Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Old Potassium

ChemistryForever - 6-1-2019 at 09:59

It happens that at my school we have an extremely old potassium bottle ( I think it is over 30 years old if not even 50 ), about one kilogram of potassium in it. It is so oxidized on the surface, that everything you can see on the bottle is just yellow. And yellow deposits at the bottom of the bottle ( the bottle is transparent, so i can see through it ), i mean halfway to the bottom of the bottle, the potassium is like burried in oxides. Every year, the teachers in my school do the lithium sodium potassium and water demonstration for the people who start doing chemistry. I've once cut that potassium, and that peroxide/superoxide yellowish layer is about 1mm thick at least. The idea is that I found out that old potassium is very dangerous, but still, every year this experiment happens and nobody had a problem. I told my teacher about the peroxides and she says she didn't know that they might be explosive. I want to talk to my teacher to clean one day that potassium... what advice would you give me to do it safely ? I'm talking about roughly a kilo of potassium chunks.

fusso - 6-1-2019 at 10:29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiorGia-VrY

morganbw - 6-1-2019 at 10:44

Take a few minutes and watch this video.
I am not saying this is the way to go but it is what I would do
if faced with personal potassium metal that I was concerned with.
Cleaning Old Potassium: NileRed

fusso - 6-1-2019 at 10:46

Quote: Originally posted by morganbw  
Take a few minutes and watch this video.
I am not saying this is the way to go but it is what I would do
if faced with personal potassium metal that I was concerned with.
Cleaning Old Potassium: NileRed
That's what I posted before you:P

[Edited on 190106 by fusso]

TheMrbunGee - 6-1-2019 at 10:46

here is a different video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTHhRkLLYJ4

morganbw - 6-1-2019 at 11:15

Quote: Originally posted by fusso  
Quote: Originally posted by morganbw  
Take a few minutes and watch this video.
I am not saying this is the way to go but it is what I would do
if faced with personal potassium metal that I was concerned with.
Cleaning Old Potassium: NileRed
That's what I posted before you:P

[Edited on 190106 by fusso]


Indeed you did, perhaps if I had refreshed the page before posting I would have seen that.
At any rate, he has the same suggestion from two different posters.

lordcookies24 - 6-1-2019 at 14:30

nilered made a video about that

j_sum1 - 6-1-2019 at 14:57

Is anyone else going, "Damn! A kg of potassium!"?


Anyway, what I like about Nilered here is that he does mention key differences between K and Na in his videos of those two metals.

Dan Vizine - 6-1-2019 at 15:08

You may find some interesting information in this excerpt from a document that I prepared last year.

Attachment: K Oxide Concerns.pdf (362kB)
This file has been downloaded 313 times

Edited to include references.

[Edited on 1/6/2019 by Dan Vizine]

Attachment: References.pdf (163kB)
This file has been downloaded 308 times

unionised - 7-1-2019 at 03:48

I think that, given the quantity and unknown status of the material, this might be the best approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7mTCMvpEM

[Edited on 7-1-19 by unionised]

fusso - 7-1-2019 at 04:13

Quote: Originally posted by unionised  
I think that, given the quantity and unknown status of the material, this might be the best approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7mTCMvpEM

[Edited on 7-1-19 by unionised]
Why was Na used in wars?

TheMrbunGee - 7-1-2019 at 06:18

Quote: Originally posted by unionised  
I think that, given the quantity and unknown status of the material, this might be the best approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7mTCMvpEM

[Edited on 7-1-19 by unionised]


The added explosion sounds are awesome.. :D

unionised - 7-1-2019 at 06:36

Quote: Originally posted by fusso  
Quote: Originally posted by unionised  
I think that, given the quantity and unknown status of the material, this might be the best approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7mTCMvpEM

[Edited on 7-1-19 by unionised]
Why was Na used in wars?

Hard to say.
It's used in lots of things- the manufacture of leaded petrol and synthetic rubber would both be important in wartime.
It's too early for it to have been a nuclear reactor coolant (thankfully).

morganbw - 7-1-2019 at 11:07

Quote: Originally posted by unionised  
Quote: Originally posted by fusso  
Quote: Originally posted by unionised  
I think that, given the quantity and unknown status of the material, this might be the best approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7mTCMvpEM

[Edited on 7-1-19 by unionised]
Why was Na used in wars?

Hard to say.
It's used in lots of things- the manufacture of leaded petrol and synthetic rubber would both be important in wartime.
It's too early for it to have been a nuclear reactor coolant (thankfully).


I am not so sure that it was too early for a nuclear reactor coolant. Lots and lots of stuff happened, was created, at Oak Ridge Tn, during and after the war and even to this day.