since refridgerant's boiling point is like 40 degrees below zero, theoreticly you could "pour" it out of a container at that temp. has anybody done this? and if so, what did liquid freon/134 look like? my college teacher told me about this in ac class and i've been wanting to do it ever since...

 

Yes I have seen it You used to be able to buy it in cans called spray cool or spray freeze to spray on electronic components when looking for thermal related problems, it was also great for shattering hot components and causing condensation and shorting in high voltage circuits. It was nothing special clear, odorless mostly and it boils at room temperature.

 

If you wanna play with something like that, use liquid Nitrogen. It's totally harmless to the atmosphere. You can probably get it from a dairy farmer or an Ag college - it's used for storing cattle semen.

 

r 134 is harmless to the atmoshere

 

R-134a is flammable in certain concentrations and at certain pressures when mixed with air, and if decomposed by exposure to heat, it can produce hydrofluoric acid and carbonyl halides. It can irritate eyes, nose, & throat, cause heart irregularities, and will displace oxygen.

Although Nitrogen can also be dangerous under certain conditions, the atmosphere is already ~3/4 Nitrogen, so you're not significantly increasing your risk by releasing it or being exposed to it.

 

but i wanna see what liquid refridgerant looks like.

 

Not much to look at since it is boiling off as you look at it. I had liquid nitrogen poured on my hand in chemistry class at Kansas State. They poured a couple of teaspoons out and the stuff just instantly boiled off as it hit my palm. A colorless liquid surrounded by vapor.

Personally, lithium was more impressive when it is introduced to water.

 

One of the older refigerants, called R-11, was actually a liquid at room temp. It just looks like water; colourless & fairly odourless (just a slight chemical smell to it). That stuff's pretty cool to play with; I've played with some in some clear plastic tubing, and could watch it boil off slowly by just grabbing the tube tighty (and transferring the heat from my hand to the refrigerant). It was also a kick-a$$ cleaner; my boss said he used to clean his tools with the stuff when he first started out, and he also said a lot of dry cleaning companies used to use the stuff to get stains out of clothes. Of course back then no one knew the harmfull affects of letting this stuff evaporate into the atmosphere, but I bug him anyways about him killing the ozone layer...

R-12 and R-134a I'm sure has similar properties (colourless and odourless), so you could look at a glass of water ( technically R-718 in "the trade") and use your imagination

 

next time i get to the arctic i'm bringing a can of 134.

 

I've seen it. Nothing spectacular. R-134a is the same stuff used in electronics dusters (like troposcatter said.) Just hold the can upside down and spray. Comes out in liquid form. Spray enough on some plastic and it will pool up and actually stay there for a while. Clear as water, and the consistancy is maybe a little thinner. Used to use it to freeze flys and spiders. Was fun watching the spiders sometimes come back to life.

P.S. I dont know what the big deal about the ozone layer is, as R-12 and R-134a are both much HEAVIER THAN AIR. How are they possibly gonna get up to the ozone layer to do harm? They aren't. Its just Du-Pont making money.

 

It wasn't Du-Pont that mandated it. You need to look to the environmentalist and those that scared everyone into thinking that the stuff was going to kill us all.

Same people are responsible for all the different formulas for gas. Doesn't make it the gas companies fault.