Mystery blue & white beads
Ғылым және технология
This experiment demonstrates a few principles: density, solubility, miscibility, salting out, azeotropes, emulsion.
The blue beads are regular Pony Beads. The white beads are actually UV reactive pony beads. It just so happens that the plastic they're made of is the right density.
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Пікірлер: 331
no mention of the elephant in the room.
@Twitchi
7 жыл бұрын
Ahhhhhh.. I see what you did there
@HelgaCavoli
7 жыл бұрын
Twitchi, I didn't, what did he do?
@user-ox7id9he5v
6 жыл бұрын
when he exited the shot there is a literal elaphant
@Dillon....
5 жыл бұрын
@@user-ox7id9he5v You mean to tell me there was a literal elephant and i didnt see it...
@davidwuhrer6704
5 жыл бұрын
@@Dillon.... There is. In the background.
Fascinating stuff
@eddievanhorn5497
6 жыл бұрын
Real Engineering Did you just say the f word?
@iloveengineering2242
4 жыл бұрын
I'm subscribed and notified for both of you
@tomkistruck9014
3 жыл бұрын
You & Steve's content is great keep it up!
A colored salt (such as copper sulfate, iron chloride, etc) would preferentially color the water.
@tobiasueffing9985
4 жыл бұрын
Or a non polar organic colour that is only soluble in isopropanol🤔
@rickascii
3 жыл бұрын
@@tobiasueffing9985 Such as?
@giaiaspirit
3 жыл бұрын
@chu Harrydon't those degrade over time in presence of sun light?
@joshyoung1440
2 жыл бұрын
@@giaiaspirit how is that relevant?
@anuthelorael3926
2 жыл бұрын
@@joshyoung1440 It depends. If you want to make a commercial product out of it (which would be an obvious great idea imho), you would need stable substances. Otherwise for the purpose of demonstrating the principles taught in this video, it doesn't.
I was really worried nothing would pour out of a beaker today, but you didn't disappoint. the suspense was real - I was on the edge of my seat until the end. 10/10 video mate.
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Wyatt Sheffield (Wyatt915) thank you :)
Every. Single. Video. Is something brand new to me. I love it. Thank you, Steve Mould.
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Dave Galvin thanks :)
@finleycastello6512
7 жыл бұрын
Dave Galvin, ikr
Ha, I worked out it was an emulsion of two liquids, you can tell it's not refracting cleanly, it's all translucent until seperated, but I got so confused when you said it was an alcohol. The secondary mystery was the bigger.
Who stayed till the end just to see Steve pour something out of the beaker?
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Satchboy71 I hope I didn't disappoint.
@allthepeas
7 жыл бұрын
Glad I wasn't the only one.
@WombatSlug
7 жыл бұрын
Oh yeah.
@DanDart
7 жыл бұрын
Nah I fast forwarded. Disappoint.
@amelial
7 жыл бұрын
Satchboy71 what is this whole beaker thing about?
The non-edited version of the beads at the end of the video was immeasurably satisfying
Watching this video in 2020 and I must say, you aged damn well, Steve.
You had me worried there for a second Steve. Got all the way to the end and I was like "He's not going to pour anything out of a beaker!" And then you did, and everything was right with the world again. But boy did you get my heart pounding there for a bit.
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Corlynn011 I like to keep you guessing!
5:49 Note the clearly visible emulsion (fuzziness) between the two layers of beads and clear (homogeneous) liquids above and below. Very clever!
I was watching a Nile Red Video on making Merocyanine and connection sparked with this video. There are dyes which change colour depending on the solvent called the "solvatochromic effect" using one of these you could shake everything together and mix 2 colours and then let them separate to get two colours back. I don't know if you'd still need the beads for the salting-out but it might be worth a try though Merocyanine is an expensive chemical there may be other chemicals that do something similar now you know what to look for.
