Dan Mills wrote in
:

CJT wrote:

I certainly recall doing the same thing. I think there was even a kit
in a little red box that had the wire, etc. and an instruction sheet;
the box formed the base.

I remember building a variation as a child, suspended a bit of stiff
wire off a hook, with the bottom dipped into a little mercury in the
bottom of one of mums pans (discovered interesting things about amalgams
as well that day - Physics AND Chemistry), pop a small disk magnet into
the bottom of the mercury and hook up a power supply - NOT A CAR
BATTERY, IT BOILS THE MERCURY (I speak from experience).

Probably best done in a well ventilated space.

As mercury vapor is very deadly, best not done at all.

One would have to be 'mad as a hatter' to play with hot mercury.

It is bad enough at room temperature. If you have a spill in your room and
do not clean it all up, and spend a significant amount of time in there
each day, you will eventually accumulate enough mercury in your body to
cause serious problems. This is because mercury has a high vapor pressure
at room temperature.




--
bz

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

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