3 ms·

Burning Kelp for War

• tape_measure 4y ago
  "... potash, an organic compound..." - immediate Gell-Mann amnesia effect. Potash is the soluble, inorganic leftovers of burnt plant matter. What's interesting is how many different names derive from this production method. - potassium from "potash" (pot ash, collected burnt stuff) - K from "kalium", related to calcine (burn to ashes) - Alkali for basic compounds, which nearly all soluble metal oxides are - Calcium and Ca also derive from this root (now let me check all of this so I don't Gell-Mann myself)
  • thaumasiotes 4y ago
    Wikipedia suggests that several different minerals have been called "potash", of which one (potassium carbonate) is organic and the rest aren't.
    • tape_measure 4y ago
      Metal carbonates are generally not considered organic.
• suprjami 4y ago
  JSTOR, $86M science paywall who killed Aaron Swartz, have a Patreon. Get. Fucked. This site should be banned from HN.
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]