Lithium - Periodic Table of Videos

Our new and improved Lithium video - from Neil's fumehood to the Bikini Atoll.
Videos on all 118 elements in order... bit.ly/118elements
This video features Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff and Neil Barnes.
Support us on Patreon: / periodicvideos
We've done a video about every element... bit.ly/118elements (and we are always updating them)
More chemistry at www.periodicvideos.com/
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From the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham: bit.ly/NottChem
Periodic Videos films are by video journalist Brady Haran: www.bradyharan.com/
Brady's Blog: www.bradyharanblog.com
Join Brady's mailing list for updates and extra stuff --- eepurl.com/YdjL9

[@pirwzy]

We went from dropping lithium into water for lolz to thermonuclear weapons. Escalation.

[@lordtains]

CONSEQUENCES

[@mellowyellow7523]

Explosion*

[@ramadzhann9601]

I think it was relate.

[@Jazzipurr]

That’s right

[@jeremywilliams0021]

Why of course. Go big or go home!

[@hank7281]

"But what is deuterium?" "I was coming to that, pleb. Sit down and get schooled."

[@dsandoval9396]

LOL! Yeah, It kind of sounded like that.

[@caridisiniaka1146]

Deuterium is isotop from hidrogen. There are 3 isotop from hidrogen 1. Protium : 1neutron 2.Deuterium : 2neutron 3.Tritium : 3 nautron

[@voornaam3191]

That was Exodus. Sit down, pack your bags and go home, you all. Tomorrow I will teach you about Deuter....

[@antman7673]

cari di sini aka You got it wrong. Hydrogen is a single proton and the more rarer version deuterium is a proton and single neutron. Tritium is radioactive and is a proton and double neutron. So hydrogen is kind of the element of a free proton, which attracts an electron. I knew I was right, but I made sure, I was right by looking it up again. So I am right.

[@antman7673]

Francisco Nieves What?

[@TnT_F0X]

"I persuaded Neil to set fire to some Lithium" Don't Lie, Neil is a man's man and loves setting fire to anything! You just made him wait for the camera to roll xD

[@smileyball]

I like how Neil started backing away before the sodium even caught on flames. Years of experience have taught him well :P

[@danieljryba]

I

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

Is there a fortunate manner in which to be exposed to radiation?

[@jasonw7053]

@@maskedmarvyl4774 Cancer treatment i suppose. Not fortunate but much less unfortunate that's for sure

[@johannahoneyman697]

MaskedMarvyl When you have an X-ray?

[@gurra2670]

this is the most brittish conversation i have heard, love it tho

[@a.s.vanhoose1545]

sniff upper lip

[@xeztan]

This man seems like the type of professor everyone would love. Extremely knowledgeable and passionate about chemistry, so much that it inspires you to learn more. Great hair as well.

[@conmanumber1]

My past now late Science teacher at Waitaki Boys High in the early 1980's looked like this guy with bushy hair too and with the glasses, he was from England too.

[@redmo1494]

This channel is the best chemistry education I've ever had, delivered by a brilliant professor at a brilliant university. Absolutely incredible.

[@gamingmarcus]

2:00 Inside of Neil: "We really need to fully close these fumehoods. I always have to wipe the floor after our experiments"

[@wiertara1337]

+P@r@m3d!© It's not an experiment. But you've made me laugh :)

[@gamingmarcus]

Everything is an experiment ;)

[@fuckwadify]

+Wojtek Kiraga Why not?

[@wiertara1337]

Alex Lee It's demonstration, because we already know the outcome. You do an experiment when you don't know (and want to see) what will happen.

[@fuckwadify]

Thank for explaining.

[@marcusbenjilake]

My seven year old is enthralled with your videos. Thank you.

[@Lexyvil]

+Marcus Lake It's nice to see young curious minds~ Hope he contributes to science in the future ^ ^

[@marcusbenjilake]

+Lexyvil Thanks! I am confident that she will :)

[@TheArtyomGuy]

+Filip Starberg Yeah, it does sound like it. You made him sound like the most sexist person in the world. Why can't you SJW's accept that Lexy made an honest mistake?

