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Art, Writing, and Learning: The Clerisy Quarter => History, Science, and Interesting Information - The Great Library => Topic started by: Glaurung on January 26, 2015, 08:34:50 PM

Title: Chemistry yay: alkali metal explosions
Post by: Glaurung on January 26, 2015, 08:34:50 PM
Another one in my steady stream of posts about BBC News articles...

This one (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30983141) is about some new research on explosions when alkali metals (sodium, potassium, etc.) hit water - specifically on the very early stages (1 millisecond or so), and why they go "bang" and not "bubble". There's a nice quote from one of the researchers: "We went through quite a lot of kit before we worked out how to do it safely."
Title: Re: Chemistry yay: alkali metal explosions
Post by: TTG4 on January 26, 2015, 10:15:34 PM
That's pretty cool! And a fairly reasonable explanation as far as I can tell.