Make Sodium Metal Without Electrolysis Using Domestic Chemicals

[@styropyro]

Wow...this is downright impressive. For whatever reason I expected the title to be clickbait, where to get around electrolysis you'd use some horrifically unstable reducing agent on a sodium salt. But no, you are using a thermite-like reaction. And it's not like you are getting some marginal product either, at 6:00 you can see crystals on the surface of the sodium blobs!

[@NurdRage]

thanks! I was totally dumbfounded when it first happened. A decades old problem solved in my lab. I'm kinda afraid now it's all downhill from here :)

[@FranciscoJavierGC6101]

@@NurdRage can we use this method for get K°(s)?

[@comradedog3662]

@@FranciscoJavierGC6101 probably ,since the density of K is lower than sodium , and nurd said the key is density

[@rifleman1002]

​@@NurdRageand then you discovered how to get it WITHOUT fire

[@zaneenaz4962]

@@NurdRage ....Don't think its only the solvent density that coalesces Na........please try THF, or pyridine.

[@NurdRage]

Achievement Unlocked

[@thomash9300]

Het! I wonder why you don't want to make sodium by electrolysis? I remember doing so when I was 16 or 17 and each time I need sodium metal I extract it using electrolysis so why someone like you does not do it?

[@NurdRage]

You know exactly why its so crappy for an amateur then.

[@thomash9300]

For me the worst part was always the leftover sodium hydroxyde in the steel container. I am always left with a huge solid chunk that is highly impure and attract a lot of moisture from the air making it useless for any type of reactions, even other sodium electrolysis batches. It is hard to protect from the moisture and crystals of sodium hydroxyde tend to grow on the surface of the container to spread outside if not stored properly. But if you can handle this chunk it is a great method using only one chemical for the production and fairly easy and fast.

[@mortlet5180]

Because: Amateur chemist + molten NaOH + O2 gas being formed + explosive Na globs = 1 less amateur chemist. Seriously, have you even thought about what would happen if a drop of water were to fall into the setup? Just like what happens when you pour water into burning oil, the water will instantly flash to steam and send pieces of sodium to imbed themselvesf in your flesh. Yeah, you won't have time to remove it before it explodes due to the moisture in your blood..

[@1HeartCell]

Thank you for this!

[@mortlet5180]

Okay, wow. SERIOUSLY impressive! Those crystallization lines are gorgeous! Even though it took a PHD Chemist specializing in inorganic chemistry to figure this out, I am absolutely blown away by the yield... I was totally convinced that you destroyed almost all of the sodium by blending it in air like that, so to see big globules of sodium coming out of the slag was just amazing... It literally took me a couple of seconds to believe that it was actual sodium.

[@NurdRage]

Thanks! At first I was totally blown away and thought it was one-time accident. Then i repeated it several more times before i finally convinced myself i had something.

[@ender-gaming]

Is there anyway you could use a heavier gas like carbon dioxide to protect the sodium from reacting during the blending step? (Not sure if sodium reacts with carbon dioxide itself...)

[@mortlet5180]

Ender Gaming; Actually, his really good yields seem to indicate that degradation during that step is pretty minor... still, would be interesting to see what the difference would be if you put the aggregate straight into dioxane (which is contained in a suitable blender housing) after the thermite reaction is done. (Maybe use some liquid nitrogen to reduce the cool-down time? You would have to watch out for condensation though...) At any rate, I agree with Nurdrage that the major loss almost certainly occurs during either the thermite reaction itself, or the cool-down period after it has completed. So I think the most effective strategy would be to run the thermite reaction under Argon (you don't need a perfectly air-tight vessel if you don't mind keeping the Argon flowing for the duration of the thermite reaction; you can simply have the Argon come in from the bottom and leave through a coiled metal tubing 'chimney' at the top) and then immediately after it has cooled down, you put the aggregate into the blender with dioxane in it. Another thing that you can try (however I don't really know how usefull this would be, as I have no idea what the most common hydration state of the NaOH that you will be using would be), is to first thoroughly dry your NaOH (i.e. expell all water of crystallization) as well as drying the magnesium and the container that the reaction will be run in (although the amount of water in those 2 cases should be pretty negligable). Other than that, use the finest magnesium that you can (but remember to compensate for the increased amount of oxidized surface magnesium by increasing the total amount that you use in the reaction) and then crush and mix it together with the NaOH as thoroughly as possible. Again, I don't actually know if this is worth it, since magnesium is by far the most expensive reagent here, and the >40% yield is already very reasonable; hence the greater loss of magnesium, due to increased surface oxidation of the powder, could quite possibly nullify the benefits of having it more well dispersed.

