In my repair shop, the lazy counter guy always watched tv, he had a small set on the end of the counter.
So one day, us guys wanted to have some fun...
I wrapped a turn or two of a single strand of thin copper wire around the TV's plug, close to the grip, so it wasn't noticeable.
And left the TV unplugged.
When the counter guy came in, naturally he turned on the set, and of course it didn't work, then he saw the cord dangling, and went to plug it in.
POW! 😱😱😱
Us guys laughed our azzes off when he jumped 2 feet in the air!
So one day, us guys wanted to have some fun...
I wrapped a turn or two of a single strand of thin copper wire around the TV's plug, close to the grip, so it wasn't noticeable.
And left the TV unplugged.
When the counter guy came in, naturally he turned on the set, and of course it didn't work, then he saw the cord dangling, and went to plug it in.
POW! 😱😱😱
Us guys laughed our azzes off when he jumped 2 feet in the air!
My auto teacher did a similar thing as a mechanic.
One of the other techs would walk by and unplug his radio. Teacher skinned the insulation off the cord so when the guy went to yank it out he got 120V...
One of the other techs would walk by and unplug his radio. Teacher skinned the insulation off the cord so when the guy went to yank it out he got 120V...
When I was at school someone filled a power socket with mercury from a Boyles law test set.
When the socket was used it went bang and made a huge cloud of mercury and covered the guys hand with a film of mercury.
I had some idea why they picked on the guy but no idea who did it.
When the socket was used it went bang and made a huge cloud of mercury and covered the guys hand with a film of mercury.
I had some idea why they picked on the guy but no idea who did it.
@tubelab - thanks for the details... It's nice dry sunny day, a test run is called for. 🙂
I'm slowly teaching my grandson some chemistry and physics he wont see at school, and some safe explosions. The best so far is "how many different ways can we make hydrogen and make it go bang"! 🙂
I've yet to dust off the Van der Graaf.
Last time I used it I forgot to remove all electronics from the room, a phone got fried!
I'm slowly teaching my grandson some chemistry and physics he wont see at school, and some safe explosions. The best so far is "how many different ways can we make hydrogen and make it go bang"! 🙂
I've yet to dust off the Van der Graaf.
Last time I used it I forgot to remove all electronics from the room, a phone got fried!
Leave a car battery to overcharge... They explode nicely (the local VW dealer gave an exploded battery to our auto shop for the students to see the results).
We almost did the repeat. Someone left a big dumb charger attached to a battery over night. The next morning, there was a haze of sulphuric acid in the shop.
We almost did the repeat. Someone left a big dumb charger attached to a battery over night. The next morning, there was a haze of sulphuric acid in the shop.
Heavy metals are more toxic when they're in soluble compounds. Metallic lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium are toxic but they're not as easily absorbed by the body as when they're in the form of soluble compounds (like tetraethyl lead used in gasoline and lead carbonate used for white paint).
Some soluble compounds are extremely bad, like dimethyl mercury. A few drops of that on a lab glove killed a researching chemist.
Lead exposure is also more damaging the younger you are. Once your brain has developed most of its neurons (which happens prior to the age of 8) then it's safer to be exposed to it than prior to that. It's not safe in any amount at any age but it's far more damaging to a baby than it is to a teenager.
Lead exposure for the adult brain typically makes it harder to learn, harder to focus, and so on. It typically does not have the severe impact that it has on small children because the brain's structures/cells are already developed. Lead also kills cells, which causes more rapid aging. It also leads to bone deformities.
In terms of danger, heavy metals typically have this danger hierarchy:
1 = metallic solid element
2 = element in very insoluble compound
3 = element in mostly insoluble compound
4 = element in fine powder or vapor form
5 = element in soluble compounds
6 = element in special soluble compounds
Barium, which is given in insoluble compound form, and bismuth, which is also — are both toxic heavy metals. But, in the very insoluble compounds they're given in in medicine they're vastly safer than if they were given in a highly soluble form.
Here's an anecdote: Cadmium sulphide (vermilion paint pigment) was adulterated in the 19th century with lead tetroxide (red lead) due to the higher expense of vermilion. Even though cadmium is very toxic the sulphide is not very soluble. So, pastry chefs would use vermilion as a food coloring — typically dusting it on top of things. The chef didn't know that his supplier had given him highly-adulterated "vermilion" and all of the people who ate the pastries died in agony. If they had eaten pure vermilion instead they would have been sickened by it but wouldn't have connected the dots because the level of cadmium poisoning would have blended into the background of general well-being. Chronic heavy metal poisoning is typically subtle and is dismissed as a variety of other ailments, like the effects of aging. In reality, it's aging sped up, plus other problems.
