Extracting Neodymium from Harddrive Magnets

I dissolve magnets to extract Nd2(SO4)3 while a bird conducts its own unrelated project nearby.
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Music: 'Aphlygeo', taken from the able The Loser by Hoverman
beautyworldrec...

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Music: 'Aphlygeo', taken from the album The Loser by Hoverman beautyworldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-loser

[@cvspvr]

the loser by hoverman is a sick name

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

do you keep saying "neodyNium"?

[@mobiousenigma]

off topic comments...1 ya its great to crush computers on occasion 2 either loose the stash or get the beard back one without the other dosnt look right for some reason. thanks for the vids

[@dylanmcvicker9503]

@@JohnLeePettimoreIII yeah he's got adhd

[@pittuk6500]

there is this song, "Neodymium" by Raubtier

[@mrgreenguy]

75% Neodymium, 25% bird feathers. Decent yield!

[@alext6933]

Hey dude. 😊

[@soulsand4287]

You.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Me! Oh, wait, no, him.

[@leothetiger13]

I love this channel. I am an appliance technician of 25 years. I believe it's safe to advise you to stick with chemistry. Seeing you fight with the Torx driver along with your description of it, I feel that if you refrain from any kind of mechanical engineering, it will be the best for everyone involved

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

I agree tremendously

[@deutscher1a]

and here i am as a chemical technician, having to work as a chemikant... i just wanted a lab and because i knew how to use tools, i had to work on a big prototype AND analyse all my own results - for really low benefits(getting to choose my own working time, cause of my independency, was nice tho)

[@waitemc]

The crime here is destroying magnets. Magnets >porn

[@Pseudomeaningful]

“Phd candidate in laser physics” “Can’t use a torx screwdriver” Actually makes sense…

[@frozetoze]

"I'm a scientist not an engineer."

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

you should see how bad it gets when I have to do laser repair and break out the multimeter.....

[@jacobtrapp3772]

@@ExtractionsAndIre everyone looking like aw shit the shed mad scientist is about to blow up the laser by accidentally using mcdonalds napkins that were nitrated to wipe off the lenses

[@FlatBroke612]

@@frozetozeengineers can’t use any screwdriver either...

[@phimuskapsi]

@@ExtractionsAndIre Suddenly the homer gif of cereal catching on fire springs to mind.

[@Fireheart318]

4:05 - I used to work as a “computer butcher”. It’s not your fault, those harddrive screws were a pain in the ass to deal with! We eventually got a small industrial shredder to destroy the drives with, and it was so much fun to watch ‘em get chewed up!

[@christopheroliver148]

I don't have anything that good, but I have melted and shattered drive plates when I've removed them if the dead drive had anything sensitive on it.

[@submachinegun5737]

@@christopheroliver148Melting em would definitely do it but I wonder if shattered discs could still be read like how shredded paper can be meticulously put back together. the error correction code on certain protocols used is so good that I wonder if a good amount of data could be recovered from a shattered disc

[@christopheroliver148]

@@submachinegun5737 In my case, the metal oxide was on a polished glass substrate. By shattered, I mean basically broken to nearly a dust. I do not believe the info would be practical to recover. Of course you could still heat the dust to the Curie point if you were sufficiently worried.

[@adrunkenloner]

What a fancy lab you have, those automatic bird synthesizers are a luxury many industries cannot afford

[@IdiotPosterBoy]

Having an in-lab source of white dielectric matter is quite advanced.

[@JohnnyWednesday]

Then you're in the wrong industry my friend! shop around until you land those sweet, sweet bird perks.

[@JeffUseekay]

I'm especially jealous of his lab-grade plastic fork

[@awsomewolfman124]

​@JeffUseekay Can't find them in Australia he has to have them imported at a premium!

[@andrewswanson4819]

Drone synthesizers

[@mr.sandman770]

Hey Tom, those metal brackets that the magnets are attached to are made from mu metal, a Nickel alloy that weakens magnetic forces. It shields the other components of the computer from the magnetic field. They are about 77-80% nickel and are heat treated in a hydrogen atmosphere to achieve a super high magnetic permeability. It should be possible to get a lot of nickel from them if you need it.

[@MabusParodies2nd]

I think this might be true for older hard drive magnets, and not anymore for newer ones. I have taken apart a lot of hard drives, and I've tested dozens of the brackets, and there was no nickel visible. Other people on the Sciencemadness forum tried the same and they couldn't recover any significant nickel, just iron.

[@mr.sandman770]

@@MabusParodies2nd I see, that is unfortunate.

