NurdRage - 2012-08-29
In this video we show how to make blue triboluminescent or "smash-glow" crystals. Warning: This experiment uses toxic, volatile and carcinogenic chemicals. This should be performed with gloves in a fume hood. Get 121mg of copper thiocyanate and 262mg of triphenylphosphine. Add to it 5mL of pyridine. Heat the solution until dissolved. Turn off heating and allow to evaporate until crystals form. Remove the supernatant and wash the crystals 3 times with 3mL portions of toluene. Allow to dry. To demonstrate triboluminescence grind a crystal against the wall of the vial. Citation: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed2001494
never play scrabble against this guy
They need people like you to show the real wonders of science :)....because growing beans is really not cutting it in the interest department....
I feel your pain
Wow! Check out that glow on those crystals, there must have been lots of positivity at the sesh!!
Tryphenylphosphinebis(pyridine)thiocyanatocopper(1).
Man how can you say that so fluid (no pun intended) NurdRage?
A little late for the party, but nonetheless I will answer. For a chemist, these words are pretty common, said many times in different occasions. Combining them into a bigger word is a trivial task.
+ontariolacus This is why I refuse to play against you buggers in scrabble-like games
One of the highest scoring words in scrabble that will fit on a board is sesquioxidizing meaning to create a sesquioxide a compound that has three atoms of oxygen and two atoms of a metal. ;)
I've been watching your channel since i was in highschool. Now having completed Ochem and still taking chemistry in college this is really interesting to watch & understand more and more of the concepts that you cover... Chem ftw! :D
amazing, and kudos for voicing that chemical's name so flawlessly :D
chemistry is amazing :)
Pretty good glow on those crystals. Ideally, one would want to charge em up first with some bros at a sesh.
this video is amazing, it shows how nature's beauty is both mysterious and unrelenting
I remember watching this as a kid and thinking it was amazing.
That's awesome! I didn't know that such thing was possible! Thanks man. I study chemistry as well and I love it. Will keep going.
I'm taking Chemistry this school year. Thank god I subscribed to this channel. <3
the first youtube channel, with completely accurate captions
fantastic experiment
Thanks for that comment, hilarious! I feel the same way when I read cooking recipes. "Cream of tartar??? But... tartar is what the dentist scrapes off - YUCK!" On a serious note, it takes time to learn all this stuff. Stick with it. I loved chemistry, based on just what they taught in public school. There's so much more beyond that! Go to Wikipedia, and look up the Wittig reaction - you'll see triphenylphosphine again (which they used in this video).
I almost forgot how awesome your voice sounds!
I love your channel.My nephew and I have learned so much.You even have easy to do experiments,that we have tried.Like glowing flowers ect. Please keep them coming.
Ah, cool stuff to watch and a bit of chemistry to learn - good way to start the day.
My respect for you has increased ten fold- and I already admired you to begin with!
Badass. I love this stuff!
Thank you for your demonstrations! I didn't think I'd ever use them. However, a friend of mine asked me why home made ice was white while the ice at the store was clear. Thanks to your hot ice video I theorized it had to do with the purity of the tap water being worse than the ice at the store or it dealt with the minerals in tap water! So thanks. I definitely learned that from you, because, I was home schooled and never did chemistry! I look forward to seeing more of your videos!
making lightning by smashing things. DUDE SCIENCE IS SO METAL!!!
Thank you cracked!
can you please make a video on how to make anything glow in the dark :) like those bangles or paint anything please :)
At times when I watch these im absolutely clueless, but now im getting really interested in Chemistry; Im working on it in my Intermediate School, I showed them this, and I got some good marks! :D
@Nurdrage, if you were to keep those crystals in a tightly sealed vile, would they retain their color under UVL's? and if so, for about how long would they emit?
Great vid I recently subscribed you should make a thermite reaction video using iron(III) oxide and aluminum or another method that you think is better.
I wish you were my chemistry professor last quarter. The most exciting thing we did in my Chem class was Titration.
I really liked this! Good work!
yup, although i reccomend keeping them in the vial.
Have you tried with copper Iodide do the same exactly complex or it will make clusters that dont have triboluminescent properties like how it happens with copper Iodide pyridine clusters?
Where did you get the pyridine and the triphenylphosphine from?
I stopped liking university chemistry when pronouncing a substance took more than one breath...
Great video!
I wonder if there is a practical application for this stuff (the crystals, I mean). Cool vid.
Hey! Thanks for sharing this! Is it correct that it won't glow when stirred after being smashed? I thought it would be cool if passersby could stir a big transparent bowl with this in it at night in public space. An Ottawa foundation liked this idea, and wants a presentation on it. But I guess this is not possible? Thanks a bunch.
Could you do a video or lead me to reliable info on how to purify kno3 from stump remover
You can always re-dissolve the powder in an organic solvent, and let it evaporate to grow a new set of crystals. Smash them, and you get another round of glowing.
does the Crystal will only emit light if they crushed/rubbed with each other ?
This is the coolest thing I've seen. Ever.
Yes it is! Much weaker, but still the same effect :)
Beautiful color! Don't think I'm gonna get my hands on triphenylphosphine though.
Edit: Nevermind ebay sells it :l
Awesome video. I'm interested in the ligand binding process; you're starting with thiocyanate complex, and add pyridine and triphenylphosphine. My question is, why is not (triphenylphosphine)2(NCS)2 or other combinations of ligands formed? Why is this complex formed specifically? I'm studying chemistry and that's one thing I just can't wrap my head around; there doesn't seem to be any specific reaction conditions and yet a specific complex is formed. What if u want to make something different?
thanks for these videos :)
Try mixing the red and blue together! Please I would love to see the out come
I wonder if you were to subject compounds of similar crystalline structure to a high enough frequency that they would exhibit the same luminescent property
Amazing...
NurdRage, as a way of showing my love for you I watching a minute long advertisement showing how to put on nail polish. Thank you!
Damn I missed the cockroach cremation!
You know chemistry good.
Are there smash glow crystal that emit light at higher frequencies? Like UV or above?
The more I see of the new logo the more I like it.
NightHawkInLight - 2012-08-30
Very cool. This looks similar to smashing mint lifesavers, though I would suspect that to be some sort of piezoelectric effect.