Mike Carrell <mi...@medleas.com> wrote: Optical instruments to quantitatively measure the radiant energy are > standard lab equipment and can be calibrated to NIST standards. >
This is a bomb calorimeter. I do not think it incorporates optical instruments. (A schematic of the calorimeter would have helped.) Plus, even when you use NIST calibrated instruments, you should still calibrate. Especially during a demonstration. It would not have taken long to set off a small charge of some explosive. Or thermite. > Speculation about titanium is a distraction, for it is not involved in the > chemistry of the SunCell. > Well, we should speculate about whatever chemicals were in the explosion. Mills remarked that there is no oxygen available. That is a start. But what was there, and how much energy can it produce? And can we be sure the bomb calorimeter is working, without a calibration? The purpose of a demonstration is to teach the audience. To answer questions. To persuade. It should simplify and clarify what is happening. It cannot be full experiment that answers every question. It should be simple, covering limited ground, because the audience cannot learn much in one hour. - Jed