@khajiithadwares2263
3 жыл бұрын
same separation happen in mundane solutions like brown sugar + water. when I make coffee in a short cup and take a deep sip, you can sense the coffee coming from the ground up is always more sweet but also more hot that the top layer. Its a very weird sensation to drink something that is both cold and hot (actually, you can notice it mostly when top is lukewarm but the bottom layer retained some heat because is more dense and is still kinda hot);
good man. you understand that the most satisfying things don’t have crappy royalty free music in the background
I usually watch your and similar videos out of pure curiosity, but this time this salting out of alcohol-water is like god sent! I've recently started resin 3D printing, which involves cleaning the fresh prints of out the remaining liquid resin with alcohol. So alcohol quickly gets dirty with resin. It's still usable for a while, but it becomes very difficult to see inside it and I've lost some small parts in it for a few days until it separates due to gravity and I can eventually see a little better. At some point though the dissolved resin particles start to stick to the prints you're trying to clean and basically you can't clean them anymore, not well enough at least. So all of us have to filter the use alcohol somehow. Fortunately resin & alcohol don't form bonds, so they separate with time due to gravity (having over 30% density difference). But that separation can take long time, at least a day for only slightly dirty alcohol, and a week for much dirties one (also depends on how clean do you need it). So the first thing that came to mind is to turn up the Gravity to the max 8) ... ie use a centrifuge :) After some research it seems the type used to separating waste oil from pollutants is the best - it's simple, reaches very high Gs (at least few thousands) and doesn't have to process the whole amount of fluid all at once (it's even better if the dirty fluid flows very slowly in ... which is still much, much faster than waiting for it to pass a clogged with resin coffee filter). But when you're done there's still considerable amount of alcohol trapped inside the centrifuge (which if you turn it off then you'll have to filter out the slow way), but if you have something heavier to displace the alcohol and remain with the pollutants you'll extract almost all alcohol and will be very clear. The cheapest and readily available if water, but it has that nasty habit to suck strongly on the alcohol thru those H-bonds. So here salting out might turn out to be the solution (besides the alcohol ... you know it's technically a solution ;)). I just wonder how pure is the alcohol after that process? Due to the last half of the video I have some idea how fast it is :) Great thanks for that video!! :)
it's neat seeing the clarity of the solution change.
"So.... the plot thins..."
How is that your videos are so interesting? You touch topics I don't see often on youtube! Keep up the good work!
Love how the emulsion refracts light differently (in a cloudy way).
@giansieger8687
2 жыл бұрын
the effect‘s taken to the extreme with milk
7:18 that sweet sweet beaker action that you came for
This is an awesome demonstration! I love your videos. :D
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+The Inconsistent Park thank you :)
Very cool! I learned about "salting out" today. BTW, it is quite obvious that the liquid between bead layers is not homogenous (I suppose that's why you included that close up shot at the end).
These old videos are cute. You've had a nice evolution.
I noticed that, when mixed, the middle part was translucid, but not transparent. I figured that there was a mix, but didn't know what it was. Nice trick!
Your eyebrows are so expressive
Also, it is interesting to see what happens if you try salting out with ethanol instead of propanol. The water stays with the salt in propanol, but it will rather be with the ethanol and get rid of the salt.
So the fact it's an emulsion explains why the liquid gets cloudy when shaken, and clear when it settles out. Neat. Ahh, you can even see the blobs of different liquid on the close-up, without a microscope. Double neat.
how about a salt that is also colored?
best outro on youtube
@magnusbarse
7 жыл бұрын
indeed! 😃
That's really cool! I wondered why the liquid was cloudy at first, but I just figured the bottle wasn't perfectly clear. Neat!
You got me there, I could not stand all those people talking about my rare habits! I been systematically likeing every video of yours I've come across, so surely you have won me over your side.
Watching the last half of the video was the most relaxing thing I’ve ever watched.
I saw your overtly long outro and accepted the challenge
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Marco J I respect that.
@Mjiujtsu
7 жыл бұрын
perhaps sadly the best used 3 minutes of my day.... :'( Jk
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Marco J :(
I actually made one of these in sixth grade and still have it, but until now, I never knew how it worked.
iso what you did there.
That is super awesome. Well done!
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Hetnikik thank you :)
Ever gonna get that follow up video with the dye separation?
Not sure why I'm happy/proud of it, but I was hypothesizing it would be salt that would separate the two liquids. Happy that my little bit of chemistry knowledge proved itself to me at the moment!
Try dissolving some turmeric in the isopropyl then filtering out the remaining material. Curcumin the yellow pigment is highly soluble in alcohol but poorly soluble in water. The difference between the two liquids is very apparent, more so since it is salt water.
Amazing video ! would love to make a decoration piece out of this, oh, Nice Elephant by the way !
This would make an excellent alternative to a glitter jar. Tempted to try to make one.
I was watching this wondering where the red pipes were before I checked the upload date.
Nice one! Well done bro 🤘
Dude...your eyebrows are so entertaining.
great, as always.
