Lithium Metal Burning Underwater

A strip of lithium metal ir ripped into a small piece, this piece is wrapped around a rock, ignited, and then submerged in water.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Neddy17
• Li
• Lithium
• Na
• Sodium
• Potassium
• Rb
• Rubidium
• Cs
• Cesium
• Fr
• Francium
• in
• water
• fire
• explosium
• Hydrogen
• hydroxide
• chemistry
• nurdrage
• gun
• powder
• nitrate
• flash
• black
• boom
• bomb
• mineral
• oil
• rock
• reaction
• air

[MrDndid]

omg are you stupid you dont light it first the lithium reacts with the water so much that it makes the hydrogen gas in the air ignite

also yes there is hydrogen gas in the air ( the reaction makes the water hot which then creates steam

[neddy17]

@MrDndid most of that isn't true

[MrBeefguy]

what type of oil can you store lithium metal? can it be an olive oil to store lithium , i have green oil which comes from olives

[neddy17]

@MrBeefguy i would use mineral oil, it can be bought at any pharmacy or supermarket in the health area

[TheCaptainLulz]

Try advancing your experimentation to using lithium as a reducing agent. Theres plenty of interesting, if slightly less showy, uses in this regard. I use it sometimes to reduce pitchblende (UO2) to uranium metal, which has facinating chemistry.

[neddy17]

@TheCaptainLulz that could be neat, something like a strip of lithium wrapper around copper oxide or sulfate powder.

[NurdRage]

Good stuff

[zbrooo]

@MrDndid Lithium reacts with water to form lithium hydroxide and hydrogen gas, the heat generated by this reaction is enough to ignite the hydrogen gas with oxygen in the air forming water.

2Li + 2H2O -> 2LiOH + H2

2 H2 + O2 -> 2 H2O

[TheCaptainLulz]

@b1912313 At where I dig theres uranothorite irananite and thorite. Plus stuff like uranophane. Oh, where I live that would not be illegal provided the element was a part of a rock and not refined. My room would probably set off counters from the end of the drive.

[b1912313]

@TheCaptainLulz ehy hey hey, i'm not trying to use some cheap mantles. Here where I live is quite easy to get thorianite. Big chunks of it. Some people here stores about 200kg of it inside their houses....Yp, illegal, dangerous, but they do. Sometime ago we were having problems because thorianite was being illegally exported to some punk communist countries.

[TheCaptainLulz]

@b1912313 From what Ive heard no (Th), something to do with its oxidation states. I think they have to boil and reduce the stuff in a vacuum at high temperature. Either way, finding a source pure enough to reduce is nearly impossible. The stuff from mantles isnt nearly pure enough. Uraniun metal itsself is actually quite boring. Without a tarnish it looks like tin (Sn) but is quite a bit harder.

[b1912313]

@TheCaptainLulz nahh nah nah i don't want to make plutonium or stuff. It is just because I would really love to see uranium metal. Pretty stuff. Can Thorium be reduced using magnesium metal as well?

[TheCaptainLulz]

@b1912313 Dont use water, its just a waste of metals. Magnesium works, but you have to be SUPER careful. Within 1 second of igniting you have to quench it in mineral oil, to prevent the uranium from reoxidizing. Either way its not too pure. If you live in the US its WAY easier just to buy the stuff from united nuclear. Their depleted uranium costs 50$  and is pure. Isotopically there really isnt much you can do, except make a neutron gun and try and make a tiny amount of plutonium.

[b1912313]

@TheCaptainLulz noooo...nooooo.....noooooooooo­ooooo! are you serious?you reduce uranium ions?PLEASE tellme how to do that! Can i use magnesium instead of lithium?

[gabdcceddlappy]

@Spastb00n lol yea I wuold save glolves for lead,nickle,tin and chromium salts......