Americium - A Metal, That Can VISUALIZE RADIATION!

[@Thoisoi2]

☢ This video was sponsored by Radiacode 102 - the world's first pocket-size radiation detector and spectrometer for all natural science enthusiasts Order now - 102.radiacode.com/3 and try out a new scientific hobby!

[@willo7734]

I bought one a year ago after seeing it on youtube. It works really well and the spectrum analysis in the android app is really interesting!

[@spvillano]

Got plans to build a diode based unit from the CERN educational website, comes with a database to calibrate readings. Just waiting on the board and parts. Just got the emitter when the detector failed, so figured why not? I also noticed, they're using the same circuit that was used to detect smoke around 40 years ago, but the emitter's about 1/3 the size. I'll also be building a cloud chamber, got some old kitchen storage containers that have broken lids, so why not? Order a 4 cm heat sink, got some blue freezer charged cool packs to cool it, some hot water on the top bin to give the heat differential. At least until I can build a chiller...

[@godfreypoon5148]

In Australia, we are allowed to put no more than 10 radioactive smoke alarms in our bin at once. If we have more than 10, we have to treat them as radioactive waste, or alternatively put the excess units in a different bin. There is no limit when placing them in a neighbour's bin.

[@kitemanmusic]

Why do you have so many?

[@godfreypoon5148]

@@kitemanmusic It's just for good measure.

[@DjResR]

What about shared bin of an apartment block?_

[@silversurfer3202]

Your Neighbor....😡😠☢️

[@MrLuigge]

"... Neighbor bin..." hahahahahha

[@rabdimrzi]

This is the most American metal I've ever seen

[@anvilleite198]

From the Estonian mad scientist guy.

[@cyberdemigod]

Especially since its used to tell fire to go fuck itself.

[@chaosreigns7386]

Careful there my friend, you say that too loud, they might come and try to get it canceled from the period table of the elements for being inherently racist and not inclusive of the other elements... ;)

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

oh my god the comedy 😂

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

@@chaosreigns7386 it is! racist priveledged metal

[@NightRunner417]

What's really interesting is when you rip one open but keep it powered, and then put an oscilloscope on the output of the detector section. You can literally see the voltage levels drop as air gets more and more blocked by particles like smoke. That in itself isn't particularly astonishing, but then when you think of that crazy shower of particles flying off the Am241 sample getting interrupted by teeny tiny bits of carbon in the air causing a high voltage ionized air path to disrupt... Yeah... it's just totally cool. :-)

[@gogartymike]

What a brilliant documentary. Your content is consistently fantastic.

[@CampyCamper]

The tracks through the ethanol vapour are beautiful!

[@JWolff-md3ij]

Agreed, I was hoping he would've found a way to increase the concentration of the vapor inside since he said it wasn't dense enough to show everything. Was my favorite part of the video.

[@spvillano]

@@JWolff-md3ij a tub of hot water on top will add to the concentration. Gotta get the felt for the one I'm building out of a couple of broken kitchen storage containers, they're 4 cm square units, cut the bottom out, goop and tape the two together keeping the bottom on one, fill the top with hot water and the bottom can have either dry ice or just blue cooler gel poured and taped into a heat sink for the bottom unit to rest upon.

[@BackYardScience2000]

Truly one of the only good science/chemistry based KZbin channels left on KZbin. My own channel doesn't even add up to near the greatness of this channel. Thank you for not selling out or changing to get more views like most other science based channels have done. Keep up the great work!

[@WaffleStaffel]

I agree, but don't sell yourself short, kiddo.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

Spam comment. There's other comments with this same copy paste.

[@AmorDeae]

Cody'sLab Explosions&Fire + Extractions&Ire TheThoughtEmporium NileRed Chemical Force StyroPyro Applied Science NightHawkInLight They're just the ones that come to my mind, some are based purely on science, some are mainly science projects. None of them make clickbait like this channel has come down to as I see. Combined with the hard to watch lip desync and having learned in school and youtube just about everything he has to say I'm reassured in not watching this anymore. Thought Emporium has his own video about cloud chambers, and it's that device that allows for visualising radiation, Americium is just an example source you can put in the chamber.