[@conorclimo8534]

MRLT Could this also be done with Lithium?

[@pietrotettamanti7239]

Afro Samurai yep. Lithium has a lower electrochemical reduction potential than sodium (-3,04 if i can remember well), so technically the reaction Na^+ + Li ----> Na + Li^+ would be spontaneous in a galvanic cell. The problem is that both sodium and lithium would react with water :,( so you have to heat them. Cody reduced Cs+ to metallic cesium using lithium.

[@davelowe1977]

I suspect this is more of a triumph than most people realise.

[@roquri]

David Lowe Probably the most awesome achievement on youtube in my book. My wife came running in to see what the problem was when she heard my very loud "Holy Shit!" The only thing that will top it is when he releases the potassium video.

[@Farneze1990]

"Industrials hate him! ... local chemist exposes shocking sodium metal production secret. Learn the 5$ trick to his stunning results."

[@joerowland607]

Farneze1990 industrials hate him but I hate the industrials he proves his position in regard to us the industrials not so much they dont care they just want our money, as he does too but his greed is extremely less abrasive

[@polloprestigioso]

Joe Rowland you didn't get the meme bro, u no dank.

[@mikeguitar9769]

Sodium car runs on water! Blah Blah Blah, Nicola Tesla!

[@sandokannoname5738]

In that case, they must also hate me. NR can count on my steel in battle.

[@sandokannoname5738]

mike Guitar. ´Cada día que no estás bajo tierra es un buen dia´ Tony Montana and? Nurd Rage is the Man

[@Nighthawkinlight]

What a result! I've been waiting for a long time for someone to make this happen. Now, does it work with KOH/Mg post reaction slag?

[@NurdRage]

+NightHawkInLight yep. I'm working on a video of the process now.

[@explosivefreak666]

NightHawkInLight: WOW.. And YOU Here also.? It's becomming somewhat of a celebrity night with YT-Royalty.! :)) Nice to see you.!

[@jackyliao8]

NightHawkInLight I

[@urmouky]

It worked……I did it a few days ago,but i used KOH...and succeeded.

[@5naxalotl]

doesn't KOH transform into K at a high enough temperature ?

[@Cappanerd]

I am addicted to information. KZbin is one of my vices to cope with a thirst for knowledge. This is definitively one of the best instructional videos I've seen to date. In short, I appreciate your knowledge, effort, and video editing skills. Keep it up! You have earned another subscriber.

[@tehhamstah]

This is what I love about this channel - everything builds upon previous lessons. Love it!

[@imikla]

This proves that there is still plenty of good science out there for the prepared mind to find! Especially noteworthy, you didn't just complete the experiment, you told us how to take care of the waste. Thank you +Nurdrage!

[@snowdaysrule]

I went ahead and gave this method a try today and was able to make 1 gram of sodium metal! This was the first time I've ever actually been able to make sodium on my own; all the other methods I've tried over the years have failed. So I'm absolutely thrilled to have finally been able to make sodium for the first time! There's just something magical about a metal that's soft as butter and when reacts with water melts under its own heat to a perfect sphere, and produces hydrogen that surrounds itself and immediately combusts into a wizzing fireball that just like that disappears!

[@TheKingofRandom]

absolutely amazing!

[@NurdRage]

thanks man

[@Roshkin]

Grant Thompson - "The King of Random" I hope you will replicate it on your channel! I would like to see how easy it is to do and your take on what to do with it

[@przolbeing3230]

Grant Thompson - "The King of Random" UNITY AMONGST UTUBERS???

