Rocks picked up on a California beach ignite in womans pocket. (page 2)

designs

Pedro's Taco Shoppe in Old Town San Clemente muy fuego

talesin

Just did a little research, and phosphorous *is* contained in granite rocks -- the large rock shown appears to be granite.

Where are all the 'scientists' on board? Oh, I guess there's nothing to argue about here. :)

tal

I think the most prudent thing to do in this case is to ban rocks. You can never be sure what will happen with some seemingly simple rock. There needs to be a new Governmental office overseeing the use and placement of rocks to insure everyone's safety.

wha happened?

I was thinking we should ban cargo pants

breakfast of champions

"Are those exploding phosphorescent rocks in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

ziddina

"Where are all the 'scientists' on board? Oh, I guess there's nothing to argue about here. :)..." Talesin

Oh, come on now!!!

I've been looking at this thread title, thinking it's GOT to be a hoax...

I'll look at the video now...

talesin

lol

ziddina

Well well well....

Little-known fact...

Phosphorus was ORIGINALLY isolated from URINE...

In the late 1600's...

Seems that urine contains dissolved phosphorus - in fairly large quantities...

From this website: http://www.chemicool.com/elements/phosphorus.html

Here's the quote:

"Hennig Brand discovered phosphorus in 1669, preparing it from urine. (Urine naturally contains considerable quantities of dissolved phosphates.)

Brand called the substance he had discovered 'cold fire' because it was luminous, glowing in the dark.

Brand was an alchemist and, like other alchemists, he was secretive about his methods.

He did not reveal his method publicly, choosing instead to sell it to Johann Daniel Kraft and Kunckel von Lowenstern.(1)

For further payment he also revealed his secret to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, better known for discovering calculus independently of Isaac Newton.

Leibniz, also thinking as an alchemist, mistakenly believed Brand might be able to discover the philosophers' stone by producing a large quantity of phophorus.(1)

Brand's method is believed to have consisted of evaporating urine to leave a black residue that was then left for a few months. The residue was then heated with sand, driving off a variety of gases and oils which were condensed in water.

The final substance to be driven off, condensing as a white solid, was phosphorus.(2)

This was a typically alchemical method - alchemists examined the properties of body fluids, hoping to better understand living things in their search for the philosophers' stone, which they believed offered the prospect of eternal life.

Brand's method became more widely known in 1737 when an unknown person sold it to the Acadamy of Sciences in Paris.

Phosphorus was produced by this method until the 1770s when Carl Wilhelm Scheele - the discoverer of chlorine and one of oxygen's independent discoverers - found that phosphorus could be prepared from bone.(3) ..."

And from the same website, comes this significant fact...

"White phosphorus ignites spontaneously in air. Red phosphorus needs friction to ignite it, hence its use in matches. Red phosphorus is made by heating white phosphorus to 300° C[elcius] in the absence of air. ..."

Soooo....

The question is, how did that rock accumulate such a coating of refined phosphorus? Because rocks do NOT naturally contain sufficient phosphorus to just "ignite"...

As also stated on said website:

"Source: Phosphorus does not occur as a free element in nature, but it is found in many different minerals. It is produced commercially from calcium phosphate (phosphate rock): calcium phosphate is heated in a furnace with silica and carbon to produce vaporized tetraphosphorus, which is then condensed into phosphorus as a white powder under water to prevent oxidation. ..."

Interesting....

Maybe the rock was situated near a sewage outlet, and some freak combination of conditions allowed sufficient amounts of white or semi-pure phosphorus to form...???

Somehow I don't think that's what happened, though. At any rate, phosphorus does NOT naturally occur in its dangerous, pure form, within unprocessed rocks.

So, all we rockhounds can breathe a sigh of relief, and go back to rockhounding!!!

darthfader

EEWWWW Pooo coated rocks..... Ban them now!!

ziddina

Oh, and that large rock prominently featured in the video appears to be quartzite, not granite.

Granite has a coarse-grained texture, often with a "salt-and-pepper" style of coloration. Its main component is usually some form of feldspar, with quartz and mica following in that descending order...

Granite is definitely not a source of phosphorus - at least, not commercially. It may occur in trace amounts, but again, not in a form pure enough to ignite.

From this website: http://www.geo.utexas.edu/chemhydro/silicates/jrrgold.htm

"While phosphate minerals are not widely distributed, phosphorus is a trace or minor constituent in many rocks. Pegmatitic feldspars can contain up to 2000 ppm phosphorus in the crystal matrix, while many igneous feldspars contain apatite as inclusions. Feldspars can also contain nitrogen, typically as ammonium, with the mineral buddingtonite as the endmember ammonia feldpar with ~8% (NH4)2O (Erd et al., 1964). While these feldspar-bound nutrients have not previously been considered a viable source of phosphorus and nitrogen, in very nutrient-limited environments colonizing microorganisms may have few other choices. ..."

Now, keep in mind that is 2,000 parts PER MILLION... Or around .2%...

Rocks picked up on a California beach ignite in womans pocket.

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