Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. Taking the samples out to photograph them would have been possible only in an argon glove box, or they would have oxidized very quickly. The 3D version came out quite nicely: I was able to use my fiber optic illumination system to make the glass nearly invisible.

The potassium in these sealed vials is very shiny: Hopefully they will stay that way for a good long time. He sells lots of very nice and very unusual elements on eBay and elsewhere: Check the Source link for details. Greg, bless his heart, thought a lot of my samples suck. I love it when someone says my sample of a certain element sucks, because it's usually a prelude to them telling me that I should have the much better version then could send me, if I'm interested. This sample demonstrates great skill in its ampouling, especially since it was done using only 'the simplest methods', according to the source. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.Īmpouling potassium in a clean and dry enough environment to keep it shiny is quite difficult: It is an extremely reactive metal to say the least. I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. Still, it looks quite pretty, nicer I think than a silvery sample would. OK, I'm just rationalizing, I was too lazy and didn't have the right set up handy to create a really shiny sample, so I settled from this one. This helps to differentiate it visually from sodium, which would otherwise look identical. I could have worked harder to prevent this, but actually the blue cast is somewhat attractive in the photographs, and it is quite characteristic of the early stages of potassium oxidation. When absolutely fresh, the surface is bright silver, but as you can see from the pictures this sample has turned slightly bluish. It's scrap potassium from my anonymous sodium supplier, carefully cut up under oil to reveal shiny surfaces. This is a sample I prepared specifically for a film project, to make a 360-frame rotation image. Unfortunately it's not mine, it was just borrowed for photography.īananas are known for being high in potassium, which makes them slightly more radioactive than the average food (because some naturally occurring potassium is the radioactive potassium-40 isotope). It is almost impossible to ampule potassium without at least a tiny bit of oxidation, but this 225g ampule is absolutely, totally clean. You are just never going to see cleaner potassium than this.

Scroll down to see examples of Potassium.Ĭlick here to buy a book, photographic periodic table poster, card deck, or 3D print based on the images you see here! Exposed to water they would explode, sending off characteristic purple-red flaming drops. Exposed to air they turn black in seconds. The purple tint on these soft potassium cubes is a very thin oxide coating. Pictures, stories, and facts about the element Potassium in the Periodic Table H

Potassium periodic table