Everyday Scientist

LN2, the quicker picker upper

February 14, 2007 at 6:03 pm | kendall | everyday science, great finds, lab safety

Introduction
While working on a mechanical pump, a leak was sprung whereby the entire oil reservoir found its way onto the ground. The beauty of mechanical pump oil is that it’s viscous, coats everything it touches, spreads like a STD in a co-ed dorm, and isn’t particularly easy to absorb. So rather than deforesting the Amazon and taking a bath in the stuff to clean it up, I decided to try a little experiment.

Experimental
1000mL of liquid nitrogen was obtain from Praxair and used without further purification. To the floor in the lab was quickly added 1000mL of liquid nitrogen. Upon addition, it was observed that the pump oil was vitrified into a glass. Upon evaporation of the residual nitrogen, a plastic scrapper (TAP Plastics) was used to scrape the frozen pump oil into a pile. Approximately 300mL of pump oil was collected and analyzed via optical spectroscopy (it looked yellow).

Results
It’s not quite as versatile as club soda and lemon juice, but it worked.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the voices in his head, for the stimulating conversations on the subject. Funding: NSF #109.3008.8849