Shady's Latest Dumbassary

[jszg]

On the suggestion of @nuttiest I
pulled out one of the coffee orbeez that as far as I can tell was originally clear and cut it into a few pieces.
As far as I can tell under artificial light with just my naked eyes, the coffee coloration does extend all the way through.

So, we're fairly certain that the beads are absorbing the whole solution, and not just the H²O leaving the rest behind.
This does have me wondering just how these things are interacting with the solutes that might explain why some don't fully expand, or take longer to expand. I'm not chemist, so I really don't understand it.

well I am lol: hope you don't mind an explanation
It's a function of osmotic pressure. The classical example of osmotic pressure is a glass tube with a membrane permeable to water but not any dissolved ion. All systems will find a local equilibrium, so if there are more ions on one side, the water will pass through the membrane until the concentration is balanced, and this movement is a sort of pressure - hence osmotic pressure. The larger the gradient, the higher the pressure.

Orbeez are more complicated, because instead of a membrane separating two different salt solutions, the plastic is both the membrane and the salt. They're probably made of some polymer with lots of dangling ionizable bits, so water is drawn into the polymer matrix which causes it to swell. But if the ion concentration of the surrounding solution is high, like with fertilizer (with all of those ammonium, phosphates, nitrates, and so on), the effective difference in ion concentration isn't as drastic as in pure water, so the equilibrium isn't pushed all the way to the bead's side.
What actually gets drawn into the bead itself depends a lot on the physical and chemical makeup of the plastic. I would suspect "pretty much everything" but maybe a bias towards cations vs anions- so more sodium less chloride etc.

I hope that made sense- I'm not a physical chemist

 

[ShadyStump]

well I am lol: hope you don't mind an explanation
It's a function of osmotic pressure. The classical example of osmotic pressure is a glass tube with a membrane permeable to water but not any dissolved ion. All systems will find a local equilibrium, so if there are more ions on one side, the water will pass through the membrane until the concentration is balanced, and this movement is a sort of pressure - hence osmotic pressure. The larger the gradient, the higher the pressure.

Orbeez are more complicated, because instead of a membrane separating two different salt solutions, the plastic is both the membrane and the salt. They're probably made of some polymer with lots of dangling ionizable bits, so water is drawn into the polymer matrix which causes it to swell. But if the ion concentration of the surrounding solution is high, like with fertilizer (with all of those ammonium, phosphates, nitrates, and so on), the effective difference in ion concentration isn't as drastic as in pure water, so the equilibrium isn't pushed all the way to the bead's side.
What actually gets drawn into the bead itself depends a lot on the physical and chemical makeup of the plastic. I would suspect "pretty much everything" but maybe a bias towards cations vs anions- so more sodium less chloride etc.

I hope that made sense- I'm not a physical chemist

That actually did make just enough sense to me to have an idea why some solutions displayed a greater difference than others, and why the salt water didn't expand enough to be useful in the experiment at all.
Concentration vs ionic properties of the solute.

I'm still mostly clueless, but it's enough to help me get an idea.
Thanks!

 

[ShadyStump]

You know what happens when only half of your kids grow up just a little bit?

In stead of glitter and crayons, your house is covered in orbeez!

 

[ShadyStump]

So, this orbeez experiment looks be rather shortlived.
NOTHING sprouted above the surface in ANY of them.

We've been misting with a spray bottle a couple times a day, but, as you can see, that was insufficient to keep some expanded. The sugar solution has shrunk the most significantly.
Also, and excess water that runs out the bottoms of the makeshift pots does seem to draw a bit of whatever solution along for the ride. This led to a nasty, moldy buildup in the drip pan.

Where we e could see the seeds inside, many didn't even germinate, and those that did never managed to reach the surface.

Notably, only the plain water orbeez showed germination of the seeds, though the marigolds were unable to push through to the surface.
My current theory is that the orbeez only release sufficient moisture for germination in certain conditions. The sugar solution obviously releases moisture very easily, but the orbeez shrinking and thus moving about over time creates too unstable an environment for roots. This pot also accumulated white cloudy liquid in the bottom.
The coffee changed the least. The white spots I originally thought was mold or the like never took off like mold. I wonder if they aren't some sort of crystal formation. Caffeine is an alkali I know, so perhaps something to do with that.
Water and MiracleGro seem to have retained their content roughly the same as each other, and otherwise unremarkable observations except that the seeds in the fert never germinated.

