NurdRage - 2019-11-30
In this video we're going to use silica in crystal cat litter, sodium hydroxide in drain opener, and copper sulfate in root killer to make the famous chemical garden experiment. Get 60g of silica gel based cat litter. This is often called "crystal cat litter". Add to it 30g of sodium hydroxide and 100mL of water. The reaction will get hot so be careful. This reaction forms sodium silicate. You may have to leave it overnight if it goes slowly. But few grains of leftover cat litter is acceptable. Dilute the mixture by adding another 800mL of water. This cannot be added earlier as the mixture must be highly concentrated to successfully make sodium silicate. Thoroughly mix the solution. Now drop in a dozen large crystals of copper sulfate (around 1-2cm size). It's recommended to separate them for best looking results. Over the course of two days the crystals will seem to sprout and grow as the reaction progresses. What's happening is quite fascinating. As soon as you drop the crystals in, the surface of the copper sulfate dissolves but immediately reacts with the sodium silicate solution to form solid copper silicate. This coats the crystal so it's encased in a layer of copper silicate. But the silicate layer isn't perfectly impervious or rigid, water can still diffuse in. As it diffuses in it dissolves the copper sulfate underneath and forms a solution. This concentrated solution pushes out as the water continues to diffuse in and increases in pressure. The copper silicate membrane bulges out but eventually it can't contain the pressure and ruptures. The copper sulfate solution rushes out of the rupture and instantly reacts with sodium silicate solution to form another layer of copper silicate. This layer is newer and weaker so as the pressure builds again it too will rupture and the process repeats. This gives the appearance of a growing structure. It grows upward because the density of the copper sulfate solution is lower than that of the sodium silicate. Overall this looks like a growing stalagmite of copper silicate. Donate to NurdRage! Through Patreon (preferred): https://www.patreon.com/NurdRage Glassware generously provided by http://www.alchemylabsupply.com/ Use the discount code "nurdrage" for a 5% discount. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NurdRage Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/NurdRage/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nurdrageyoutube/
Holy shit. At 6:58 to 6:59 you can actually see a double helix forming ! The two strands used each other as a support structure like a vine going up a tree.
Holy shit you have some good eyes.
how the heck did you see that
WOW! good eye, thats so cool.
Yeah saw that. It was pretty cool
it is god creation ! )
Do not worry about my lab situation, plenty of chemistry can still be done even without one. And i've got some old unedited video i might cut together as "lab notes" as they're not complete enough for full videos.
Were you on the vice video about pharmaceuticals?
Hello! Very important request! Could you please do a video about it?:
To make some good yeild of permanganate, you can electrolyse some manganese metal. Link(look down to Romain's post) : http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=8480&page=16#pid499618
I would really like a video on that! It has never been done before, and I can't get my hands on some Mn.
Come back!
@CP he has a video about Manganese Dioxide from cheap batteries. Easily forms Manganate in Akaline solution. Then final oxidation to Permanganate. Or add acid to disproportionate MnO2 and Permanganate.
Knowing your knowledge over all these years I have nothing but faith in you!
Very cool. I love how even though you're doing more of this 'home chemistry', you're still going into just as much detail and the results look just as good.
Hope you get a lab back soon.
I always get excited when NurdRage uploads!! NR is the OG chemistry channel...
It's so sad that he's getting fucked over by YT this much while NileRed is exploding. Not that I don't agree with NileRed getting so much traction but as someone who watches both channels I don't see where the huge disparity comes from.
@KacKLaPPeN23 I mean NileRed is good, it's not like a good channel doesn't deserve to grow just because another is not
it's ok - both are owned by the same person anyway - note the initials??
actually it's really similar if you listen - just slowed down/digitally altered ... similar cadence ... the use of 'anyways' a lot
KacKLaPPeN23 Yeah, NileRed is a good channel, if aimed towards a different audience (NurdRage is obviously aimed more towards people who already know some chemistry, while NileRed is more for laymen), but NurdRage shouldn’t be getting screwed over like this.
I must add - it's best to use fresh cat litter.
This is a pretty little experiment, and it really spoils the effect when there is a cat turd floating around on the top.
You brought me back 45 years - I remember having the kits several times as a kid.
