> chemistry > divers > eating-the-alkali-metals-salts-taste-test

Eating the alkali metals: Salts taste test

Explosions&Fire2 - 2018-01-28

We try the chloride salts of all the alkali metals, and some alkaline earth metals in order to try and increase our salt portfolio. It goes better than expected.

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Any reason to use the word Zesty is a win in my books.

Did the taste test do any damage to our bodies? No. Did my drinking on Australia do damage to my body? Almost certainly.

I mean my motto about health is 'my body is a temple' but my other motto is 'what would Jesus do' and in the last episode of the Bible I saw, Jesus went into the temple and got really angry and flipped over the gambling tables and told all the traders to leave, so that's what i'm doing, but instead of gambling tables its white blood cells, instead of traders it is bone density and instead of holy anger its breakdown products like acetaldehyde and oxidative free radicals. I should write a diet book.

Thanks so much to my Patreons! I had to basically buy all the salts in this video (and they'll be put to better use!) but that was made possible thanks to my Patreons. 
Thanks to: 

Craig M.
Mirgp
Gabriel J (nice profile picture dude, cool flames)
Isaac Paciga
Christopher Stillson (wow I wish my name was this cool and posh, nice work)
Killroy225 (ya i'd kill Roy too tbh)
NileRed (who tf r u)
AllChemystery (subscribe to him btw)
Herbert999 (herbert is also a rad name)
Gregory Wong !!
Aussie Chemist (also subscribe to him!)
Mortlet (nice)

And also thanks to the small doods, you know who you are, it is all so appreciated.

I should make one of the reward tiers exclusive access to my diet tips and early access to my book. 'Cooking with Cesium' ...maybe that's a working title. How about 'Remaining fat throughout your teens and also forever'. or maybe 'making negative comment about yourself at strangers on the internet for attention' 

nudes at 1mil

Samuel Mason - 2019-07-29

When aliens find our transmissions:

"Social gatherings for mineral tasting parties- fascinating."

Dominic Doherty - 2019-11-20

@david bass yall are nasty

crqf2010ruler - 2019-11-20

@Dominic Doherty quit it with the salt jokes, I can't stand it, too sour.

SlimThrull - 2019-11-22

Okay, I lol'ed.

a guy - 2019-12-23

Why does that actually sound like a thing rich people do.

Stray Orion - 2020-02-07

My college teacher only laghed and said "I mean, you can try, but you can only taste once some salts"

Luke Graham - 2019-07-19

Tried lithium chloride, "not too bad".
People with bipolar, "I know, right!"

nzoomed - 2019-11-19

Isint that why Kurt Cobain wrote a song about Lithium? lol

My old Account - 2020-01-07

“Hey, can I have a French fry?”
Me “these are my antidepressants”

Ethan Snider - 2020-01-23

@_____ the active portion of Lithium Carbonate is the lithium. The other portion makes it a salt instead of a metal, so that the body absorbs it better. The second component doesn't matter, so long as it forms a salt that can be dissolved in water.

hawkturkey - 2020-02-07

@Ethan Snider it should be nontoxic. Lithium fluoride no thank you

Luis P. - 2020-03-21

@Ethan Snider And you don't want lithium to scorch you as it reacts with water, and then form lithium hydroxide which will corrode you. Big oof for those who've ever had a piece of lithium in their mouth

William Pereira Gomes - 2019-11-18

KCl
Other uses:
- Lethal injections
- Healthy injections

Reptileguy 112 - 2019-11-19

@Albows drugs

Armando Herrera - 2019-11-20

Depends on the dose. Too much and too little K can kill ya

coltin engle - 2019-11-22

formula for toxicity = dose * duration * frequency

noname atall - 2019-12-25

it doesn't only depends on dosage, but speed of administration. a relatively small dose injected in a vein will kill ou, bt in a few moments will disperse in the (freshly dead) body and be barely detectable, while the same dose, diluted in a Intravenous sugar solution and administered for an hour, won't make a difference.