[@Lexyvil]

Filip Starberg Don't worry, a lot of people in my chemistry class are females, they account for more than half, I'm sure.

[@summercandies]

+InfiniteMushroom Lol. I'm sorry. I just found your comment really funny. xD

[@mheermance]

It seems like Neil is easily provoked into dropping alkali metals into water.

[@claricepritchard242]

Why do chemists like nitrates so much? They're cheaper than day rates. sorry had to.

[@SilentSnipest]

"End on a happy note." "Terrorists can get a hold of Sarin." :(

[@anibrataghosh8978]

Had me dying honestly xD

[@jamest.5001]

Castle bravo, they nearly blew the bikini off earth! They should have experimented just a bit more, before setting the big one off!! Great video, I want more!!

[@utah133]

I retired from the USA "chemical arms de-militarization" industry. I had limited access to sarin. But you had to be a straight-arrow guy! I was in a carefully monitored program where even one's credit rating was a factor as to whether you were qualified. Being a Mormon was clearly an advantage.

[@MaxArceus]

"And when Neil encouraged it.." 'huh? *imagines him cheering it on*' ".. with a flame," That's not encouraging!! xD

[@iammaxhailme]

+MaxArceus That's more like threatening!

[@mohammadyousef5815]

so he basically, shall we say, lit a fire up under it's a$$?

[@unvergebeneid]

The nuclear test on the Bikini Atoll is basically humanity in a nutshell: "Just _look_ at this place! This is paradise!" "Yeah ... let's blow it up."

[@edwardtupper6374]

Bikini Atoll is not it's original name. I understand it comes from the bikini, the latest in fashionable swimwear at the time, essentially a swimsuit with a ruddy great hole in the middle of it......

[@barthsimpson3]

@Matt S It also sweetens the name of the atoll, since no one thinks anymore about nuclear test hearing the it.

[@user-xb9yv2ci4c]

@@edwardtupper6374 Operation Castle Bravo was seen as a scandal in Europe, many criticized the unnecessary destruction of the island and the environment. Some days later, the bikini was announced and it became also a big scandal. So they named it after the scandal before.

[@erakuralightning-bolt1492]

If you explode 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001,000,000,185,926 mega nukes on earth,IT WOULD BE THE END OF THE WORLD!!!+!!

[@priscillachapkylo934]

Yept heard accident i've about in nuclear accident in called castle bravo bomb called the shrimp made some lithium inside the boom. weather so windy when's the bomb exploded carried radioactive particles to spread closer insland other place beside.

[@tinnturps]

I think its time Neil's story is told

[@Ballacha]

+tinnturps i think he's the Stig like 420% sure

[@error2k2]

+Peida Li Some say when he eats coal, the pressure and heat in his stomach turns it to diamonds. An when he takes a bath, his skin has an exothermic reaction with water, he saves on his heating bills. All we know, he's Niel!

[@TeslaMaster2]

+tinnturps Some say that he lost his voice because he huffed sodium hexafluoride recreationally. And that he has to wear gloves all the time, because his bare skin can dissolve even glass. All we know is, he's called Neil.

[@heyandy889]

+tinnturps Some say he was the inspiration for Walter White in AMC's Breaking Bad. All we know is, he's called Neil.

[@BloodySeaGullsRoss]

I'd rather not, I like him as an unknown entity.

[@aisuru113]

Nice use of the Nirvana album.

[@Chrisbajs]

It's not an album, it's a single.

[@LFPGaming]

'Fun' facts which they left out: The Castle Bravo nuke was 1000 times stronger than each of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nukes. And at the time of the detonation, an estimated 20,000 inhabitants of the area got radiation poisoning which caused an untold amount of birth defects throughout the following years. And the surviving victims received a measly $5,550 each in 1954 (about $48,900 in 2016).

[@markarrington3869]

Russias Tsar bomba blast ,the fallout circled the WORLD at elavated levels of nucleides for 39 years.

[@jorgepeterbarton]

check out Veritasium video about that! They didn't tell anyone, everything has strontium in it now. Kodak found out from the other side of the country because it was wreaking havoc with their film stock.