[@BobPapadopoulos]

I don't care about your channel.

[@kevinwillard6652]

But I love your channel too......don't sell yourself short.

[@cpm1003]

I recently got some old radium watch hands, and a small sample of ThO2 for my element collection. The watch hands don't glow brightly, but if I let my eyes adapt to the dark for an hour, I can see the super dim glow, with crazy sparkling all over. For the ThO2, I bought a ZnS(Ag) screen to place on top, and it is also a super dim and sparkly light show. This is another cool way to visualize alpha radiation, although it is unfortunately difficult to capture on camera.

[@sb-cz7fk]

I love that as well when I can't sleep l like to watch my old alarm clock spark and shimmer i never realized how relaxing and mesmerising ionizing radiation could be.

[@HighlanderNorth1]

☣☢ Darn it! He just said its unsafe for a person to either swallow an americium sample or to attach it to your skin with a bandage.... But what else am I supposed to do with it!? Oh well, I guess I could just place it in a slot inside my element collection. But I REALLY wanted to swallow it! 😁

[@sb-cz7fk]

@@HighlanderNorth1 he never said anything about making a fetching hat out of americium sources or walking around with one on a leash as a pet.

[@HighlanderNorth1]

@@sb-cz7fk That's a great idea! I remember they used to sell these fake "ghost dog" leashes at Spencer Gifts, that gave the appearance you were walking an invisible dog. You could simply shrink the collar down from 8" in diameter to 8mm, which would fit seamlessly around the Americium disc! Walking a tiny disc of uncommon radioactive material attached to a goof dog leash seems like an incredibly logical and constructive way to spend my time!

[@sb-cz7fk]

@@HighlanderNorth1 sounds like a fantastic idea ! I mean they say walking a dog is a great way to make new friends and meet cute people so I wonder what walking a trans uranium metal around will get you.

[@thehyperscientist1961]

It's amazing what your doing here. Very few other chemistry channels I've seen talk about the radioactive elements in such detail and in a captivating way!

[@FlyTimeLapse]

I came to know about application of Americium during a project. Americium was used there to determine thickness of the metal sheet. It was amazing to know how the radioactive property is used to determine metal thickness. Your videos are really informative and useful. Thank you.

[@jamesmorgan1063]

Top shelf visual explanatory lectures. Much appreciated.

[@dims95]

Videos like this remind me why I subscribed to thoisoi in the first place👍🏽

[@seanb3516]

I'm incredibly fortunate to have toured the 'back end' of the TRIUMF Research Particle Accelerator at UBC. When I toured I was in an area that was still contaminated with radioactive oxygen which had blown about. They had mostly cleaned up however you could also see black smudges of contaminated Carbon on the ventilation system. That's what you can do with a chem degree and a girlfriend whose father worked there for 20 years. :D (I didn't get a job when I applied, sad)

[@Tomas_Prucha]

Very good! I couldn't wait until you would upload. I watched in Russian first because of being very impatient. Your chemistry videos are excellent. 👋 from 🇨🇿

[@KillersFromTheWest]

You’re the one that got me into chemistry, I had zero interest in this subject since I only cared about physics but you’ve sparked something big in me. Thank you for all that you do, I hope you make a lot of money off these videos.

[@seanb3516]

If you open a source chamber on a smoke detector stop when you see the tiny piece of gold. The Source is safe to handle at this point. It is still in a protective and shielded container with only the one window. The ionization chamber (cover) makes a great cap to control radiation. I always store mine above head level pointing upwards. Alpha radiation is used industrially to control static. I used to play with a source used during newspaper printing to control static cling.

[@galadriel4101]

My Grandkids are about to get educated by knowing more science and chemistry by watching your channel.