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
+Brendan O'Rourke thank you :)
The beaker guy got away with murder again.
Try Aniline Blue to dye the water dark blue. The isopropanol gets bluish but the contrast is very good
When the bottle is shaken up, the liquid between the beads looks cloudy, which to me would be an indication that it's a mixture.
Soooooo.. 1. Where can I buy the blue beads 2. Where can I buy the white beads?
I noticed that the liquid was more clear on top and bottom of beads, versus the center, but couldnt think of why.
I think this may be the longest no audio video I’ve watched in quite a while (I mean just the end part of course).
Glad I stayed for the end 😂 thanks for that
There are two different liquids in the bottle. When they separate the beads are less dense and more dense then the two liquids. So they bring them to the middle
If you shined a light at an angle to the interface, then you should be able to visualize the change of density. You could do that by taking a laser pointer and attaching it to a long straight glass tube. When the tube is vertical, the laser should be passing through perpendicular to the interface. But if the whole apparatus were tilted, then the light should be deflected off to the side. You should be able to see this effect visually on the glass, or on a target at the end of the glass tube.
Yay! I have good taste! A bit salty, though. Does this work with ethanol? That could be an interesting (?) drink.
@ContentCalvin
5 жыл бұрын
yes adding massive amounts of sodium would be a really good idea for an alcoholic drink it wouldn't have any unwanted results.
The water is very salty and it kicks the isopropyl out!
Try different markers, some dissolve in water, some in alcohol, often with different colors, some are even pH sensitive (e.g. ball pen ink). Then try different salts, basic or acid ones.
Steve: *comes home at 2:00AM* Steve’s wife waiting in the kitchen: “And just where exactly have have you been?” 😠 Steve: “Umm..nowhere. I was just..running late. 😅 *drops briefcase that pops open revealing loads of beakers* Steve’s wife: “You promised Steve!” 😭 Steve: “I’m sorry. Please forgive me!” 😢
God, I love Steve
did you ever make the follow up colour liquids video? I can't find it
I was half expecting a jump scare in the end scene!
If you look closely, you can see that when he mixes the two liquids,the emulsion becomes less clear,less transparent. But when the two liquids seperate,the liquids become more transparent, especially the water.
This guy is a magician
Use a blue and red sharpie to dye the isopropyl and it will be purple however if you block the light it will appear to be green.
I think the sodium and chloride ions do bond but it would be ionic bonding not H-bonding. H-bonding is when atoms are already involved in covalent bonds which the atoms of such are salt are not. Also for people suggesting to use a salt that is already colored: if that salt saturates the aqueous phase and the cations also bind to isopropoxide, you wouldn't see a separation of color? Ah i kept watching and saw there is a quantitative difference in concentration and thus intensity. :)
Whether you call it Iso-P or propan-2-ol, one of my favourite chemicals.
Man that right eyebrow has a mind of its own
Actually, isopropyl alcohol forms an azeotrope at 91%, so you can separate them, up to 91% isopropyl.
The eyebrow is strong with this one.
Hi Steve, I hope your idea is to see how many immiscible liquids you can layer upon top of one another (with colours for showmanship)?
I was proud of myself that I knew both levels of what was going on here! The only thing I'm wondering is how the heck you found beads with the proper densities for this demo to work! :)
@Relkond
Жыл бұрын
If they’re made of specific materials with specific, known densities… Might be some tables to look that up on to help you make usable selections.
@Dartheomus
Жыл бұрын
@@Relkond I'm a polymer chemist, so I'm familiar.... It's still tricky to find beads with exactly the right density to pull this off well. :)
@Relkond
Жыл бұрын
@@Dartheomus If I had to guess (drawing on decades old childhood memories from a similar-but-different experiment) - you’re probably overthinking this. 1) get some beads. Say Medium density Polyethylene (~.93g/cc) and Polypropylene (.90g/cc) 2) create a water/alcohol mixture with a density dead between the densities of the 2 plastics when fully mixed+agitated. The trick is that the density of the solution is tunable by adjusting the components in it, and it’ll still behave in a similar manner even if the ratios are altered. The precise density of the beads is not a critical factor here. Your ability to create the right fluid mixture is.
