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A Golden Sheen

Started by Recusant, August 04, 2021, 04:31:53 AM

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Recusant

Quote

Electrons from a droplet of sodium and potassium diffuse onto a thin layer of water, turning it golden and giving it metallic properties.
Image Credit: Philip E. Mason

As the article implies, alchemists would be impressed. Practical applications of this remain to be seen. Meanwhile some knowledge is gained.

"Water transformed into shiny, golden metal" | Nature

QuoteIf you can't turn water into gold like a good alchemist would, the next best thing might be to transform water itself into a shiny, metallic material. Researchers have achieved that feat by forming a thin layer of water around electron-sharing alkali metals.

The water stayed in a metallic state for a only few seconds, but the experiment did not require the high pressures that are normally needed to turn non-metallic materials into electrically conductive metals.

Co-author Pavel Jungwirth, a physical chemist at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, says that seeing the water take on a golden shine was a highlight of his career. The team published its findings on 28 July in Nature.

[Continues . . .]

There's a nice GIF of the experiment at the link.
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— H. L. Mencken


No one

This is how you get terminators. Especially the T-1000 variety.

Tank

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