raocow's talkhaus

hai guys.

Today in chemistry class my teacher told us we'd get 15% extra credit on our next test if we could bring in liquid nitrogen. I managed to find a place that sells it, but I really don't want to have to buy a dwar for storage. I've heard from a couple of sources that you can store it in a ventilated thermice, but I'm worried that the one I have will shatter. Its plastic, and the hole is only about 1x1.5 centimeters, so that in and of itself is a concern (I'd rather not have it freeze up and explode on me )

Does anyone by some strange happenstance know of an inexpensive, semi-safe way to transport 2 or 3 gallons of the stuff? I know it's a long shot, but I'm just asking everywhere I can think of.

EDIT: before anyone asks... yes, I tried just letting some condence in my house. I set the thermostat to -320F. It didn't work.

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I QUESTION THE VERACITY OF THE OP

That isn't very safe. If it's true, I'd blame the teacher for having a bad sense of humour.

You need either Dewar bottles or Thermos bottles. But with Thermos bottles you shouldn't screw the cap on it when there's liquid nitrogen inside of it.

By the way, this is really easy to find on the internet. Try using google.

kilon wrote:That isn't very safe. If it's true, I'd blame the teacher for having a bad sense of humour.

You need either Dewar bottles or Thermos bottles. But with Thermos bottles you shouldn't screw the cap on it when there's liquid nitrogen inside of it.

By the way, this is really easy to find on the internet. Try using google.

yeah, I was afraid of that. I managed to find a welding shop that sold it in small quantities, but they're supposed to use discretion when selling it to people, and the owner of the store said that it was too unsafe to sell it to a high school student. The people at the store said if I bought a Dewar to hold it in they would give me some, but that was upwards of $400.

as for my teacher, he was dead serious, which coincidently is why he's so awesome. Hell, he's the one who lent me the thermos in the first place!

oh well. thanks anyway, guys :D

This wasn't a joke post?

Your teacher seriously wanted you to bring in hazardous chemicals to his class.

"Hey kids bring in a live grenade or a bag full of glass shards for extra credit!!!!!!"

I never had the chance to get one of my teachers struck off. Use this power wisely.

I would never do that! My teacher isn't unsafe in the classroom, he just expects us to not be stupid when showing us experiments. Liquid nitrogen is dangerous if mishandled, but it's hardly "hazardous".

Its like buying bleach and ammonia, or filling your car with gasoline; People are expected to not be retarded. Granted those substances have fewer precautions, the results are just as dangerous. In other words, the same concept still applies. I'f I go out of my way to find a vendor that sells liquid nitrogen, drive out to buy some, and sign a liability waiver, I'd be a complete moron to not understand what I was doing.

Had he asked me to bring in Hydrofluoric Acid from the chemical plant downtown, I might have taken issue. However, I don't have much of a problem with a substance used to make ice cream.

anonymousbl00dlust wrote:I would never do that! My teacher isn't unsafe in the classroom, he just expects us to not be stupid when showing us experiments. Liquid nitrogen is dangerous if mishandled, but it's hardly "hazardous".

Its like buying bleach and ammonia, or filling your car with gasoline; People are expected to not be retarded. Granted those substances have fewer precautions, the results are just as dangerous. In other words, the same concept still applies. I'f I go out of my way to find a vendor that sells liquid nitrogen, drive out to buy some, and sign a liability waiver, I'd be a complete moron to not understand what I was doing.

Had he asked me to bring in Hydrofluoric Acid from the chemical plant downtown, I might have taken issue. However, I don't have much of a problem with a substance used to make ice cream.

Both Hydrofluoric Acid and Liquid nitrogen will burn your skin on contact (one because of a chemical reaction, the other because of heat transfer). I'd call that hazardous. Liquid nitrogen /is/ safer though. Like you said, you can make ice cream or freeze flowers and then shatter them.

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I have this sneaking suspicion that your teacher wasn't entirely serious when he said that. I suppose it still would be fun to surprise him and see if he keeps his word. :)