Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/24/bismuth-art.html
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Yes, but what about big bismuth?
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To bismuth or not to bismuth.
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Bi is cool in that it floats on its own liquid, like ice, plutonium and a few other elements I don’t recall at the moment.
I think that the liquid phase is so strange near the fusion point is very much related to the interesting crystal growth we see.
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OK - so - i got the stuff to try to make a bismuth geode with the kiddo. I watched a few videos and got all the gear to make a small one. I got only about 2.5 lbs of bismuth, but i think it will do what we need it to do. I just haven’t put aside the time to set it all up and do it. Haven’t messed with molten metal in awhile.
Wish us luck!
She does already have a couple chunks of the crystals from rock shows.
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Tell us how it goes.
Also every time I have seen someone doing the bismuth crystal thing I wonder about how the crystals deal with a humid atmosphere. However I never look it up. I really have no idea if bismuth and water react at all.
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I don’t think the humidity in the air matters. I do know the colors depend on the temperature of the metal when it oxidizes.
I did talk to another person who has done it, and they said the slower you can let it cool, the better the crystal growth. I might get some bricks to make sort of kiln for it to more slowly cool. Worst case I think we will end up with some small crystals we can say we made, and a smaller ingot of bismuth for a paper weight.
It only takes one mold ‘blow out’ to remind you to always wear safety glasses
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The colors are from oxidation afterwards.
Bi supercools pretty dramatically, again due to its strangeness in the liquid phase. You might want to somehow hold a seed crystal to the bottom of whatever vessel you’re using so that things proceed predictably. And yes, slower is better.
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Yes, yes. So should I.
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