Author Topic: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???  (Read 7905 times)

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Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« on: March 03, 2016, 06:44:08 pm »
Not one but two fist-sized chunks of silicon, they're kinda grey and have a nice crystal structure to them.
The silicon i have is electrically conductive and is quite fun to take a small piece and heat it with a PSU.
It is also quite thermally conductive as i noticed while playing.
At this point i could ( quite literally ) roll my own silicon.  ;D
But bad puns aside i can't think of anything else i could do with it, any ideas ?
« Last Edit: March 03, 2016, 07:10:11 pm by Refrigerator »
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Offline XOIIO

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2016, 06:54:12 pm »
Try making your own chips! Think of the cost savings!

Offline SeanB

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2016, 07:00:45 pm »
Are they electronics grade, or metallurgical grade? That will determine what you can do with them, though if they are quite conductive they probably are metallurgical grade, used to refine steel. You probably can look to see if you can make some point contact transistors, or make a few diodes, or even a Schottky rectifier if you use some gold as a contact on the one face.
 

Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2016, 07:12:49 pm »
Are they electronics grade, or metallurgical grade? That will determine what you can do with them, though if they are quite conductive they probably are metallurgical grade, used to refine steel. You probably can look to see if you can make some point contact transistors, or make a few diodes, or even a Schottky rectifier if you use some gold as a contact on the one face.
I have some CPUs with some really thick gold plated pins that would work fine i reckon.
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Offline chris_leyson

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2016, 07:20:29 pm »
Point contact diodes spring to mind, cats whisker style as in early radio detectors. Don't know if it will work with Silicon though, or perhaps fets, or better still slice it into small chunks and sell on ebay.
 

Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2016, 08:36:50 pm »
Maybe i should make a CO2 laser, from what know i they produce stupid amounts of IR but need a special lens that could pass it through, and silicon is quite good at that.
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Offline SL4P

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2016, 12:51:39 am »
... or better still slice it into small chunks and sell on ebay
THIS.
Diamond saw. small 1/2-inch cubes. 
Sell on eBay for $10 a pop as magical, audiophoolery, free-energy accessories.
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Offline AntiProtonBoy

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2016, 03:57:35 am »
Post photos, OP. I'd like to see what they look like.
 

Offline calexanian

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2016, 04:21:04 am »
Sell them to some idiot on eBay!! Actually I would put a small silicon ingot or puck on my desk for a decoration.
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Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2016, 05:17:15 am »
Sell them to some idiot on eBay!! Actually I would put a small silicon ingot or puck on my desk for a decoration.
I had half a bucket of this stuff and my mom used it to decorate the garden.
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Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2016, 05:33:00 am »
Post photos, OP. I'd like to see what they look like.


I could probably sell this to audiofools claiming that it absorbs negative magnetic fields.  >:D
I have a blog at http://brimmingideas.blogspot.com/ . Now less empty than ever before !
An expert of making MOSFETs explode.
 

Offline RobertoLG

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #11 on: March 04, 2016, 05:59:01 am »
I hope you don't mind me posting this here, I just want to share this one I have, dunno exactly what it is, it's kinda semiconductor, and heavy for it's size

 

Online tautech

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #12 on: March 04, 2016, 06:47:20 am »
Might it be Geranium?

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Offline AntiProtonBoy

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2016, 06:50:23 am »
They look pretty.

Might it be Geranium?
Nah Germanium is much "blacker" and metallic looking. Also, if that was a chunk of Germanium, that would be worth A LOT.
 

Offline Mechanical Menace

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #14 on: March 04, 2016, 07:04:21 am »
Some form of pyrite? Arsenopyrite maybe?
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Offline RobertoLG

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #15 on: March 04, 2016, 07:38:39 am »
well, let me try to describe it better, it has a crystaline form, shines like greyish metal, it chips of if you hit it, my phone camera is crapy, it doesn't show it in good detail
 

Online tautech

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #16 on: March 04, 2016, 08:14:03 am »
Might it be Geranium?
Nah Germanium is much "blacker" and metallic looking. Also, if that was a chunk of Germanium, that would be worth A LOT.
Yeah I know what Geranium is like, I've got a crystal a bit bigger than a big pea that I've had since I was a kid.
Pics often don't show true colours depending on how the subject is lit of course.

Anyway if it's to be a guessing game maybe the volume can be measured by water displacement and compared against weight for a specific gravity, that'll narrow down choices of what these substances might be.
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Offline wraper

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #17 on: March 04, 2016, 08:17:29 am »
Some form of pyrite? Arsenopyrite maybe?
+1
 

Offline jwm_

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #18 on: March 04, 2016, 08:20:25 am »
Start your element collection! (Note: it's addictive and expensive and fun). I highly recommend a pure tungsten block once you exhaust the easily obtainable ones. Twice as dense as lead, it feels surreal to pick up. Bonus points for getting a visually identical block of magnesium, it is really odd to hold one of each in your hands of challenge a stranger to pick up both and watch their reaction.

Offline RefrigeratorTopic starter

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #19 on: March 04, 2016, 12:23:08 pm »
Start your element collection! (Note: it's addictive and expensive and fun). I highly recommend a pure tungsten block once you exhaust the easily obtainable ones. Twice as dense as lead, it feels surreal to pick up. Bonus points for getting a visually identical block of magnesium, it is really odd to hold one of each in your hands of challenge a stranger to pick up both and watch their reaction.
I have about 4 kilograms of pure magnesium already. ;D
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An expert of making MOSFETs explode.
 

Offline XOIIO

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #20 on: March 04, 2016, 03:13:29 pm »
Oooooh, shiny

Offline nuno

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #21 on: March 04, 2016, 08:22:53 pm »
Intel's museum has a 122Kg silicon ingot in display, you can see a photo at this page:
http://anewdomain.net/2013/06/10/intel-museum/
I have somewhere a photo of me hugging the shinny ingot, but I'm not gonna post it :)
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #22 on: March 06, 2016, 01:15:48 am »
Oooooh, shiny

My exact first thought.
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 

Offline PointyOintment

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #23 on: March 06, 2016, 10:37:17 pm »
Intel's museum has a 122Kg silicon ingot in display, you can see a photo at this page:
http://anewdomain.net/2013/06/10/intel-museum/
I have somewhere a photo of me hugging the shinny ingot, but I'm not gonna post it :)
I'm pretty sure I have a picture of that ingot too, as well as the name-speller, and several other things at the Intel Museum. But they're on my other computer, so I can't post them right now.
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Offline nuno

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Re: What can i do with a fist-sized chunk of silicon ???
« Reply #24 on: March 07, 2016, 12:19:24 am »
I have few of other stuff too, I remember for example of core memory, which was the only place I've seen the thing live.
 


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