Cutting Lithium metal

S

sreah

Hi,

I am struggling to cut the lithium metal into small pieces for the alkali metal demo. It keeps breaking my scalpel blades! Sodium and potassium cut with no issues, but the lithium is too hard. Does anyone have any advice?
 
Paul

Paul

Also cutting the metal is the teachers job, it's part of the demo, we don't cut it up for them, we just give them the metal pieces.

If you can't trust them, don't give them the metals.
 
R

RHSChem

We use a sharp kitchen knife.
I cut the large pieces supplied into slightly smaller pieces; the teacher then cuts the smaller pieces down to show that the freshly cut surface is shiny before putting the small piece in water (or whatever they are doing).
 
S

sreah

Paul said:
Also cutting the metal is the teachers job, it's part of the demo, we don't cut it up for them, we just give them the metal pieces.

If you can't trust them, don't give them the metals.
Click to expand...
The pieces supplied in the stock bottle are very large. I cut them into medium sized pieces, which the teachers can then cut and use. I don't want to give them the large pieces - it's risky and wasteful. Also, if I can't cut the lithium, they can't either! I was looking for advice on cutting implements, not on how to do the practical.
 
S

sreah

Thank you to everyone for their advice. I will look at getting some of those fixed blades, I think. In the meantime, I'll try the rocking method you recommended, @Rock Chick. Thanks
 
C

chemtech10

Paul said:
Also cutting the metal is the teachers job, it's part of the demo, we don't cut it up for them, we just give them the metal pieces.

If you can't trust them, don't give them the metals.
Click to expand...
I have always been told to provide large chunks of metal for the teachers to cut, usually it worked fine, but the one time they didn't cut it to the recommended max size it massively backfired and put me in a really dangerous situation when clearing away as there was chunks of sodium everywhere and they failed to tell me there had been a problem.

Now they get the CLEAPSS recommended cube sizes and that's it. No exceptions.

@sreah I use a sharp kitchen knife for lithium and rock back and forth over it as @Rock Chick mentioned.
 
A

Andrew Symonds

I provide a sharp lock knife, I found it while out walking, the blade can be folded away after use, its the first thing I look for when collecting the kit.
 
Paul

Paul

the update email was dec 22

see

​
PP122 - Lithium Sodium Potassium Reacting with Water
​

This procedure is required by every examination specification, as it illustrates the change in reactivity in Group 1 of the Periodic Table. However, the reaction between sodium and potassium with water has caused many incidents. In view of the safety comments in this practical procedures, demonstrators must closely follow the written method.
https://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resource-Info/PP122-Lithium-Sodium-Potassium-Reacting-with-Water.aspx
Click to expand...

you need a separate tile for each as well.
 
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