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Potassium Water Geyser Myth
Name of Myth: Potassium Water Geyser
History/Background of the Myth:
A college student gets his hands on a nice amount of potassium and decides its a good idea to attach a piece about the size of a softball to a rock, wrap it in LOTS of paper towels, and throw it off a cliff into the ocean at high tide. This causes a massive geyser of water to shoot into the air, approximately 100 feet above the cliff. (Cliffs in questions are in San Diego next to Point Loma Nazarene University)
Hypothesis of the Test:
The rock and paper towels cause the metal to sink a great deal before exploding. Since the reaction between potassium and water is caused by hydrogen gas forming and igniting, the explosion is directed upwards as the gas attempts to reach the surface. The upwards explosion causes a geyser of water to shoot up. It is also plausible to assume that the salt in the water may have an effect on the reaction.
Ideal MythBuster(s) to Conduct the Test:
Jamie and Adam, as they seem to be the best at blowing stuff up.
Best Method to Conduct the Test:
Start off small scale, and find out what factors matter. Do the paper towels have any effect on when the potassium/water reaction begins? Will an attached weight cause the potassium to sink? What is the scaled optimal depth? Does the salt have an effect? Then take the test full scale, and see if a softball sized piece of potassium, exploding underwater, at optimal depth, can cause a 150 foot geyser to shoot into the air.
My Prediction:Plausible
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Latest page update: made by HyperInferno
, Feb 21 2008, 4:19 PM EST
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About This Update
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Initial write
- HyperInferno
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3 words deleted
view changes
- complete history)
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| RedRat | Potassium Water Geyser Myth | 0 | Jun 26 2008, 9:18 PM EDT by RedRat | |
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Thread started: Jun 26 2008, 9:18 PM EDT
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An interesting idea. This is based in part on a program from the UK called Brainiac where the guys tested the explosive power of the Alkalai metals, lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium. The first 3 were ok but not spectacular, however the Rb and Cs were something to behold. I doubt that potassium would give that much of spout of water as described here, but rubidium and cesium definitely would. There is much more going on here than just the production of hydrogen gas though. In the Brainiac show, the cesium blew a hole in the bottom of a bathtub they used, one heck of an explosion. I think that Brainiac episode is on YouTube.
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Keyword tags:
alakai metals explosion
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