NurdRage - 2017-04-29
In this video we show how to make sodium metal without electrolysis using domestically available chemicals. First 40g of sodium hydroxide and 30g of magnesium are place in a steel container with a fuse or sparkler and lit. A heavy lid is quickly placed over the mixture and allowed to burn. The mixture then allowed to cool and the resulting aggregate of sodium metal and magnesium oxide is chiseled out. The aggregate is then ground in a blender until the consistency of coarse sand. It is then poured into a flask and covered with 2x-4x the volume in dioxane. A stir bar is added and a distillation apparatus is outfitted on the mixture. It is then distilled with vigorous stirring. When the sodium is clearly visible on the surface of the liquid the stirring is reduced. When the height of the liquid is less than the diameter of the sodium globules the stirring is stopped completely. Distillation continues until dryness. Once dry the heating is stopped and the sodium allowed to solidify. It can then be dislodged from the slag and stored under mineral oil. The sodium may additionally be cleaned by heating until molten under mineral to which a few drops of alcohol has been added. Light agitation may be applied to dislodge any residual slag. Related videos: How to make dioxane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zzrn-61XAY How to make sodium magnesium oxide aggregate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXCSL0r4aqg How to extract diethyl ether and heptane from starter fluid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8MwwpSWeq4 Nighthawkinlight's video on making sodium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seSg_GWj1b0 Donate to NurdRage! Through Patreon (preferred): https://www.patreon.com/NurdRage Through Bitcoin: 1NurdRAge7PNR4ULrbrpcYvc9RC4LDp9pS Glassware generously provided by http://www.alchemylabsupply.com/ Use the discount code "nurdrage" for a 5% discount. Social media links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/NurdRage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NurdRageYoutube/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nurdrageyoutube/ This video generously sponsored by my patrons: Michael Zappe Alex S. Cullen Purkis Simon Bitdiddle Phillip Hutchings Matthew Brunette Jon Stanovich Emil Mikulic Lord Martin Hill Samuel Pelzer Roger Robert Boll Andrea Nall Jacob Gruber Michael Stephen Stair Marius Klimantavičius Max Loutzenheiser Wesley Gardner Daniel Astbury The King of Homestyle LVE Bobby Nansel Brian Nietfeld Michael Gregg Bryan Boettcher Martel DuVigneaud Dror Kronstein Benjamin Nied Antton Tapani Mark Rose doug dysart Micha Gorelick Thor David Drueding Kay Bærulfsen Dom Vasta Matt Sieker Florent Parent Craig M. Syam Krishnan Syniurge Py Marcio Yukio Teruya Timothy Vincent Danny Chan Miguel-Angel Gutierrez Casey Kikendall Craig House Myndert Papenhuyzen Feliksas evan Mark Beeunas David Jeffrey Morse George Jefferies jMe4505 Braxton Thomason Leon Verrall Hy Diep Michal Z Ricardo CNK054so Timothy Glore Zane Bacon Akshay Joshi Ben Anderson Applied Science rd Åsmund Tveten Kremling Wolf Bennett Christian Cooper Triple Cee Pascal De Lisio Henry Wu Chase Curtis Jonathan Jason Brammer James McIlhargey Marius Damien P Mark Keibler Bas Hessels Uocjat Jessica Porter Connor Reed Collin B Douglas Rob Parker Goodwine LFTRnow Donald W Paul Grodt Dean Bailey Samuel Ytterbrink Magnus Ott Kartin John Wasser Daniel Åland David Gilmour Daniel L. Julian Nicolai Joshua Books Joshua Rogers Dean Leggo Sac LeGaie Aner Nitsan Grey Shot Xandorcode Jean-Marc Bélisle Mecha Chocobo Adrian Kleven Joshua Crager Rebecca Chung cj6xu6ru Meyer Bill Noren Essimage l.h. riley Evan Schuld Jason King Yuli Talyansky Chris M Guerra Leonard Marshall Bear Marc Ethier John Bonnin Greg Emmons Woobly Mark L OpenArms Tyler Faruque Daniel McLaughlin Ariesticnig Joshua L Digiacomo Al Longley Star Ape Christian Ullrich Output Coupler Meagan McLay Joe Szymanski nBoost Rauni Kangas Stephen Andrew Montagne Kamen Milchev Jeff LeBell Gawdwin Charles Harris Daniel Baizel Robert H. Guinn Paraffine Tristan Putzeys Johann Massyn Herbert999 Lunarchy Mark Oberfield Curt Fischer Hannah Walters Rescla Emil Lund SaltyBrains Scott Blanchette Andy Hims T. Vladimir Vosselman Kristian Ferencik Andrew crawley Michael Kavulich Ben Russell Dario Goddin Adam Sidelsky dastrike Randi Silva Ed McMullen H Lambert Jacob Rodriguez Benedikt Müller Evan "Endar" Miller Robert Kennymore Thomas Phipps Jordan Blackman Martins Latvis Louis Lan Jordan Project 54/74 rjk Jay Gillikin William Taoist Joshua Graham Ivik Injerd Bob Hayward Bennet Huch
"Industrials hate him! ... local chemist exposes shocking sodium metal production secret. Learn the 5$ trick to his stunning results."