[@texasdeeslinglead2401]

Grant Thompson - "The King of Random" peer review 😉

[@highlander723]

dude praise from the king of Random you're in the big leagues now!

[@DaanSnqn]

Amazing results! 41% yield for this method seems amazing to me. Just from the fact you used quite a lot of cheap kitchenware to make this with a reasonable yield, it's just so amazing! I would have expected much less. Bravo my nerd, bravo!

[@Pyroman1ac]

I just love how excited you are over that achievement. Nice work!

[@zanpekosak2383]

I love the way he said: if it doesnt bubble add another shot of alkohol.

[@zelaboratorium8753]

Wow thats actually a huge brakethrough for homechemists. Thanks for all the time you invested in this experiment. IT IS AWESOME :O !!!!!!!!!!

[@zyh627627]

i can't stop watching this video, such solid skill!

[@muizzy]

You sound very excited in this one; love it!

[@polloprestigioso]

Simply congratulations NurdRage, you earned it.

[@daviduguccioni5410]

Beatels Sargent peppers lonely hearts club band

[@daviduguccioni5410]

Play Sergeant Pepper's me no lonely hearts club band play Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band play Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band p play Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band mr. Kite Play The Beatles Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band mr. Kite

[@astralchemistry8732]

Great video!! I guess we can say: After decades of research, there is finally a reasonable approach to make sodium for the home scientist!

[@ThangDuong-x1u]

This a REAL chemist right here. To find a better to do stuff like is a gamechanger

[@gigglysamentz2021]

Super pure sodium ! Without electrolysis ! Congrats ! :D

[@NurdRage]

thanks!

[@joerowland607]

NurdRage if I had stirring equipment I would definitely try this looks like fun

[@BarsMonster]

You can easily make steerer DIY. Just the stirbar need to be bought - luckily it is cheap. Just stick a magnet to a PC fan.

[@joerowland607]

BarsMonster not the stir bar tat is the problem they are cheap enough. It is the heating element with stir capabilities. my lab equipment is extremely bare bones eating tends to override lab equipment. still trying to get basic glass distillation to make nitric acid for the roughly 35 lbs of low grade silver scrap that I have.

[@JipJDB]

Joe Rowland last time I checked, they start at about $350 US

[@Blackline60]

I'm a chemist, and I know the struggle dude. You make it real. That's a fucking thing. Congrats ! I'm happy to know how to do now

[@instrumentenfreak]

It's very cool being a part of this generation where so much discoveries are made. Congrats :-)

[@malcolmhein1858]

"This generation"? What generation would that be?

[@ThePaintballgun]

And this is why you're KZbin's best chemist sir.

[@frankium264]

Finally! A better way to make sodium! This looks like a much safer method than electrolysis and it yields quite an impressive amount of very pure sodium for the relatively small amount of inexpensive reactants used. While electrolysis works, the high temperatures and current plus the fact that molten NaOH is used makes me nervous, plus I lose a lot of sodium to oxidation since i don't happen to have an inert gas cylinder. I definitely want to try this! Thanks NurdRage!

[@laurenceperkins7468]

Do you happen to have someone nearby who does blacksmithing for a hobby? Molten sodium chloride baths are sometimes used for heat-treatment of metals, and he'd have all the equipment to handle high-temperature things safely. I've been tempted to try some electrolysis myself, but I just haven't had the time or a project needing enough pure sodium to actually try setting it up...

[@niclas8591]

One of your best vids, and one of the best in this field as a whole, imho. Why can you only hit the like button once? Great stuff, and your dedication to the amateur chemist community is laudable. Chapeau

[@dasuboot123]

Maybe you could minimize the loss, when you ballmill the aggregate inside a vacuum vessel. Afterwards going back to standard pressure by soaking in dioxane instead of air. Eventually even the initial Mg-NaOH reaction could be done somehow inside a vacuum.

[@SeattleSandro]

When I was about 16, I was able to make a little bit of sodium from sodium hydroxide electrolysis and the yield was pitiful to say the least, but it worked and I was happy with my accomplishment. If this video had been around then, I would have made a LOT more of it. I'd love to see your video making potassium once you make it.

