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Author: Subject: List some BAD chemistry YouTube videos
DrMario
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biggrin.gif posted on 24-11-2014 at 11:52
List some BAD chemistry YouTube videos


Post here some YouTube videos that are bad because either one or more of the categories apply:

- experimenter came to wrong conclusion (the wronger, the "better")
- experimenter used poor safety measures (the poorer the "better")
- video is not informative (the least informative, the "better")
- overall terrible presentation (the worse, the "better")
- "Lost Opportunity" category: the experiment used a great deal of chemicals which cost a fair amount of money, or showed an actually interesting reaction, but the experimenter was babbling around without talking about the most interesting aspect of the reaction, or he/she was not saying a word. This kind of ties in with "overall terrible presentation", but you may also consider it a separate category. It is loosely related to "video is not informative". But in my mind it is about a video that could have been an EPIC WIN but instead is an epic fail.

Some videos may feature only one category, but could"excel" in it so much as to be worthy of being posted here. Some videos may check multiple checkboxes. Some may check ALL of them.

There could be other categories of badness (or "goodness"), so please propose them and I will add them to the list, unless they're redundant.

[Edited on 24-11-2014 by DrMario]
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 11:54


Here's one, to start the ball rolling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB7gzJnfP4Q

Issues:

- absolutely HORRIBLE safety measures, relative to the super-dangerous and very abundant mercury vapor! This is by far the main problem, here.
- really not very informative or interesting: we all know mercury is a good heat conductor - DUH!
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:23


Also, lost opportunity, because he just ruined FIVE POUNDS of mercury with little bits of fried egg! Imagine all of the better things he could have done with it.



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DrMario
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:27


Quote: Originally posted by zts16  
Also, lost opportunity, because he just ruined FIVE POUNDS of mercury with little bits of fried egg! Imagine all of the better things he could have done with it.


Well, he did plenty of other (some equally shitty) experiments with mercury, that didn't need any particular purity. I think he could purify the mercury easily enough if he filtered it. The trace sulfur from the egg would not be possible to remove, though.
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:28


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft-zjHP7tWg

This is cringe-worthy on so many levels. I particularly like the way he makes his "acetic acid" and the optional use of scissors.
The reaction is not entirely bad. But someone teach this boy some stoichiometry. I estimate a kg of aluminium foil per teaspoon of product.

And if nothing else gets you, the music certainly will.
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:40


Quote: Originally posted by DrMario  
Here's one, to start the ball rolling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB7gzJnfP4Q

Issues:

- absolutely HORRIBLE safety measures, relative to the super-dangerous and very abundant mercury vapor! This is by far the main problem, here.
- really not very informative or interesting: we all know mercury is a good heat conductor - DUH!


He always wears a gas mask (the type that protects you from Mercury). Well, he says he does. So you have no point on your first statement. Horrible safety measures? Meh, Horrible point you have.

Second, why isn't boiling eggs in Mercury interesting? It's more interesting than NOTHING. And it's always enjoyable to get to see Mercury doing its thing.

Why are the other videos shity? Don't you mean cool? If not, please do point out which videos are shity so I can show you why they aren't.

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DrMario
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:41


Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft-zjHP7tWg

This is cringe-worthy on so many levels. I particularly like the way he makes his "acetic acid" and the optional use of scissors.
The reaction is not entirely bad. But someone teach this boy some stoichiometry. I estimate a kg of aluminium foil per teaspoon of product.

And if nothing else gets you, the music certainly will.


Hahah... and "This is where the scissors are optional"
also: "Now cobalt chloride doesnt know what color it should be"
and many other gems.

This video shows that maybe I need a new category: Stupid.
Or.. "Troll"? Is this a troll video?
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:45


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvIUxJtqLGc
just a lot of stupidity overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejmJcqC_opI
I doubt this person has any idea what he's doing.

[Edited on 24-11-2014 by bismuthate]




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:52


Quote: Originally posted by HgDinis25  
Quote: Originally posted by DrMario  
Here's one, to start the ball rolling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB7gzJnfP4Q

Issues:

- absolutely HORRIBLE safety measures, relative to the super-dangerous and very abundant mercury vapor! This is by far the main problem, here.
- really not very informative or interesting: we all know mercury is a good heat conductor - DUH!