[@mrkitty777]

Don't the people approving this breath in the air in the atmosphere which now has been poisoned? Maybe they want to destroy planet earth.

[@andrewmartin9948]

These videos are fantastic. They helped me pass my placement exam for my university in America and will be going into engineering. It's a genuinely fun experience to go through and learn about these chemicals that are often ignored.

[@dev639]

Finally! I love lithium! I eat it every day with a cup of milk.

[@KabeerJay]

+Fabricio Fanfa What?

[@Rationalist411]

+Kabeer Jay - I assume Fabricio takes it for Bipolar Depression.

[@KabeerJay]

Rationalist411 Oh...

[@ElWatona777]

Ya

[@luisp.3788]

Or, maybe it was just a joke. Just maybe.

[@shadow404atl]

Any chance your bio chemist could do a more in depth video on the medical application of lithium and it's mechanics on the brain?

[@shadow404atl]

Awesome video though, and the older bomb videos are intriguing.

[@AlphaGoII]

yess indeed. contrail conspiracies are awash with it

[@pramitbanerjee]

+shadowlang404 do they have a bio chemist in periodic videos?

[@louistournas120]

+Alpha Go: "yess indeed. contrail conspiracies are awash with it" ==They call the chemtrails. Contrails means condensation trails and they are all condensation of water trails.

[@dr.spectre9697]

Or a Pharmacologist/Pharmacist

[@_tyrannus]

Haha, love how Pr Martyn backs off plugging his ears at 1:33. :)

[@dsandoval9396]

That was pretty funny. Still, I'm not sure if he was backing up behind Neil (human shild), or backing up closer to the door (everyone for themselves, if anything should go wrong, heaven forbid, but just in case).

[@Karabetter]

I think it would have added to the chemistry aspect of lithium in discussing Castle Bravo that it was due to miscalculations of the percentages of the lithium isotopes that were expected to participate in the reaction that caused the miscalculation of the yield.

[@jhyland87]

1:30 You can see the professor in the background. His bravery in the face of scientific experimentation is unparalleled...

[@jugginator4390]

This professor is the best chemistry teacher I have ever had! Thanks for the channel!

[@gl1500ctv]

Wow. Powerful. Thank you Sir Poliakoff!! This is by far my favorite episode.

[@gallifrey3049]

I love these videos so much. Thank you Brady, Sir Martin, and Neil

[@TiborRoussou]

I could sit and listen to Martyn for hours!

[@pinkmilkbmx6258]

I don’t understand why these videos get a dislike. This is all fantastic stuff.

[@xdoods]

Please! Keep remaking your element videos. The old one was disappointing, but even as a huge chemistry buff I learned a lot from this video. Can't wait for more!

[@stroke_of_luck]

So much information in such a digestible form. Thank you perfessor!

[@josephstalin6549]

You could sense his frustration when he says "it didn't work once."

[@omikronweapon]

then you've really missed the point... he KNOWS it doesn't work, which is why he does it. So there's also no frustration to 'sense'.

[@bcat010]

Hi Brady, I am absolutely in love with this channel, and I thank you all for making this happen for so long. I was wondering if you would be interested in hearing a video suggestion(s). I really find the chemistry that is a part of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries to be very interesting, and I was wondering if you could make more videos that pertain to those fields. For example, maybe you could do a video on the chemistry of current cancer treatments. I know you have done videos on medicines and drugs before, like aspirin, but I hope you can make more of these kinds of videos in the future. Keep up the great work, and have a fantastic day!

[@kellymckay544]

Great video. A large amount of information in a short period of time, but still easy to understand.

[@danielquick7541]

Thank you professor for once again making a great educational video.

[@Cavemankind_]

If only all Chemistry professors could be so inspired & inspiring.

[@ecmjr]

I'm glad I found this channel. I like watching this while working at my cubical at work. This is more interesting and educational than my coworker/supervisor's chit chatting...

[@GruntUltra]

Great video - I've watched those nuclear test videos about a thousand times, interesting to see how the weapons progressed. Keep up the good work, Sir!

