Senioritis

[discuspro]

This is what happens when you are a biochemistry/chemistry senior and have a few days left of class.

This is my friend in the pic. Him and I have been looking for fun things to do in the lab including making gunpowder and fireworks!

As you may know potassium metal is very reactive with water as is sodium metal which is probably more familiar. The potassium has to be kept in liquid parafin to keep it from breaking down by the moisture in the air.

http://myweb.stedwards.edu/~dholden/potassium.jpg

He it goes, about a dime sized piece:
http://myweb.stedwards.edu/~dholden/potasburn.jpg

[Bill S]

I had a friend in 8th grade nearly lose a leg to potassium metal. He was stealing out of the lab - back then even middle school had cool stuff - and he had a jar about that size in his pocket. Tripped going up the stairs to his bedroom, the jar shattered, cut his leg, imbedding the metal in his thigh...

[discuspro]

Dang, freak accident!

[Bill S]

Got him suspended for a week. Today, who knows what they would do... They probably would think he was building a bomb. Oh, that's right, we did! We used to blow up EVERYTHING in the '70s!