olegkikin where do you find this on eBay?. I can only find someone selling 40 grams for $40
SODIUM FRIKKIN ROADWAYS!
And also work from home answering surveys! And also Microsoft would like to tell you that your computer has a problem and would like you to go to their website where they'll give you a virus and hold your files hostage fix it for you.
Joe Rowland woosh
Sodium metal on eBay can now be bought for $90 per pound, or $167 per kilo. I have ordered from a few different sellers on eBay and so far the purity has been really good. You can even get 250 grams of potassium along with 1 kilo of sodium for $330 now.
I suspect this is more of a triumph than most people realise.
David Lowe Probably the most awesome achievement on youtube in my book. My wife came running in to see what the problem was when she heard my very loud "Holy Shit!" The only thing that will top it is when he releases the potassium video.
I love the way he said: if it doesnt bubble add another shot of alkohol.
"two shots of vodka"
What a result! I've been waiting for a long time for someone to make this happen. Now, does it work with KOH/Mg post reaction slag?
have you gotten that to work yet? i have tried a few times now with no success.
Was going to drop you a message mentioning you were referenced in this video, but I guess that you already know XD
NurdRage mentioned on his Twitter that the potassium magnesium aggregate is pyrophoric and exploded when he tried to handle it. Guess that complicates the isolation of rubidium and caesium which are even more reactive.
Chemical Engineer I was able to get the aggregate into a flask by carefully putting a funnel directly on the lid and pouring it straight in. I had to be fast though. I just couldn’t get any metal to form. There were 3 tries and at the end of each when I emptied the glass the dioxane vapour caught fire so there was certainly potassium in there. Another try I poured it into water and the results were what you’d expect from K in water. I even tried extending the distillation by pouring the dioxane collected back into the main flask. Still nothing.
Wow, that's worse than I thought.
is it just me that wants to see nurdrage join all this big sodium spheres together.
Now that'd be a thing for /r/oddlysatisfying
Ross Mitchell : ..Are you also thinking about a sodium bowling ball thing.??. DI'm getting Reàlly excited.!.. YeeééHaaàà.!
"liberate the sodium metal"
Making father Lenin proud I see
Super pure sodium ! Without electrolysis ! Congrats ! :D
Joe Rowland last time I checked, they start at about $350 US
I am wondering always about something: Some magnets loose their magnetic capabilities when heated. How is this stir bar still magnetic?
Juan Lopes as long as you dont exceed the temp rating the magnet stir bar is fine beyond that the stir bar is waste but they are cheap. For higher temps there are other stirring mechanisms but they can be costly which is why stir bars are used. There are magnets that can withstand 150 degrees celsius but I am uncertain what the limits are for stir bars. Dioxane evaporates at a temp that is lower than what would destroy the magnet, if he let the vessel run dry and temps got to high stir bar would most likely end up in the trash, but are easy to replace.
What's wrong with electrolysis though? Sure, it involves lower temperatures than melting salt, but it involves expensive chemicals and processes and a big cleanup. There's nothing simpler than salt.
@DerangedGod Thats true, but the temperature for the effect (called Curie temperature) varies. It's low for NdFeB magnets (500K to 600K) and some can be damaged at something like 130°C or 150°C. But e.g. AlNiCo magnets have to be red hot (~1000K) to lose their magentic properties. So the stirbar is probably no NdFeB magnet.
Okay, wow. SERIOUSLY impressive! Those crystallization lines are gorgeous!
Even though it took a PHD Chemist specializing in inorganic chemistry to figure this out, I am absolutely blown away by the yield...
I was totally convinced that you destroyed almost all of the sodium by blending it in air like that, so to see big globules of sodium coming out of the slag was just amazing... It literally took me a couple of seconds to believe that it was actual sodium.
Is there anyway you could use a heavier gas like carbon dioxide to protect the sodium from reacting during the blending step? (Not sure if sodium reacts with carbon dioxide itself...)