[@wb5rue]

Excellent video as usual! You are a gem on KZbin!

[@hornylink]

Neil has the best job, encouraging stuff with a flame! also having a PhD in science is pretty awesome

[@spoddie]

So many great lines in this video.

[@AreYouGettingThis]

This is by far the greatest reaction channel!

[@mushroomsamba82]

I'm so happy, 'cause today there's a new periodic video, and I'm not sad

[@SpookyTanukiGaming]

Love your videos and love your enthusiasm for science.

[@fimbles1015]

Thank you so much for finishing on a happy note :)

[@Toastmaster_5000]

this was one of the best episodes yet

[@ionlymadethistoleavecoment1723]

I wonder how much of a pain it is to get another beaker. Because this lab has gone through SOOO many.

[@gunfuego]

+Ionlymadethistoleavecoments considering there are different grades of glass Griffin beakers are made of I'd say it's not that tough.....

[@brianreddeman951]

+Ionlymadethistoleavecoments Laboratory supply companies love schools for this reason.

[@Palifiox]

I worked in a chem lab serving the mining industry for 13 years. Towards the end of the time the accountants decided that broken glassware could only be replaced every three months. Thus if you needed 17 flasks, crucibles or beakers to run duplicates and a blank on 8 samples and you didn't have 17, you had to find some way to work around it. Consequently most things took longer to do. The lab closed within three years of this, partly due to strangulation by bean counters.

[@shanebobey9435]

@@Palifiox bean counters?

[@Palifiox]

@@shanebobey9435 Accountant = bean counter

[@FranBunnyFFXII]

Ohey I have Bipolar disorder. Thank you for describing it properly!

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

I'm so happy, 'cause today I found my friends. They're in my head!

[@user-gn6jj8qh1w]

When I was a kid I always wanted science teacher like this guy.

[@anthonygrow1482]

Same

[@compactc9]

My grandpa was stationed at Eniwetok in the Air Force, he worked on the planes they used to drop the test bombs.

[@snepNL]

your granddad is a fuckface

[@lookoutforchris]

+snepNL learn some manners.

[@lookoutforchris]

snepNL and so have the British, French, Indians, Russians, Chinese, Pakistanis, Israelis, and North Koreans. And more are trying to create their own nuclear weapons. The difference is the US did it to end a World War and maintain the longest period of global peace in modern history. You're reported by the way for harassing and offensive speach.

[@snepNL]

+lookoutforchris thanks:)

[@davecrupel2817]

I do hope he didnt get any kind of residual radiation off the planes. ):

[@end-quote]

I WANT MORE OF THESE VIDEOS

[@bundlesofjoe]

I love how I absolutely hated chemistry I'm in highschool yet I'm perfectly content sitting down and watching dozens of your videos in a row happy that I'm learning something.

[@aaronj08ar]

Makes me wish I would have actually paid attention. I currently would love to have a career in chemistry, more so than I do already, but don't fancy going to college at nearly 30 years of age.

[@CommissarMitch]

I love how he uses the term Persuaded a lot when Neil probably wanted to do the experiments.

[@chetanjeevsinghbains775]

Well it's 2019....and this element has done wonders!

[@MrLiveEra]

Could you touch on l-Glutamate Mainly MSG? Would love to hear your thoughts on it,

[@ikmecyprus]

I liked the "cameo" of Nirvana's Lithium single's cover :)

[@cnvogel]

@4:50: I really like the proper british pronounciation of Advertisment (with the emphasis on the VERT).

[@johnukion9931]

Yay! Was just studying for my chemistry test.

[@jlunde35]

How do lithium batteries work and why are they better? I would love to see a sequel. Great video as always Sir Martyn and Brady.

[@flaplaya]

It looked to me that the Li had burned out. I'm not nit picking but why not fill the beaker first with LN2 and then light and lower.. I'm also thinking of the oxidation product in a N2 atmosphere. Lithium Nitride?

[@Thelunamiah]

I love these videos so much !!

