Unfriendly gasses!

[sarren]

F – Fluorine Reacts violently with everything – even glass. Very hard to contain.

Cl – Chlorine Killed soldiers in WWI. Used now in swimming pools. Combined with sodium makes SALT - NaCl Look at me combining! angriest told me that.

Br – Bromine Liquid at room temperature but evaporates quickly into a choking gas. Used in hot tubs apparently.

Comments

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

Bromide was rumoured to be an anti-libido drug slipped into British soldier's rations around the second world war - Spike Milligan said the only way to stop a British solider from feeling randy was to slip it into a 200lb shell and fire it at him from the waist down.

HEE!!

[sarren.livejournal.com]

Is that what bromine is made into?

Re: HEE!!

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

Bromide salts were used as a sedative in the late 19th century but I never noticed any decrease in libido in the hot tub. We used it because it's supposed to be easier on the skin than Chlorine what with being further down the chart and therefore less reactive.

In the gas and pure liquid form Bromine atoms appear in pairs: Br₂, they hang together to share resources (electrons).
When it dissolves in water it splits off into two Br^- ions and gets called Bromide, the 'ide' tells you its on its lonesome and the minus says its now looking to share resources (electrons)

Re: HEE!!

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

but I never noticed any decrease in libido in the hot tub
*giggle*
I'll have to concur on that one.

Though actually, I mostly use Chlorine in ours

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

Yep, Fluorine is notoriously super reactive and harsh - it is thought that the first few chemists to successfully isolate Fluorine may not have got credit for their discovery due to it eating through their lab equipment and poisoning them (the trick turns out to be that some parts of your lab equipment can to be carved out of minerals that already contain Fluorine, and so have essentially already reacted with it). Hydrofluoric acid is a safety nightmare, really nasty stuff, luckily seldon use (glass etching is one use).

[akire-yta.livejournal.com]

this was on my flist and made me think of you and your chem-fu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDw4gk5pYl8)

[sarren.livejournal.com]

*is gleeful*

That's AWESOME!!!

[sarren.livejournal.com]

Wow, scientists in the early days lived dangerously! I wonder how often that happens nowadays.

Re: HEE!!

[sarren.livejournal.com]

*covers eyes* LA LA LA