He always wears a gas mask (the type that protects you from Mercury). Well, he says he does. So you have no point on your first statement. Horrible safety measures? Meh, Horrible point you have.

Second, why isn't boiling eggs in Mercury interesting? It's more interesting than NOTHING. And it's always enjoyable to get to see Mercury doing its thing.

Why are the other videos shity? Don't you mean cool? If not, please do point out which videos are shity so I can show you why they aren't.



Wow, are you that guy? You're very biased in his favor.

First of all: the mask may protect his lungs from mercury vapor, but his body certainly not. And in that situation in the video, the vapors were copious. His hair and skin have absorbed enormous quantities of mercury, which will affect his cognitive abilities almost immediately. And permanently.

Second: yes, I do think seeing an egg cooked in mercury is uninteresting and irrelevant. I don't care that you disagree.

Note that I didn't say the video is "shity"; I said it's shitty. I pride myself on moderately good spelling. Other shitty videos with mercury: mercury in corn syrup. Yeah, that's a waste of mercury. Yes, we kind of anticipated that mercury would sink below the less dense corn syrup.

Submerging a golf ball under mercury - lame.

And a host of other videos that, while not entirely shitty, are a waste of the discerning viewer's time.
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:56


Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvIUxJtqLGc
just a lot of stupidity overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejmJcqC_opI
I doubt this person has any idea what he's doing.

[Edited on 24-11-2014 by bismuthate]


I had the impression that in both videos the "actors" had little clue about what they were doing. In the second one the guy somehow reminded me of the Swedish Chef :D (Muppet Show reference).
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 12:56


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3k8AWv2Y4w

Very short but following things:
-- Non-informative video of a coin in HNO3
-- No gloves whatsoever and I suspect that there is no fume hood
-- THE COPPER NITRATES + NITRIC ACID CONTENTS ARE JUST POURED DOWN THE SINK WHAT?
--




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 13:04


Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvIUxJtqLGc
just a lot of stupidity overall.

Haha [whining] "I didn't think that anything was gonna happen!" [/whining]
and "Well, somethin oxidized to somethin."

Also, about that cobalt video, I wouldn't say it was stupid, just inexperienced and cringeworthy as far as his procedures were. I know I went through a time when I did stuff like that all the time, I just had the sense to not make YouTube videos showcasing it. :) (and he really needs to find a spellchecker)

[Edited on 11-24-2014 by zts16]




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 13:04


Wow, congrats you got me on the "shity" spelling. And no, I'm not that guy.

About your skin absorption non-sense:
"ROUTES OF EXPOSURE: Elemental mercury is toxic primarily through inhalation of mercury vapors. It is only slowly absorbed through the skin, although it may cause skin and eye irritation. Elemental mercury droplets may be absorbed through eye contact. Ingestion is not an important route of acute exposure as almost no elemental mercury is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. "
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/EmergencyResponseCard_297500...

"Some mercury vapor is absorbed dermally, but uptake by this route is only about 1% of that by inhalation."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning

It will immediatlely affect his cognitive abbilities? Please, do tell me how it happens knowing there's no absorption through the lungs. If we watched the same video he doesn't put his hands above the mercury trying to get every inch of is skin covered by the vapour. And how does his hair absorb Mercury vapour? Thats kind of new to me...

Second: You said it all. About it beeing uninteresting or not is a matter of subjective opinion and thinking, thus not a good argumento when trying to prove a video is BAD.

About the other videos: again, just subjective opinion. I thought this was going to be about :
"- experimenter came to wrong conclusion (the wronger, the "better")
- experimenter used poor safety measures (the poorer the "better")
- video is not informative (the least informative, the "better")
- overall terrible presentation (the worse, the "better")
- "Lost Opportunity" category: the experiment used a great deal of chemicals which cost a fair amount of money, or showed an actually interesting reaction, but the experimenter was babbling around without talking about the most interesting aspect of the reaction, or he/she was not saying a word. This kind of ties in with "overall terrible presentation", but you may also consider it a separate category. It is loosely related to "video is not informative". But in my mind it is about a video that could have been an EPIC WIN but instead is an epic fail."