Chu Chu Schuh - 2020-01-24

Dialectic

Chrysippus - 2019-11-18

This feels like old YouTube, and I love it.

KensoulEu - 2019-11-19

Exactly why I clicked, I'm happy

SnakPak - 2019-11-20

This is a good take

vitor klock - 2019-11-20

​@SnakPak Thats a swift pun if i have ever seen one

Gene Carlo Dela Rosa - 2019-11-21

Yeah, same. Happy.

oula kallunki - 2019-11-21

woah you're right

h - 2019-11-19

i can’t shake the feeling that this is exactly how cave men must’ve sat around figuring out what stuff is good to eat

Yiannis Ch - 2019-11-30

Some of the die tasting things they shouldn't tho

DW - 2019-07-22

I asked my chemistry tutor in college a long time ago if other salts besides from NaCl were tasty and she told me not to be daft and went on to warn the class not to just eat any salt.
Thank you for answering my question.

SUN. THE SUN. THE SUN. THE SUN. THE - 2020-01-24

Next time ask a geologist and he'll tell you

Richard Wiersma - 2020-02-03

🤤

Stray Orion - 2020-02-07

Why does this discussion about salts sounds like we're talking about drugs

hawkturkey - 2020-02-07

Especially, don't eat any lab reagent without knowing it is kept pure all the way from the supply to you! Lab utensils and reagents can get contaminated and there is no easy way to tell. Dying or getting sick is a horrible way to have an experiment foul up.

hawkturkey - 2020-02-07

@Stray Orion because "bath salts" in that context do not mean Calgon

mechadrake - 2018-01-28

"Expensive waste of money" is wrong. It should be "expensive taste of money" :)

medexamtoolsdotcom - 2019-11-16

Well expensive waste of money is redundant so it certainly shouldn't be called that.

Reth Tard - 2019-11-16

That's interesting...
Do you think 100$ bills taste better than 1$ bills?
Someone should do the test...

GRBTutorials - 2019-11-16

medexamtoolsdotcom It’s not... a waste of money can be more or less expensive depending on how much money we’re talking about, and something being expensive doesn’t mean it was a waste of money.

faiz fiderli - 2019-11-19

I want to leave a like but i don't want to ruin the 666 likes

ᴠᴧᴨᴛᴧᴃᴌᴧcᴋ - 2019-11-17

Other uses: Lethal Injections


well alrighty then

Aiden Hatfield - 2019-11-19

ᴠᴧᴨᴛᴧᴃᴌᴧcᴋ yes but also healthy injections

AP Sejuani - 2019-11-19

@Aiden Hatfield Yup, it's super hard for the government to legally get access to poisons, so they just overdose you on potassium instead

Aaron Jimenez - 2019-11-19

Glad someone else saw this 😂😂

Tainicon - 2019-11-21

Stops your heart...

Mortlet - 2018-01-28

There is more actual science in this one video than there are on entire "Youtube Age Appropriate science channels"!
Please never change :)

Jet Pack - 2019-08-22

@Carter Ferguson oh shit

My Nigga - 2019-08-28

so you can show how to make very carcinogenic substances, but dental Mercury is where they draw the line

K-H Gaming - 2019-09-07

I tasted potassium nitrate. Salty and succ

Vincent Vinh Nguyen - 2019-11-19

Nop

madison king - 2020-02-04

idk I've never had any issue with Scishow and journey into the microcosmos, nile red, applied science, or any of the other science channels. Also if you are looking for simple experiments like this you should check out tyler tube.

David Hansson - 2019-11-16

As a scaninavian I can explain the ammonium chloride. In sweden its commonly reffered to as salmiak and is used in salty licorice. Famous licorice like salmiakki (finland) and djungelvrål

Lucho-Core - 2020-02-14

Can I have his citizenship then? I have 3 kinds of salmiakki atm, plus a little bottle of salmiakki koskenkorva :D

Ilari Peltonen - 2020-02-14

@Lucho-Core Why must I perish this way?

