{wiki}

Single <chemical element>, single phase (usually solid), but different 3D structures.

The prototypical examples are the <allotropes of carbon> such as <diamond> vs <graphite>.


Allotrope

{c}
{tag=Nuclear reactor}
{title2=1942-12-02}
{wiki}

= Chicago Pile
{c}
{synonym}

The first human-made <nuclear chain reaction>.

\Video[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnScq24BEmc]
{title=Getting funding for the <Chicago Pile> <Edward Teller> interview by <Web of Stories> (1996)}
{description=
* https://youtu.be/mnScq24BEmc?t=114 the main cost for the reactor was the <graphite>. Presumably they already had the <uranium> in hand?. Edit, no, it is because it was a specialized graphite: <video German graphite from The Genius Behind the Bomb (1992)>, i.e. <nuclear graphite>.
}

\Video[https://youtu.be/OgT-Gw6Pjz4?t=1208]
{title=<German> <graphite> from The Genius Behind the Bomb (1992)}
{description=Graphite was expensive because it had to be <boron>-free, since <boron> absorbs <neutrons>. But a <boron> process was the main way to make <graphite>. This type of pure graphite is known as <nuclear graphite>.}


Chicago Pile-1

{wiki}

\Video[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljF5QhD5hnI]
{title=Buckyballs (C60) by <Periodic Videos> (2010)}
{description=
Actually shows them in a lab!
* https://youtu.be/ljF5QhD5hnI?t=167 has a photo of the first effective production method, which passes a large current between two carbon rods
* https://youtu.be/ljF5QhD5hnI?t=245 and forward cuts (their editing is very annoying) shows how fullerene dissolves in an organic solvent TODO name, sounds like thodium? and produces a violet solution, while <graphite> doesn't. A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_cleaning[Ultrasonic bath] is needed for the solution to form however.
* https://youtu.be/ljF5QhD5hnI?t=501 fullerene is not a good lubricant despite being a little ball, because it is reactive and polymerises under pressure
}


Ciro Santilli @cirosantilli 35

 Incoming links: Graphite