Alan ([info]big_bad_al) wrote,
2009-04-09 12:54:00
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Will It Lens? Table of Contents


Welcome, all! Here are links to everything in the "Will It Lens?" series.
  • Part 1: introduction, melting pennies, dimes, toothpaste, Tylenol, milk, chalk, gourd, can.
  • Part 2: equipment upgrades, CDs, disposable silverware, brass penny, burned pennies.
  • Part 3 (Food Edition): popcorn, grape, kumquat, Frosted Mini Wheat, jelly beans, Reese's Pieces.
  • Part 4: wood, quarter, soap, dishwasher detergent, bacon, egg, honey, seashell, almonds, gummy bears, M&Ms.
  • Part 5 (Temperature Breakthrough): marshmallow, peeps, copper, iron, sand, glass
  • More to come soon eventually!
  • Gallery of all pictures: This contains every picture we took. There's a lot of junk in here; the good pictures are in the blog posts above.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS (updated)
  1. Can you melt glass?

    This surprised us, but yes! Normal glass is more properly called "sodalime glass," which has a much lower melting point than pure silicon dioxide (which we originally thought glass was made of, and which we haven't been able to melt yet). However, we have trouble melting clear things because they don't absorb the sunlight. Nonetheless, we melted a dark brown glass in part 5.

  2. Can you melt sand?

    Kinda. The sand we tried is a mixture of quartz, feldspar, and iron. We can melt the last two, but we haven't melted quartz yet. Look at part 5 for more details.

  3. Can you lens electronics?

    We probably could, but we don't want to because the fumes are really noxious. There's lead and other stuff that's terrible for your lungs in there.

  4. Can you use a second lens to focus the light even more?

    No, that's not how optics works. For a slightly more thorough answer, see the Light Sharpener FAQ over at cockeyed.com.

  5. Where did you get the lens? How much did it cost?

    I think we got it from here. When we ordered it, I think it was about $120, plus shipping. If you include the wood for the frame and stand, the welding goggles, and the skillet, we've probably spent over $200 on lens-related stuff so far.

  6. You should lens something that will burst and explode all over the place!

    That would be very entertaining, but we need to clean everything up before lunch is over, so we're not doing anything too messy in the foreseeable future (no unopened pop cans, no aerosols, etc.). If we ever take the lens out to the middle of the desert, we will consider lensing messy things.

  7. You should lens an iPhone, iPod, or other hip status symbol.

    First, see question 3 about electronics. Then, remember that we're paying for all of this with our own money. We'd prefer not to lens anything that costs more than a couple dollars. Everything we've tried so far has cost under $1 each (almost everything is under $0.25 each).

  8. Isn't it illegal to destroy money?

    Not unless you do it with the intent to defraud someone. Remember the last time you went to the zoo? You probably saw one of those machines that will take your penny, flatten it out, and stamp an image of a penguin or something on it as a souvenir. Melting a penny is no more illegal than one of those machines.



Other articles that link to this series:
Tags: lens, will it lens

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Anonymous

April 10 2009, 18:31:53 UTC 3 years ago

Lensing a solar panel

Perhaps it would just melt the panel. Too bad, that.

What a wonderful way to spend lunch time.

Anonymous

April 15 2009, 21:39:57 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Lensing a solar panel

i once melted a cheap solar panel's cover just from an incandescent light bulb.

for cooking, maybe you could distribute the heat more evenly by boiling water in a container and setting a second pan in/over it? cheaper than a copper plate. could make ganache for dessert...

making ice cream with liquid nitrogen is fun too...

Deleted comment

[info]big_bad_al

April 10 2009, 23:49:24 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Glass

If the glass is clear, it won't absorb any light, so it won't heat up. But if it's somewhat opaque, like a beer bottle, it might work. "Traditional" glass is silicon dioxide (aka quartz, aka sand), which melts around 1996 K. If we can't melt copper at 1356 K, we have no hope of that. But I don't actually know what tinted glass is made of; perhaps the tinting material melts at a much lower temperature. I'll add beer bottles to the list.

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 18:45:50 UTC 3 years ago

Rob Cockerham's Light Sharpener

This is in similar vein but potentially higher-powered:

http://www.cockeyed.com/incredible/solardish/dish01.shtml

[info]big_bad_al

April 10 2009, 23:51:41 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Rob Cockerham's Light Sharpener

Livejournal emails me when people comment on my blog. Your comment was caught by my spam filter (presumably due to its title). Well done!

I hadn't seen that before, but it's a pretty cool project. Thanks for the info!

