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FrozenGate by Avery

Burning Magnesium






roddenberry said:
P.S.: Bromine is nearly impossible to find these days, or if available, at a king's ransom. It's one of those chemicals judged "unsafe" for home chemistry experiments... and I have to agree that this stuff is as nasty as fluorine gas and chlorine... bad mojo.
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Hehe.. i was just kidding about getting a bottle of the stuff.

It's not impossible to obtain or very expensive by itself, but shipping it poses a problem. I've studied chemistry at the university here, and some departments had bromine - mainly for organic synthesis steps. It is extremely hazardous though - the vapours are noxious, and if you happed to drop some of the liquid on skin you're in for a serious burn.
 
I would like a sample of the halogens, bottled off safely. However, they are quite dangerous and nobody wants to sell to me. I have an element collection, that's why I'm interested.

On topic: Don't EVER burn magnesium under water! A trick I used to do around fourth of July was to float a piece of paper on water with a pile of burning magnesium powder, so that as it slowly submerged and touched the magnesium, it would make a huge white fireball upon contact. Wax is the only thing I have found that puts out burning magnesium. (weird, huh?)

I have quite a bit of powder and a good bit of ribbon left.

-Mark
 
what exactly is bromine?

the other day i did one of the most retarded things i have ever done.

i had found a can of pepper spray and brought it home. it felt empty so while i was sitting in my room with the doors and windows closed, i sprayed it into a empty garbage bag to see if anything was left. well there was, and when i went to close the bag all the mist and vapor came out and into my throat and eyes.

pepper spray fucking sucks.
 
silvercookie said:
what exactly is bromine?

the other day i did one of the most retarded things i have ever done.

i had found a can of pepper spray and brought it home. it felt empty so while i was sitting in my room with the doors and windows closed, i sprayed it into a empty garbage bag to see if anything was left. well there was, and when i went to close the bag all the mist and vapor came out and into my throat and eyes.

pepper spray fucking sucks.
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Bromine is an halogen element/ "not really a gas, more like a brown liquid" that belongs to the same group as Flourine, Chlorine and Iodine does. It is incredibly corrosive and reactive to metals and organic material. I don't suggest you play with it, considering you would have lost your eyes by doing what you did with the pepper spray.
Bromine reacts with Magnesium explosively! It's amazing how much energy is released during these reactions! IF only we could slow this down and make a laser from the output.
Thinking ....
 
Magnesium when it's burning is too bright for the eye to take, but the ashes that remain will cure your stomach ache. ;)

In case anyone is unaware, "milk of magnesia" is made from magnesium ash.
 
photonaholic said:
Magnesium when it's burning is too bright for the eye to take, but the ashes that remain will cure your stomach ache. ;)

In case anyone is unaware, "milk of magnesia" is made from magnesium ash.
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I was unaware. My sister used to take that stuff.

I bet burning magnesium would be a great way to escape from people who want to jump you
 
Incendiary bombs have magnesium casings on them, so the shrapnel is like throwing burning sulfur all over the place.

And yes, magnesium lathe turnings can be used to create a blinding flash.
 
I had a go at attaching magnesium ribbon to a tea light a while back but the over all effect wasn't that great due to weight & burn time!
I purchased a couple of reals of ribbon a while back when I discovered mag was excellent at igniting Thermite=iron oxide~aluminium oxide) due to reaching temperatures as high as 3100'oC.
Take a look at youtube & your see the effects of mixing water with Magnesium lol
 
The best way that I've found to light thermite is to just put a sparkler in it and light the sparkler.
 
I burned Mg for the first time just a few minutes ago. I found out my previous laptop case is made of Mg. I was thinking "Jackpot!" The whole outter shell is Mg so it will last a while. I just clipped a little piece off to see how hard it would be to light.

The transfer case in my truck is made of Mg too. If that thing ever needs replaced, I'll have quite a bit of Mg. At the same time, if that thing starts burning, my truck is a goner for sure. The prop gearboxes on a C-130 are also Mg. I wonder how long that fire would last since they are a few hundred pounds.
 
Well, the thermal conductivity in conjunction with the large mass and very high ignition temperature should make it relatively fire resistant.
 
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