It's possible to use organic liquid right away while blending. The only problem he had with that is that his blender is made out of plastic and would melt.
Ender Gaming; Actually, his really good yields seem to indicate that degradation during that step is pretty minor... still, would be interesting to see what the difference would be if you put the aggregate straight into dioxane (which is contained in a suitable blender housing) after the thermite reaction is done. (Maybe use some liquid nitrogen to reduce the cool-down time? You would have to watch out for condensation though...)
At any rate, I agree with Nurdrage that the major loss almost certainly occurs during either the thermite reaction itself, or the cool-down period after it has completed.
So I think the most effective strategy would be to run the thermite reaction under Argon (you don't need a perfectly air-tight vessel if you don't mind keeping the Argon flowing for the duration of the thermite reaction; you can simply have the Argon come in from the bottom and leave through a coiled metal tubing 'chimney' at the top) and then immediately after it has cooled down, you put the aggregate into the blender with dioxane in it.
Another thing that you can try (however I don't really know how usefull this would be, as I have no idea what the most common hydration state of the NaOH that you will be using would be), is to first thoroughly dry your NaOH (i.e. expell all water of crystallization) as well as drying the magnesium and the container that the reaction will be run in (although the amount of water in those 2 cases should be pretty negligable).
Other than that, use the finest magnesium that you can (but remember to compensate for the increased amount of oxidized surface magnesium by increasing the total amount that you use in the reaction) and then crush and mix it together with the NaOH as thoroughly as possible. Again, I don't actually know if this is worth it, since magnesium is by far the most expensive reagent here, and the >40% yield is already very reasonable; hence the greater loss of magnesium, due to increased surface oxidation of the powder, could quite possibly nullify the benefits of having it more well dispersed.
MRLT Could this also be done with Lithium?
Afro Samurai yep. Lithium has a lower electrochemical reduction potential than sodium (-3,04 if i can remember well), so technically the reaction
Na^+ + Li ----> Na + Li^+ would be spontaneous in a galvanic cell. The problem is that both sodium and lithium would react with water :,( so you have to heat them. Cody reduced Cs+ to metallic cesium using lithium.
I'm a chemist, and I know the struggle dude. You make it real. That's a fucking thing. Congrats ! I'm happy to know how to do now
When i was about 12 years old I thought it would be interesting to try to make my own sodium.. I didn't have any books about chemistry or internet so i was just guessing on how to do it.. First thing i tried was melting salt with a blow torch and running electricity through it, that of course didn't work. Next thing i tried was running a spark of electricity at about 25kv through a pile of salt.. and immediately started smelling chlorine gas. At this point I became rather worried and decided this project was too dangerous to be doing in my parents garage and gave up on the project xD
Nathanael Newton at least you succeeded
You were close, the Castner process - electrolysis of molten sodium hydroxide - would've got you there. Of course it could've got you in a lot of trouble too. Molten sodium hydroxide is hardly "safe" by any stretch.
Nathanael Newton dude that’s me rn
I just noticed you speed up at the end of every sentence
How do you define an "amateur chemist"
+Flamn TubbyToast Not really. Amateur chemists have difficulty buying or getting certain chemicals. Professionals tend to have a lot more tools and chemicals at their disposal.
What do you mean?
I assume that most laboratories either have connections to chemical suppliers or can afford to buy their materials in bulk, whereas an "amateur" doesn't have and/or can't afford either. Hence, in the description, the detail about being able to obtain all these materials from a hardware store.
Not a professional
Amateur = hobby.
Professional = job.
What if you try to make unbinilium (120)? So that it will be named Nurdium? XD
Hey i have a video suggestion:
"How to remove rust with chemistry"
For example small screws or small steel parts.
Let's see if I can do this for my future element collection.
looks like dioxane is now really important for the amateur chemist!!
"domestically available"
household.
This is what I love about this channel - everything builds upon previous lessons. Love it!
Simply congratulations NurdRage, you earned it.
Beatels Sargent peppers lonely hearts club band
Play Sergeant Pepper's me no lonely hearts club band play Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band play Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band p play Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band mr. Kite
Play The Beatles Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band mr. Kite
now throw it in a pond
That close-up shot of your sodium looks amazing.
But I hope it won't start looking for John Connor.
Too late
Artūrs Šilaks
Bahaha! "Have u seen this boy?" Good one
You sound very excited in this one; love it!
i think Codys Lab did this a while back, well not this method but he made sodium and some other metals like that.
It's only bad for you In California.