[@katetanner28]

How dare you post this video when I am 37 hours from having to submit my honours thesis on lanthanoid magnets, which has applications in quantum computing. You've given my procrastination brain exactly what it wants! Something that feels productive, but ultimately isn't writing the chapter I still haven't finished

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Best of luck mate!! You’ve got this, do the final push and then you can reward yourself by destroying a computer or magnet afterwards!!

[@jeffstaples347]

YOU GOT THIS!!!

[@rorysparshott4223]

Just keep applying energy drinks to the problem and eventually it will go away

[@Emiko1]

Mate, wishing you the best of luck.

[@scthomas1982]

​@@rorysparshott4223no! I blame my kidney stones on them! Keep away from them and stick to strong coffee with sugar

[@DigitalJedi]

As a computer engineer I can confirm, sometimes you just need to break a computer. My preferred method is waaaaaaaay to much voltage or current into something important, but acid is good too. I do have to reccomend the electricity approach though. Motherboards blow up real good.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Good to know! Thanks!

[@Duda286]

"Even though the computers might control our lives, every so often we can dissolve a couple in acid and feel better about things." - & Ire, Extractions. 2023

[@dsnineteen]

I legitimately want this on some kind of plaque or poster.

[@christopheroliver148]

@@dsnineteenAs a four decade veteran of the computer fields, I think this is first class T Shirt material. I'm sure many in computer science/informatics would agree.

[@OscomProductions]

The story arc of the bird was very well developed and was crucial to the plot of the video! Masterfully done Tom!

[@zoidflanders1709]

That was incredible! I don't think you said neodymium correctly once!

[@jogandsp]

He said the first m as an n every time 😭

[@mattbuchanan2580]

That's how I say it. Please explain, I hate saying words incorrectly. Thanks!

[@Gr0nal]

​@@mattbuchanan2580 It is spelled with an "m" not an "n". The only "n" in the word is the first letter. Its name was given from the greek words "neos" and "didymos". Neo - dym - ium. "ium" is a common prefix of metallic elements.

[@nkchak]

@@Gr0nal This was a much more specific answer than I expected to see.

[@mattsoup4121]

Just call it neodydlium and you'll feel better.

[@CrittingOut]

It's so funny how this random bird joins the video and becomes motivation to overcome the magnet struggle

[@Mr.Beauregarde]

Imagine getting here so early the Cubane still hasn't been synthesized

[@taycollins7997]

Hahaha

[@jakedevries1455]

Lol you devil hahahahaha 😂

[@BaddeGrasse]

Shhhh

[@chattava]

That would be too weird!

[@custos3249]

Nah, it has. Just by someone else.

[@Juni_Dingo]

31:05 "Wherever you are bird, keep working on that project. It'll... it'll get there" I did not expect something this wholesome, but honestly I needed to hear that ;w;

[@kronusaerospace8872]

I for one approve the introduction of Birdwatching segments. As an American I was initially confused by the label of "Blackbird" to what is clearly a Thrush. But I learned that's just what this particular species is called in Europe and Australia, and that the blackbird family here in the states got its name due to apparent visual Similarity between them and this particular species, although the new world Blackbirds are a family group unrelated to Thrushes and by extension the European Blackbird.

[@GiBBO5700]

This guy 'birds' 👆

[@brydenquirk1176]

African or European?

[@kronusaerospace8872]

@@brydenquirk1176 both I suppose. The Common Blackbird ranges through part of north western Africa, most of Europe, and southern Asia. Being artificially introduced to Australia and other parts of Oceania.

[@AedanTheGrey]

Elks all over again

[@EvieVeevee]

The high speed of you smashing the hard drive plates with the hammer is maybe one of the coolest high speeds I have ever seen, it's so COLORFUL!

[@Stealth86651]

Another video on "Australian dude does alchemy". Watching this just convinces me science is actually magic and everyone involved with the industry just doesn't want to admit it yet.

[@youtubeSuckssNow]

Magic is just science we don't understand yet.

[@redhel]

@@youtubeSuckssNow so in other words, science is magic we do understand

[@youtubeSuckssNow]

@@redhel basically. Just look back through history at what people considered magic. Its mostly just science now.

[@JohnnyWednesday]

@@youtubeSuckssNow - Science is science we don't understand yet - ergo all science is magic and Tom is a wizard or possibly a sorcerer. Although if he were a wizard he'd have a penchant for stars, which we don't see and if he were a sorcerer you'd expect his parents would have used their powers to fix his pronunciation of Neodymium which we don't see. So probably a warlock - would explain all the beasts that he commands.

[@Frommerman]

Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic. Any sufficiently examined magic is indistinguishable from science. Any science distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.

[@AJGoff110]

Those really were some pretty crystals. It's always nice when your suffering is at least aesthetically pleasing.