[@PlasmaChannel]

Excellent shots you've captured here. What lens do you use for the tight macro shots?

[@Thoisoi2]

Hi, I use Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro.

[@destiny_02]

@@Thoisoi2 doesn't radiation damage the camera sensor ?

[@アヤミ]

@@destiny_02 Good question! Would love to hear an answer as well.

[@FutureChaosTV]

​@@destiny_02 The alpha radiation emitted shouldn't be able to but the secondary gamma radiation might.

[@islamahmedbakr7547]

@@destiny_02 Place a high Quality bromined glass so the radiation dosen;t affect the camera

[@happalula]

incredible... another awesome video about an every-day-appliance i never bothered to think about really glad i found this channel in the past!

[@alexgh4621]

I went to Griffith Observatory today. They have an exhibit there that showed something I had never seen before that really intrigued me. It showed a cloud chamber and a spark chamber detector and they were being used to detect secondary cosmic rays. And then I come across this video later today purely by coincidence that showcased the same type of cloud chamber and the spark chamber detector. I don't know what to think now...

[@DaveDVideoMaker]

Thoisoi is back on his English channel after a month.

[@Thoisoi2]

Still faster than Nillered

[@bacnguyenvan4919]

@@Thoisoi2 and Chemical Force Edit: Now I am very regret about my comment.

[@Ayush-yj5qv]

@@Thoisoi2 😂😂

[@BackYardScience2000]

@@Thoisoi2 Still better than Nile Red, too.

[@Mamang-Maangas]

Nilered was uploaded a video 5 mins ago.

[@urbannanni5864]

This was fascinating! I saw my first cloud chamber on TV back in the very early 60's on a Mr. Science type show. My whole life I have wanted my own cloud chamber, and yours looks quite attainable. Thanks for the facility tour, also. I've wondered what happens to old smoke detectors. A truly wonderful science channel.

[@dsandoval9396]

I really want to build a cloud chamber, it was awesome to see these things flying around. I saw one for the first time last year and while that one was professionally made, even a well build amateur one can be very cool. I have my 99% IPA sitting on my shelf waiting until I get the rest of the materials. I just really don't have the time unfortunately.

[@urbannanni5864]

@@dsandoval9396 and I have all the time in the world...

[@chakraace9823]

oh why he got dislikes! This channel taught me about almost every element in the periodic table. Great explanation. This channel must get more support❤️

[@brooksrownd2275]

I want one of those crazy Plutonium 238 smoke alarms. :D

[@spvillano]

Bleh, I want a cobalt-60 burglar alarm.

[@Hydrogenblonde]

Great video. Lots of important information! I've been wanting to see a video on this subject for a long time.

[@OnTheRiver66]

Great video. I used my home smoke detector to check my first Geiger counter before getting a test source and some uranium ore samples which I use now. I never saw a spark detector before, thanks for the all your effort in making yours work.

[@matthewday7565]

With a RTG, it will last longer using a longer half life element, but at a much lower power density, that's the trade-off - you need a much larger and heavier unit.

[@meloney]

And a whole lot more of the element :D

[@Christophe_L]

Don't know how I missed this channel all these years. I've only been following for a few months and you always deliver excellent, consistent content.

[@kookwater456]

The tour of the Estonian radioactivity disposal site was a very welcome surprise. Thank you!

[@kychemclass5850]

If I'm not mistaken, also, alpha particle emission takes place over a range of energies depending on several factors so some can penetrate paper. (Also the type of paper is a factor too)

[@tr0798]

Happy to see new element videos :)

[@Litepaw]

Dude just showed up at an ex-soviet nuclear waste disposal facility and they give him a tour. Nice

[@bernardthedisappointedowl6938]

A particularly good episode this, thanks for all the hard work you've put it to it, ^oo^

[@mikefrizzell2532]

Thank you, Sir! You are a remarkable scientist.