[@WhocaresWhy44]

Best Chem Show on YT

[@kyotorii]

I hope that this man never dies and is my next science teacher

[@chrisdaniels3929]

Thanks for the video of the reactions. It opened the eyes of my 10 year old son. What a wonderful world!

[@chrisdaniels3929]

@love XD Cool. Who doesn't like fire and explosions!

[@antonk.2748]

could you maybe do a video on capsaicin, the compound that makes chili peppers spicy?

[@derKarl_stp]

Neil's expression on the face once it blew up... :D priceless

[@Kaynos]

As always, very interesting video.

[@eatingtacos000]

positively fascinating! Thank you

[@leonardoglass7182]

I'd love to see a vid about lithium or other alkali as fluxes in ceramic glazes.

[@petergriffin9554]

Can we have a video on alternative Core reactors? Like the molten salt reactor and explain some chemistry on these flourine salts.

[@tafsirnahian669]

Neil is the coolest lab technician I've ever seen

[@KanuToCL]

Niel deserves a channel of his own

[@masongatz2810]

I would love a video talking about the theoretical properties and (unrealistic) applications of element 119! And also, what would be a pleasing name for it.

[@bigmike8250]

Love the videos keep it up proffessor

[@Aleksandar_M]

I am a new subscriber and wanted to say how much I appreciate all of these wonderful videos made by the University of Nottingham. Is it possible for the professor to explain what depleted uranium is and why it is used in cannon shells? I've never quite understood how uranium can be depleted to the point of becoming a 'safe' metal. Thank-you.

[@dixiefix6055]

Your best video so far

[@petejt]

I like too how Nirvana's "Lithium" E.P. single was shown when Sir Professor Martyn talked about Lithium carbonate being used for treating depression. That's my favourite song of theirs.

[@thaonguyen-fv5gd]

So exciting experiment, Thank Professor and KZbin CHANEL

[@LawtonDigital]

Please explain the difference between an "experiment" and a "demonstration".

[@HanabiraKage]

+Robert Lawton When you perform an experiment, there is something you want to find out by performing it. In the case of a demonstration, you already know what the result will be, and are just showing people what happens.

[@LawtonDigital]

Oh. It seems like Marty uses those words interchangeably.

[@john-alanpascoe5848]

+Robert Lawton Well, even scientists aren't always precise in their word use, especially in conversation. When the professor is performing a demonstration he is of course usually performing a set of actions that were once an experiment. In general though I agree that experiment = finding out what will happen; demonstration = showing others what will happen.

[@fgs5287]

An 'experiment' is doing something to find out something, a 'demonstration' is showing it. To put it simply.

[@11Kralle]

If the purpose of the experiment is to verify a hypothesis (or an assumed result/outcome), which is(are) stated beforehand, those words can be used interchangeably.

[@BenPrindle]

Big fan. Great post!

[@abdobedo9428]

EXCELLENT VIDEO professor

[@astropgn]

I liked how professor covered his ears before the explosion. Anyone would see a flame and think "what a nice flame", but a true chemist thinks "yeah, it is gonna blow"

[@secondarymetabolite5050]

Soooo, when will you make a video about alkali metals and coulomb explosions? I think this theory is quite well accepted by now. And even if it isn't, it definitely deserves a video where you explain it. :)

[@RealCheesyBread]

They should call them Deuterium Bombs. That sounds so much cooler than Hydrogen Bombs.

[@BeCurieUs]

+Tony Stark? There is a type of bomb that uses Deuterium which we call a boosted bomb, which sounds kinda cool :D

[@damonjackson5857]

Christopher Willis no it uses an injection of tritium...

[@tabularasa0606]

But what about dilithium crystals? :P

[@error.418]

+tabularasa0606 oh you ;)

[@RexGalilae]

+tabularasa0606 How about Red matter?

[@RexGalilae]

tabularasa0606 I see you're not a big fan of that 2009 movie ;)

[@tabularasa0606]

Mohammed Zaid Nor the ones after that.

[@pnp072000]

+Anonymous X I thought dilithium would be real because of it works if you draw the molecular orbitals. It's just not stable.

