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Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

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Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#31

Post by theandrewbailey »

edblarney wrote: post #17
Practicality wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?

"What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?" To hide them. The Germans are not going to spend a division of soldiers 4 years to dig up all of Copenhagen. There are innumerable places to hide them. They also could have simply been deformed i.e. markings removed, then they're just clumps of gold and evidence of nothing.

> To hide them.

That's kind of what was done. It was a clever simple hack. I'm not sure how hard it is to prepare aqua regia (maybe they had a sufficient quantity already), but all they had to do was drop the metals in, wait, and place on a shelf with other innocuous flasks and solutions.

Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#32

Post by dr_zoidberg »

erelde wrote: post #12

I like how the author of this piece talk about Sir Martyn Poliakoff. But the article predates his knighthood. (and presumably youtube fame) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyn_Poliakoff

Actually, the piece barely mentions Poliakoff, and not even by name:

> As you can see in this video from the University of Nottingham, dissolving gold is a slow business. The narrator (who looks like he was cast by Mel Brooks, but is presumably, the real deal) explains that nitric acid loosens the gold atoms, after which hydrochloric acid moves in, using its chloride ions to surround and transform the gold.

I really don't see where you read that he's been knighted, other than Wikipedia. From the videos YouTube page I didn't get his name either, and there are no comments in the article.

Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#33

Post by pavel_lishin »

harveywi wrote: post #26
kbart wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. While it's a cool story to tell your grandchildren, burying medals (of course, not on your own property) would be much faster solution.

I believe a there is a plot line in Pulp Fiction that touches on a solution satisfying both constraints.

The Nobel Prize medal appears to be about 2.5 inches wide, which would make it immensely unsatisfying in at least one constraint.

Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#35

Post by mikeash »

edblarney wrote: post #17
Practicality wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?

"What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?" To hide them. The Germans are not going to spend a division of soldiers 4 years to dig up all of Copenhagen. There are innumerable places to hide them. They also could have simply been deformed i.e. markings removed, then they're just clumps of gold and evidence of nothing.

This takes the tech community's propensity for Monday-morning quarterbacking to a breathtaking new level. Yes, I'm sure you came up with a much better solution in your sixty seconds of thinking in your comfortable chair than the people on the spot, faced with literal Nazis, did at the time.

Just hide them! I wonder why Nobel laureate Niels Bohr and future Nobel laureate George de Hevesy didn't think of that.

Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#37

Post by endisukaj »

tim333 wrote: post #25
edblarney wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?" To hide them. The Germans are not going to spend a division of soldiers 4 years to dig up all of Copenhagen. There are innumerable places to hide them. They also could have simply been deformed i.e. markings removed, then they're just clumps of gold and evidence of nothing.

>"I suggested that we should bury the medal(s)," but Bohr thought no, the Germans would dig up the grounds, the garden, search everywhere in the building. Too dangerous. Though I guess they could have found somewhere else...

I took that to mean that there was not much time as Nazis were patrolling the streets, going out with two large gold medals would be extremely dangerous as they might have been stopped and searched.

Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#39

Post by erelde »

dr_zoidberg wrote: post #32
erelde wrote: post #12

I like how the author of this piece talk about Sir Martyn Poliakoff. But the article predates his knighthood. (and presumably youtube fame) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyn_Poliakoff

Actually, the piece barely mentions Poliakoff, and not even by name: > As you can see in this video from the University of Nottingham, dissolving gold is a slow business. The narrator (who looks like he was cast by Mel Brooks, but is presumably, the real deal) explains that nitric acid loosens the gold atoms, after which hydrochloric acid moves in, using its chloride ions to surround and transform the gold. I really…

That I was able to know his name without even knowing what was the video (I was behind a firewall which blocked youtube) should tell you that he has become pretty famous in the "internet famous" sense. The description was a giveaway and I remembered the video in question.

There's absolutely no need to be condescending... That description (which you quoted) was genuinely funny to me because I know who he is.

Re: Dissolve My Nobel Prize, Fast (2011)

#40

Post by BurningFrog »

edblarney wrote: post #17
Practicality wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?

"What is the simple, appropriately engineered solution?" To hide them. The Germans are not going to spend a division of soldiers 4 years to dig up all of Copenhagen. There are innumerable places to hide them. They also could have simply been deformed i.e. markings removed, then they're just clumps of gold and evidence of nothing.

If you're Bohr, you have to assume that the Nazi army will impose a shoot-on-sight curfew when they reach your part of Copenhagen in a few hours or less.
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