2Na + 2H2O -> 2NaOH + H2

January 14, 2007 1:43 pm Craig science

Back in high school, my chemistry teacher showed us a video of another chemistry teacher dropping a pebble of various alkalis into water. Lithium fizzed for a little while, sodium reacted quite a bit, potassium launched itself up towards the ceiling.

At the time, I wondered what dropping a ton of the stuff into a large volume of water would look like. Today, I finally have my answer:

Disposal of Sodium, 1947, via Fark

3 Responses

  1. Ted Says:
    January 14th, 2007 at 4:00 pm

    Smells like victory!

  2. Cynthia Says:
    January 31st, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    I know exactly which video you’re talking about… we watched the exact same video, ten years later. It was definitely one of the more memorable video moments in that class. :-)

  3. Craig Says:
    January 31st, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    oooWOW! </inside-joke>

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