Sander Cohen - 2020-02-14

@Tunkkis Off you go to åland then; there is no room for salmiak-deniers in sweden!

Tunkkis - 2020-02-14

@Sander Cohen Hey, hey, hey, what're you trying to deport me for? I called the other guy out.

Sander Cohen - 2020-02-15

Tunkkis I thought we had an understanding. Then you proceeded to out us as the lesser salmiak addicts, tsk tsk

it simply wont do

Sheld Owned - 2019-07-26

Uses: Non-surgical castration
People: alrighty lets eaty the thingy

ettanasf - 2019-09-23

Sheld Owned non surgical?

Sheld Owned - 2019-09-23

@ettanasf yep
got it the other way around lolol

Flavor Lab - 2018-01-28

Rubidium is extemely useful for atom optics. It's energy level structure makes it ideal for cooling and trapping. The first Bose-Einstein condensate was made of Rb.

Dead_Pool - 2019-11-22

@Reth Tard I mean, Mr.BigBang sure wasted some energy creating me sooooooooo....

Reth Tard - 2019-11-22

@Dead_Pool
Good point...
:P

GT Abraham - 2019-11-23

@Dead_Pool the big bang didn't create anything... let alone something as intricate as you and I.

Navi Illeib - 2019-12-01

fucking rubidium apologist

masamune2823 - 2020-02-03

put molten rubidium in a sealed target, irradiate with proton beam, harvest 82Sr from the resulting jambalaya, put 82Sr in a "generator" (fancy schmancy tin oxide column shielded with lead), generator produces 82Rb - which is SUPER useful for imaging of blocked cardiac arteries / cardiac death. So...useful, but not as RbCl

casper jensen - 2019-11-16

Mix that ammonium chloride with some sugar and you got delicious candy

-best from Scandinavia :)

Tunkkis - 2020-02-06

Y E S
Best regards, Finland.

Homemade Chemistry - 2018-01-28

"an after-taste of deepthroating a coal mine" :D OMG! I had to laugh out loudly! Still have tears in my eyes. Who invents this?

hayden turner - 2019-07-27

Crazy Australian

not insane - 2019-08-16

Yeah tbh I don't know why we use deepthroating to describe things as much as we do....

medexamtoolsdotcom - 2019-11-16

How do you even deepthroat a coal mine though? It's literally a tunnel, not a protrusion. The only thing you could do with a coal mine is give it cunnilingus with a giant tongue.

Keenan Burns - 2019-11-17

Medexam must be fun at parties

DeRien8 - 2019-11-20

First misread it as coalminer and it made sense... sort of

Qualified Cornstarch - 2019-11-18

uses: non-surgical castration
dinner party: munch

Caleb Nazario - 2019-11-19

Nobody:
Literally nobody:
Some Australians: "Hey, lets eat all the alkali metals"

Roderick storey - 2019-11-19

I really appreciated that they kept the video uncomplicated... Quite basic really

Joe Folsom - 2019-11-21

Omg my dumbass thought they were British

Cameron Horn - 2019-11-23

Francium?

Roderick storey - 2019-11-23

@Joe Folsom their ancestors were naughty brits

Octopod - 2020-01-25

Stfu

Virtual FPV - 2019-11-18

Francium Chloride is reserved only for the wealthy and elite upper class.

A Brainerd - 2019-11-18

I like to believe this get-together is kind of how it went down when early humans were figuring out what is and isn't edible

Mercury - 2018-11-06

What about francium chloride you lied it was not all the alkali melts

Edwin Chamorro - 2019-11-20

francium decays too fast

Zel Pozharruchyei - 2019-12-19

@Edwin Chamorro Would decay still be a factor if one were to promptly chemically merge francium with sodium?

Edwin Chamorro - 2020-01-05

@Zel Pozharruchyei in theory, FrCl could exist, but like all alkali metals, it would be extremely reactive to water. even if you were to create FrCl, it would be very short lived because francium at it's most stable isotope would have a half life of about 20 minutes. also, francium is extremely rare so it would be nigh impossible to make a decent amount of FrCl to sprinkle on fries.

