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Thread: SELEM-the pillgramage

  1. #21
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    I power my car with Taco Bell.....

    ps found out nitrous isn’t flammable. It’s just an oxidizer

  2. #22
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    Exclamation My "Chemistry can be scary" post of the week...

    Quote Originally Posted by kecked View Post
    nitrous isn’t flammable. It’s just an oxidizer
    Just like Hydrogen Peroxide (the "T-schtoff" portion of the fuel used in the ME-163 comet). But it *will* oxidize lots of common fuels, and even a few uncommon ones. (Like the hydrazine mentioned above!)

    Although if you're looking for a truly violent oxidizer - one that will oxidize things that you never would have considered to be "Fuel" in the first place - look no further than Chlorine Triflouride. This shit causes things like SAND and ASBESTOS to *BURN* (Think about that for a moment...)

    And before anyone asks, no, this stuff will *never* be present at SELEM. It is straight-up nightmare fuel...

    Here's a video showing how Chlorine Triflouride reacts with plexiglas, a rubber glove, clean leather, not-so-clean leather, a gas mask, a piece of wood, and a wet glove.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4l56AfUTnQ

    I power my car with Taco Bell...

    Remind me never to follow you too closely then.

    Adam

  3. #23
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    We should never add a chemistry section to SELEM. Note to self......

  4. #24
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    I'm fascinated by chemistry. I truly love that the most volatile element (Fluorine) on the chart combines to make some of the most stable compounds out there. Or that such teeny tiny changes to structure result in such completely different things. And that there seem to be a whole bunch of elements ready to help us with problems we invented (laser related). And then there's Thulium... anyone got any thoughts on that stuff?

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by hitekvoop View Post
    And then there's Thulium... anyone got any thoughts on that stuff?
    ...you could frequency-quadruple to a nice, high-power 520nm green!

    ...and then there's Thallium...which causes some really weird body odor phenomena when ingested

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by kecked View Post
    We should never add a chemistry section to SELEM. Note to self......
    Aww... where's your spirit of adventure. Lol
    PM Sent...

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by hitekvoop View Post
    And then there's Thulium... anyone got any thoughts on that stuff?
    Did you mean Thorium?
    Thulium isn't all that exciting to me, unless you've got a thulium-doped YAG in your garage...

    Thorium, on the other hand, is quite fascinating, at least on the theoretical level. (Doubt we'll ever see another LFTR built in my lifetime.)

    All this talk of the elements reminds me of Tom Lehrer. ("And Iodine, and Thorium, and Thulium, and Thalium!")

    Adam

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    That's a good version. I have it on the album (them black round flat things), "An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer" but hadn't seen this youtube version.
    PM Sent...

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by buffo View Post
    Just like Hydrogen Peroxide (the "T-schtoff" portion of the fuel used in the ME-163 comet). But it *will* oxidize lots of common fuels, and even a few uncommon ones. (Like the hydrazine mentioned above!)

    Although if you're looking for a truly violent oxidizer - one that will oxidize things that you never would have considered to be "Fuel" in the first place - look no further than Chlorine Triflouride. This shit causes things like SAND and ASBESTOS to *BURN* (Think about that for a moment...)

    And before anyone asks, no, this stuff will *never* be present at SELEM. It is straight-up nightmare fuel...
    Speaking of nightmare fuels, John D Clark's Ignition! is back in print, if you fancy a deep dive into all of the horrendously toxic/explosive/corrosive/smelly/sometimes-all-of-the-above chemistry that was explored in the quest for the perfect rocket propellant. ClF3 is given duly vivid treatment. I'm not sure that some of you ought to read it; you might get exciting ideas. . .

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by aberry View Post
    John D Clark's Ignition! is back in print
    Cool! Thanks for the suggestion, Andrew! I've heard about this book from others but never followed up on it. I see it's available on Amazon for the Kindle though, so I'm going to snag a copy...

    Adam

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