Rodney_gold
R.I.P. 5 June 2018
Every childs dream....my mother had a toy shop which specialised in models..from airflex sopwith camels in a bag to Revels big buggers .. 1000 pieces or more
One birthday , I was given the choice of whatever I wanted in that toy shop ... my mom also used to shift huge amounts of spanish dolls to oriental seamen .. evidently the ho's in the harbour had this thing going to see who could collect the most and sent their satisfied punters to the toy shop to buy em..but I digress
Anyway I selected a huge REVEL model of the USS constitution or old ironsides, the first ship built with iron or copper sides..anyway , after 2 weeks , with many hours getting high on glue or model paint , she stood in all her glory ... to be put in pride of place in my room.
Fast forward a few years to my interest in chemistry , especially stuff that went bang , like tri nitro toluene (easy .. a bottle of benziene and the fidel kraft reaction and poof...) , amonium iodide , nitroglycerine , lithium , sodium , potassium
Myself and my other ubernerdy sidekick used to trawl a chemical and scientific supply house and select some choice ingredients as well as scoring scientific glassware.
After one off our trips , during which we obtained a large lump of metal sodium , which releases Hydrogen and goes exothermic in contact with water - FIZZZ!! BOOM!! we returned to my lab .. my bedroom ..painted black cos at one time I was into foto developing and it was a dark room .. windows painted black too...
I told my mom "I ASKED if I could paint it and you said YES"
Anyway , we eyed our booty - that dull lump of metal that could be so deadly...In an apparent fit of madness .. I suggested we drills some holes in Old Ironsides and put it afloat in the pool with the sodium inside....
We lived in this grand old house in the southern suburbs , my parents were fanatical gardeners, my mother did the flowers and my dad the lawns and pool.. never trusted the gardener (abdul..a skelm of note) to do either.
My dad especially .. his lawn and sparkling blue pool was his pride and joy .. a ride on mower for 1/2 an acre....all manner of test kits and chemicals for the pool
Anyway .. off we traipsed to the pool , model in hand , lump of sodium in paraffin , opened the hatches , dumped the lump and set it all afloat .. after a minute or 2 , there was this massive explosion , blowing the model up in spectacular fashion and releasing a starburst of molten sodium balls .. which re exploded as they hit the water.. the balls that hit the lawn stayed as balls....
We fished out all the bits and headed back to the lab to recall that explosion.. miles better than we expected.... a satisfying result..well worth sacrificing old ironsides to.
Anyway , to cut a long story short ..... my dad watered the lawn a day later , which resulted in a mini exploding minefield type scenario as the sodium balls reacted with the water...
Strike 1
That the small sodium balls also turn into caustic soda which in turn make huge brown roundels in the lawn... the dead grass the caustic soda or lye kills
Strike 2
The pool went green and no matter how much acid or shock treatments it got , never came right for a month after...
Strike 3.. and I was out!!!
One birthday , I was given the choice of whatever I wanted in that toy shop ... my mom also used to shift huge amounts of spanish dolls to oriental seamen .. evidently the ho's in the harbour had this thing going to see who could collect the most and sent their satisfied punters to the toy shop to buy em..but I digress
Anyway I selected a huge REVEL model of the USS constitution or old ironsides, the first ship built with iron or copper sides..anyway , after 2 weeks , with many hours getting high on glue or model paint , she stood in all her glory ... to be put in pride of place in my room.
Fast forward a few years to my interest in chemistry , especially stuff that went bang , like tri nitro toluene (easy .. a bottle of benziene and the fidel kraft reaction and poof...) , amonium iodide , nitroglycerine , lithium , sodium , potassium
Myself and my other ubernerdy sidekick used to trawl a chemical and scientific supply house and select some choice ingredients as well as scoring scientific glassware.
After one off our trips , during which we obtained a large lump of metal sodium , which releases Hydrogen and goes exothermic in contact with water - FIZZZ!! BOOM!! we returned to my lab .. my bedroom ..painted black cos at one time I was into foto developing and it was a dark room .. windows painted black too...
I told my mom "I ASKED if I could paint it and you said YES"
Anyway , we eyed our booty - that dull lump of metal that could be so deadly...In an apparent fit of madness .. I suggested we drills some holes in Old Ironsides and put it afloat in the pool with the sodium inside....
We lived in this grand old house in the southern suburbs , my parents were fanatical gardeners, my mother did the flowers and my dad the lawns and pool.. never trusted the gardener (abdul..a skelm of note) to do either.
My dad especially .. his lawn and sparkling blue pool was his pride and joy .. a ride on mower for 1/2 an acre....all manner of test kits and chemicals for the pool
Anyway .. off we traipsed to the pool , model in hand , lump of sodium in paraffin , opened the hatches , dumped the lump and set it all afloat .. after a minute or 2 , there was this massive explosion , blowing the model up in spectacular fashion and releasing a starburst of molten sodium balls .. which re exploded as they hit the water.. the balls that hit the lawn stayed as balls....
We fished out all the bits and headed back to the lab to recall that explosion.. miles better than we expected.... a satisfying result..well worth sacrificing old ironsides to.
Anyway , to cut a long story short ..... my dad watered the lawn a day later , which resulted in a mini exploding minefield type scenario as the sodium balls reacted with the water...
Strike 1
That the small sodium balls also turn into caustic soda which in turn make huge brown roundels in the lawn... the dead grass the caustic soda or lye kills
Strike 2
The pool went green and no matter how much acid or shock treatments it got , never came right for a month after...
Strike 3.. and I was out!!!
