Continuing the discussion from Science Committee Meeting Potluck - Saturday Evening July 25 @ 7 PM:
You know as I just looked at the newly straightened up space I realize the real problem with doing this. Science now appears to have TOO much floor space… 
Walter,
Science now appears to have TOO much floor space…
We cleared that area because I plan to start teaching pole-dancing lessons with the aim to illustrate the physics of angular momentum.
And to pull in some extra funding for the Science Committee. (on the theory that people will pay me to please stop)
JAG “A Fistful of $20s” MAN
I was talking to a few people about wanting to have fun science experiments like the ones that would be done in a high school science class. I was thinking the carbon snake experiment using sulfuric acid (with caution of course) and sugar to make a snake made of carbon.
Mitch,
I was talking to a few people about wanting to have fun science experiments like the ones that would be done in a high school science class. I was thinking the carbon snake experiment using sulfuric acid (with caution of course) and sugar to make a snake made of carbon.
I will try looking around through my chemistry texts and see what I can come up with.
JAG “If We Were To Build This Large, Carbon Badger…” MAN
Here are some books that would provide useful material for such demonstrations
A thousand and one formulas
Caveman chemistry
Chemical magic
The book of totally irresponsible science
I was also wanting to do some basic distilling to try to make fuel grade ethanol. Again probably a dangerous and possibly illegal project. But it would be neat to learn about the distilling process.
Nothing illegal about the production of small quantities of ethanol. Getting high percentages of alcohol is a bit harder. In my experience a straight distillation with a leibnitz distillation tube only produces about 60-70% alcohol in the product, if I remember correctly. Somewhere around here I have my lab notebooks from the last time I tried…
Walter,
Thank you for the retro book references when experiments were actually cool instead of the overly safe BS Nerf Chemistry Kits (no glass, no open flame, 1/10th strength materials) that has diluted the fun and manipulated children into thinking our world is actually safe.
I was also wanting to do some basic distilling to try to make fuel grade ethanol. Again probably a dangerous and possibly illegal project. But it would be neat to learn about the distilling process.
A worthwhile thought, but I don’t see that happening at this space given the conversation we had with members of the brewing group. There are all sorts of things that we would run afoul of very quickly in that direction. Still, I will look at the resources and see what can be done (non-ethanol related) without regulation issues.
JAG “205 Proof” MAN
Negative we can’t do that.
Have Millermatic 252 + stainless sheet. Reflux still, here we come!!
All proper stills are assembled with lead core plumber’s solder… I am told it adds to the flavor…
literally loled on that one.
Aww, we could power the steam engine that machine shop is building with clean alternative energy.
Producing alcohol for fuel is a different license and should be easier to get then a consumption permit, but it will still be permits at the state and federal level plus any local permitting issues. I am also assuming that we would have to keep the system locked up unless someone listed on the permit was overseeing its use and we would probably have to keep written records of all fuel produced and what it was denatured with.
I can’t find the meetup, please repost it!
If you mean the link to the meet-up, pot-luck post then, at the top of this thread there is a sentence in blue… click on it.
If that is not what you where looking for, I hope JAGMAN can help.
…X…
I meant this meetup!
X “I got memes like Jagman” Espia
Problem with pole dancing and angular momentum is if your body has more mass than the pole can structurally support.
Mitch “pole-dancing wizard of '02” Cerroni
