The Hidden Science of Fireworks

I feel like some of the above video was from some of Veritasium's previous videos because they look somewhat familiar to me.

With that being said, the video does a great job explaining what happens in fireworks.

Dr Derek starts with making rudimentary black powder (gunpowder - not the modern, smokeless version as Derek explains at 8:30) starting with the initial recipe from ancient China and moving to a more modern 75/10/15 ratio of carbon/sulfur/charcoal and then to a commercial, modern gunpowder. 

From there, it's onward to testing the effects of container strength on the size of the explosion - first with a simple, cardboard tube then with a reinforced tube. He then brings in a fireworks manufacturer who explains the cardboard, spherical shells of actual fireworks and the method for launching them. 

Then a bit about the methods of triggering the shells - showing black match then the craft-paper-encased quick match - including how to waterproof that trigger and how that trigger moves into the fireworks shell itself and lights the stars to produce the color and flash.

Speaking of the stars, they move into the creation of the different colors due to metallic salts and showing the individual spectra of those elements due to their electron configuration. The expert does then use some methanol to step things up a bit. (Remember kids, don't use methanol...ever.)

And the video wraps up with footage of a drone flying through the fireworks finale. I'll admit...that's pretty cool and should absolutely be watched in high res and expanded size.

Do we still need iodized salt? (what even is it?)

You need iodine in your diet.

You get most of it from the salt that you sprinkle on your food...unless you use sea salt or Maldon salt or some other fancy, non-iodized salt.

So, depending on where you live - and I'm in the old goiter belt, myself - you might not get enough iodine in other ways.

So, eat your iodized salt and drink your milk, folks.

Dip your hand in molten lead without being burned!

"Don't try this at home," isn't enough of a warning for this.

Adam Savage recently answered a question about this video asking whether it was as surreal an experience as it seemed.

Adam said, 'yes', it was and went on to explain why it works, why they were understandably afraid of it, and how they slightly cheated by wetting their hands first.

There's a lot of explanation about the leidenfrost effect and how it protected their hands (and hot dogs), but the short version is that if the surface is hot enough relative to the liquid, enough of the liquid can instantly boil, creating a cushion of boiling gas between the liquid and the solid surface, sort of protecting the two from each other.

That's all well and good - as well as an explanation of how walking on hot coals works - but I'm still not sure I'd trust myself with the molten lead.

Even the Densest Metal Doesn't Exceed USPS Shipping Weight Limit

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So many words there...

That's 48 pounds of tungsten in a post office mailing box right there that people are trying to pick up. 

Apparently it's really tough to pick up 48 pounds of tungsten - which makes sense because tungsten is really dense...but not as dense as osmium.

Apparently filling the same box with osmium would give you 61.5 pounds (source) - thankfully still below the post office's maximum weight limit of 70 pounds. To quote...

Osmium’s density is 22.6 grams per cubic centimeter. OP measured the inside dimensions of the small flat rate box and multiplied them to get the volume, 75.3 cubic inches. This is equal to 1,234.5 cubic centimeters. So all we have to do is multiply 22.6 x 1234.5. This gives us 27,899.7 grams, which is 61.5 pounds.

So, unless you go hunting neutron star matter or dark matter or something exotic like that, you're good to put just about anything inside one of those post office mailers.

Hydrogen Isotopes

 

Source: https://xkcd.com/2719/

See, it's funny because hydrogen actually does have three isotopes with official names: protium (hydrogen-1), deuterium (hydrogen-2), and tritium (hydrogen-3).

If you're not ready to follow along, the empty circles with a + are protons. Each hydrogen by definition has to have one of those, so a couple of the isotopes up there aren't really hydrogen.

The filled, black circles are neutrons. Those can be different - which is what makes isotopes different in the real, non-xkcd world.

The smaller circles with a minus sign (-) are electrons. Most neutral hydrogens have one of those, too, because positives and negatives sort of need to balance each other out.

The rest of them in that diagram aren't real. Technically explainxkcd.com says ium and instant hydrogen technically exist but certainly aren't common. The oops, all neutrons is a reference it Cap'n Crunch's Oops, all berries cereal. I would reference a particular comedian's routine about the Oops, all berries cereal, but it's not school-appropriate. 

His name is K. Trevor Wilson...in case you wanted to look it up...which you clearly shouldn't do because he uses words that aren't school-appropriate. 

Can You Burn Metal?

TL;DR - sort of

Burning means to oxidize, which kind of means to combine with oxygen (and also kind of means to lose electrons), and metals can oxidize - we just normally call it rusting or corroding.

So, yes, metals can sort of burn but mostly it happens too slowly for us to notice it happening whereas burning happens way faster. To get that to happen, you'll need to get more metal exposed to more oxygen all at once - like by burning steel wool.

It's not pyrophoric or anything, but it's kind of neat.

Why Baking Soda is the Most Useful Ingredient in Your Kitchen | What's Eating Dan?

pH is frickin' cool.

Today's video has Dan explaining how baking soda helps with browning (facilitating the maillard reactions), tenderizing ground meat while letting it stay moist, and can help speed up the cooking of kidney beans, onions, polenta, green beans, and broccoli.

Watch the video and become a better cook.