[@Bill-lt5qf]

Name another chemistry channel that has baby birds hatching as a sub plot. You can't.

[@EggBastion]

AvE

[@NGC1433]

@@EggBastion he also features Neodidlium magnets a lot. :)

[@theshannonlimit1114]

Fun fact, neyodimium iton boron magnets are pyrophoric, and once the nickel has been peeled off, they can be used with a file or stone as a fire starter.

[@christopherleubner6633]

I see I'm not the only one who has done this😂

[@yxlotl]

hey tom! thank you for making these silly chemistry videos i've been going through some nasty medical issues (due to disability) and ive been watching your videos to keep me company when no one else can. thank you for everything you do.

[@g-radical349]

Hey friend, I'm in the same boat going through the same thing, and have also found myself watching a lot more of Tom's awesome videos for the feel good vibes :) I celebrated my one year anniversary of my survival last week, and it's only been since then that I've felt comfortable even using the word 'disability'. I don't know what you're going through specifically but I can understand and empathise. Hope you're getting by and finding the joys in the simple things where you can!

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Hey mate, wishing you all the best- really glad you like the videos, they’re super fun to make and it’s great to be able to share them and sort of hang out with people that way yeah

[@mattbuchanan2580]

Hang in there sir. I'm in the same boat sir. Tom's videos are so witty and technical very creative. It tickles your funny bone and feeds your brain. A least it's my experience. Be well sir.

[@emilyrln]

Hey, if you're looking for recommendations, Combo Class has a very similar vibe to Explosions and Fire imo. Domotro could be Tom's American twin 😂

[@jfu5222]

​@@emilyrlnI recommend Crime pays But Botany Doesn't for foul mouthed science.

[@Inuyasha10121]

Clearly extracting the neodymium to combine it with cubane dicarboxylate and make a metal organic framework that you yeet at a magnetic surface and the impact from the acceleration induces catalysis by detonation. I see through you Tom, you can't fool me! In all seriousness, brilliant stuff. I just got my PhD after 9 bloody years (I did two Masters because I'm a masochist) and in all that time I had never herd of reverse solubility before. Had to hold my head in my hands for a few minutes and contemplate the very fabric of reality

[@-eMpTy-]

There's always another screw under the label of these hard drives, very easy to miss if you've never taken one apart 😁

[@DoubsGaming]

True, until you Remember that companies are assholes. I guess hard drive manufacturers kind of get a pass because they're doing NASA level precision but my point still stands. Void if removed stickers are illegal.

[@JohnnyWednesday]

@@DoubsGaming - NASA precision is pretty poor nowadays, especially when it comes to the decimal place in manufacturing costs.

[@Sniperboy5551]

@DoubsGaming Void if removed stickers are illegal?

[@Valsorayu]

@@Sniperboy5551 In Australia, yeah.

[@Merry-36280]

@@Sniperboy5551 They're not illegal to put on products, but are unenforceable in the US.

[@thomaswest5137]

As someone who has worked in computing since the 90s I can confirm that “gravity therapy” of computing hardware is incredibly satisfying…

[@WiztotheIzzard]

I was doing this a while back, on the ScienceMadness forums. Hitting the magnets with a propane torch made it very easy to physically peel off the nickel plating. Dissolving and filtering a hot solution of magnets and sulfuric acid made it easy to separate the insoluble boron and flecks of missed nickel coating, but *some* does dissolve and will crash out when the solution cools as a very fluffy boric acid crystals. Once cleaned, this doesn't affect the rest of the process much. Once you have this filtered solution of Fe and Nd sulfates, this is further differentiated by heating to ~60*C to boil off water just until some of the Nd starts crystallizing out, then slowly cooling to

[@isocle]

Did you end up making magnets with the results? Cool stuff regardless!

[@Jefferson-ly5qe]

Gold. Sounds like crashing out the iron rather than the neodymium is what Tom needed to try.

[@quint3ssent1a]

I think crushing magnets into smaller chips helps to dissolve things. Hard to dissolve a whole fucking magnet in weak acid.

[@sophiemorrigan311]

Please have some more vids of you and your mom talking. Its awesome content. You are super funny and we love you.

[@alext6933]

It's always unfortunate when a random bird takes over your entire lab and claims it for themselves.

