| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Boron carbide engine sabotage can. Boron carbide is very hard and can thus be used for grinding. In this case, the idea is to pour some of the dark, oily liquid in this can into the oil supply of an engine in order to cause it to grind itself to a halt. I assume the cylinders either become scored to the point that they can't hold compression, or maybe become jammed by the grit. In any case, this is something you would do only under dire circumstances, for example in war (as this can was intended for), or to an ex-girlfriend or something. Not that I'm recommending that, you could get in big trouble. Source: eBay seller 4slghmr87 Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 8 December, 2007 Price: $66 Size: 3" Purity: <20% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Boric acid tin. Boric acid has some medical applications: The back side of this tin (click turntable icon for 3D rotation) recommends it as an eye wash. It's also used as ant poison. Source: eBay seller 4thegrace Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 16 March, 2007 Price: $2.50 Size: 3" Purity: <50% Sample Group: Medical |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Boron Nitride ceramic disk. This ceramic-like disk came from a scrap yard and was claimed to be or contain boron. I don't think it's pure boron, but it could well be a boron nitride ceramic. Unfortunately the analytical instruments available to me don't work on low atomic number elements, so I have no good way of testing what it really is. Source: John Wechselberger Contributor: John Wechselberger Acquired: 15 April, 2004 Price: Donated Size: 4.5" Purity: <50% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Bottle of lumps. This is a small bottle's worth of boron lumps similar to the single lump listed above. It represents my element tax extracted on a one kilogram can purchased by Max Whitby for use in the series of museum displays we are building together. I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.  Source: Max Whitby of RGB Contributor: Max Whitby of RGB Acquired: 5 October, 2003 Price: Donated Size: 0.75" Purity: 99.9% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Sample from the Everest Set. Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (except gasses) weigh about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid. To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order. Source: Rob Accurso Contributor: Rob Accurso Acquired: 7 February, 2003 Price: Donated Size: 0.2" Purity: >99% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Sample from the RGB Set. The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table. To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order. The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):  Source: Max Whitby of RGB Contributor: Max Whitby of RGB Acquired: 25 January, 2003 Price: Donated Size: 0.2" Purity: 95% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Silly putty. Silly putty contains about 4% boric acid, which is critically important for its bounce characteristic. See here for a reference. Source: Ed Pegg Jr Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr Acquired: 10 December, 2002 Price: Donated Size: 1" Purity: 2% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | 3D |
Very Odd Lump. This is a strange-looking lump of solid pure boron. It has several different kinds of surfaces, as you can see if you click on the picture to see the large version. I would love to know more about the means by which this lump was made. Reader Graham Cowan offers the following theory: From the bottom of p. 4 of this pdf file:Here is his interesting page about boron as a fuel."In 1985, Callery repurchased reserve pentaborane fuel from the military and reprocessed it into elemental boron. When this became unprofitable ..."Pentaborane, B5H9, is like all B-H compounds unstable with respect to dissociating into B and H2, so the only processing necessary would have been to heat it in the absence of air and water. (Probably in argon.) And as you can see below, this lump was considerably more cost effective than our first attempted sample. Source: David Franco Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr Acquired: 16 August, 2002 Price: $12 Size: 0.5" Purity: 99.9% |
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Outrageous price quote. Our first attempt at a boron sample involved Ed calling up a chemical supplier. They helpfully supplied a price quote of $2030 (two thousand and thirty dollars American) for one square inch of boron foil. We respectfully declined the offer. You might think that boron would be fairly inexpensive, given that it's dirt common and is the major component of things like Borax. But it turns out it's insanely difficult to fuse and work with, so formed shapes of it are quite unreasonably priced. We are preserving this price quote as a reminder of how much money can be saved by using eBay instead of chemical companies. Source: Ed Pegg Jr Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr Acquired: 15 July, 2002 Price: $0/Nothing Size: 1" Purity: 0% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Londonite-Rhodizite. Description from the source: Londonite-Rhodizite serie ( (Cs K Rb) Al4 Be4 (B Be)12 028 to Rb=0 for the pure Rhodizite cub.), Antandrokomby, Antsirabe`, Madagascar. Rich in rubidium example, with Tourmaline (probably Liddicoatite). 3,1x2,5x2 cm; 22 g. Source: Simone Citon Contributor: John Gray Acquired: 30 September, 2008 Price: Trade Size: 1.25" Composition: (CsKRb)Al4Be4(BBe)12028 |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Danburite. Description from the source: Danburite (Ca B2 (SiO4)2 orth.), Charcas, San Luis Potosi`, Mexico. White large terminated crystal. 7x4x1,8 cm; 70 g. Source: Simone Citon Contributor: John Gray Acquired: 30 September, 2008 Price: Trade Size: 2.75" Composition: CaB2(SiO4)2 |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Tourmaline (Dravite variant). I'm not sure why I have this mineral: I think it may have been a free sample included with some other mineral purchase. Lovely, though of relatively undistinguished chemical composition. Source: Theodore Gray Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 20 September, 2005 Price: Donated Size: 1" Composition: NaMg3Al6(BO3)3[Si6O18](OH)3(OH) |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Vicanite. This small mineral is from the Vica Complex, Tre Croci, Italy, says the label. I bought it for its thorium content. Source: eBay seller ley646 Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 20 September, 2005 Price: $15.50 Size: 0.5" Composition: (Ca, Ce, La, Th)15As(AsNa)FeSi6B4O40F7 |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | 3D |
Ulexite from Jensan Set. This sample represents boron in the "The Grand Tour of the Periodic Table" mineral collection from Jensan Scientifics. Visit my page about element collecting for a general description, or see photographs of all the samples from the set in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order. Source: Jensan Scientifics Contributor: Jensan Scientifics Acquired: 17 March, 2003 Price: Donated Size: 1" Composition: NaCaB5O6(OH)6.5H2O |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Crystalline Borax. (External Sample) This lovely snow-white sample of natural borax is in the Harvard Museum of Natural History on the Harvard University campus. It was found in Kern, Co, California. Location: The Harvard Museum of Natural History Photographed: 2 October, 2002 Size: 18 Purity: <50% |
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