This is amazing! I literally watched with my mouth open as you mentioned the air bubbles werent air bubbles but sodium droplets O_o
congrats on an amazing achievement!
620 likes 0 dislikes. gud werk
Congratulations, sir! It's good to know that I have an alternative to United Nuclear or eBay.
Now on to the Dioxane video for a refresher.
Great video!! I guess we can say: After decades of research, there is finally a reasonable approach to make sodium for the home scientist!
"the last thing you want is to set your trash on fire. "
Nurdrage, 2017
I ordered some magnesium powder :')
Any more safety precautions to keep in mind for the reaction with NaOH ?
I assume get a fire extinguisher that is neither water nor CO2 XD
GiggitySam Entz Perform it in a Hole in a Sandbox. If something goes horribly wrong, which I think cannot happen, just close the Hole with your Feet with the Sand around it.
A bucket of sand is enough to cover the reationvessel if needed. But having a fire extinguisher around is a good idea in case you set something on fire (e.g. yourself).
Mg can still burn in CO2, sand is the safest bet.
Make shure there is no water around (sand should be dry)
Mg powder will react much more violently than the turnings. Use a long fuse and stand back!
NaOH is highly caustic with a pH of 13-14, meaning that it'll eat into your hand. Wear gloves while handling it.
It's also very hygroscopic, meaning it'll absorb moisture directly from air. So don't leave it out in the open for more than a day if you want to be as safe as possible.
This video alone gets a sub out of me I love it and look forward to what you do next :)
"If X doesn't work, add more shots of alcohol." - NurdRage 2017
Haha thanks for adding a mini-sodium action shot at the end :)
"That strange texture on the surface is actually crystallization lines. This indicates that the sodium is actually pure."
Not perfectly true. That's dendritic crystallization. It's actually more common for impure metals (i.e. alloys) but can also occur in pure metals due to thermal gradients.
Love your video, holy grail it is indeed. I have question though, does aluminum instead of magnesium works also with this reaction??
Thank you, doctor, teacher, and friend, for your very easy to follow, educating and ultimately inspiring video lessons. I look forward to every video u post, and often watch my favorites multiple times.
I love the fact that he uses household gadgets such as blenders for chemistry
This is definitely one of the cooler videos you've done. Congrats man, excellent work.
Amazing achievement! Nice clean huge nuggets of sodium. Great job.
Congrats! It's an awesome discovery and I feel like I just saw some chemical history in the making.
please can you help me
what reactions accure when you electrolize slaty water (NaCl)wiht carbon electrodes.
Can you separate out the magnesium oxide from the slag? That would be neat too.
It's very cool being a part of this generation where so much discoveries are made.
Congrats :-)
This is an amazing video. Thank you so much for letting us see!
I just love how excited you are over that achievement. Nice work!
"I and many other amateurs.." Yeah, I don't think you are allowed to suggest that you are an amateur.
Love the NEW and inproved video quality ! Keep up this amazing content!
Damn, what a fine process. I feel like you need an award. Cheers 🍺
Buck Hubach 🍻 cheers
NurdRage - 2017-04-29
Achievement Unlocked
Beloved Quessia Rissanen - 2019-08-03
@PicaMula amazon.com
James Cambell - 2019-09-27
Nurdrage, i found that if you use a much larger vessel to react the hydroxide with the magnesium, relatively pure sodium metal will be deposited on the walls and lid with good yields thereby eliminating the need for the dioxane step.
James Cambell - 2019-09-27
Thank you for the videos you make, they are very helpful
DMITRII VINOGRADOV - 2020-01-25
@Thomas H Good time!I apologize for my English , I'm from Russia))) tell Me, why is the electrolysis of the melt necessarily made of hydroxide and afraid? Why is it not made of molten carbonate? There is one problem with the fork of the melting point of the carbonate and the boiling point of the sodium, but I think you can pick up 854C-
882C!!! Carbonate is not as aggressive( as Russia -a joke) as hydroxide, there is also oxygen, but there is no water!! I haven't tried it myself, but I think it's possible!DMITRII VINOGRADOV - 2020-01-25
Good time!I apologize for my English , I'm from Russia))) tell Me, why is the electrolysis of the melt necessarily made of hydroxide and afraid? Why is it not made of molten carbonate? There is one problem with the fork of the melting point of the carbonate and the boiling point of the sodium, but I think you can pick up 854C-
882C!!! Carbonate is not as aggressive( as Russia -a joke) as hydroxide, there is also oxygen, but there is no water!! I haven't tried it myself, but I think it's possible!