Where do you put the videos you mentioned? Not informative? Seriously? Even Mercury droplets rolling in a Petri dish is very interesting.

By the way, please do point out my wrong spelling. At the very least, I learn something...


[Edited on 24-11-2014 by HgDinis25]
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 13:05


Quote: Originally posted by Eddygp  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3k8AWv2Y4w

Very short but following things:
-- Non-informative video of a coin in HNO3
-- No gloves whatsoever and I suspect that there is no fume hood
-- THE COPPER NITRATES + NITRIC ACID CONTENTS ARE JUST POURED DOWN THE SINK WHAT?
--

Pretty bad in some aspects, but not so much for the environment. Copper nitrate isn't particularly toxic. Copper salts in generally aren't. As for nitric acid down the drain: not ideal, but then again, some companies sell concentrated sulfuric acid as drain cleaner, so there's that. :(

I'd be more curious to know what happens to the mercury that the dude in my first post uses.

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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 13:33


I remember in junior high the teacher had a somewhat larger than normal test tube partially filled with mercury. The test tube was sealed at the top and when heated there were these pink or bluish crystals I can't recall but they danced upon the surface of the mercury when heated. But there wasn't any visible boiling of the mercury. Kind of a neat demonstration.
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 13:36


Thermite indoors was never a great idea
This could have been a whole lot worse.
Watch the propane torch and PPE too.
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 13:55


That's the worst video ever in terms of security... Not even in my worst nightmare do I handle acetone peroxide this way.

Acetone peroxide...

Check the comments too, they're pretty funny.




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 16:10


Im' reelly sori, but kan nobodi spel animor ?

Why would you wish to Tare rather than use Scissors ?




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 16:57


Bill Nye the crystal meth guy!



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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 17:30


Quote: Originally posted by zts16  
Also, lost opportunity, because he just ruined FIVE POUNDS of mercury with little bits of fried egg! Imagine all of the better things he could have done with it.

Not just what HE could've done with it, think of what I could've done with it... what a waste...


In regards to videos, I ran into one with comments stating that a NaOH solution would dissolve the glass container that held it. Others stated that it wouldn't dissolve it, but would melt it from the heat released by it's dissolving in water. Boy, I called a lot of people youtube chemistry script kiddies and quiche eaters there...




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 18:56


My videos aren't particularly good, but that's because I believe that captions for these videos would be excessive, and that I have a speech impediment, so I'd rather not lose face. But I figured it was my turn to help spread the awareness of home chemistry, however it's done.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MrItsthething/videos

Edit: Adding the link might be a good idea...

[Edited on 25-11-2014 by Awesomeness]




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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 19:22


Quote: Originally posted by Romain  
That's the worst video ever in terms of security... Not even in my worst nightmare do I handle acetone peroxide this way.

Acetone peroxide...

Check the comments too, they're pretty funny.


The handling of TATP is a major but not the ONLY problem with that video. I cringed. OMG that was painful.
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[*] posted on 24-11-2014 at 19:34


Quote: Originally posted by Zyklon-A  
Bill Nye the crystal meth guy!
That was actually quite gorgeous. Great video, laughed MAO. And almost nothing to do with chemistry.
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[*] posted on 6-12-2014 at 09:05


iPhone 5 Dissolves in a Sodium Hydroxide Test

Let's see:
-Boiling sodium hydroxide WITHOUT a lid or any other means to eliminate the aerosolized hydroxide (many pots come with a glass lid you know)
-Adding water AFTER he heated the pot with NaOH, great way to aerosolize even more hydroxide
-He mentions that he used a gas mask (I see it in the phone reflection), but no hand protection anywhere.

Oh, and the best part: "It's a chemical, not an acid". :D




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[*] posted on 6-12-2014 at 09:33


Mabus, I think you hit the terrible video jackpot with that one. Can't get much worse than that. I disliked it with every YouTube account I have access to.
Also, I wonder how long it took him to neutralize that much NaOH with vinegar? It must have taken a lot more than what he showed.




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