[constant thinker]

I was watching the science channel, and I saw a clip of oil and iron that had been homogenized. An electromagnet was put on top of it appeared that the oil was flowing upwards and it formed and intresting stucture on the magnet. How would I be able to homogenize iron and oil in my home.

Should I just throw it in a blender and mix like crazy? Or is there another way? Could I just mix iron filings and oil together to get the same effect?

I would love to recreate this experiment because it looked so cool on TV. Suggestions, ideas, and help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[billnotgatez]

http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/magnets/magnets.html#rheological

[limpet chicken]

I think it would be recreatable in the home.

You could try preparing pyrophoric iron, it is iron metal powder, in so fine a particle size, and prepared in a certain way, that upon exposure to air, the particles are so tiny, that they instantly ignite due to oxidation.

Pyrophoric iron can be prepared by heating iron tartrate, I believe, which decomposes, and forms the pyrophoric powder, this of course, is best done under argon or nitrogen gas. Argon is available in disposable cylinders from online welding shops, or alternatively, and if you have the requisite safety equipment, perhaps a hydrocarbon gas could be used to shield the decomposition of the iron tartrate from oxygen, and thence, the iron dust transferred directly into the oil.

Hmmm, I wonder, if such a product might still be pyrophoric to a very minor degree, and produce small sparks when magnetically hardened..

I have to try this myself, as soon as I can get ahold of some tartaric acid

[billnotgatez]

I would think that iron filings would be sufficient. There is no need to go extensive preparations. Just use iron filings and vegetable oil. Read the URL posted by me above or the whole site http://scitoys.com and you might find lots of interesting stuff. It is probably better to learn than go extravagant.

[constant thinker]

Just want to test it out for fun. Thanks for the help. I don't think I need to have a homogenized solution. Homogenized is kind of a strong word.