[@JohnnyWednesday]

Until the bird starts using the hotplate, it can be considered a harmonious existence.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

10 years from now, the EPA will end up having to track that bird because of all of the chemicals it will have absorbed, and we’ll finally learn where the cadmium went 😜

[@anonymousperson2886]

You may not like it, but it's the circle of life. You have to respect it

[@Finnnicus]

If you can figure out a way to hold the solution at a high temperature and limit the evaporation for a few days , you could probably grow some very nice crystals. Also if you'd like to follow this up for hihg purity I have access to an ICP-AES, I'm the guy that did your cubane NMR a couple of years ago. QUT seems to be doing a good job though, all I can really offer is a few extra digits of precision haha

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Oh hi mate!! Thanks for the offer- it would have been embarrassing for me to ask for ICPMS assuming it’s trace iron and it comes back as 30% iron… I wish I could work with a local analytical company closer to me, maybe even film the machines, as it’s cool tech that’s not often talked about publicly!

[@DefconMaster]

Came for the chemistry, stayed for the bird

[@aeriumsoft]

wonder what species that birb was

[@GordonWeedman]

@@aeriumsoft Pretty sure it was a blackbird.

[@maxsmith8196]

I’m still here for the bird hours later

[@aeriumsoft]

@@GordonWeedman seems very likely, i was just a bit confused at first since those kinda birds dont really exist in australia usually, appearently its an introduced species birb

[@dieSpinnt]

@@GordonWeedman Yeah, clearly of the genus "Turdus". And don't get confused, as the females are sprinkled and brown to be better disguised in a nest in a tree as in the video. Well, chemical experience and a nervous KZbinr also protect from predators, I think. That's why she build in front of a white painted wall. ... and surely for new Subscribers! Hehehe

[@zedfragg4134]

Can't believe the birds hatched. That's awesome. Also stuff with magnets! lol Love a magnet.

[@jannikgluckert8501]

I think you should've treated the magnets with sandpaper / a belt sander to get rid of the coating.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Honestly a very reasonable suggestion !

[@guicky_]

belt sander might be dangerous if the magnet sticks to the sander

[@poogle9368]

true lmao

[@emmanueleferrarotto2986]

First some cooking against magnetism then some grinding for some nickel poisoning ^^

[@Blacktronics]

@@emmanueleferrarotto2986 wet sanding helps with dust control a lot

[@BonnibelLecter]

The bird subplot somehow really added to this, thank you

[@danwhite3224]

Those brackets that the magnets stick to in the drives are made of mu-metal, a cool nickel-iron alloy that's really good for magnetic shielding.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Interesting! I have kept the pile somewhere… I think…

[@JohnnyWednesday]

it's pronounced Nu-metal and they're called Korn plates

[@darkmann12]

bwahahahahahaha@@JohnnyWednesday

[@PrepareToDie0]

Oh wa ah ah ah! 🤘🤘

[@volvo09]

I was wondering what that was since the brackets don't act like steel.

[@VoIcanoman]

I think another explanation for the different colours of precipitates of neodymium sulphate is crystal size and orientation. Research has been done in using both neodymium and samarium salts in paper money, to prevent counterfeiting, because the way the crystal structure is oriented with respect to the incident light source can apparently cause it to change colours. So slight changes in the overall distribution of crystals within a sample could bias the colour in one direction or another. I'm not actually sure if this is what's going on, but it is a known phenomenon.

[@intellectualiconoclasm3264]

I'm @10:30 and I think your easier solution is run them through the ball mill. Then put powder into water and agitate with a covered magnet in the water. The Nickle should adhere and also settle later then the ceramic core material.

[@jonathanwienke512]

"Even though the computers might control our lives, every so often we can dissolve a couple in acid and feel better about things." Best. Mad. Scientist. Quote. Ever.

[@whateverIwasthinkingatthetime]

I love the midway B-plot going on in the video with waiting for the eggs to hatch.

[@Paveway-chan]

This was such a riveting story! The bird had a character arc, the sulphate had a character arc, YOUR FACIAL HAIR has a character arc stretching years and years! Good stuff. You're worth your weight in gold y'know, because you're an Au-stralian chemist

[@christopherleubner6633]

4:37 your hard drive is severely fragmented, the system has indicated it has filied 😂❤

[@tonybeaumont8289]

That slomo clip of the hammer shattering the hard drive platter is glorious 4:58

[@retrohipster1060]

I've always loved the little conversation about the sheds wildlife with Mum in there.

[@MBG_Broker]

You really have to starte writing part 1 on the end of your videos. Here I was all excited to see you finish an experiment in one video. The betrayal is real ! Rock on, you are doing great. ;)

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Haha the problem with writing Part 1 is that I then have to do a Part 2 and I’m really bad at following up things!

[@jimsvideos7201]

I don't have much depth in chemistry, but I hear you on the suffering and admire your persistence in the face of it.

[@supernifty]

I like to think his parents don't know he has a KZbin channel and he's just in the shed talking to himself for all these years.

[@DaftFader]

"My strength is not really one of my strengths" ... that had my in tears ... I got to use that at some point lol!