Somewhat similarly, Paris Green (a rat poison in Parisian sewers) was used erroneously to give blancmanges a green tint. All of the people who ate that at an aristocrat's home also died horribly. Paris Green is an example of a metalloid, though, not a heavy metal. Still, the raw solid element is less dangerous than the highly soluble compound. Elemental mercury is quite bad because of inhaled vapors. Hatters went "mad" from exposure to it during felt making.
That must be one very old charger. The modest one I bought 20+ years ago reverts to trickle when the battery gets full. Unless you put it on 'crank' that is, but I don't know anyone dumb enough to do that. If they are, they should let someone else help with the charge.
It wasn't quite this old: Classic car battery charger 6 &12 volt manufactured by transclamps British Made | #522201690
But it was probably new when the school was opened in 1969.
But it was probably new when the school was opened in 1969.
Does seem like from these many examples, that youngsters have done stupid stuff all along. Possibly in the past some did smarter stupid stuff, but probably today they do different smarter stupid stuff!
I built a hang glider “bat glider” from plans in the back of Popular Science, when I was 16. This was in about 1970 when there weren’t any commercial ones or decent designs. . The instructions specified bamboo poles and reasonably heavy polyethylene sheet. I used old aluminum pole vault poles no longer used by the local junior college for the major spars, and lots of filament strapping tape. Decided to test it out at the Carmel Kite Festival held yearly at the high school football field. Since the field was flat, as they tend to be, my buds towed me up with a rope.“like a kite”. Turned out the controls were useless, which was a problem when suddenly 30’ in the air! Landed on a little girl as the screaming crowd tried to run from the field. She was a tad stunned but got up and ran off shortly. For some reason “man carrying kites” were forever banned from the Kite Festival. We did make front page of the local newspaper...”Near Tragedy at Carmel Kite Festival” screamed the headline!
I built a hang glider “bat glider” from plans in the back of Popular Science, when I was 16. This was in about 1970 when there weren’t any commercial ones or decent designs. . The instructions specified bamboo poles and reasonably heavy polyethylene sheet. I used old aluminum pole vault poles no longer used by the local junior college for the major spars, and lots of filament strapping tape. Decided to test it out at the Carmel Kite Festival held yearly at the high school football field. Since the field was flat, as they tend to be, my buds towed me up with a rope.“like a kite”. Turned out the controls were useless, which was a problem when suddenly 30’ in the air! Landed on a little girl as the screaming crowd tried to run from the field. She was a tad stunned but got up and ran off shortly. For some reason “man carrying kites” were forever banned from the Kite Festival. We did make front page of the local newspaper...”Near Tragedy at Carmel Kite Festival” screamed the headline!
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Vermilion was mercury sulphide, cadmium sulphide is yellow. Cadmium red is Cadmium sulphoselenide.
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BTW the preferred red dye in foods was cochineal (E120 or Red #4), it's been used for centuries and some folks are allergic but it is not poisonous.
Reminds me of another one from way back. These folks had one of those corrugated tin fences across the way from a bar. Naturally, after closing time some of the menfolk would relieve themselves on the fence - typical male thing of course, how high can you go.
The practice came to an abrupt and painful end because the property owner figured how to get about 50 VAC between the fence and the dirt right next to it.
Cauterized urethra’s describes it best.
Didn’t someone once win the Darwin Award from taking a whiz from the top of a high tension tower? Although the cause of death was contact with the *ground* as opposed to the 220kV.
There was a recent security video of a guy taking a whiz on a street light pole.
Once saturated, the whole base of the pole exploded, and when the smoke cleared, the guy was not there anymore.
I figure he was blown clear down the street.
Smart, real smart.
Once saturated, the whole base of the pole exploded, and when the smoke cleared, the guy was not there anymore.
I figure he was blown clear down the street.
Smart, real smart.
Yes. I guess that's what one gets from writing a post without enough sleep.
Mercuric sulphide is much less soluble and dangerous to ingest than lead tetroxide. However, it is more toxic than cadmium sulphide as well.
There are much more recent cerium-based compounds that are considered non-toxic alternatives to cadmium red (and the obsolete vermilion). In yellow, bismuth vanadate has emerged as the alternative. Both of these are opaque inorganic pigments like the historical toxic pigments they replaced. Unfortunately for bismuth vanadate, bismuth is not particularly common and a shortage could happen in the future.
A space between the two wouldn't have helped Karen Wetterhahn much.
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