[@ashutoshsuman9473]

Waiting for you to complete your playlist on Elements.🙏🤩

[@sunrazor2622]

It would be ironic if the only reason some facilities were top secret in the past was because the officials didn't want the world to see how irresponsible dangerous materials were being handled.

[@808bigisland]

Secrecy has the purpose to avoid and negate responsibilities of individuals in a bureaucracy. That's why we live in such miserable times.

[@brandonbaier5809]

oh the irony abounds my friend.

[@karlpron]

Truly amazing video. You always make great videos, but this was exceptional. Keep up the good work.

[@greasymoth4172]

Americium, the United State's response to the dread alloy known as Stalinium

[@bacnguyenvan4919]

Good joke lol

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

14:17 Our man has created minilightnings. Hence, he'll be known from now on as Thorsoi2.

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

🤔😆

[@rvxn]

Thoisoi2*

[@johns1625]

I have also taken the button out of a smoke detector to do experiments with orchids and cacti. You can glue the button to a copper wire and position it on the flower of a plant to try and create new breeds. Radiation breaks apart the DNA in exposed pollen when you are fertilizing manually with a paint brush so the seed that forms can be a mutant plant. Most are infertile or die after germination but I've created a few new orchids that have leaves that grow like a corkscrew. Pretty neat.

[@n2n8sda]

Amazing demonstrations

[@LevidelValle]

Just love your vids on chemistry.

[@kirtankumar3695]

As expected , above the level🤩👍

[@supahfly_uk]

Love your videos bro I have learned so much from watching your stuff. Thanks.

[@devhassanmehdi]

I am a computer science major and don't understand most technical details about chemistry, but your videos make it so easy to understand. Thank you.

[@cethgames8423]

your videos are so well explained and produced. I can see you put lots of work into each one. I'm really grateful for your work!

[@danieldollive4660]

Thank you for providing an actual true explanation for how lightning is formed by ionization of the air. It makes far more sense now how lightning is formed by this process. Also your demonstration was great enjoyed this, Thank you.

[@squigglesmcjr199]

Literally one of the best channels on KZbin!!!

[@milolouis]

Brilliant, fantastic. Loved every moment of it.

[@rayoflight62]

I used to build ionisation chambers, never built a spark chamber. I used a tin can (any beans can will do), with one side open, and the other side closed with an insulated plastic disk. The can is traversed by a rigid copper wire, and about -100 V floating, applied between the can and the wire thru a 10 MΩ resistor. Used four 22.5 Volt batteries in series. The chamber is connected to the gate of a FET transistor with a very low gate current like JFE2140. This dual FET has 10 pA gate current, but there are some FET with a 2 pA gate current - if you can find them. On the drain of the FET you need to connect an OP AMP amplifier and an integrator as low-pass filter, and connect it to an oscilloscope. The FET and the amplifier must be powered by a separate battery. If the FET is OK, this chamber work any time. Think that this chamber works much better with an high gain dual triode (ECC83) if you know how to design with vacuum tubes, especially tube differential amplifiers. Thanks for the outstanding video. Greetings, Anthony

[@anonymouse9105]

It seems like the Americium sample could also be used to recharge the battery or power smoke alarms, but we're forced to buy disposable devices which don't allow the battery to be replaced. More planned obsolescence.

[@Ithirahad]

Not nearly enough americium for that. Adding that much would be insanely expensive and would give regular people access to dangerous amounts of nuclear material.

[@godfreypoon5148]

@@Ithirahad If you give those people enough nuclear material, they will become irregular. The problem is self-resolving.