[@NijahPlays]

I always love taking apart them for the extra strong fridge magnets

[@buillioncubes]

I keep one in my truck for plucking stray metal bits out of my eye.

[@squarerootof2]

@@buillioncubes Will it work for eye floaters?

[@buillioncubes]

@@squarerootof2 Just the ferrous ones :P

[@squarerootof2]

@@buillioncubes Good, the ferrocious are the worst and most aggressive kind.

[@markiangooley]

Two of my fridge magnets used to be in hard drives. They hold up the calendar on my fridge.

[@longsincelost6284]

I discovered by accident that a couple of days of HCL vapor exposure will corrode the iron under the nickel coating and very neatly flake it off.

[@hellofafella]

finally, beautiful chemistry instead of yellow over and over again

[@Eremon1]

I can't express how much I love the Aussie way of doing stuff. I feel like this is the guy to make the world's first Phaser the same day he gets drunk and loses his wallet at the bar. NEVER change brother. Cheers.

[@Sinnistering]

so i know this might seem crazy, but i would love to hear about the physics of rare earth elements. i'm one of those chem students who gets terrified when physics gets mentioned, despite knowing it really is important.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

I consider talking about it every time I bring up rare earth metals- but I never end up doing it. I hope to one day make some cool optical material in the lab, and that gives me an excuse to talk about their cool optical properties some more

[@ttoctam3]

It's really self-affirming watching someone this smart melt a table that stupidly. You bring a comforting level of humanity to KZbin.

[@victor9sur768]

you always have to add way more acid than you expect in magnet recycling, acid and peroxide mix is always a good go to for the dissolution of metal massive

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Effective but kinda scary yeah!

[@victor9sur768]

@@ExtractionsAndIre more scary with a cobalt metal that catalysed the peroxide decomposition....the fumehood was pretty fucked after that

[@stamasd8500]

@@victor9sur768 haha I can vouch to that. I was recently trying to recreate a cobalt-doped iron oxide composition (Type II magnetic material used in vintage audio tapes) by precipitating iron(II) hydroxide from an iron(II) sulfate solution with NaOH, then oxidizing it to iron(III) hydroxide with H2O2, and then doping the crystals with a little cobalt before thermal decomposition... I used a small excess hydrogen peroxide because I wanted the oxidation to be complete and it's hard to judge the end point by color (goes from a muddy brown to a slightly less muddy brown). And when I added the cobalt sulfate, it suddenly foamed... A LOT. Surprise! :D Guess cobalt hydroxide is a good catalyst for that too.

[@MandrakeFernflower]

​@@ExtractionsAndIrewould royal water have worked to dissolve up everything?

[@stephanb500]

You can oxidize in acidic solutions. Excess of H2O2 is boiled away. Precipitation is only done with ammonia and not with NaOH because it is not possible to wash the sodium out because it is binding in the ferrous-gel. Light brown color indicates the full oxidation to Fe III. Dark brown indicates that you have to go back to acidic state and oxidize further. In case of light brown color and ammonia in 20 to 25% excess you can now add a small amount of CoCl2-solution to dope your slurry. Wash well about three times, until free of alkaline, test with phenolphthalein Indikator in filtrate. Use as wet Fe(OH)3 slurry only, because drying creates FeO(OH) and H2O.

[@josephcoppernoll9547]

My favorite Australian chemboi playing with magnets, my favorite spooky magical science objects. What a time to be alive.

[@user-OG-g]

Great video mate . I too was caught up in the procrastination cycle and stumbled upon the new video and it was exactly what my brain needed. A video that felt productive but ultimately wasn’t dealing with any of the things I need to focus on. Much appreciated 😂

[@hanleypc]

I've got a cheap Chinese hotplate stirrer that keep demagnetising it's magnets, now I have a use for the old ones! :)

[@argoneum]

Neodymium and iron somehow don't like to separate, what I did was adding some hydrogen peroxide to force the iron to form +3 hydroxide, then filter it. Still, took several repeats to get to any purity. Even when re-crystalizing by slow evaportaion there still was some iron left. Most of other lanthanide sulphates also have this reverse-solubility thing.

[@5467nick]

Iron and nickel should be easy to electroplate out of a sulfate solution while leaving neodymium in the solution. Electrolysis probably isn't often an answer to a chemistry problem, but it works great for something like this. I've electroplated iron, nickel, copper, and zinc with a variable voltage (0-32V), variable current-limit (0-5A) power supply I bought online for about $50 USD. I've even used it as a spot-welder for really thin metal foil and wires, for plenty of electronics projects, for charging batteries I couldn't find the right charger for, and just for making lots of sparks by shorting it on its max settings when I'm bored.

