Just a wee observation. I've been continuing with my garage tidy up - an almost pointless task as all I really do is move "stuff" from one place to another! However one of the things I've been meaning to do for some time is to sort out the empty oil cans (5 litre containers). I have one very old Duchhams container into which I upend empty oil cans and let them drain - get maybe an eggcup full out of each can - which I then use to fill my pump oil can and use for lubing hinges, etc, etc. Anyway, as I'm moving these cans about I also had to move a couple of full ones (waiting to go into the Panda and my other boy's Astra).

Nestling along with them is an unopened 5 litre of antifreeze concentrate. I've never noticed this before, and I think I only noticed now because I was moving a full oil container in one hand and the antifreeze one in the other, but the antifreeze is noticeably heavier than the oil! I was so surprised I tried the other oil container (one is Petronas and one Fuchs) with the same outcome. So what is it in the antifreeze that makes it noticeably heavier?

The specific gravity. aka weight per unit volume.

e.g. pure water has a specific gravity of 1.00 so 1cc weights 1 gram. 1 litre weights 1kg.

Engine oil is around is around 0.85 ie, 1 litre will weight 850 grams.

Antifreeze (Ethylene Glycol) has a specific gravity of 1.1.

Now if you have 5 litre quanities:

Can of oil weights 4.25kg
Can of antifreeze 5.5kg

A whopping 1.25kg or 2.75lbs difference which is readily noticeable when lifting.

Types SGs are:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-gravity-liquids-d_336.html

I hope your antifreeze isn't made of heavy water (radioactive hydrogen isotopes used for nuclear fusion)

chris3234 said:

I hope your antifreeze isn't made of heavy water (radioactive hydrogen isotopes used for nuclear fusion)

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Ha Ha Ha! Yes I deliberately used that wondering if anyone would pick up on it! Well done that man! Film: Heroes of Telemark, worth a view

chris3234 said:

I hope your antifreeze isn't made of heavy water (radioactive hydrogen isotopes used for nuclear fusion)

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Heavy water, Deuterium oxide, isn't radioactive. It contains Deuterium the Hydrogen isotope 2H with 1 neutron and 1 proton in the nucleus. Maybe you are thinking of Tritrated water with Tritum 3H which has 2 neutrons and 1 proton in the nucleus. it is radio active with a low energy beta emission.
I have samples of both Deuterium and Tritium gas.

Robert G8RPI.

g8rpi said:

Heavy water, Deuterium oxide, isn't radioactive. It contains Deuterium the Hydrogen isotope 2H with 1 neutron and 1 proton in the nucleus. Maybe you are thinking of Tritrated water with Tritum 3H which has 2 neutrons and 1 proton in the nucleus. it is radio active with a low energy beta emission.
I have samples of both Deuterium and Tritium gas.

Robert G8RPI.

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Fair point easy to forget which way around they are
I too have some tritium gas on my keyring in the form of a isotope glow light

chris3234 said:

I hope your antifreeze isn't made of heavy water (radioactive hydrogen isotopes used for nuclear fusion)

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Beat me to it! I was wondering if he was trying to recreate Back to the Future in his garage!

Schumi2001 said:

Beat me to it! I was wondering if he was trying to recreate Back to the Future in his garage!

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Oh man, back to the future and Christopher Lloyd. I first bumped into this very funny man in "Taxi" back in the '70's - I've been laughing at/with him ever since. If I'm feeling low I sometimes pull an episode up on you tube just to give me a lift!

Here's a load of sort of related stuff on tritium


Molten salt nuke reactors running a lithium fluoride salt are expected to have problems with tritium fluoride (TF) generated as the lithium is irradiated. TF is highly corrosive to metals so has to be dealt with. The regulators are quite rightly on the case.

The British Moltex solved it by not using a lithium salt. Yay. But they are still being held up by the slow grinding regulatory wheels.

The Canadian CANDU reactors use heavy water moderators, because it absorbs fewer neutrons than ordinary light water. The Moltex fast reactor going in at New Brunswick will burn the used irradiated fuel from the old CANDU as fuel. It will reduce stocks of the stored high level waste and the operators will be paid to take it away.

Heavy Water - (a little Barchetta no less)