Liquid Nitrogen

Niall123

I was just flickin' throught the tv channels and saw brainiac, they were messin about with liquid nitrogen and I was wonder where in Ireland can you get the stuff.

Now to be honest I'm not gonna buy it but just wondering where?

wavin

Niall123 wrote:

I was just flickin' throught the tv channels and saw brainiac, they were messin about with liquid nitrogen and I was wonder where in Ireland can you get the stuff.

Now to be honest I'm not gonna buy it but just wondering where?

would imagine BOC gases or some crowd like that could supply it.but doubt anyone could just buy it.

Panserborn

The Physics Dept here in NUIG have a rig to make the stuff. We buy it from them all the time.

Rough stuff though. Apart from freezing the b*lls of ya (almost happened one of us) it can apparently freeze the oxygen out of the air around it to make a layer of liquid oxygen - extreamly explosive stuff!

kickintheteeth

bottom of the physics building in ucd, belfield. they make the stuff there too. no one around, just go and take it!!!

nesf

They used leave canisters of it out in the hallway in the bottom of the UCC science building.

Fun stuff but very dangerous. I wouldn't recommend going near it if you don't know what you're doing with it. It could do some serious damage to you.

ApeXaviour

Seems to be the case in most universities then. It's just left around our physics dept. Great when someone's transferring it into a different container. Scares the beejaysus out of the arts students walking by as this cold fog creeps up and attempts to engulf their feet. They jump so high you'd swear a bee stung them


I hear it's about 1 euro a litre by the way.. And the best place to keep it is in a thermos. Not that I'd recommend acquiring any. If you do however watch out for a blue tint, that's the highly explosive condensed oxygen someone mentioned earlier...

Panserborn

ApeXaviour wrote:

Scares the beejaysus out of the arts students walking by as this cold fog creeps up and attempts to engulf their feet. They jump so high you'd swear a bee stung them

When we get ours we have to walk through I.T. pushing a big vat of the stuff - we always had to manouver around people cause they never got out of our way. Now, we leave it a little open so the fog spills out and wear lab coats and masks and act really worried - everyone in I.T. scatters! Great fun.

biofreak

What exactly would the stuff do to you if you came in contact with it?

nesf

biofreak wrote:

What exactly would the stuff do to you if you came in contact with it?

It's -200 or something. It would freeze or cold burn. Generally bad stuff.


There's the tiny possibility that it could give you super powers, but I wouldn't bet on it.

ghostchant

kickintheteeth wrote:

bottom of the physics building in ucd, belfield. they make the stuff there too. no one around, just go and take it!!!

I'm sitting in the computer room in the physics building at the moment...don't be giving me ideas:D ah well sure it wouldn't fit in my locker anyway!

dudara

Its at 77 K, or -196 C. I've used it to calibrate the thermocouple in my cryostat. I've gotten it from the Chemistry department in UCC where they make it themselves. You can carry it safely in a polystrene flask or a proper thermos.

If it comes in contact with organic material, it freezes it instantly and any sharp imapact when frozen can cause shattering. When metal is exposed it can contract.

It's great fun to play with as long as you take all the safety precautions

Capt'n Midnight

nesf wrote:

There's the tiny possibility that it could give you super powers, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Mr Freeze, his skin is impervious to knives and keep still for days at a time.

Weirdest thing is when a drop of it is film boiling in your hand.
As long as the drop is small enough the amount of gas boiling off will keep it from touching your hand.

What year are you in panser?i thought production of liquid nitrogen would be of more relevance to chemistry.would i be mistaken?

Panserborn

In the final year of my PhD (hopefully!). We use liquid nitrogen to store cells longterm without killing them. Keeps them in stasis til we're ready to use them. Also use it to freezedry proteins and crushing up tissue. A lesser known use is to scare the strawberries out of 4th year undergrads in the lab!:D

themole

ghostchant wrote:

I'm sitting in the computer room in the physics building at the moment...don't be giving me ideas:D ah well sure it wouldn't fit in my locker anyway!

funny enough.

my office is down the hall.

they do leave a lot of canisters around, but they are usually empty. left there to be filled.

i did see a sing in the chem building saying liquid nitrogen was not to be carried up the stairs and that a lift should be used, it wasn't always there... spillage me thinks...

ghostchant

yeah i saw that sign too... thought that would have been a bit of a no-brainer

yeah noticed empty canisters outside liqud nitrogen maker!that machine makes an awful lot of noise!

themole

indeed it does.

now if i can only convince them to make ice cream.....

LovelyHurling

Very easy to come by, you can get it on any self respecting stud farm, used for preserving stallion jizz