[@XxxThePsyCheMisTxxX]

Impressive results!!! The slag separation step is really where all the magic is IMO. For the furnace step, have you considered running a line of nitrogen or argon into the bottom of the can to reduce air oxidation? I would wager the dioxane is complexing with the magnesium and not the sodium, thus providing a means of chemical separation. Monoglyme and diglyme are two other solvents that may provide similar results, and have less health risks. Also the crown ethers, namely 6-crown-3 (cyclic trimer of ethylene oxide, where dioxane is the cyclic dimer) may work well, too. Acetonitrile and THF may also work, but might not have the affinity bias for the bivalent metal like the bidentate complexing agent dioxane, as well as the favorable higher boiling point. Also MTBE and ETBE, thinking in ether land since dioxane works well.

[@flimsybop]

Great job!!!!! This will be the first thing I try after finals.

[@rogerdotlee]

Congratulations, sir! It's good to know that I have an alternative to United Nuclear or eBay. Now on to the Dioxane video for a refresher.

[@vector8310]

That sphere was near picture - perfect. A keeper.

[@MuzikBike]

Let's see if I can do this for my future element collection.

[@ozonefreak2]

Congrats! It's an awesome discovery and I feel like I just saw some chemical history in the making.

[@buckhubach2720]

Damn, what a fine process. I feel like you need an award. Cheers 🍺

[@Exotic_Chem_Lab]

Buck Hubach 🍻 cheers

[@zeyogoat]

From one chemist to another, congratulations.

[@NathanaelNewton]

When i was about 12 years old I thought it would be interesting to try to make my own sodium.. I didn't have any books about chemistry or internet so i was just guessing on how to do it.. First thing i tried was melting salt with a blow torch and running electricity through it, that of course didn't work. Next thing i tried was running a spark of electricity at about 25kv through a pile of salt.. and immediately started smelling chlorine gas. At this point I became rather worried and decided this project was too dangerous to be doing in my parents garage and gave up on the project xD

[@vivimannequin]

Nathanael Newton at least you succeeded

[@KowboyUSA]

You were close, the Castner process - electrolysis of molten sodium hydroxide - would've got you there. Of course it could've got you in a lot of trouble too. Molten sodium hydroxide is hardly "safe" by any stretch.

[@samrowl6839]

Nathanael Newton dude that’s me rn

[@jarrydcuthbertson2739]

I've noticed that by drying dioxane with sodium metal, incomaprison to other solvents, the metal forms almost perfect spheres that float on the top of the solvent. The metal is beautiful in comparison to what it looked like before it was added to the drying flask as well. Very cool and only dioxane does it as nicely.

[@tobias_cz8719]

For anyone planning to attempt this synthesis. Do no not put the crude sodium in oil after first making it. I thought I could lower the oxidation loss by submerging the aggregate in oil. Unless you somehow get the oil off the sodium before you extract it with dioxane, the oil reacts while heated to form some kind of purple-pink residue which is hard to remove from the glass and also does not allow the sodium to leave the MgO slag. Anyway I wish luck to everyone reading this and taking it as an advice.

[@laurenceperkins7468]

Storing the aggregate under vacuum until you're ready to process it might help... Processing it under vacuum would probably also help, but setting that up would be a challenge.

[@williamtesson5150]

NurdRage, I discovered your channel over 6 years ago, you put your hand in liquid nitrogen and explained the Leidenfrost effect. It fascinated me though i was young and I watched more and more of your videos. I've just now began to explore your channel again after a couple years, and I realized you're a huge reason i'm studying chemistry in college. I'm glad to see your channel growing, and I hope to catch up on everything I missed. Keep it up man, and keep inspiring those young and old to learn, and to explore the science.

[@pietrotettamanti7239]

HOLY CRAP!!!! I always thought that Nile Red was better than you but with this video you totally conquered a new fanatic sub. SODIUM METAL, PURE SODIUM METAL, WITHOUT ELECTROLYSIS, AT HOME, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!! When I saw that gorgeus, shiny globe sitting in the middle of that black crap it blew my mind so much that i'm still scrubbing my brain from the walls with a spoon. Congrats man, keep up the great work. U are the man!!!!!

