On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:37:25 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Dec 21, 11:17*am, "Phil Kangas" wrote:
"Pete Keillor" wrote
in messagenews:6181h6dc1kckpq4c4ed9g7ph26fuk3okgo@4ax .com...





On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:00:10 -0500,
wrote:

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:12:54 -0500, "Phil
Kangas"
wrote:

I'm going to try this url to see if it works.
This video is of mercury attacking aluminum.
Can you explain the reaction?
phil k.

http://tinyurl.com/286pl63

And now you know why it is illegal to bring
mercury filled
thermometers onto commercial aircraft flights.
Dave

Just a guess. *If mercury alloys with or
dissolves aluminum, then the
dissolved aluminum would react rapidly with
oxygen to aluminum oxide,
and being dissolved be unable to form the tough
aluminum oxide coating
that normally stops this reaction. *So the
aluminum is depleted in
solution, more dissoves, and so on.

Pete Keillor

So the mercury has a greater affinity for oxygen
than the
aluminum? What is the grey matter produced from
the
reaction? Is it a hazardous substance?
phil k.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

At a guess, probably aluminum oxide mixed with metallic mercury and
maybe some oxides of mercury. You can get a scum on metallic mercury
just sitting in a bottle from oxidation, it's dark grey.

The wiki said it attacked only the elemental aluminum, not the oxide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_amalgam

--
If the only prayer you ever say in your whole
life is "thank you," that would suffice.
-- Meister Eckhart