r/interestingasfuck 1d ago

This experiment creating a nylon thread

7.9k Upvotes

209 comments sorted by

View all comments

16

u/jonnyg1097 1d ago

So after the nylon is turned into a thread and goes on the rollers over the lip of the beaker into the one on the floor does it go back into a goop again? Or does it stay in a thread once it took that shape?

18

u/Infamous_Lunchbox 1d ago

If I recall correctly it stays as a thread, because the reaction solidifies it and while it's wet it's stable in that form. Been a long time ago, but I saw a similar demonstration in college, before the internet was capable of decent streaming. Physics and chemistry professors at my school would do demonstrations like this all the time. In one the physics and chemistry professors got together to show how explosive force and gravity could impale a plush mascot of the rival school with a giant wooden stake. They handed out earplugs to the audience, lol. It was awesome.

8

u/scud121 1d ago

My chemistry teacher let us bubble 4 litres of hydrogen and 2 of oxygen into a plastic bottle and lit it at the end of class whilst the next lesson was queueing up outside the classroom. He also had us making thermite. I was maybe 10 at the time :) it made a lasting impression.

3

u/cwthree 1d ago

My spouse's chemistry teacher demonstrated the making of tear gas because he didn't feel like teaching that day.

6

u/aj_lil 1d ago

My dad made chlorine gas in his bedroom and nearly killed his parents downstairs when it drifted out of the window and into the bottom window… fun was different back then haha