[@NurdRage]

NileRed is a great guy, definitely keep watching him. But i can do other things he doesn't do so watch us both for a broader range of experiments. Nonetheless, thanks for your support :)

[@BigParadox]

This is so cool and inspiring. I didn't think this was possible.

[@loturzelrestaurant]

Sodium IS a Metal so goddamn, science-language IS so confusing, is Sodium-Metal the same as 'normal Sodium'? And where to get any of either??

[@RossMitchellsProfile]

is it just me that wants to see nurdrage join all this big sodium spheres together.

[@Thesnakerox]

Now that'd be a thing for /r/oddlysatisfying

[@explosivefreak666]

Ross Mitchell : ..Are you also thinking about a sodium bowling ball thing.??. DI'm getting Reàlly excited.!.. YeeééHaaàà.!

[@raffaeledivora9517]

Join them together, then plate them in gold

[@GodlikeIridium]

"101 °C is easier to work with than 800 °C" Nurd Rage, 2017. Jokes aside you've done amazing work getting an easy way to synthesize sodium without insane and unsafe temperatures! Really great work mate!

[@pocpic]

I think dioxane works because it's a Lewis base and forms a chelate with MgO.

[@NurdRage]

yeah. I had the idea since i've done dioxane work with grignard reagents before. (one of the reasons why i made dioxane in a previous video). The thing is i don't have a way to prove that theory yet. If i can, i might squeeze a paper out of this discovery.

[@MrStiruam]

pocpic You could test this by comparing the performance of various ethers such as THF, 2-MeTHF and MTBE.

[@redneckchemist6506]

None of them are dense enough for the Na to float

[@swiminbandgeek]

I was kinda thinking the other way around Because the slag never really dissolved but the Na obviously does

[@NurdRage]

ugh. this is why i never talk about my research, people demand credit for ideas i came up with independently.

[@backyardsounds]

That was excellent! And to KZbin I say, leave this channel alone. It's educational and it's an awesome channel!

[@huntedwumpus]

Haha thanks for adding a mini-sodium action shot at the end :)

[@WilliePectol-e8s]

I tried this about 5 years ago, made my own reaction vessel and produced copius amounts of sodium magnesium oxide aggregate, experimented with different solvents to purify and isolate almost pure sodium metal, best thing I found was actually charcoal starting fluid. It left all the slag at the bottom and a large amount of beautiful sodium metal spheres . Needless to say I just let it go on heat till the solvent was evaporated. Then I cleaned it with pure mineral oil, I had like 3 large jars full of sodium metal. I'm an amateur chemist and this is one of the best experiences I've had thus far. Thank you NurdRage for passing the knowledge down. I've done several other reactions and synthesizes since then. I can't stress more about personal safety precautions, chemicals and elements are alot more serious than people realize so please take all precautions with utmost seriousness.

[@Roccoo]

congrats on an amazing achievement!

[@sirflimflam]

This is definitely one of the cooler videos you've done. Congrats man, excellent work.

[@thatplane3865]

Love it, worth the wait

[@jamesg1367]

Seriously: This is a HUGE accomplishment. Thanks and congrats!

[@CatboyChemicalSociety]

looks like dioxane is now really important for the amateur chemist!!

[@case_2]

those sodium balls looked so beautiful. amazing project

[@vx-iidu]

620 likes 0 dislikes. gud werk

[@NotoriousSRG]

I come back just to hear the intro and how giddy he is. It warms my heart.

[@gigglysamentz2021]

I ordered some magnesium powder :') Any more safety precautions to keep in mind for the reaction with NaOH ? I assume get a fire extinguisher that is neither water nor CO2 XD

[@floriandaler5327]

GiggitySam Entz Perform it in a Hole in a Sandbox. If something goes horribly wrong, which I think cannot happen, just close the Hole with your Feet with the Sand around it.

[@cyan_oxy6734]

A bucket of sand is enough to cover the reationvessel if needed. But having a fire extinguisher around is a good idea in case you set something on fire (e.g. yourself).

