-chemist here, and 8 years down the line, but is there a way to somehow separate sodium from a sodium/oil (any oil as an example) dispersion? Thanks for the awesome content😎

[@bk-sl8ee]

5:31 Silver Orbies? Yay! Explosive silver shiny Orbies?!! Yay!

[@ElkorGod]

we serious here I know but when you destroyed the "underwater aquatic scene" I laughed pretty hard

[@inigomontoya551]

Forbidden bubble tea

[@PrimeGaming10]

Imagine pouring water thinking you're going to clean it

[@Ikaruwa]

Aww baby NileRed. 🤣

[@vheesemanstran4656]

I was 6 years old when he posted this

[@Your_local_nobody]

Same

[@DOOMslayer................]

I was 2

[@nilnileer]

I was 4

[@purplenescent]

The forbidden boba tea

[@xemirahobbyless]

Really satisfying to watch

[@SlimedogYT]

Present Nile would be so mad at how past Nile handled his filtering

[@Dubanx]

I feel like the beaded sodium would be really fun to throw into a large body of water. So much surface area!

[@AilEyed]

2:54 the blue bottle had me thinking you were going to rinse with water