I'm as fascinated and intrigued by this utter failure as anything!
I expected more than a non-starter, and I'm curious to know what happened.

 

[ShadyStump]

So my new dog, Juju, has started a nasty habit of eating my trees. We're looking at around a half dozen ripped right out of their pots, including ALL of my newer collected trees.

Since I can't identify a pattern to when or why, I've decided to go the decoy route until he learns by filling the yard with literal sticks in pots.




My winter casualties, the ones he already got that are least likely to survive, and a few actual sticks for the yard just dropped in random empty pots. All positioned up front in the places I normally have trees, and a couple just scattered in the yard.
Hopefully he gets those and not the live ones, at least until he learns better.

 

[ShadyStump]

The decoy pots are working... -ish.
So far he's only gotten one real tree, and we're working on things in pots about like it should be going. I catch him getting to nosey, he gets corrected, and handed a toy.

Only problem is my angry outbursts early on has him convinced he's not allowed to touch anything in the yard, and an accident while we were playing last weekend has him convinced he's not allowed to play with some of his toys.
So I have to train him to play right now.

Anyways, greenhouse is up for the season.

 

[ShadyStump]

FINALLY! The forecast looks good to move all my indoor trees out, so I'm working on getting my shed cleaned up.

Yes, I have to clear my living room of plants to clean the shed.
See

All the stuff on the floor needs to go on shelves, that are in the living room at present.

Almost there.

 

[ShadyStump]

Looks like I need to add cleaning to the list of steps.

 

[ShadyStump]

Oh, also...

HOLY CRAP!
No wonder it needs watered so much more frequently now days. It wasn't even half that size when winter came.

 

[ShadyStump]

Oh, and do you remember those random, "is it cyberpunk," moments when I first started the thread?

This is where it last plateaued.

The LED lights strung between everything really make the difference, but I think the batteries are dead.

I also have some old circuit boards and such I'm thinking of coating in acrylic and adding to the fishtank.

 

[ShadyStump]

Look at that!

I used my mop for the second time EVER.
I'm proud of myself.

 

[ShadyStump]

DAMNIT

Now I'm started on cleaning I want to get the whole living room taken care of.

 

[nuttiest]

DAMNIT

Now I'm started on cleaning I want to get the whole living room taken care of.

do iiiiiit you won't feel like it again for 6 months

 

[ShadyStump]

do iiiiiit you won't feel like it again for 6 months

But the shelves!

I actually find myself contemplating jumping off the wagon for the first time in 4 months, and the first time in 2 years that it wouldn't be me drowning in my emotions.

That's what this is for.


Anyways, first of new living room shelves is in, and Juju's bed is in a MUCH more reasonable place now.

I'll adjust the middle two shelves when they're needed.

 

[Flowerhouse]

DAMNIT

Now I'm started on cleaning I want to get the whole living room taken care of.

Lol it's a slippery slope my friend.

 

[ShadyStump]

I just found grass growing out of my window.

I should caulk.

I never should have started this.

 

[nuttiest]

what kind of windows do you have? My first old house... the glass was weird, you could see dimples and bubbles.

 

[Carol 83]

Looks like I need to add cleaning to the list of steps.
View attachment 485032

I'm going to have a mess also, when I move mine out. We still have some 40's this week, so they're staying inside for now.

 

[ShadyStump]

what kind of windows do you have? My first old house... the glass was weird, you could see dimples and bubbles.

Wow, that's the original turn of the 20th century glass.
Mine are newer than the house, but like 1960s newer. Wood frames.
Caulking is definitely on the list now, but I'll have to get the edges cleaned up good for it to hold.

I'm going to have a mess also, when I move mine out. We still have some 40's this week, so they're staying inside for now.

Mid 40s, pushing 50 a night or two for the next week. Cooler than ideal, but I need to get this project done first to make everything else easier.
Once I can walk instead of Jacky Chan into my shed, the rest of the spring cleaning and summer projects will go smoothly.

 

[ShadyStump]

Friend came over and helped me finish assembling the shelves, then take care of some unpleasant paperwork stuff before going out to Thai food for dinner.

And of course the dog prefers the couch.

Hey, I'm halfway done with cleaning my shed!