Saturday, November 16, 2024
Don’t Flush Sodium Down The Toilet
Don't flush sodium down the toilet. I've actually been told that before. Chemistry teachers routinely say it, which only makes students want to do it. Instead, watch two mad scientists do it. Grant Thompson, the "King of Random" teamed up with CodyDon Reeder to flush sodium down the toilet to show us what will happen.
My brother told the tale of how some "friends of his" tossed sodium into their college dorm toilet for fun many years ago. The toilet would routinely throw the sodium chunk back at them. Then some fool got the bright idea to flush it, and you now know what happened. The administration never pinpointed who was responsible, but every resident of that building got a good dressing-down. (via Digg)
True fact: my dad managed a manufacturing plant. Next door was a chemical supplier. He got the smallest piece of sodium he could buy from the supplier: 5 pounds, like a large hockey puck, in a sealed metal container. He knew it would react with water, so he took the family down to our new pool and threw in a sliver. A little hiss and it was all gone. He threw in a dime-sized piece. Hissss, but it moved around the surface of the pool a bit before it was gone. He threw in an even bigger piece, maybe the size of a marble. Hisss-BLAM! Lots of hearts beating fast as he said, "That's enough for now" and sealed up the rest of the metal.
ReplyDeleteWe were to leave town and he didn't want it lying around the house, so he gave it to his mom to get rid of and told her not to let it get wet. Later that day, he noticed it on her stairs. In her house people sometimes left things on the stairs to take upstairs next time they go up. He asked her what she was going to do with it. She said, "Flush it down the toilet." Needless to say, he disposed of it himself.
Whoa. I'm glad he found it before she did!
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