[@NicholasA231]

Great video as usual, but I have to contest one important thing. 9:15 - 60 keV X-rays (or gamma technically in this case) definitely aren't "safe". The TVL of soft tissue to 60 keV photons is like 11-12 cm/~4.5". Basically, 1/2 will penetrate at least 3.5cm/1.5", and 90-99+% will be absorbed by the body, and they are definitely highly ionizing in tissue. At 4uSv/hr, at that distance, you'd probably have to wave that thing over someone for a year in order to generate enough to make a single chest x-ray, so I'm not suggesting that it's dangerous to handle, but yeah, 60 keV is right in the middle of the range that penetrates enough to damage tissue, but not enough to pass right through. If you generate enough 60keV photons you basically have a perfect x-ray machine.

[@Reptex_cs]

If it takes a year to resemble a typical chest X-ray, isn't that safe enough?

[@NicholasA231]

@@Reptex_cs It isn't likely to cause any harm at those levels. That's why I said it's not unsafe - quantity-wise. The quality/energy level of the radiation, however shouldn't be characterized that way. It's probably irrelevant to 99.9% of people in any situation they are likely to even encounter. Just that, to say 60 keV photon radiation is harmless is exactly the opposite of true. It gets slightly complicated... For radiation safety guidelines we use a linear non-threshold model. That means we take levels with known harmful effects and assume that, for instance, 1/1000th of that is 1/1000th as harmful. We know that's not true based on epidemiological data that we have - low levels up to a few 10's of times normal background *may* even be slightly beneficial - but it's the standard practice for regulatory purposes to assume "no safe dose". Also, If you ate it 🙄, kept it near your eye for a long time, or carried it in your pocket every day... You might increase risk of cancer, cataracts, or fertility issues respectively. Honestly probably still not, but having no respect for it isn't a good approach is all I'm saying. Or if you got 1000 of them and tried to extract the Am (someone did that) - that'd be dangerous. It's hard to communicate radiation health physics effectively. That's why everyone is (wrongly) afraid of nuclear power.

[@jameslanglois2264]

I love your content. I’m actually shocked you don’t have more subscribers. The level of detail you go into it great.

[@jasonwilliam2125]

So much better now we have a face for the voice. That 1 million subs is so close its exciting.

[@kitebabe05]

wow,very fascinating!! best education channel, thank you!

[@cezary7082]

Seriously, this is attracting such attention it cannot be just skipped by

[@mccallfineart7589]

Excellent explanations and a passionate attitude to help others understand. Keep at it!

[@RONIN-112]

great channel , one of rare people whose english gets worse while speaking it more often ..... great work , love it

[@AlbertStraub]

This channel is great! Thank you for the education.

[@andyroo3022]

I liked seeing the alpha perticles, visualised in the alcohol vapours. Very good demonstration.

[@d.cypher2920]

Wow! Thank you very much for the video! *i found the homemade alpha particle detectors quite fascinating!* 😎🇺🇸

[@laxr5rs]

Fantastic video. Thank you very much.

[@dannydetonator]

What to do with Americium, take #2: 1)Get a bunch of ionising chamber detectors. Scrape off the gold layer. If Am²O³ stays on the plate, skip to step 4). 2)Seperate Am²O³ from gold by dissolving it in a drop of acetic acid or melting off the gold. 3)Reduce Am (|||) from oxygen, turn it into hydroxide or just heat it to dry out. 4)Dissolve it in small drop of acetic acid, then in diluted citric acid and put in the syringe with a long, strong needle. 5)Travel to Altai Pukin',s unofficial castle residence. Find his favourite wine or other sour beverage. Bribe the distributors of this beverage to let you deliver them. Lace the bottles with Americium by injecting it equally trough corks. 5)Sit back, and enjoy the irony..

[@crazy8sdrums]

Excellent production! I enjoyed this a great deal!

[@nickjones3605]

This was one of the best videos you have done! AND IT ENDS WITH A FLASH! As all good stories should.

[@JohnDuthie]

Love this channel! The story telling is supremely captivating.

[@j_sum1]

This is one of your best videos ever. Thank you.