@Dartheomus
Жыл бұрын
@@Relkond I think you're right. There's only so many materials that will be used for making those style beads, to some extent, you do just have to adjust it to make it work. I guess maybe it was just a happy coincidence that he was able to get the fractionation zone right in the middle of the bottle. (ie. 1/1 mix of IPA & Saturated Salt Soln)
@Relkond
Жыл бұрын
FWIW, my childhood thing involved getting a drop of corn oil (.91g/cc) to float half way up a jar of mixed water/alcohol. It worked, but had flaws (interesting, but not worth doing IMO). Here though, if you really need things to settle to the center, you may be able to fine-tune things by adjusting the ratio of the two beads. You will probably require enough beads that they fill a vertical span, so that the beads extend outside of the thin layer of fluid matches their density. This in turn will allow the beads to meet at the center even if their densities might not normally allow it. (think ‘overlapping error bars’ - but with beads in a jar rather than ink on paper)
What about a pH indicator? The behavior is generally different in fluids other that water, so it may naturally show a different color. And, salt solutions can be very alkaline. And the salt is not in the other fluid.
oh my f......WHY did you ruin the satisfaction at the end by SPILLING BEADS EVERYWHERE!! lmfao.
My guess for the white beads is that they're actually made of a plastic which is denser than water. But they're also made in an rough pattern, so when shaking they are mixed with air and will now float. After time the air seeps out, and they become more heavy and sink again. As for the blue beads... No idea!
@dancoulson6579
7 жыл бұрын
OK. I was way off!
I knew something was funky when it wasn’t clear
0:40 my guess is that there are 3 liquids that get shoojen together and slowly seperate 1 rising to the top pushing the beads down 1 sinking to the bottom bushing the blue ones up Edit: darn only 2 liquids
I can't find a video about dying the liquids. I'd be really interested in the info you have about that.
i learned this cleaning my bong
It's creepy when you walk out of the frame after shaking the bottle at the end, just to stand there all the time trying to make no sound but be visible in the reflection :O :D .
Colorful salt as a dye maybe? Something like copper sulfide?
anybody else noticed that the liquid in between the beads looked foggier and the ones above and below looked clearer?
So, did you get anywhere with an attempt using colour? I keep on thinking that something like this happening in the background would be a cool thing to do as part of a magic trick.
Hi Steve, any tips for when I want to build one of my own? Do you sell these specific beads? PET bottle will do or not?
Fantastic! :D 👍👍👍😃
Man, how about those people who like these videos but don't subscribe? What's up with them?
I was gonna try and guess it was something like how they exspanded and contracted as they abosrbed the liquids like the lower one exspanded decreasing its volume to weight ratio and one above would shrink increasing its weight to volume ratio Im wrong but I wanted to throw my guess up anyways
On some level I feel that the beads actually help filter and separate the two chemicals, is that something you could show in the video with the dye, the comparison of the speeds of the cloudy solution in the middle separating out into two clear chemicals?
@khajiithadwares2263
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, that's what got my attention as well. The beads are not kept together by anything, they are essentially free to move and let water pass throught .... the other way to look at it, its not something that the beads do, but rather the water is doing to the beads, the water arranges as it recovers from being shaken/mixed, the beads mostly follow the area in the water that corresponds to their own respective density.
Beautiful!!!! How can I build one of those?
Perhaps more elaborate than useful but neat nonetheless :) Coloring the liquids must mean changing the chemistry. How about just exploring it in different wavelengths instead?
Would this work as well when applying the salt only after the mixing. It would probably take some more time as the salt needs to dissolve?
If you use a colored salt wold it color only the water?
3:45 making a colored liquid that seperates into parent colors? like green sperates into blue and yellow
One of two things happening here: 1) Jaundice or 2) Bad lighting
For dying the liquid, could you not put universal indicator in it because isopropyl alcohol is a 5.5 and salt water is around 8.1 on the PH scale.
I have a few questions because I want to make this Was it a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and water? How much salt did you put in/does it have to be supersaturated or can just a large amount of salt work?
this might be too late now but i guess you could use copper sulfate istead of table salt and it would naturaly have a color
Amazing
can't you use a different salt for coloring purposes ?
You should link where to buy those beads in the description.
@shelvacu
7 жыл бұрын
I really wanna try this, coolest party trick. It seems pretty simple; Dissolve a bunch of salt in water until no more salt will disolve, mix one part saltwater and one part isopropyl alcohol, add beads. All I need is the beads
@SteveMould
7 жыл бұрын
Good point. I've added info about the beads in the description!
@ContentCalvin
5 жыл бұрын
@@SteveMould will this work with anal beads?
Use a metal salt for the dye
If you stop at 3:30 you can see a thin line at the half of the glass