On Sun, Oct 18, 2015 at 5:44 PM, Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> BTW Jack – if memory serves, you used iron oxide and potassium in an early > experiment which melted the heating wire ... > > (a special spillover catalyst called “Shell 105”, used by Holmlid, > contains iron oxide and potassium) > > Earlier I asked if any of the replicators had tried potassium or vanadium. The reason I asked this was because 40K and 50V are natural beta emitters. It is possible that UV radiation or electric arcing accelerate the decay of beta emitters. If this is the case, and the process causes significant heat, these elements might be the main show in the light-element experiments, and the rest of the materials might just be filler. 40K comprises 0.012 percent of elemental potassium and has a decay half-life of 1.2e9 years. 50V comprises 0.25 percent of elemental vanadium and has a half-life of 1.5e17 years. I'm guessing the far shorter half-life of 40K will more than compensate for its smaller abundance, making potassium more promising than vanadium. (I suppose there may be some Mills catalysts hiding out somewhere among these elements as well; this is something I will leave to you and Robin to sort out.) Eric
