Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

EarthNSky wrote:

> Bill Jones wrote:
>
>  
>
> > Does this mean you can answer little questions I may have, as a result 
> > of teaching myself general chemistry?  I find it more difficult than 
> > most subjects.
> >    
>
> Maybe or maybe not...if I can't, then I'll be ashamed.
>  
I've been told I come up with "good" (hard) questions.  I'll try to 
screen them first, and do my best to keep it simple.  BION, they're all 
homestead related.

Most people think electrolysis is hair removal.  But in chemistry it 
means the separation of substances like water into their components (H 
and O) using electricity.  Likewise, if you do that to molten salt 
(which ain't too easy to make) it separates into sodium and chlorine.  
In general metals collect at the negative pole, and the non-metal at the 
positive one.  Anyway, some folks were talking about making their own 
hydrogen with home-generated electricity.  To get much current to flow, 
you have to add a little salt or some ionic compound to get any current 
to flow.  So I'm wondering, when brine is electrolyzed, a mixture of 4 
different ions, what determines which metal or non-metal accumulates at 
its pole?  Obviously neither sodium nor chlorine can accumulate in 
water, because both react with water.  But is there some deeper reason?


> > Did you know that 6-6-6 shows up ominously in the Periodic Table?  No 
> > joke, really!  Actually it makes more sense than all the other kooky 
> > interpretations put together.
> >    
>
> ROTFLMAO!  Well, I also have 6-6-6 on a bag of fertilizer out in the 
> greenhouse...I don't put much stock in the 666 thing.
>
> Bev
>
>  
I prefer the luckier 7-7-7 myself.

OK, I've put you in suspense.  Here's a hint: uranium (a metal) has a 
hexa*fluoride.  IOW, six atoms of fluorine (the non-metal) and one of 
uranium can form a "salt" together.  If you look inside the cover of 
your CRC manual, you'll see that this is pretty rare among the 
elements.  I think only chromium can do this.  Well, now look beyond 
uranium to the first three man-made elements.  They can also have a 
charge of +6.

Now, I've been asked to accept on faith that the _first_ sustained 
nuclear fission occurred at the U. of Chicago during the early 20th 
century (other than those which have occurred spontaneously in nature, a 
fascinating but extremely rare event).  If you simply question this 
notion, it leaves open the possibility that someone long ago found this 
signpost and sent a warning to future generations.  No belief in any 
supernatural ability is required.

Not all science was revealed publicly in journals in ancient times, 
necessarily.  In most cultures it was connected with magic and the 
occult arts.  For instance, the conversion of many a Teuton to X-ianity 
was apparently facilitated by a little saltpeter magic, as the secret of 
gunpowder was gradually revealed to Europeans.  There has also been 
speculation that some Egyptian glass maker learned the secret of making 
phosphorus out of bone long ago, and that this "magic" was the 
underlying secret behind the Eleusinian cult.  So it's not entirely 
implausible.

Bill
S. Oregon coast