| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Pressurized ampule. This is a small (1/8" inside diameter) vial of liquid chlorine. Unlike the medicinal ampule listed above, it's actually pure chlorine, made liquid by high pressure (about 7.6 atmospheres or 110 psi). It's safe because (a) it's very small, (b) the quartz ampule is very strong and (c) the ampule is inside a 3/4" diameter solid cast acrylic cylinder (which is intentionally made invisible in the photograph by clever lighting). Ivan, who made this sample, tested it by heating it in a hot bath until the chlorine inside reached the critical point, where the distinction between liquid and gas phases disappears. For chlorine this point is reached at 76.0 atmospheres (1117 psi) and 144C (291F). A note on photography: As a colored liquid, chlorine does not reflect or diffract any light: In order to see the yellow color, you have to have a light background (i.e. you can't light it from the side or front as I do most samples). But I always try to have a black background if possible, so to take these pictures (and the rotation video) I cut a small piece of white paper to the shape of the ampule only slightly larger, and held it behind the sample on the end of a wire sticking out the back. The paper was illuminated by a fiber optic light shining on it, with baffles in place to avoid having any light reach the sample other than by reflection off the paper. You can see some imperfections where the surface of the acrylic cylinder are visible, but all in all it worked pretty well to capture the sense of an ampule floating in space. (What's particularly tricky about this backlighting situation is that every part of the sample is a lens. The acrylic cylinder messes with the focus, the inner quartz ampule messes with the focus, and the fact that the ampule is not perfectly centered results in the apparent position of the white backlight shifting back and forth as the sample rotates. It took hours.) Source: Ivan Timokhin Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 7 July, 2006 Price: $80 Size: 1" Purity: 99% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Medicinal chlorine. This item seriously scared me when I first opened it. All the literature it came with (old and yellowed instructions from the '50s) said it was "pure chlorine gas". The ampules (I got two) contain a pale yellow liquid that looks for all the world like compressed, liquefied chlorine gas. That would have made them very dangerous objects indeed: The pressure needed to liquefy chlorine is rather high, and the glass didn't look nearly thick enough for comfort. But careful reading of the fine print showed that these are in fact just dissolved chlorine in an alcohol solution. What's still scary is their intended purpose: Providing a convenient way to inhale chlorine for medicinal purposes. The instructions say to sit in a small, closed off room, break open a vial, pour the contents out onto a plate and breath deeply. Ouch. Inhaling halogens is generally considered a bad idea these days, but considering how much exposure we all have to chlorine in pools and cleaning solutions, these were probably not a whole lot worse. Source: eBay seller dudemanlevi Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 20 April, 2006 Price: $10 Size: 4" Purity: 5% Sample Group: Medical |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Gas in vial. This is chlorine gas sealed in a quartz tube with teflon stopper. It has a very pretty chlorine color to it. Greg sells lots of unusual elements on eBay: Check the source link for more information. Source: Greg P Contributor: Greg P Acquired: 18 April, 2003 Price: Donated Size: 1" Purity: 99% |
||||||||||||||||||
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: 97% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Gas in a bulb. If you look closely you can see the pale green-yellow tint created by the approximately 1 atm pressure of chlorine gas in this sealed bulb. There's a very similar bulb under bromine, but its color is much, much darker. Normally when you see a "gas" that is colored, it's not really a gas but rather tiny droplets of liquid (in fog) or particles (in smoke) that make it look colored or thick. The difference is that in a real colored gas, there is no diffusion of the light, just attenuation. A fog or smoke makes things look fuzzy, while with a true colored gas, they look perfectly sharp, just colored. I received this sample when Tryggvi and Timothy came to my sodium party. 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: Tryggvi Emilsson and Timothy Brumleve Contributor: Tryggvi Emilsson and Timothy Brumleve Acquired: 21 September, 2002 Price: Donated Size: 3" Purity: 99.9% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Sal Ammoniac. Names from a long time ago. Chemists may call it ammonium chloride, but if you go to a hardware store, it's still Sal Ammoniac ("Salt of Ammon", in the plumbing section), same as it was around the turn of the millennium (not that one, the one before). And even the chemist isn't escaping this history, because the modern name "ammonium" itself comes from Ammoniac, which comes from the fact that the substance was discovered in white crystals that formed on the roof from the burning of camel dung in the Temple of Zeus/Jupiter Ammon in Egypt (or so says the internet). Today it's used to rub soldering irons on to clean the tips. Source: Hardware Store Contributor: Theodore Gray Acquired: 5 August, 2002 Price: $3 Size: 2" Purity: 50% |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger |
Table salt (NaCl). Kindly contributed by Ed Pegg. Source: Grocery Store Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr Acquired: 20 May, 2002 Price: $0.25/pound Size: 2.5" Purity: 50% |
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Eudyalite. Description from the source: Eudyalite (Na4(CaCe)2(Fe+2Mn+2Y+ZrSi8O22(OHCl)2 trig.), Kipawa Alcalyne Complex, Villedieu Tow., Quebec, Canada. Red, granular, with white fibrous Agrellite and beige Vlasovite. A rich thumbnail. 2,2x1,7x1 cm; 5 g. Source: Simone Citon Contributor: John Gray Acquired: 26 September, 2008 Price: Trade Size: 0.85" Composition: Na4(CaCe)2(Fe,2Mn,2Y).ZrSi8O22(OHCl)2 |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Ruthenium Chloride, 99.999%. American Elements is a chemical supplier with a wonderfully refreshing attitude towards element collectors: They actually like small orders from people looking for exotic elements (within reason). They also sell quite a variety of compounds, particularly rare earth salts, many of which are highly colored. This ball of ruthenium chloride (hexahydrate) is bright orange, very attractive in a poisonous sort of way. Source: American Elements Contributor: American Elements Acquired: 2 June, 2006 Price: donated Size: 0.5" Composition: RuCl3.3H2O |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Nickel Chloride, 99.999%. American Elements is a chemical supplier with a wonderfully refreshing attitude towards element collectors: They actually like small orders from people looking for exotic elements (within reason). They also sell quite a variety of compounds, particularly rare earth salts, many of which are highly colored. This ball of nickel chloride (hexa-amine) has a bright, vivid purple color. I originally listed this sample as the hexahydrate, and amazingly within just a few days not one but two people wrote in to say there must be something wrong, because nickel chloride hexahydrate is not purple. I have the most informed readers! Not sure why it's clumped into a round ball, but it sure makes photography easier. (Photographing powders is generally unrewarding, so it's nice to see one that has formed itself into a more interesting shape.) Source: American Elements Contributor: American Elements Acquired: 2 June, 2006 Price: donated Size: 0.5" Composition: Ni[(NH3)6]Cl2 |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | 3D |
Vanadinite from Jensan Set. This sample represents vanadium 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: Pb5(VO4)3Cl |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | 3D |
Sylvite from Jensan Set. This sample represents potassium 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: KCl |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | 3D |
Halite from Jensan Set. This sample represents chlorine 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: NaCl |
||||||||||||||||||
Larger | Spin | 3D |
Sodalite from Jensan Set. This sample represents sodium 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: Na4Al3Si3O12Cl |
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