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 19:05:28 UTC 3 years ago

Real Genius

You guys got to reenact one of cinema's greatest moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VTy9ESXnoQ

So unfair.

[info]cculhanepsm

April 10 2009, 19:10:37 UTC 3 years ago

Fun with a Fresnel

I recently ahd the opportunity to play with one as well.

Yes it does melt glass.

We actually used a lens about the size you have to separate soldered pipe joints and actually soldered copper fitting with it for a thermosolar water heater.

[info]big_bad_al

April 10 2009, 23:52:14 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Fun with a Fresnel

Ooh, I'll add solder to our list of stuff to try. Nice idea!

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 19:17:50 UTC 3 years ago

Peeps!

Peeps. Peeps. Peeps.

PEEEEEEEEEPS!

[info]dieplz

April 10 2009, 19:28:20 UTC 3 years ago

YES.

[info]big_bad_al

3 years ago

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Anonymous

April 10 2009, 19:32:11 UTC 3 years ago

Flames

Try Strawberry Pop-Tarts (http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/).

[info]big_bad_al

April 10 2009, 23:53:16 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Flames

Interesting! I'll add it to the list.

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 19:34:56 UTC 3 years ago

Testing solar sails

Just taking a toy car with a sail made with a reflective material could do the trick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 01:41:47 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Testing solar sails

Let's do a rough calculation of how much force we could get from using the lens as a solar sail. We can get about a kilowatt of sunlight focused through the lens. The relativistic momentum of a photon is its energy divided by the speed of light. However, if we reflect the photons instead of just absorbing them, the change in their momentum is twice their absolute momentum. So the force we could get from using the lens as a solar sail is

1 kilowatt / c * 2 = 0.000007 newtons

That's way too small to do anything because it is dwarfed by the force needed to overcome air friction (let alone the friction in the wheels of the car). Solar sails don't become a plausible mode of transportation until you're in the vacuum of space (no friction) with thousands of square meters of sail (reflects more light) and years to wait (you accelerate very slowly because the forces are so small).

[info]sorethumb

April 10 2009, 19:34:58 UTC 3 years ago

Holy crap. A Googler with a LJ. I suppose it might be a bit more common than I think. :) I love looking at that seashell broken.. sahme, though, looked pretty.

My thoughts: Did you have another goal in mind besides scientific experimentation? How much did the lens cost?
I bet you aren't in New England-- you couldn't do that here with sun at this time of year :3 (well, maybe on a warm day like today, but still!)

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 00:32:11 UTC 3 years ago

The seashell was a mussel we saved from dinner one night. It started out all black, and we burned off the color (we suspect the white part is mostly leftover calcium).

I think the lens was about $120, but once you include the materials for the frame and stand, stronger filters for the welding goggles, the skillet, etc., we've probably spent $200.

[info]chouyu_31

3 years ago

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Anonymous

April 10 2009, 20:04:33 UTC 3 years ago

Speakers

In high school my friends and I used one of these (for an overhead projector) to burn the following items:

Mini-donuts (covered with wd-40)(it lit on fire)
A modem
Someone's car stereo speaker

That last one got us all suspended.

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 20:18:16 UTC 3 years ago

Wow

A Google employee with a Yahoo picture album.

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 20:23:38 UTC 3 years ago

more items to lens

twinkies
hard drive
oven glove, welding glove
coffee mug
tv
concrete
drywall
time how long it takes to boil a liter of water
stainless steel frying pan vs teflon coated frying pan
how about introducing another magnifying glass to focus the beam even further?

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 01:06:53 UTC 3 years ago

Re: more items to lens

Interesting ideas! We considered electronics in the past but decided not to do them because none of us want to breathe the fumes. Also, we don't want to do Teflon because it's mostly fluorine (which was used as a chemical weapon in World War One; definitely bad for breathing). The second magnifying glass won't work because the incident light is not parallel (for a bit more explanation, see the Light Sharpener FAQ over at cockeyed.com.

However, the rest of your ideas are nice; I'll add them to our list. Thanks!

Anonymous

3 years ago

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[info]big_bad_al

3 years ago

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[info]animalu

April 10 2009, 20:27:05 UTC 3 years ago

One More

An iPhone?

Anonymous

April 13 2009, 18:07:58 UTC 3 years ago

Re: One More

iPhone +1

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 20:29:32 UTC 3 years ago

Google search is down...again

Hey, why don't get yo-yos get back to work. Google search is down again!!!! Seriously, isn't this supposed to be an available service, like, all of the time?