Vizivirag - 2020-01-09

@HaydenX Francium Astatide: 'I dont want to exist and I'm taking you with me!'

Jakub Jagiełło - 2020-02-01

@HaydenX You deserve roentgenium medal for that idea :D

Hakkı Oktay - 2018-01-28

Man, I thought it said PbCl on the thumbnail but still very interesting video

Oit Thegroit - 2019-09-18

@Mackenzie Mcgrath Still better not to eat lead compounds, though.

Oit Thegroit - 2019-09-28

@Darell Roasa "cum on man"





Idk man, seems kinda gay to me.

prohri uhri - 2019-11-18

@Marcel Chb so ı will be the one asking you; how do you know?

Marcel Chb - 2019-11-18

@prohri uhri Cause I tried it. It's not like eating a few tiny crystals will harm you in any way. Just don't overdo it.

prohri uhri - 2019-11-18

@Marcel Chb nice

philosophical inquirer - 2019-07-16

You should also have the Halogen changed.
Try:

Sodium Fluoride.(safe in VERY small quantities - it is used in dentistry - a one off taste test OK in tiny amounts)


Sodium Bromide (safe in small quantities - ok to taste)


Potassium Bromide(safe in small quantities - ok to taste, was used as a medicine foe seizures and headaches/sedative - small amounts ok, chronic use = toxic)


Potassium Iodide (used as tabs after nuclear fallout - one off taste test ok, not good idea to consume repeated amounts - too much iodine, might be slightly irritating)


Sodium Iodide - safer than potassium iodide, OK to taste. Used for iodine supplements.


The no no's.

Potassium Fluoride (dangerous and corrosive - so not a bright idea)

Caesium fluoride after eating a lemon (in alkali environment might be moderately ok) - in acidic conditions, well, lets just say hydrofloric acid isnt going to be pleasant.

Lithium Fluoride - it will be a very bad day in the office for the orifice.
....basically, fluorides are not so good for the health.




There is actually interesting chemistry here - why some taste salty and others dont.
Sodium channel action potentials are required to send signals to the brain for a "salt taste", some ions will mimic the sodium ion channels, others dont.


Lithium is small, and can mimic the sodium - but obviously not a good substitute due to chronic toxicity (causes serious changes to the brain, why used in bipolar disorders)


Potassium is larger, and doesnt mimic sodium, in fact, quite the opposite, has competition with sodium ion channels (cell membrane K+/Na+ pump)


Caecium and Rubidium dont fit and poorly mimic any ion channels, body doesnt have the proper equipment to "taste" it. (hence the weird ambigious tastes)


As for Halogens - thats interesting because Chloride ions also affect taste. Wonder if the Bromide taste similar - trying Sodium Bromide.


Fluorides have a serious problem, if it suddenly tastes super sour, then burning - you know something went wrong (hydroflouric acid could be produced in some cases)

Louw Claassens - 2019-11-28

@Cooper Gates cream of Tartar.

Cooper Gates - 2019-11-28

@The Major pKa, I think.

Cooper Gates - 2019-11-28

@Louw Claassens Yep.

They should try potassium acetate for the "sea salt" flavor and see if the aftertaste is bad like for KCl.

Cooper Gates - 2019-11-28

@altejoh They said CaCl2 was one of the worst tasting, though

:D - 2020-01-17

50mg lethal dose isn't "safe in small quantities" asshole.

Atria Wulf - 2019-11-19

"non surgical castration" none of your friends can have kids now

Wurtt Mapper - 2020-01-13

That just completely ruined the gene pool

A_Lonely Proton - 2018-01-29

Should have used cesium-137 chloride, unsubbed.

Evandro Chaves - 2019-11-19

It has been used here in Brasil some time ago

FranchuFranchu - 2019-11-19

No arsenic chloride??? Dislike.

Riven of a Thousand Voices - 2019-11-20

Why no plutonium chloride? It made a Delorean go back in time, so it must be able to reverse the aging process!