Yeah I do remember when they used to sell these in little packets and they had a little jar that had a mermaid or something on it and I would sit there for hours watching it grow I also had a crystal kit and a sea monkey kit I don't see the sing garden kit in stores anymore
I remember doing this experiment as a kid. I used ‘water glass’ or isinglass, (sold as an egg preservative, IIRC) as the silicate.
I used copper and ferrous sulphates and cobalt chloride as the ‘seeds’
It’s nice to see some ‘home chemistry’ experiments on YT again. I used to watch an old channel ‘TheHomeScientist’ which is well worth a look for anyone into this kind of thing.
A kid friendly alternative from when I was a child is a washing soda solution over a fish bowl filled with charcoal briquettes - "alien landscape" - : )
For home chemistry of entrepreneurial value, I suggest the Akabori reaction of alanine with benzaldehyde into phenylpropanolamine. There was a big ScienceMadness thread on that way back in the day, but I never really followed it to know if it panned out or not.
bonus points if you investigate any of their interesting reductions of phenylalanine.
I love the idea of a new "Bathroom Chemistry" series of videos
I gotta say nurdrage is definitely an experienced person pulling his weight over a decade
Fun. I may try this with some impressionable minds over the holiday.
I will definitely try this! I remember getting these "toys" when I was a child. What would happen if you were to put the copper sulfate crystals in the concentrated solution? Thank you for the video 😁
This reminds me of that story of "fish tank dope " or the other name for it was "gun blue dope" sounds just like it
"don't worry about the lab situation, there's plenty of chemistry possible without one", Inactive for 4 months
MonkaHmm
I remember table salt forming small mushrooms, I guess these were impurities or the anti-caking agent.
I remember the ones I bought as a kid half a million years ago it seems there there was a few diff colours
Damn. I was working on this exact video lol. That's ok, you're able to explain things better anyway haha. Ive been following your channel for a decade now and still love the content.
I was gonna say I remember getting these as a kid , I believe they were called magic rocks
I remember having one of those when I was little to
I remember these as a kid, you can even use other chemicals also for different colours.
As usual YouTube doesn’t notify me when it’s actually posted
Check your bell status. If it's not a ringing bell, you don't get EVERY video as notification.
oh this is a great experiment! Ive actually got all the ingredients for once lol. thanks nerdrage
Thanks for the "courtesy flush".
Who would've thought this was going to be so dang interesting!?!?! I love it :)
Thank you! Amazing. That came right on time
Screw the lab, home chemistry ftw
I wanna see more
You got forced out of your comfort zone and still created a great video. Bravo!
What happend to the lab? I'm still trying to find a place for mine, so I at least understand
I have a toilet too, so I am also some kind of chemist - just like you.
Me: go to bed early, because tomorrow is lots of stuff to do!
YouTube: hey, buddy, watch a video about how to make a chemical garden with household shit!
Me: k
Make prison-style reactions in toilet bowl
I remember 4 or 5 colored crystals in the original retail kits. What were the chemicals?
I think the periodic table channel has a video about this that shows several crystals used
lohphat in mine I remember copper sulfate (blue), cobalt chloride (purple), and iron sulfate (greenish). The yellow and the white ones I can’t remember but may have been another iron salt for the yellow and could have been alum for the white.
That video title sounds like death and when reading it out loud it sounds like cancer..... anyway awesome video...
I remember doing this in my parents kitchen as a kid. Fun stuff :)
"Thanks" (flush) 😎👍
That's great. I'm going to order some stuff off Amazon and replicate this. It's oddly beautiful.
I would love to grow Opal with a similar experiment...HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS?
kim scudiero
???(!)...
I would love to see this experiment conducted at zero gravity inside the international space station!
I volunteer!!!
Always worth the watch. Thank you, fellow nurd.
Woahhhhh i forgot about you! God i missed this channel lol
Cat litter that has an exothermic reaction with water? I guess that's one way to keep your cat warm
No it's the NAOH that made it hot
This is the kind of thing that inspires aspiring chemists to keep on experimenting: a great YouTuber making quality content even with extremely limited resources. Keep up the great work!
I’ve been watching car reviews. How am I here?
I knew that toilet was like Chekhov's famous gun...
I was thinking, a video on making an antibiotic might be interesting to people right about this time
I love coordination chemistry :D
I noticed at 6:58 one of the Cobalt Silicate structures formed a helical spiral as it progressed, looked cool :D
Applied Science - 2019-11-30
I always wondered why those chemical gardens grew upwards. Great choice of topic.