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Turning scrap copper into beautiful crystals
- scarecrowbob 5y ago
- NullPrefix 5y agoTurning copper into crystal meth?
- monocasa 5y agoI think the joke is that meth heads are known to steal copper to sell and therefore have money to purchase meth.
- Synaesthesia 5y agoI think it's good meth which is enantiomerically pure, makes big clear crystals.
- daniel-cussen 5y agoI suspect there's some formula some way to use copper crystals to make better methamphetamine crystals.
- ada1981 5y agoSee also: https://bit.ly/3vvSou4 https://bit.ly/3vvSou4
- st_goliath 5y agoIf you tell anybody that you do something even remotely IT-security related, you get interrupted with stuff like "OMG can you hack into peoples Facebook [accounts]?" Ever since a certain, very popular TV show, I guess people working in chemistry now share our pain.
- skocznymroczny 5y ago"Oh you're a game tester? Lucky, you get paid to play videogames... What do you mean you played the same part of the level for two weeks straight?"
- Buttons840 5y agoCopper sulfate creeps along the surface of the container I've noticed. I was recently growing some crystals from a kit with my daughter and the blue liquid (which I now believe to be copper sulfate) crept out of the container and started growing on surrounding surfaces which had never been wet. I'd like to learn more about why this happens. Someone asked about this on Stack Exchange: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/84704/how-can-copperii-sulfate-crystallize-outside-a-glass-vial https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/84704/how-can-... They never got an answer. To be clear, the container wasn't disturbed or vibrated excessively. The liquid was never spilled outside the container. In my case, there were 3 plastic cups in a single tray, all connected, and the substance grew out of one cup, down into the bottom of the next cup over, and then started back up the other side of the empty cup which had never had liquid in it. This isn't a residue left over by evaporating liquid. A thin film of this substance grows on surfaces above the highest point the liquid ever reached. Clusters of the stuff started forming a couple inches from the only container that ever contained liquid. I asked about this just today on Reddit actually: https://www.reddit.com/gallery/u85pwz https://www.reddit.com/gallery/u85pwz
- simulate-me 5y agoIs capillary action not a satisfying enough answer for you?
- tooltower 5y agoCapillary action requires narrow channels. Single surface shouldn't work, at least intuitively. Some might argue that any tiny crystal formed creates narrow channels between the crevices, wicking out more of the liquid and speeding up outward crystal growth. But even that is something I came up with off the top of my head, and I wouldn't find it credible without a better source than my shower of thoughts.
- flobosg 5y agoThis mechanism is mentioned in the Chemistry Stack Exchange question linked by the OP. > Indeed, capillary effect is enough. New portions of solution get higher and higher up, and deposit crystals to build more capillaries, much like a horde of guys with ladders storming some medieval fortress.
- regpertom 5y agoI’ve been trying to learn about rocks and came across this in lists of deadly rocks: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcanthite https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcanthite Which is annoying because even rocks are out to get me. It’s chemical formula is CuSO4·5H2O which reminds me of H2SO4 which is sulphuric acid. The article does contain a warning.
- gorkagg10 5y ago
- fnordian_slip 5y agoWhat a great example of the Baader-Mainhof-phenomenon [1]. I recently found out how easy it can be to create nice-looking crystals at home, and now it seemingly follows me to reddit and hackernews. I can heartily recommend this website, especially the different kinds of salt crystals, as they are non-toxic and can therefore be handled by children, if you have any. I wish there were a proper aggregator of sites like this, Ian's shoelace site and all these other informative websites of different hobbies without the fluff present in reddit and the like. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion
- daniel-cussen 5y ago
- jcynix 5y agoBaader-Meinhoffing? IMHO this should not be used as a verb, cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction for some background.
- fuzzer37 5y agoTake your meds
- daniel-cussen 5y ago
- daniel-cussen 5y agoHey, thanks for the advice, how much do I owe you, how do I pay you for your services? Do you have a bitcoin address?
- pfdietz 5y agoIgnoring the crystal part of that, it's interesting how valuable copper has become ($4.68/lb right now). This is making recovery of scrap copper from wires and small motors and transformers quite economical. You can see videos on Youtube about how to make $100K/year recycling copper.
- a2tech 5y agoYou have to have an economical source of copper though--which is difficult to do ethically.
- pfdietz 5y agoI'm wondering if it's economical to strip out accessible copper pipes from older homes and replace with PEX.
- monkeybutton 5y agoMaterial wise? Sure if you do it yourself. Paying someone else to do the work though? Definitely not.
- voakbasda 5y agoTo rephrase: if you do it yourself and accept that you will be compensated less for your time than anyone you could employ to do it.
- ada1981 5y agoHave you seen this guy? "If you ain't burning a hundred pounds of copper wire, and strippin' a hundred more. Where the fuck you at?" This is my fav video about this topic: https://bit.ly/3vvSou4 https://bit.ly/3vvSou4
- greesil 5y agoI really can't tell what's satire anymore.
- marcodiego 5y agoThis guy should sell ready made crystal growing kits.
- ada1981 5y agoI have no real interest in this. But I really appreciate this mans love of crystal growing and how well he is sharing it with others.
- solofounder89 5y ago[deleted]
- vgalin 5y agoKind notice: I think you may have left your comment in the wrong thread, as the "Managing mental health while running a startup" one is currently adjacent to this one about crystals.
- blamazon 5y agoLink: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31106150 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31106150
- at_a_remove 5y agoSadly, hobbyist-level of crystal growth almost always either involves hydrates or, unsurprisingly, water-soluble formations, leaving you with delicate structures of low Mohs hardness or pieces that require specific humidity ranges. It would be interesting if it were otherwise, because you could shape the growth of items that were amenable to handling, as well as embedding smaller items in them, perhaps making for things that were both attractive and functional.
- capitainenemo 5y agoIs it cheating to just coat the crystal in resin or paint it with clear nail polish?
- jws 5y agoI suspend mine in jars of mineral oil.
- peter_d_sherman 5y agoAbsolutely brilliant! On a side note, I must wonder about the semiconductor properties of these and other crystals -- could they be made into transistors or IC's like Silicon is? Could they have any potential future use in 3D printed electronics? Well, I don't know what the answers to those questions are, or will be -- but it's something I like to think about... Anyway, the crystals are absolutely beautiful! Great article!