Zachary Handy - 2019-11-20

Francium Cloride

That guy on x-box live - 2019-11-22

@Zachary Handy that stuff is just straight dangerous

chaemelion - 2019-11-13

Calcium chloride actually evolves a fair bit of heat when dissolved in water, so the burning sensation is accurate...

Ternic Etanol - 2019-11-18

Meanwhile in Nordic schools: Hey kids, today we will be making ammonium chloride and eat it!

T M - 2019-11-21

We did this once :D I liked it

Godfrey Poon - 2019-07-26

That's why they call it sodi-yum.

Purple MushroomM - 2019-12-12

Godfrey Poon MmM yummy corrosive and explosive sodium in my tummy!

orion khan - 2019-11-15

Damn, I was really hoping this would be the thing Rubidium needed...

Jacob P. - 2019-11-19

Just like most amazing food discoveries, rubidium should have been discovered by people eating things without caution. Too bad it sucks, and causes mania.

Joshua Bryant - 2019-11-18

The most scientific-like a non-science experiment can get. Someone had to do it, thanks M8.

Isabel Vassalus - 2019-11-18

eating chips with forks and knives..... questionable judgement
eating "very low toxicity" salts... A+ Judgement

htomerif - 2019-07-22

I wonder if one of the hydrates of CaCl would have tasted better? I'm guessing if you were using desiccant grade CaCl, most of the "pain" taste was from its desiccant action on the tongue.

MattTheGamerHongKong - 2019-11-16

CaCl2

Isaac Seagraves - 2019-11-21

If they were putting anhydrous calcium chloride in their mouths they're actually stupid lmao

DB - 2019-03-02

Rubidium salts can give you hypomania/mania. Basically opposite of lithium salts.

Spooky Wizard - 2019-04-17

so thats why they were all fine! they cancelled out

Luiz Felipe - 2019-11-18

but I already have it, so no effect on me

Trurl - 2019-11-19

@Luiz Felipe So lithium for you

Unsolvable Captcha - 2019-11-19

Cool.

Tyubirocks1 - 2019-11-17

"I would say that these are... Salty?" - on fries with table salt

medexamtoolsdotcom - 2019-11-16

The best tasting salt is mercuric cyanide. It's to die for. MMMmmmm, almondy, but with a dash of fire. Go ahead, prove me wrong.

VintageToiletsRock - 2019-11-21

Chemistry teachers HATE him!
Find out how this man did the impossible and lived to tell the tale!

robot797 - 2019-11-17

amonium chloride
aka salmiac
best tasting snack in the world
also its in all the liqurich here in holland

Aarni Järveläinen - 2020-01-19

good engrlish you have

robot797 - 2020-01-19

@Aarni Järveläinen I am sorry but I am not gonna correct it, for english is my second language

Yannick Egbers - 2020-01-27

@Aarni Järveläinen we gaan je K O L O N I S E R E N wiki de viking

DoUg Mourning - 2019-09-29

Ah yes good old pOTASSIUM CHLORIDE, my favorite sodium free salt and execution method

Greggan! - 2019-09-18

Ammonium chloride on liquorice is amazing! (Yes I'm scandinavian :)

International Space Station - 2019-09-28

I wouldn't mind replacing my salt with the lithium variant. But I'm bipolar so of course I would 🤔

DannyBoyDDD - 2018-01-28

You guys are all grown up now. Bunch of responsible adults. RIP your youth.

Mark Tan - 2019-11-16

Isn't that the definition of being an adult though? Being able to decide what you want in your mouth...

Elias Kristmansson - 2019-11-17

Mark Tan nah, the definition of being an adult is not being a child

Kiyoshi Inoto - 2019-11-18

Elias Kristmansson judging by the people I work with, that is a lie.

Kiwibreath - 2019-11-23

RIP in general

Rsaramallac - 2019-11-14

Such insight
Bless Australian salt parties

Rhodanide - 2018-01-28

Cesium! The only element with a "Puple-grey" flame color!