[@a15thcenturysuitofgothicarmor]

Wasn't expecting the wholesome bird arc but im here for it.

[@THE_REDACTED]

Pointed scalpel blades have always been pretty effective for removing that nickel coating from the magnets. You can get it underneath and kinda peel it away. In a hurry a sanding wheel attachment for a dremel is pretty quick but also messy and shrapnel-producing.

[@VoIcanoman]

Actually, I was thinking he should've just secured the magnet in a vice, and just go at it with a bit of sandpaper. The nickel metal is likely far softer than the magnet it covers up, so it shouldn't be too difficult to just abrade it away while leaving the magnet untouched. However, Extractions & Ire is all about the struggle, about doing things in the most difficult and non-intuitive way imaginable, fighting against the very laws of physics and chemistry to eventually, maybe, achieve (usually just partial) success. So doing things in a way that made sense would be extremely off-brand for this channel.

[@THE_REDACTED]

@@VoIcanoman fair point :D

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

A lot of comments about how unhealthy the nickel/cobalt metal dust is… kinda glad I didn’t aggressively sand a lot of magnets!

[@THE_REDACTED]

Metal dust = Bad and cringe Going crazy with a power tool = fun and based Benefit outweighs cost

[@sketchyAnalogies]

3:45 absolutely huge neurodivergent energy here and I love it. Takes a year to realize that the logical approach may not be, and the destructive approach is reasonable.

[@petrkryze]

The mystical australian NeodyNium magnets :D love the mustache btw!

[@MostlyPennyCat]

You computers deserve to feel pain, but without computers you're just a crazy person shouting at your shed wall about explosives.

[@thehyperscientist1961]

I guess one other thing you could try is oxidising the solution and adding oxalate. The iron should remain in solution as a ferrioxalate complex while any transition metals and lanthanides precipitate out. I'd guess it'd be a bit easier to separate then.

[@tay-lore]

You and that momma bird are giving me lots of encouragement to finish the project that I've been working for way too long on. We can all do this!

[@TheReaper1799]

Thanks for shining a light on Neodynium, hadn't even heard of that element before!

[@Punnikin1969]

Seriously? Have you never seen a nagnet before?

[@weirdalfan08]

@@Punnikin1969 Doesnt mean you know what its made of. I hadn't heard the name either because this is the only science thing i have watched past finishing high school. You got some sort of superpower that tells you the exact elements something is made from when you look at it?

[@Punnikin1969]

@@weirdalfan08 Nope, just basic literacy. Read the post and reply again. Slowly if it'll help.

[@weirdalfan08]

@@Punnikin1969 Ah i get it, you are a just a dickhead, no worries!

[@nathanieljames7462]

​@@Punnikin1969Hilarious reply all things considered 😆

[@topspeed250k5]

Your recommendation to take frustrations out on a computer (for mental health) is spot on. I once had a laptop with an intermittent fault which always occurred when doing something important. I couldn't afford a new one so i disassembled it, cleaned all contacts, checked power supply etc etc and thought I had it licked. It did it again an hour into typing up an assignment. I put it on the floor in the hallway, took a run-up and kicked it to glory right in the screen. Felt bloody good. That was the only time in my life that I resorted to violence. Great vid but PLEASE learn to say "neo-DIM- ium " with an M not "neo-DIN- ium" with an N. Hearing an intelligent educated bloke saying that was fkn annoying. Keep up the good work!

[@christopheroliver148]

Back when I was taking computer science classes, I often felt like taking one of the Sun pizza boxes up to the top of a tall tower to watch it fall to the sidewalk below.

[@CreamAle]

Neodiddlium magnets are pretty neat. It's pretty insane how strong those things can be.

[@rickyrico80]

Keep the fingertips clear or you're in for one hell of a surprise 🤣

[@IceBergGeo]

​@@OxumsRazornaw, just an AvErage KZbin watcher.

[@joshuaolander201]

​@IceBergGeo as soon as I read neodiddlium I knew you were a fan of aVe

[@IceBergGeo]

@@joshuaolander201 likely where the likes for my subtle reply are from...

[@CardinalSinOfCake]

"This channel is not about easy projects, it's about suffering. *Heh heh heh heh*" I cannot stop laughing at this 🤣

[@MIH0319]

Try adding sodium sulfate to the dissolved solution of the magnet in acid. The neodymium ions form an insoluble sulfate double salt and precipitates. This can give you a better neodymium removal than simply recovering the neodymium sulfate.

[@g-radical349]

thats interesting, but out of curiosity - how would you go about getting rid of the sodium afterwards?

[@EddieTheH]

​@@g-radical349 You don't need to. When you've precipitated the neodymium salphate double salt you remove it by filtration, what's left in the solution doesn't matter.