[@user21XXL]

Mg can still burn in CO2, sand is the safest bet. Make shure there is no water around (sand should be dry)

[@railgun22101]

Mg powder will react much more violently than the turnings. Use a long fuse and stand back!

[@Thesnakerox]

NaOH is highly caustic with a pH of 13-14, meaning that it'll eat into your hand. Wear gloves while handling it. It's also very hygroscopic, meaning it'll absorb moisture directly from air. So don't leave it out in the open for more than a day if you want to be as safe as possible.

[@ziadelansari3409]

great achievement nurdrage, ive been a fan for you for some time and you never cease to amaze me with these experiments.

[@alllove1754]

Thank you, doctor, teacher, and friend, for your very easy to follow, educating and ultimately inspiring video lessons. I look forward to every video u post, and often watch my favorites multiple times.

[@press2701]

Very well done. I propose the Na-MgO separation is purely physical, hot dioxane wets Na well based on fluid tension and adhesion. Perhaps emulsification of molten Na drops. Fluid -solid adhesion and fluid tension is a very specific thing. Many times a fluid is called a "catalyst" due to this specfiicity. Nice achievement, congrats.

[@axelbostrom3606]

i think Codys Lab did this a while back, well not this method but he made sodium and some other metals like that.

[@harrydudley-bestow5222]

Well done. I've been following your channel for many years as well as the efforts over at sciencemadness and I think what you've achieved here is your best contribution yet as it's much easier to do than the potassium + t-butanol method. Keep up the good work.

[@NurdRage]

Do i have "Chemistry God" title now? :)

[@swiminbandgeek]

NurdRage at least for synthesis!

[@harrydudley-bestow5222]

I'll give you the title of master. "Chemistry God" is unlocked upon finding a way to make oleum easily from over the counter chemicals. Good luck!

[@darijansekulic3815]

Hi Nurdrage, can I make potassium metal on this way?

[@DronamiInc]

Really, i'm interested too

[@polyjohn3425]

Watch the whole video

[@zakmorgan9320]

Darijan Sekulic in his response to nighthawkinlight he says it can and he's working on a video

[@jak3677]

I loved watching a master at work,well done,and thanks for sharing

[@graceofbaal]

You've got some balls distilling dioxane to dryness.

[@redneckchemist6506]

Off of sodium metal. The peroxides are long gone.

[@RapManJak]

Yield is stunning! Congratulations.

[@j_sum1]

Nicely done. I appreciate your efforts here. Hopefully this is something that can be adopted as a standard procedure for amateur chemists. I am certainly going to give it a go myself.

[@NurdRage]

Thanks! post it on the unconventional sodium thread :)

[@j_sum1]

Already done. Maybe you could drop by and add your thoughts. Some questions that are still up in the air? Some reasons why you believe dioxane works so well? That kind of thing.

[@caydpoe98]

You take something nerdy and make it so cool.

[@shazamshazamski4490]

How could someone dislike this video ?? Really !!

[@antswift1250]

Shazam Shazamsik s maybe they wanted to recover all of the sodium

[@jaredgarden2455]

I fucken love you man, looks like im gonna spend tomorrow shaving my magnesium bars.

[@NurdRage]

Awesome! let me know your results and reproducibility. (and as usual, be careful, sodium metal is a harsh mistress)

[@roselischmitt9245]

want to know too.

[@jaredgarden2455]

You have to wait till this weekend, i have finally managed to get together about 30g of magnesium shavings but i still have to make some dioxane which will take a day. So 2 days of work which is my weekend.

[@jaredgarden2455]