Please don't change that, I love it

Rhodanide - 2018-01-28

Explosions&Fire2 It's really not all that noticable, don't worry about it

Explosions&Fire2 - 2018-01-28

Rhodanide gonna delet the whole channel now

Rhodanide - 2018-01-28

Explosions&Fire2 now you've done it

Darell Roasa - 2019-01-26

that’s why my stools is purple-grey.

ettanasf - 2019-09-23

Rhodanide Chernobyl approved!

Gregory Toomey - 2019-11-17

A common way of causing instant death is injecting potassium chloride.

science_and_anonymous - 2018-01-28

What happened to that explosive plant?

science_and_anonymous - 2018-02-01

Explosions&Fire2 ahhhh

science_and_anonymous - 2018-02-01

Explosions&Fire2 hahahah I wad actually wondering when we would see the video on it, didn't know it was in the shot lol

Explosions&Fire2 - 2018-02-01

science_and_anonymous oh I thought you spotted the Easter egg.
Well, I did it all and nothing exploded, so I have to think about why that is and what I can do about it I guess

science_and_anonymous - 2018-02-01

Explosions&Fire2 hahahah yeah, maybe when the leaves grow again you can try a different solvent for extraction and just see how everything works out

Eddy wolton - 2018-05-14

Epazote? I have grown some of that, I just havn't done anything with it.

koenigscat - 2019-11-17

ammonium chloride = salmiak = a big like from this Dutchie
But yeah, don't eat it with chips, It's used for some sweets

Anthony Pistocchi - 2019-07-25

Lol eats lithium... “not bad”😂🤣
Most level commentary after eating bipolar medicine😂

Uremawife Nowdave - 2020-01-23

“Tastes like disappointment.” totally cracked me up.

Uliemm151 - 2018-01-28

NaF is the best salt

Mk Km - 2019-07-25

Fluorine is the most powerful oxidizer because it can say the F-word

Pik Ass - 2019-08-10

I like a spice of cynide in my dirty body

Zerg TV - 2019-11-19

NaH

Aidan Hansen - 2019-11-20

@Oit Thegroit go to dentist for NaF

Oit Thegroit - 2019-11-20

@Aidan Hansen I'm asking what the pure compound, not the stuff at the dentist's that's filled with flavoring, tastes like.

Eric - 2019-07-25

Scandinavia has good taste dont @ us
The fun of Djungelvrål is the kick in the face of the super-soluble ammonium chloride that fades quickly into a mild sweet licorice.
The name literally means "jungle shout" probably for the reason of the kick in the face. It's very fun giving to people and then watching their reaction 0.2 seconds after they put one in their mouth.

Dream Services International - 2019-09-17

Yeah, it really is a good complement to the licorice. I like the ones like you describe: brisk and punchy at first and then savory and sweet. Pretty much everyone i know hates all forms of salmiakki, but that's okay if it means more for me.

That said, some of the brown hard ones seem to be more salt than licorice and are just foul crumbly things with the great aenesthetising taste of ammonia and dirt. Giving those to unsuspecting people is just about as cruel as sharing rancid bacon mints.

Litespark - 2019-09-21

I love the salt-monkeys aswell ❤️ Damn they are good.
Too bad i can only find them fresh rarely, only from like cruise ships and crusty candy aisles where they've been forgotten and dried up.

I gotta go look for some tomorrow.

Тимофей Воронов - 2019-11-15

I loved Finnish "salmiakki ruutu"

The Major - 2019-11-15

Just good old regular Salmiakki is quite nice too.. Or just head down over to Gang Wars City Malmö, Sweden, to buy the best Licorice that mankind can find.

Anna - 2019-11-16

Eric true, but i like hockey powder even better

poop - 2018-01-29

Ive always wondered about this, so thanks for being the guinea pigs lol. Pretty good video and cool idea, please do more in the future. Subscribed!

Jayyy Zeee - 2019-11-16

I was waiting for the grim reaper to show up to their little dinner party.