What to do with left over liquid nitrogen - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: calexanian
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 04:44:55 am
content: I am going out of town for a bit and have about a liter of Liquid Nitrogen left in the dewar. Its a new very efficient dewar and the weather is getting cooler so I did not use nearly as much as I expected. I don't want to leave it in because of oxygen condensation, etc but I am done with all of my legit uses and yes, I already made ice cream. It was delicious.Any inventive ideas to use up the bit before i just dump it out?

author: orin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 05:00:03 am
content: Quote from: calexanian on September 30, 2017, 04:44:55 amMole hunting?Sorry, not very effective...Carrott has the answer (to your mole problem, not your N2 problem):

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 05:52:26 am
content: Not so much inventive - just educational.Do you have a school - or some neighbourhood kids that might be entertained by freezing bananas, bits of rubber hose, etc. and then destroying them with a hammer?

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 06:13:16 am
content: Park your car in a cool angle in a mall parking lot and splash it around it to create smoke effect then take a picture. Great Scott!

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 06:39:11 am
content: Drink it?**Please don't. There's a video of a guy who did, IIRC. So we don't need any others. (Successful application: you get the world's longest continuous belch. Unsuccessful application: your stomach dies. So, uh, yeah.)Any of a dozen other experiments (besides ice cream), or have you done everything already?Tim

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 03:24:28 pm
content: Depending on how much you have, maybe you can supercool something big like a massive rock or a hunk of metal and bust it with a large hammer.idk, probably the American in me talking, we always love to see shit go smash.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 06:56:51 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on September 30, 2017, 06:39:11 amThat's what I would do: make lots of ice cream!

author: calexanian
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 12:19:55 am
content: I have already made ice cream. no kids around me. All of the ones in my family have no interest. I love the taking a picture of a car one. I have a white Datsun roadster. but not enough time to set it up and i don't know how the white smoke against the white car would be.

author: WZOLL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 02:36:56 am
content: Maybe make a little liquid oxygen? I've always wanted to observe its para-magnetism.

author: calexanian
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 02:56:25 am
content: Too dangerous. At this point I am just going to dump it.

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:15:56 am
content: You could chill out for a while.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:25:25 am
content: Quote from: calexanian on October 01, 2017, 02:56:25 amGet some odd-ball items and freeze them. Do a video of it.If you don't want your face on camera, then hide it. If you don't want your voice, then mute and use subtitles.I just hate to see something so interesting go to waste.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:28:10 am
content: Quote from: calexanian on October 01, 2017, 02:56:25 amMight not be exciting, but it's the safe thing to do with it IMHO. Particularly if you don't have the protective gear to keep from losing limbs for example.

author: hendorog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:29:09 am
content: Overclock an arduino/PSoC/whatever you've got

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:45:56 am
content: Freeze some warts.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 04:05:10 am
content: Quote from: calexanian on October 01, 2017, 02:56:25 amI'm impressed, you seem have made a sensible decision.I was going to suggest, safely disposing of it. But you have beaten me to it.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:17:31 pm
content: Wait until Halloween and your imagination will do the rest.

author: G0MJW
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:27:36 pm
content: Do some cool experiments?I always liked the freeing a mercury hammer and using it to bang in a nail before it melts. Hard to find Mercury these days. Perhaps super cooled water ice can do the same? Don't know. How could we find out?Mike

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 03:53:59 pm
content: Freeze a bananaAnd then dump the rest before you have an accident!

author: chris_leyson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 04:29:52 pm
content: Maplin in the UK used to sell a levitation kit a long time ago, a small crucible, a lump of Bismuth and a Neodimium magnet and for obvious reasons you had to supply your own liquid nitrogen.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 06:27:01 pm
content: Don't dump it. Sell it.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 06:41:24 pm
content: Quote from: Hero999 on October 01, 2017, 06:27:01 pmGoogle seems to say the bulk price for Liquid Nitrogen isQuoteand you want to suggest he messes about and tries to sell less than a quarter gallon ?I.e. About 10 cents worth ?Anyway, that's my 10 cents.Google:Quote

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 06:44:09 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on October 01, 2017, 06:41:24 pmPresumably it comes in a flask, which is worth much more than the liquid nitrogen inside? I think he'll get a better price by flogging it on ebay to some hobbyist.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 07:21:33 pm
content: Quote from: Hero999 on October 01, 2017, 06:44:09 pmIt does. But he seems to want/need to keep the Dewar Flask. As I think the OP, needs to do work (tests?), with the Liquid Nitrogen, from time to time.But from your point of view (as you may not have realized this), you were completely correct. It would be potentially valuable (if it includes the storage apparatus), I presume.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 07:46:15 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on October 01, 2017, 07:21:33 pmIf he wants to keep the flask, then you have a point: the liquid nitrogen is worthless.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 07:52:14 pm
content: Too late to help, but do you have any parts that you need to be fitted rather permanently? Use the LN2 to chill and shrink the inner one before insertion. While heat is often used to do this process in reverse, using LN2 to go cold opens up a whole new range of materials that just can't stand the heat.

author: calexanian
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2017, 01:33:15 pm
content: I use it for a single process every couple of months so I own a 10 litre dewar. If you receive bulk delivery the cost at least in California is now over a dollar a gallon due to energy costs. When I get my 10 liter dewar filled it's actually over $40 because the state has a haz mat fee and other stuff. Also I pay more cause so much of it boils off while filling an open dewar they hit you for basically double price. Once again though. I only use it sporadically. If we were a real lab using it daily I am sure it would be more affordable. As for protective gear I have extra long cuff cryo gloves and will wear boots and jeans that go over the boots. Learned that trick at the place I get it filled. The critical thing is to not have any areas on your person where it can pool. That's when things go bad fast. You want everything to fall or roll off you quickly. That was the instructions from them when I first signed up. Apart from that use common sense. Oh. And also remember that the gas expands 700 times so if inside a lab and you have a big release, remember it's displacing the oxygen. Plan accordingly!

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2017, 02:11:29 pm
content: I would take an inexpensive alarm clock and dunk it to see what fails.

author: Bubba
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 05, 2017, 11:22:53 am
content: I remember seeing a video years ago of somebody using liquid nitrogen to freeze small aquarium fish,Then putting them back into the water to thaw out and start swimming away. Maybe it can be used for extended aquarium fish transport?.....

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2017, 01:30:03 pm
content: Quote from: Bubba on October 05, 2017, 11:22:53 amI wouldn't expect it to work with all fish species, only those which have evolved to withstand freezing.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2017, 02:55:41 pm
content: It starts boiling and turns into self-hovering funky liquid if you dump it on the floor. Also, breaking roses for puns and giggles. Also, there are the age old questions, like "What happens, if I put an ice cube into liquid nitrogen, and I place this into the microwave oven?"