this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 34 points 10 months ago

This is how the Karens and Mommy Blogs sound when they complain about "Mercury in vaccines" but it's just one mercury atom in a molecule that no longer behaves like elemental mercury

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 33 points 10 months ago (3 children)

That's one thing that annoys me about lithium batteries. Every time there's an EV fire, people pop out of the woodwork to shit on the FD for using water to put it out.

Just because the name has lithium in it doesn't mean it's elemental lithium.

[–] corvi@lemm.ee 21 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It’s a situation of just enough knowledge, I think. It’s true that water won’t put out an EV battery fire, but it will cool it down and prevent the fire from spreading.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago

Well, it will put out the fire, but it does it by cooling the battery down so the reaction stops (like you said)

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I guess it depends on what burns. Water is conductive, so you might not want to use it to put out an electrical fire because of the risk of electrocution.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago

A lithium battery fire is a chemical fire, not an electrical one. There's pretty much a zero percent chance of getting electrocuted putting one out with water.

[–] CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What does EV and FD stand for?

[–] Geodad@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

On one side of the battery, it is elemental Lithium.

It exchanges electrons across a membrane with another substantial.

Using water on it is bad because the reaction between Lithium and water evolves Hydrogen gas, which ignites in the fire.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

You're wrong.

Lithium batteries contain little to no elemental lithium. They normally contain lithium cobalt oxide, lithium iron phosphate, or lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide as the anode, and a lithium salt as the electrolyte.

Water is about the only way to put one out because it's an exothermic reaction (water is to cool it down so it stops), and two out of the three are self-oxidizing so you can't just smother it.

The biggest danger of a lithium battery getting wet is that it shorts, which can lead to a fire because it goes into thermal runaway. But this can happen if you have one in your pocket with spare change (most of the vape fires in the 2010s were this)

[–] shroomato@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A tiny "ackshually" is that there also exist non-rechargeable lithium batteries that have actual elemental lithium in them, which might be adding to the confusion.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Even those aren't elemental lithium. They use Lithium-iron disulfide, Lithium-thionyl chloride, Lithium-manganese dioxide, and Lithium-sulfur dioxide.

[–] shroomato@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In every one you mention elemental lithium is the anode and whatever second part in the name is the cathode.
https://youtube.com/shorts/yGDkiUAwxRs

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] shroomato@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Lithium metal batteries are nonrechargeable primary batteries that have metallic lithium as an anode.

You're trolling or what?

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Metallic lithium != elemental lithium. If you scrolled down to the chemistry section, they list both the anode and cathode. Nothing in the list has elemental lithium.

[–] shroomato@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Elemental lithium means that it's pure lithium, i.e. not being in a compound with any other element. Metallic lithium means that lithium is a metal in its pure form. You're awfully confident for how little you seem to know about basic chemistry.

[–] entwine413@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Still didn't scroll down to chemistry, did you?

[–] shroomato@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I did. Every one except lithium iron phosphate at the bottom has elemental lithium as anode. What is your point and why do you like to argue so much?

[–] jawa22@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I was going to make a sodium joke, but Na.

[–] tigerjerusalem@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I could Barium hold my laughter at this.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It is the other way round though isn't it?

Sodium Chloride is just chilling as a rock or in suspension and then humans put a lot of energy into it, so it is forced to separate. Imagine you and your spouse being torn apart with a lot of violence.

Of course you get traumatized and act out until you get reunited and have some time to become chill again.

[–] chortle_tortle@mander.xyz 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Finally someone that respects that marriage is about the bond between an alkali and a halogen, and should not be separated.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ionic bonded compounds such as NaCl, when in water, interact with other ions around them.
Even other Na^+^ and Cl^-^ ions...

[–] chortle_tortle@mander.xyz 3 points 10 months ago

Which is why I don't drink water. It's satanic.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Even just H and O on their own can be quite scary. Throw them together and BAM, ubiquitous lifegiving liquid.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 months ago

Idk, I quite like O on its own. Pretty addictive stuff

[–] SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I know you wrote H and O, and not H2 and O2, but I'm going to assume the gas forms because those two substances pretty much cannot exist in their pure forms

And for those, O2 is necessary for our life, and H2 is non-toxic, it's just very flammable. So I don't know if the comparison fully works

Of course, you're right if you mean pure H and pure O, but, again, they will immediately combine to form a new substance

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 10 months ago

H3... We drink heavy water in this house!

[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You guy drink H2O?, in my household we drink D2O.

[–] dankm@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago

That sounds expensive.

[–] logicbomb@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

Salt is scarier than the elements sodium or chlorine because, according to Wikipedia, "Salt is essential for life in general." Without salt, there wouldn't be humans creating things like chlorine gas. Life is scary.

[–] Hupf@feddit.org 2 points 10 months ago

True—salt is the worst.