[@galacticmex]

you guys are amazing, great video, SCIENCE!

[@kylesenior]

It should be noted that the US did build a liquid fueled thermonuclear bomb called the Mark 16 (TX/EC16) as an interim weapon before "dry type" weapons tested in Castle Bravo was developed. They were reportedly manufactured in Jan 1954 and all retired by April of that year. The weapon had a yield of 6 to 8 Mt and weighed almost 20,000kg, while the dry weapons that replaced it (the Mk14, 15, 17 and 21) all had yield to weight ratios that greatly exceeded it.

[@JonathanXLindqviust]

Lithium is my alltime favorite element. Ever since I was a kid I've loved nukes and at the age of 6 I already knew most of the tests by heart like BravoB etc. Though for the first time I have to add one use that the Professor didn't mention; Lithium can also be used in submarines where it can purify the air and re-release oxygen from being bound with other elements and compounds. This is why subs theoretically can stay submerged for so long.

[@mrkitty777]

Why don't you start loving a cat, at least you can hug a cat.

[@dangeroustoaster2688]

Lol I think the professor has the same bomb fascination as myself. I didn't learn anything here, but in all of the other videos I learn something.

[@CometAura]

I'm so happy, because today I found my friends

[@Lerkero]

Lithium is such a valuable resource. I baffles me that it is not better preserved.

[@AlRoderick]

There is a lot of it on earth. It's found in extractable quantities in all of the seawater on the planet. The places that it's commercially mined today are concentrated brine deposits like the one in Bolivia. It's also not destroyed or consumed in most of the ways we use it, it can be recovered and recycled from old batteries.

[@Lerkero]

+Alexander Roderick I understand that lithium can be recycled, but people often trash their devices rather than recycle them. A lot of valuable and unrenewable resources are trashed.

[@Lerkero]

Higgins2001 Lithium will be chemically preserved, but the ability to retrieve it from trash is economically prohibitive. It won't happen any time soon. I'm not even sure separating metals from plastics would work well because lithium is often found with plastic devices. I should do more research on the viability of lithium recovery because it will be important soon.

[@Jeremy-gy7me]

+Lerkero Not really that soon at all actually, it's so abundant that by the time we use up all the easily available stuff on earth, we will be able to get it from other sources.

[@ianinholland8390]

Isn't lithium the 3rd commonest element in the universe? We'll have to be trying really hard to use it all up...

[@vinayakmirani5221]

Awesome Video... Keep it up

[@edwarddavidson9144]

I'd like to see something about the effect of wood charcoal (oak in particular) on distilled alcoholic beverages, as far as actually putting small amounts into bottles of, say, scotch or bourbon. It really seems to make a difference.

[@onfoote]

very interesting seeing this article.... the foote mineral company’s main lithium mine, which is in kings mountain, NC, is where i did my graduate research on the ‘redistribution of manganese and aluminum bearing solutions in the oxidized zones of granitic pegmatites’. the mine is home to some 165 minerals, of which 15 to date were new to science (four of those i discovered myself). the lithium plant at the locality is still active, although the open pit mine is not. they now process a lithium-rich brine water source in Chile and export the water to the plant by train. can you tell me what year and issue of the magazine this was?? we are putting together a book about the locality and it’s minerals and this would be an interesting tidbit to add.

[@kf4744]

I always get a confused sense of awe, inspiration, and fear when I see the videos of the Atomic/Hydrogen bomb tests.

[@ShiltoCrarpo]

I feel that "(new)" is a poor descriptor for this video because it's not always true. Perhaps Lithium Two, Three, Four... Super fantastic video. Much more interesting than just reacting larger and larger pieces.

[@captiannemo1587]

Edison tried lithium hydroxide in Nickle-Iron batteries. But the key here is that it was not necessarily needed and that potassium hydroxide works just as well. And the potassium is probably cheaper to use anyways.

[@barnabassilomba1035]

Very enlightening.

[@shaunepp8658]

I wasn't expecting all that content. Very scarry!!!

[@NA-pl4vi]

Noooo the beaker 😜, loving these videos, the profesor, the technicians ❤️