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Our pals at Popular Science explain how they made salt in an experiment, for popcorn. The video is rad - Theodore Gray writes - "Sodium is a soft, silvery metal that explodes violently on contact with water and burns skin by reacting with even the slightest moisture. Chlorine is a choking yellow gas, used with mixed success in the trenches of World War I (it was known to have killed about equal numbers on both sides of the trench). When these chemicals meet, they react in a fierce ball of spitting fire and clouds of white smoke. The smoke is sodium chloride (NaCl), or table salt, which I used to season a basket of popcorn I hung over the reaction." - Link.
Making salt... the hard way
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Oct 3, 2006 08:19 PM
Science |
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My favourite bit from the actual article?
...the net melted, dropping popcorn into the bowl and sending a shower of flaming liquid sodium balls in all directions...
If ever it needed to be said, it needs to be said now.
Kids, do not try this at home! Elemental sodium and chlorine are not your friends!
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Pity about the popcorn. I was hoping to see someone eat some.
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How could he make the statement...
... I'd made safety preparations for even the worst-case scenario, which this nearly was--only an uncontrolled chlorine leak would have been worse, in which case I had a clear path to run like hell.
Pay close attention to the video, no respirator, no ventilation, AND he's wearing shorts!!!
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