Polarized explorations part 2

Applause IconMar 20, 2018 • 11:24 AM UTC
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Mitali

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Hello everyone,
There are going to be tons of pics in this post so I better limit the words. I have foldscoped 3 compounds here – Citric acid , L-cysteine and Potassium dichromate.
Recrystallized Citric acid
Just while I was foldscoping these citric acid crystals an orange caught my attention!
I thought Why not try locating citric acid in orange peels!This thought really excited me
Finally after some negotiations with mom she agreed to let me foldscope the orange if I promised to eat it first
This is a section of the peel..some regions appear birefringent (probably because of citric acid) while some appear normal
The orange pulp sowed these clusters of cell like structures which also appeared birefringent
Thanks to the high melting points of cysteine and potassium dichromate I have a burnt thumb. lesson learnt – you cannot use a lighter to melt all compound.
I will try recrystallizing these with the help of a burner next time
until then, enjoy these pictures
Edit 1: Embedding Instagram posts seems to not have worked so updating the post with pictures.
Potassium Dichromate
L-cysteinine showed hexagonal crystals!! It was a joy seeing such perfect hexagons
~Have fun Foldscoping!
Mitali Patil
Second Year Undergrad
Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College,Mumbai.

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