[@iramshahzadi9971]

I liked this channel, all videos and content were recorded amazingly. Nice teamwork. I am using these videos for my students to increase their curiosity or chemistry. Keep it Up

[@bramvandermallie2229]

Thank you ! I love your vids , I am an idiot , But your accent reminds me of my old chemistry / geometry teacher She was a defect of USSR, super smart and could explain stuff very well just like you !

[@jdlives8992]

Glad to see you again

[@Vulporium]

Great video, and inspiring. I learned a lot from this one. I'll for sure be watching more from this channel.

[@Mountainmonths]

great video. I always learn things on this channel I've never heard of anywhere else

[@Ege-h6u]

Brooo great video, one of my favourite channels mannn!! no science fiction bullshit, always valuable content

[@chikkenbonz]

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this video. It's in smoke alarms...what else can you talk about?? But it turned out to be one of the most interesting and favorite videos from you! I've seen Cloud Chambers before, but have never made one...I need to try this! That was fascinating seeing the atomic particles shooting thru the mist vapor! Thanks so much for such a cool presentation.

[@slovokia]

Interestingly enough it is that 60kev gamma emission from Am241 that is used to detect weapons grade plutonium contamination by proxy in the environment since detecting alpha emitters directly is more complicated. Weapons grade plutonium contains Pu241 which decays to Am241.

[@allenvaughan1]

Thank you for this excellent presentation!

[@Reach3DPrinters]

Great video! Thank you! In 1000 years, archeologists will find our nuclear deposits and think we had giant radioactive batteries that predate the first ones by a hundred years. Similar to how some believe the pyramids could have been giant batteries, when they were probably just waste storage facilities! LOL Kidding, but funny to think about.

[@johanbenko7818]

Can you please provide the link to the site with the 3d step files for the spark detector? This episode is a very interesting contribution. Thanks for making us smarter!

[@zoepertom]

Amazing stuff!

[@johngreally9599]

Best Thoisoi2 Video so far. 10/10

[@sergiobarros6102]

Thanks for the class!

[@ian6083]

Really amazing demonstrations and information. Thank you!

[@EduardoRohdeEras]

One of the best Thoisoi videos!

[@cyphre]

The simple cloud chamber is so cool!

[@Flederratte]

Great video! As usual! I watch all of them! Keep up the good work!

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

FWIW: I have known about _cloud chambers_ for decades, but that _spark chamber_ thing is completely new to me.

[@yukojax]

I use a gadget at work that utilizes amerericium 243 to detect water content. The machine uses cesium 137 to determine density. Its called a Nuclear Density Guage. The technicians that use these must standardize daily due the decay.

[@gunnerdavidson7287]

This metal radiates freedom.

[@moonwalkerangel7008]

This was an episode where I had to mute the sound. (I cannot stand the sound of smoke alarms. I have never been able to.) But of course I wanted to learn about Americium, especially since we use Ionisation Fire alarms in Australia so I used subtitles. Very informative.

[@16BITMEME]

10:36 that was amazing

[@16BITMEME]

Future

[@Bhatakti_Hawas]

I have seen cloud chambers before but never have I heard about spark chamber detector. Thank you so much

[@thisguy41487]

Excellent video! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@wolfpoker]

Another amazing video, thank you for this.

[@fjs1111]

awesome!! Good luck with the channel your getting close to 1M subs!

[@levieux1137]

Funny, a year ago or so, I ordered an Am241-based smoke detection module just to test my cloud chamber. (and it did work). You did it the other way around, starting from the smoke detector :-)

[@goofypettiger]

Well done, dude. Very informative, thank you!

[@fano72]

Best science Channel in KZbin

[@specific_pseudonym]

Ohhh yes! I have all the parts necessary to make that! Will update here again if I have it working by the end of the week :)

[@RogerRabbit342]

I moved to Estonia 5 years ago. i have a couple of these in my new house :D

[@jessebob325]

Very interesting. Thank you Thoisoi2 for this knowledge. And for the brief view of your homeland's solution to the clean up of a nasty radiation hazard left on your land. 🖖🏻🍻🥓