SUCCESS!!! I started with 40g of NaOH and 30g of Mg shavings, then after mixing thoroughly i added it to an aluminium can and tried using a sparkler to set it off, the first one failed but i used three after that and it worked. Of coarse i put a broken cinder block over it. I ended up using my girlfriends kitchen blender thing to grind it up and it was mostly successful but now her blender doesn't work properly for some reason, shes pissed. Anyhow i feel like i could have grinded it up finer but i proceeded anyway. I added the agregate to a 1000ml erlenmeyer flask with a ground glass joint followed by a stir bar and then added 450mls of freshly distilled 1,4-dioxane, this bubbled a little but no enough to cause any significant yield loss i don't think. I then attached my condenser and still head and started ramping up the temp. dioxane started coming over pretty fast at 100*C and i just let it go nuts, there wasn't any visible sodium in the dioxane until i had distilled down about half way. I kept going to dryness which i didn't really like doing but i ended up with a rather enormous lump of sodium metal sitting in my flask (bigger than yours i think) as well as a bunch of smaller ones. I foolishly didn't have an tweasers to work with but i used a bread and butter knife to cut the large sodium chunk into 4 smaller bits and then dumped the lot onto a plate and separated out as much sodium as i could. my sodium looked pretty dirty at this point and i threw it a 100ml beaker and put in some mineral oil and added some ethanol and started heating it, i didn't have to add anymore ethanol but i did have to stir it quite a bit and i had trouble getting it all into one lump. After letting it cool i took it out and dried it with a paper towel and then weighed it, it came to 10.6g :D My lump wasn't as spherical as yours but i think the fact that my magnesium was a lot finer may have helped increase my yield a little. I wanna try it with magnesium powder in the future if i can find some and also try adding and removing magnesium to see if this changes the yield at all. Unfortunately it takes me about 4-5 hours to shave 30g of magnesium with my current method so i need to find a better way to do that as well.

[@NurdRage]

awesome! its very cool to have external verification. The increase in yield is wonderful. I agree it might be from the finer magnesium and the fact that yours is freshly made so it hasn't had time to oxidize while mine is years old. excellent work man!

[@Mn-Fe-N]

I think there is another reason for the low yield, which is sodoun could form vapor at the first step. The evidence is the fire which was supposed to be hydrogen flame was yellow caused by the combustion of sodium, while the real hydrogen flame is blue.

[@Nerofur]

I just noticed you speed up at the end of every sentence

[@AlChemicalLife]

Im digging this ! Congrats and i hope you unlock all the achievements to the game called chemistry !

[@NurdRage]

:) thanks

[@david203]

Amazing results not requiring professional equipment. Of course, starting with sodium hydroxide makes this method possible, due to the reactivity of sodium hydroxide as compared with sodium chloride, which is chemically very stable. By the way, the little explosion at the end of this video was not caused by hydrogen burning in air, as used to be believed, but by tiny "whiskers" shooting out of the sodium at high speed into the water due to like charges repelling inside the sodium. The whiskers increase the surface area, supporting a kind of heat-based (exothermic) chain reaction (analogous in a sense to nuclear fission). This actual chain reaction has not been studied in detail, I believe, and is not yet completely understood.

[@chaoticchem]

You mean a coulomb explosion?

[@rainerlanglotz3134]

Very nice discovery! Only the cancerogenic Dioxane seems to be suboptimal. Probably the Dioxane removes oxide layers from the metal so it can fuse to bigger lumps.

[@alphapennsylvania9439]

It's only bad for you In California.

[@Thesnakerox]

I could watch this all day. This is so awesome.

[@gluglamana]

"liberate the sodium metal" Making father Lenin proud I see

[@pmcKANE]

Absolutely fantastic. I'm lost for words actually.

[@KNPVocals]

What if you try to make unbinilium (120)? So that it will be named Nurdium? XD

[@draygoes]

Would not have believed it if I had not seen it. You earned a sub.

[@livelife441]

You are no Amateur, your contribution to the scientific community is valued more than anything Bill Nye has done Post Boeing Career 😝

[@polyjohn3425]

Positive influences on the public perception of science are always encouraged and appreciated. Considering NurdRage here is supported by public donations, get the feeling he would agree.

[@trumpatier]

Bill Nye is no longer a scientist. He's a puppet spewing "politically correct" pseudoscience.

[@cosmicjenny4508]

+Trumpatier "Gender is a spectrum-" Oh, sod off, Bill.

[@chaegibson720]

Trumpatier never at any point was he a scientist, he's an actor, i love the fact liberals are so proud they have him XD

[@guestuser2373]

Nye has never been a scientist.

