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Just realized something about my element collection that's pretty sweet.

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jdurg:
Having an element collection gives you a good idea on what the temperature is like outside.  You see, just slightly above comfortable your cesium will begin to melt.  So if your cesium is solid, then it's fairly nice out.  If your gallium begins to melt, then it's hot outside and air conditioning would be nice.  If your rubidium starts to melt, then it's hot as fu** outside and you need to cool off quick.  Today it was a slightly melted gallium kind of day.   ;D

Mitch:
lol, that observation would only be appreciated here. :)

Corvettaholic:
About that element collection... how do you store everything and where do you keep it? Is that something you can stash in a pile of boxes in a garage? Just curious cause one day I want a collection too.

jdurg:
I have a fairly large five-foot wide desk that my computer resides on in my room, and on the left hand side there is a cabinet area with a shelf in the middle.  I have my elements all stored in there except for bromine.  My bromine is stored in a crush-proof can surrounded by vermiculite in the corner of my closet so that if it escapes, it won't destroy my collection.  The cabinets are well vented, and I'll soon be putting an air-conditioner into my room to keep everything cool as well.  (Though I'm not worried about the gasses exploding since in order to seal off the ampoules they're in, they had to be heated to very high temperatures to melt the glass.  The air temperature here in New England will never get that high, so I don't have to worry about the gas pressure increasing to the point where the ampoules blow).  

I would NEVER store an element collection in a bunch of boxes in a garage.  It should be stored in a dry, somewhat climate controlled area and be very organized.  You would't want your alkali metals getting flooded with water, or your transition metals corroding away.  All my elements are in labelled borosilicate glass vials and very well organized in my cabinet.  Once I've got my own place, I plan on building a very nice wooden display cabinet and storing them in there.   ;D

Limpet Chicken:
I'm gonna start an element collection myself ;D, jdurg, how do you keep your actinide elements? is leaded glass a good option? where can I pick up lead glass like that?

Maybe making a wooden box with ceramic lined compartments for each sample would work :)

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