God lord but Steve Mould is a brilliant communicator of science.
I've never really understood super critical fluids - even though I've posted about them before, but today's video - especially the part from about 10:20 through 14:20 or so - makes for a brilliant explanation of why fluids go supercritical at higher temperatures.
The use of the entropy and potential energy graphs in combination lays out the argument for supercriticality brilliantly.
Thanks, Steve...thteve.
That right there is a screenshot from AtomAnimation, a website that seems to do nothing more than provide animations of Bohr models for any element with any combination of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
It's kind of fun to play around with, though I warn you that the larger atoms take a decent amount of time to render and seemed to slow my browser down a bit while they were running.
If you know me, you might know that I'm the kind of guy who would notice a scientific issue while watching a movie or tv show.
I didn't, however, catch the anachronism of a 2000s periodic table in season one of the 1980s-set Stranger Things.
Clearly, ten or so elements (#108 and #110-118) - those discovered after 1983's setting for the first season. Another couple of them would need to be presented in three-letter, temporary names because the controversies around the names for elements #105-109.
In all, I don't think the periodic table anachronism caused audiences to enjoy their Stranger Things any less.
I have the 'original' polydensity kit from Ed Inn (now Flinn, blech), and it's a fascinating toy.
Two insoluble liquids and two types of beads - pony and UV - which make for some fascinating behavior when the bottle is shaken and allowed to settle and separate.
In today's video, Steve Mould attempts to make a similar bottle with three insoluble liquids and four polymer beads.
He does achieve his desired result by the end, but the beads he uses look to be a little tougher to source.
Sadly so...
Our chemistry book has a diagram of a battery in the electrochemistry chapter, and I discuss that battery for a bit before explaining to my students that the basics of ACME (anode, cathode, metallic path, electrolyte) hold for every battery but that the engineering of modern lithium-ion batteries is far different from the diagram in the book.
This video - again leaning into the algorithm-rewarded longer and longer format - explains some battery basics involving the activity series, the history of the development of the lithium-ion battery, and the methods of fiery failure when the battery overheats.
This is, as Dr Derek says, a technology that has allowed our modern, battery-dependent world.
I pretty consistently tell my students not to personify atoms and molecules. They don't have hopes and dreams. They don't fall in love. They simply move to more stable arrangements.
...but...
It's very cute to think of H and Cl being in love and holding hands, so I'm going to let Google slide on the cuteness factor alone.