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 20:55:52 UTC 3 years ago

Try lensing ...

Kittens
Tires
Aerosol cans

Just kidding. You really shouldn't lens tires or aerosol cans. :)

[info]lil_holwick

April 10 2009, 21:02:03 UTC 3 years ago

Since you're having troubles with it getting too hot too fast, try something like a frozen burrito or pizza.

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 01:50:31 UTC 3 years ago

We've already considered trying frozen pizza, but we decided against it because the top is still likely to burn before the middle is even thawed. I think we want the rate of heat absorption into the food to be roughly the same magnitude as the rate of heat conduction within it, and changing the starting temperature isn't going to help.

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 21:09:33 UTC 3 years ago

Power?

I know you guys must be having a blast with this, but is this an economically viable solution for alternate energy sources? Or could you just use it to store power in a super-light gun that you could instantly melt pennies with!?!

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 01:12:05 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Power?

Yes, solar power is economically viable if you live in a sunny place. It isn't very popular yet because it takes about 8 years to recoup your investment and people are impatient, but it is viable.

I'm not sure the light gun would work. :-)

[info]severoon

April 10 2009, 21:16:10 UTC 3 years ago

Why not move the lens slightly closer or farther so the items are not at the exact focal point? This allows the light to be dispersed and not quite so powerful, so you can make a proper solar oven with variable temperature and even cooking.

Or, you could go the other direction and figure out a way to collect & collimate the light coming through so that it forms a tiny, super-powerful beam. You could probably use that to build a lair. And then become a super villain. Just a thought.

[info]https://me.yahoo.com/a/TaV4XigIgZCkQtoZHQJky2RB#13c14

April 10 2009, 21:44:56 UTC 3 years ago

What abt circuit boards & processors that dont work anymore

I havent tried it out so I am not sure what happens. Just an idea.

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 00:44:29 UTC 3 years ago

Re: What abt circuit boards & processors that dont work anymore

We considered it, but none of us want to breathe the fumes.

Several year ago when I was doing robotics research, we blew a power regulator (the chip was tiny, about a square centimeter), and our control module smelled vile for days. I don't want to repeat that; it's really bad for your lungs.

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 22:08:38 UTC 3 years ago

Fantastic

I just love you guys. Seriously

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 22:24:43 UTC 3 years ago

Light to Power Conversion

Can this idea be used to generate power at all?

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 01:29:42 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Light to Power Conversion

Yup. You can generate electricity with solar cells, or you can heat water (to turn a steam turbine for electricity, or just to have hot water), or you can make a solar oven and cook food. Solar power has been explored for a while.

[info]chouyu_31

3 years ago

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Anonymous

April 10 2009, 22:29:50 UTC 3 years ago

Working hard

Nice to know you Google lot are working hard on all the bugs and stuff!!! :(

Nahh, I'm just jealous. That looks really fun and I want one. Keep it up!

And I'm aware how much this sounds like a Viagra advert...

Well, that was a highly fulfilling post xD

Anonymous

April 10 2009, 23:44:52 UTC 3 years ago

Videos!

Post some videos of your work too :)

Also, how hot would it need to be to melt your average sand?
Too far? lol

Should try some sausages. And an egg inside the shell. (do with caution, of course, since these are likely to explode)


[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 01:55:11 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Videos!

Sand is typically silicon dioxide, which melts at 1996 K. If we can't melt copper at 1356 K, we have no hope here.

I think you're right that an egg is likely to explode, and we don't want to egg our own office. So, maybe some day if we move the lens away from buildings, but not in the near future. However, an (empty) eggshell is already on our list.

[info]stak

April 11 2009, 00:17:55 UTC 3 years ago

You should one-up the Mythbusters and lens a boat. :)

[info]https://me.yahoo.com/a/geOnneFqw85K2KN5BRN2vn..0xg-#8ec8d

April 11 2009, 01:32:34 UTC 3 years ago

Mirror bounce

Bounce the beam off a mirror that's laying on the deck such that you can heat a pan from underneath. Such an arrangement should make it possible to cook bacon, pop popcorn (put a Jiffy Pop on the pan to disperse the heat), or pretty much anything else.

[info]big_bad_al

April 11 2009, 02:10:04 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Mirror bounce

*blinks* Wow, why didn't I think of that? We already have mirrors purchased, and it would also solve our problems with the focal point sometimes being in the ground if the sun is too high overhead. We'll definitely try this out!

[info]nithogg

3 years ago

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Anonymous

3 years ago

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[info]chouyu_31

3 years ago

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