Check it out
Isn't that awesome
This is something we don't get to use in the chemistry lab all the time because it's a biological organism. This is called
Lycopodium and it's a moss
Spore it's the seeds from the moss, so this is like a podium growing in a field
You can see the spores that find dust coming off as it's shaking around and it's got some really amazing properties
including
Being highly flammable you see that little dust that fine powder
Here's how I'm getting that in there. Just go and right into the bottom of the bottle
And let it drop and you can see it's all in there and then letting it slowly
Pack down into the bottom. Look at that?
Light it up
All I've done here is taking a wash bottle from the lab
And I cut the end off and then I took the downspout or the dip tube out of it. I've filled it up
This should get a whole bunch. Watch this, watch this.
*coughs*
This is going to be a good one
Yeahhhhhhh
Lycopodium flame thrower. That's a good day of work!
Lycopodium is extremely hydrophobic and what is hydrophobic mean it means water hating or it doesn't like the water
So it repels water, and that's because of the high fat content and sort of the configuration and shape of it now
That's also the reason that it burns, so well. It's got that high fat content
But it's a fine powder so a lot of oxygen can get in there and help it burn
So let's check out just how hydrophobic this amazing stuff really is you're gonna. Your going to see it just sits
right on the top
I'm gonna put my hand down inside and you're gonna see that my fingers. Don't even get wet here. We go Eddie
Look at that! Look at it! You see my fingers watch
They're completely dry
completely dry again watch this
Isn't that fascinating the way the Lycopodium just wraps around my fingers and won't let any water get in it feels weird, too
Look
If we're gonna look at the physical properties of like a lycopodium we better see it under a microscope
These are those tiny spores in fact. They're so small I figured
I'd pull a hair out of my head, there it is
And put it next to the spores look how much smaller they are than a human hair
So an interesting property about this is that?
It's only
Flammable or highly flammable when it's aspirated when it's mixed with the air so that oxygen can get in between there. Check it out!
Watch this
Right off the top - look at this!
Whoooowwww!
If that doesn't model hydrophobic and flammable at the same time, I don't know
Well I tell you what, while I'm down here
You know we got stuff popping up all over the screen or hit the subscribe button
I got lots of videos coming out
Or you know leave me a comment down there and tell me what sort of science experiments
We should be doing next here at Beals Science, but the real point is - Keep on learning!