[@user255]

​@@EddieTheH I don't understand what you mean. The precipitated salt is Nd2Na2(SO4)4, and when simply filtered, it is still Nd2Na2(SO4)4.

[@g-radical349]

@@EddieTheH I meant how would you remove the sodium from the double salt, so that you would just have neodymium sulfate. Is there a way to selectively dissolve the sodium from the precipitate?

[@MIH0319]

@@g-radical349 You can boil the precipitate in concentrated NaOH to convert the neodymium to Nd(OH)3, which can be dissolved in acid to make neodymium salts.

[@georgemiller2129]

On one hand I feel like I've watched your wind slowly destroy itself over years of chemistry. On the other, I'm very entertained and you seem to be enjoying yourself. So I guess keep up the good work. I love your videos.

[@F.D.O.T.S.]

The man, the myth, The Mustache...

[@wernerhiemer406]

Seventies, special genre. So from a non mechanic, over a chemist to an actor in biological interesting not so creating filmic event.

[@Dezibahn]

Is nobody else going to talk about the slow-motion shot of the hard disc shattering from the hammer? That was spectacular. Who would have thought the man is an artist as well!?

[@LunarianDelia]

Neodymium can also make glass look really cool, similar to what you saw in the liquid in the beaker starting around 17:55. It's also got some REALLY unusual magnetic properties, but I'm not smart enough to understand that.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

2:01 "In oz the energy cost would be too expensive" If only Australia had some sort of abundant renewable energy source which required large open tracts of flat land to take advantage of... 😒☀️

[@misanthrophex]

You have no idea how much my heart broke watching you break the hard drives... There are screws hidden behind the paper you know...

[@TurkeyMeat]

Yeah but that involves less violence

[@noodlelynoodle.]

I mean it's the same end result if he pulled the screws out and that's way less fun

[@Veptis]

I consider the main channel to be the best chmistry comedy on the platform. But the small bit with mom here was just wholesome

[@losernob8618]

The ending with the birds was awesome 🙂

[@Jaymic]

Its crazy how Australian chemists use plastic cutlery for lab experiments and have live-in lab birds. Really goes to show how they do things different on the other side of the world.

[@davidburke709]

The fact that you are doing this in Mum's shed... The world turns because of people like you. Should I ever win the lotto, I pledge to buy you a castle and an Igor. As always, I don't really know what the Hell you are doing, but it sure is fun to watch!

[@eljanrimsa5843]

He started with making explosions like any reasonable hobby chemist. Now he is a pro and deconstructs the modern world

[@spudmanii]

I love this channel becausenI get distracted really easy, go on too many long rants and tangents, and I have messy workspaces. This man is living evidence despite all of that, I could still be a God damn chemist and scientist if I want

[@waltermalone2953]

I enjoyed the commentary from your Mum. :) I hope your family makes further appearances in the future. Great video!

[@JehuMcSpooran]

I remember that Science madness thread. At the time I wasn't really able to get hole of any sulphric acid so I used white vinegar instead. It's doesn't react with the nickle or boron much but the boron does tend to make it froth up a bit. I tried to separate the iron and Neodymium by dropping in ammonium hydroxide which seemed to work, leaving a pretty pink solution. However that might have been an ammonium complex with the iron or neodymium. Also from memory, neodymium salts are sensitive to light. It's been over 10 years since I tried the experiment. I still have some jars of it in my shed, lol.

[@dr.robertnick9599]

I think a hammer would be a good method to seperate the nickel plating from the ceramic core. The ceramic would crumble to sand, while the nickel would be malleable enough to turn into larger flakes. Then you can just seperate them with a sieve or some other mechanical method of seperation.

[@waxywabbit1247]

This is the way

[@thomascampbell7407]

Lmao 😂 7:20: "my strength is not really one of my strengths"

[@joshsickles1163]

I think hitting the magnets with a hammer would powder the magnet and leave the foil intact. Would make it the separation easier and make it so you can hit the computer with a hammer more.

[@MikkellTheImmortal]

I usually don't have anything to add to chemistry videos because I'm here to learn. But finally I have a piece of advice that's relevant. To get your magnets to dissolve better, heat them to red and drop it in cold water, next hit it with a hammer to make it shatter into pieces.

[@montikore]

I found this channel like 4 years ago and Tom is directly responsible for my new interest in chemistry. I'm not doing dick with it but I'm really interested lol

[@bitsofeverything8385]

I'm amazed by the yield. The nickel is like 30% copper, i noticed the copper will come out of the alloy but nickel would stay mostly the same, with hcl (then cement on the very nickel most times or redissolve). I'm trying the hcl way, h2o2 for taking iron to +3 then oxalic acid for precipitation. I'm also feeling hcl works much much better.

