Sculpting in Solid Mercury, with Liquid Nitrogen (Popsci.com + BB Video)

READ HOW IT'S DONE HERE!
( http://www.popsci.com/mercuryfish )

Boing Boing Video teams up with PopSci and Theo Gray ( MAD SCIENCE author) for an eerily beautiful science experiment -- how to cast solid, if fleeting, shapes from normally liquid mercury -- just keep it at 320 degrees below zero, with liquid nitrogen. Snip from Theo's experiment, documented in this video:

"What you consider solid, liquid or gas depends entirely on where you live. For example, men from cold, cold Mars might build their houses out of ice. Women from Venus, where the average temperature is about 870°F, could bathe in liquid zinc. We think mercury is a liquid metal, but its all relative. At one temperature, the mercury atoms arrange themselves into a solid crystal; at another, they flow freely around each other as a liquid. Children from Pluto (like mine, for example) could happily cast their toy soldiers out of mercury, because on that frigid planet it is a solid, malleable metal a lot like tin. Here on temperate Earth, you need a stove to cast tin, but a tank of liquid nitrogen to make mercury figurines..."


http://www.popsci.com/mercuryfish

RELATED BOING BOING BLOG POST:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/04/bb-video-popsci---fr.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Boingboing
• popular
• science
• popsci
• mercury
• frozen
• theo
• gray
• mad
• dangerous
• scientific
• experiment
• poison
• explosion
• freezing
• chemistry

[marcoC1991]

beter not make chocolate anymore

[an50331]

i have a feeling you picked fish molds just so you can make the "this fish is suffering from elevated mercury levels" comment

[BlackIce131]

@Mxsmanic Exactly all of these people take everything they are told at face value without doing any research. It is very frustrating seeing people on You Tube act like they are experts based on something they were told.

[Mxsmanic]

Elemental mercury is not hugely toxic, the vapors aren't too dangerous if you're in a well ventilated area, and it hasn't become any more toxic today than it was in the past. The only difference is that people are more paranoid about everything today than they were in the past. People who played with mercury occasionally in the lab in the olden days suffered no ill effects as long as they didn't do anything stupid, like heating it and breathing deeply over it or something like that.

[nickbhalo]

Why do people who know nothing about mercury act like they know everything about mercury? That's retarded

[fablan6]

Τ-1000

[narekzo]

@timonator14 thanx bro

[timonator14]

@narekzo At it's most basic, Mercury is a rare metal that is liquid at room temperature. Check Wikipedia for more information, it's really cool stuff.

[GeistvonWut]

@narekzo You'd eventually die, as Mercury is a very toxic material.

[sawmakai]

@narekzo look it up

[stalker7d7]

What happens if you microwave frozen mercury?

[narekzo]

guys can someone expain to me what mercury is plz

and what will happen if u touch it with ur hand