[@christopherleubner6633]

The oxygen in the dioxane ring will not oxidize the sodium, but has just enough pull to free it from hanging around the magnesium oxides. Loved the use of a sparkler to make the oxide too.

[@FlaminTubbyToast]

How do you define an "amateur chemist"

[@moth.monster]

not doing it in a professional laboratory for money?

[@FlaminTubbyToast]

erica yes but that feels weird when it describes someone with nurdrage's experience.

[@FlaminTubbyToast]

Lajos Winkler even then that's not exactly clear cut. Especially if you are a chemist and your being sponsored on KZbin. Wouldn't that make you a professional.

[@user-pi3fh9cp5m]

+Flamn TubbyToast Not really. Amateur chemists have difficulty buying or getting certain chemicals. Professionals tend to have a lot more tools and chemicals at their disposal.

[@FlaminTubbyToast]

What do you mean?

[@mcb187]

Maybe, to reduce loss, you can fill the blender wan inert gas, like Nitrogen or Argon. The blender probably isn’t air tight, but it could probably still displace most of the air.

[@ferntheyoutuber9960]

Is globule a word?

[@maggiep9007]

If it has intended meaning, and this meaning is understood by the listener, it is in deed a word.

[@D1ckator]

I am impressed. Amateur chemistry at its best.

[@ShinoSarna]

Then you can use that sodium to make dioxane, and then dioxane to make sodium! Endless chemistry!

[@maggiep9007]

FREE ENERGY

[@someniceguyon]

I was just about to ask if you could do this with other alkaline metals like potassium or calcium. Good video!

[@UnitSe7en]

Fucking magic.

[@NurdRage]

Alchemy... Version 2017 :)

[@user-pi3fh9cp5m]

+NurdRage Next up pure potassium or calcium from wood ashes?

[@MoleculedMan]

Amazing achievement! Nice clean huge nuggets of sodium. Great job.

[@Migueldeservantes]

So... what kind of compound can be achieved if in stead of magnesium use titanium? I mean would it be possible to get something even more reactive! I Have a bunch of titanium shavings, and have been using them as fire starters!! Please don't insult me in case that my question is just to stupid...

[@Abdega]

Migueldeservantes Do it! My first instinct is that you might not get as good of a sodium yield since Titanium Oxide does not have as big of an energy of formation as magnesium Oxide. (Magnesium Oxide is thermodynamically stable so the magnesium metal takes away the oxygen/hydroxide from the sodium hydroxide) But try it out and see what happens! Worst case scenario, it might not work as well (might need more Titanium metal to purify same amount of sodium) Best case scenario, you notice something cool that maybe nobody has seen before!

[@user21XXL]

Titanium oxide can behave like an acid, so it can react to form compounds like M2TiO4. This could stop the formation of sodium. search for : Titanate

[@Migueldeservantes]

I'm very grateful for your input, Honest the only reason that I decide to ask is because I have those materials, and very much the only thing that I'm interested on is the purpose, what can be done with it! I was hoping for some different type of alkaline metal.. that is reactive, I remember seen some reactive metal that lights purple!!

[@MaplePanda04]

Potassium

[@seanmeharg8858]

WOW!!.. I have to say you're Amazing!! As a Person! Not to mention the Knowledge and Experience you obviously demonstrate! But For the most IMPORTANT!! Part you give your knowledge so freely, THANK YOU! I have only ever Subrcibed to 2 Channels in all my years on youtube. You will be #3. and #1 was a channel for my kids. Just Well done and I wish you all the luck in your life.

[@Megapenguin88]

now throw it in a pond

[@vojtator]

Wow. Just wow. Good job sir!

[@MalinCruceru]

2nd!after NR.dude please make some ferrofluid

[@thatplane3865]

Cruceru Malin two other people posted second

[@jnv1971]

Being the third loser is also an acomplishment!

[@fakeaccount4761]

Don’t forget to wash it off when you’re done to get an extra shine

[@clearnews7344]

Do you have the worlds worst nose cold?

[@Fwumiko]

There's something beautiful about seeing pure sodium spheres no matter how many times I see it...

[@otakuribo]

*Achievement Unlocked* *airhorns and e-sports memes