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Burning Magnesium

mfo

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Hello everyone. I was wondering, has anyone here has ever burned Magnesium in open air before? Is it dangerous to look at it burn due to the intense brightness? Thanks.
 





Ears and Eggs

Ears and Eggs

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I've burned magnesium ribbon outside before. Even in daylight it unbearably bright, so bright in fact that it is painful to look at the dot for any length of time. From what I understand though, if you just glace over it quickly, it is okay. On the other hand, any prolonged staring at the dot can cause retinal damage due to the ultraviolet light produced in the combustion reaction.
 
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Flaminpyro

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This is good info to know ! I have burned hundreds of Mg flairs and they are blinders up close.


2007Revolution said:
I've burned magnesium ribbon outside before. Even in daylight it unbearably bright, so bright in fact that it is painful to look at the dot for any length of time. From what I understand though, if you just glace over it quickly, it is okay. On the other hand, any prolonged staring at the dot can cause retinal damage due to the ultraviolet light produced in the combustion reaction.
Click to expand...
 
mfo

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2007Revolution said:
I've burned magnesium ribbon outside before. Even in daylight it unbearably bright, so bright in fact that it will hurt to look at the dot. From what I understand if you just glace over it quickly it is okay, but any prolonged staring at the dot can cause retinal damage due to the ultraviolet light produced in the combustion reaction.
Click to expand...

I never knew it produced UV! That's cool. I burned it a few times a while back over my kitchen sink filled with water. It was pretty neat. I remember it hurting like hell when I look at it for more than a second or two though. It was also a pain to ignite. I should burn another piece and record it, but record it through a diffraction grating though.

I'm about to purchase some Calcium off of eBay right now....:D
 
robjdixon

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We had some in Chemistry a few weeks ago. We got a handful of Mg powder, and just threw is across the bunsen burner. My eyes had spots for hours. Good fun though

Rob
 
DashApple

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Hey


Mg is nice to burn , ive got 50ft in ribbon , 1kg in powder :) , as said above never look directly at it , if u get a uv sheild or somthing looking at it is fine i should think

Lighting the ribbon is hard i think but the powder is really easy to light :p
 
mfo

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robjdixon said:
We had some in Chemistry a few weeks ago. We got a handful of Mg powder, and just threw is across the bunsen burner. My eyes had spots for hours. Good fun though

Rob
Click to expand...

ionlaser555 said:
Hey


Mg is nice to burn , ive got 50ft in ribbon , 1kg in powder :) , as said above never look directly at it , if u get a uv sheild or somthing looking at it is fine i should think

Lighting the ribbon is hard i think but the powder is really easy to light :p
Click to expand...

Nice. I have like 75 feet of ribbon. Well, probably more like 50 now as I've burned a considerable amount of it :)
 
Razako

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I've got a little reel of ribbon and I've found the best ways to light it are
1-A powerful high voltage arc
2-Propane torch
3-Sparklers "sometimes" work.
4-Various other fireworks like flashers will sometimes work.
 
mfo

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Razako said:
I've got a little reel of ribbon and I've found the best ways to light it are
1-A powerful high voltage arc
2-Propane torch
3-Sparklers "sometimes" work.
4-Various other fireworks like flashers will sometimes work.
Click to expand...

I usually use a torch lighter. It takes about 3 or so seconds when I hold it over the hottest part of the flame.
 
Flaminpyro

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So you would neg rep me for what I said in this thread post #6, man you are cracked and should be thrown out with the other bad eggs !
 
mfo

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Flaminpyro said:
So you would neg rep me for what I said in this thread post #6, man you are cracked and should be thrown out with the other bad eggs !
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Go screw yourself Jeff. You keep bringing up stuff that is months old. You're nothing but a troll.
 
Don't Laze Me Bro

Don't Laze Me Bro

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mfo said:
Go screw yourself Jeff. You keep bringing up stuff that is months old. You're nothing but a troll.
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c'mon MFO, was that needed? Jeff was just throwing a joke, nothing to get all mad about! Plus, do you really think T_J would allow another troll as long as he himself is not banned? I think not!
 
mfo

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Don't Laze Me Bro said:
c'mon MFO, was that needed? Jeff was just throwing a joke, nothing to get all mad about! Plus, do you really think T_J would allow another troll as long as he himself is not banned? I think not!
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Nah, if you knew the whole story you wouldn't be saying it's a joke. He's been acting like a dick for a while now, and it stems back to probably about January or so.

I'm a joker myself, but he's making things personal now.

Edit: Instead of turning this thread into a flame war, I did the better thing and I added him as well as a few others to my ignore list just now.
 
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