[@laurahaaima1436]

They completely decompose in water after the protective layer is being exposed.. I was surprised to see how easy they fall apart in a day or 5

[@5467nick]

In a situation where either the most or least reactive metal ion in your solution is the one you want, electrolysis might save you a lot of work for purification in some projects. A variable voltage and variable current-limited bench power supply can be bought pretty cheaply online (I bought a 0 to 32V, 0 to 5A power supply for about $50 USD) and has a lot of uses. In regards to this project, you can precipitate pretty much 100% of the iron and nickel as metal on a cathode (which could just be a steel nail) while leaving all of the neodymium in solution. This also lowers the amount of sulfuric acid you would need to use and makes recovering any excess sulfuric acid used possible. You just need to use the right anode for the job. I bought a small piece of platinum jewelers wire as my first anode for around $50 USD and it worked great for turning copper sulfate (dissolved in water) into copper metal and (dilute) sulfuric acid.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Yeah a really interesting idea for sure, thanks mate!

[@R0bert811]

so many colors in this episode! Sorta missing Tar chemistry but crystals are cool too! You should try growing really big crystals

[@bngn3000]

I've had the opportunity to smash a computer while at work (full Office Space moment). It is every bit as satisfying as Tom makes it sound. 10/10 would recommend.

[@Ma_X64]

Hi, Tom. It's good to see how enthusiastic you are in what you're doing. I would love to participate in your experiments by making some equipment and automation. Unfortunately, I live quite far away.) But if you need some microcontroller based stuff then you can use something widely available like RP Pico and I'd be glad to help with its firmware so you'd just need to connect all the stuff together. By the way, you can dissolve the top Ni layer on the anode in sodium chloride solution. At least until it can be grabbed by its edge and ripped away mechanically. It's a very controllable process.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

One day I would love to combine electronics and chemistry some more, make some custom machines that do some sort of chemistry or analysis. One day…

[@ryannicholl8661]

The reason why certain chemical solubility goes down usually has to do with different N-hydrates having different solubility. E.g. if the monohydrate is less soluble than the dihydrate, raising the temperature tends to convert more into the less soluble dihydrate. This can also apply when the crystalline product isn't a hydrate because the solvation shells break up when the temperature is higher. I like to conceptualize it as hydrates in solution, even if they don't precipitate. Not sure if that is entirely accurate on a technical level to call them hydrates.

[@chir0pter]

I don’t think he pronounced it “Neodymium” once in the entire video 😂

[@luke144]

Cool video!! Neodymium being more soluble in cold solution blows my mind. Love the channel!! Entertaining af. Champion efforts.

[@Enjoymentboy]

It's almost a drinking game hearing you say "neodynium" (with an N) over and over all while I can see the title of the video that clearly reads "noedyMium". But don't feel too badly. Most people over hear can't say aluminium properly. 😂

[@insouciantFox]

But Al didn't originally have the i, a la platinum; it was the Brits who decided to add the i for aesthetic purposes.

[@Kachkeis97]

The part with the bird was actually extremely wholesome. Also: We need Bird-Shirts, as it's now the official mascot of the channel (after the cube)

[@g-radical349]

Couple years back I played around with growing neodymium sulfate crystals from rare earth oxides I got from a pottery store. Wasn't cheap, I think it was about $15 AUD for 10g or so. But it makes me wonder if you could purify the neodymium by evaporating the solution to let it crystallise? If there was a cool sheltered spot you could leave an open container of the solution in for a couple weeks? I got some nice big clear lilac crystals when I did that, and I remember that toward the end there was a bunch of weird stuff that came out of solution that wasnt neodymium.

[@ExtractionsAndIre]

Yeah definitely. There’s an art to crystal growing that I feel I’m too impatient for… but it would be cool to master that and think about making some laser crystals or other optical materials in high purity…. Would be super cool to do that in the shed. Might be too much dust around though haha

[@g-radical349]

@@ExtractionsAndIre Hahah yeh dust is defs the enemy of crystal growing. One way around the dust and temp issue would be to do it inside a sealed polystyrene box, and use some calcium chloride to soak up the moisture. I used to do it this way for tricky fast growing crystals that I wanted to slow down. Temp being the main factor that I had to control. I'm an impatient creative myself - but doing multiple projects at once kinda works well for crystals as you can kinda set-and-forget. Which sucks when you want that instant gratification hit, but is awesome when you remember a month or two later and see some awesome results!

[@michaeltalaganis6518]

Great video mate! I love your editing style and humor. Keep up the awesome videos and chemistry. The ominous trance music was sweet.