Recent content by pack_rat2

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    Ferric Chloride: MSDS and safety precautions

    I've used FeCl3 for etching printed-circuit boards. It's acidic (salt of a strong acid & weak base) and can cause skin irritation, but I never had any problems when it got on me (some people are more sensitive). You should wear eye protection, though.
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    Are there volatile chemicals in tap water that can cause a garlic odor?

    Hmmmm...arsenic compunds often smell like garlic...
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    BCC - balancing chemical equations, stoichiometry

    Hg will not react with Al2O3. Al is very electropositive and won't easily let go of any oxygen atoms its bonded to. What happens when Hg contacts Al (and many other metals, as well) is amalgamation, which is like forming a solution. It's a physical, not chemical, process.
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    Calculate Temperature for White to Grey Tin Conversion | Thermodynamic Data

    Gray Sn is an allotrope of Sn which is more stable than white Sn at lower temperatures. Actually, at room temp, white Sn is slowly turning into gray, though the process is extremely slow. There's a case I read about involving a old pipe-organ in Germany, which had pipes made of Sn that...
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    Plastic sinker container was melted

    I did a web search on "power bait" and found that it's called a "soft plastic" bait. There's an old rule in chemistry that's usually valid which goes "like dissolves like." If the bait has similar chemical properties to the bait container, and is liquid/mushy, it will probably dissolve the...
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    Plastic sinker container was melted

    Alcohols often come in plastic containers. Consider the isopropyl alcohol that is sold in every drug-store.
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    Calculate Temperature for White to Grey Tin Conversion | Thermodynamic Data

    Ah, the "tin pest"... I don't know for sure how to do it, but I think you might have better luck in getting help if you ask the question in the materials engineering forum.
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    Deviation of Real Gases under Low Temp & High Pressure

    "Liquifaction" (I think that's the correct spelling) just means turning something into a liquid. The Ideal Gas Law assumes that the space occupied by, and the forces between, the atoms/molecules of a gas can be ignored. It's a valid approach for low pressure and high temperature. But how does...
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    Finding Force on a Surface: Mechanics Basics

    Do you have a picture of the member the problem refers to, which shows the external force(s) acting on it?
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    Understanding Thermal Electricity and Fuel Flame Direction

    Lignite is a type of coal!...so burning it to make steam to run a turbine & generator would produce what might be called "thermal electricity"...;)
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    Making a gold solution for plating.

    "Royal Water"...;)
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    Whats the heat capacity of NaOH I can't find it anywhere?

    How is the heat to be generated?
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    Why is Tossing a Toaster into a Bath Dangerous?

    "If the tub is insulated and there are no pathes except for the circuit in question..." One side of the power line is grounded, and current will therefore flow from the "hot" side through the water, to Earth ground. Try this...fill a bathtub or sink with water, and connect an ohmeter between...
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    Why is Tossing a Toaster into a Bath Dangerous?

    "How would you be in paralle with the toaster, the circuitry of the toaster is confined to the toaster..." All of the water and everything in it that's a conductor is in parallel with the voltage source in the toaster. Here's a similar situation which illustrates the point. Suppose you have a...
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    Is x = -1 a Valid Solution for the Equation x/1 = x + 1/x?

    Ahhhh...x = 1 is so obvious. but x = -1 doesn't work.
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