Klarinet Archive - Posting 000860.txt from 2001/01

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Life's little mysteries.....
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 11:15:22 -0500

The usual "good" lanolin is said to be "anhydrous" - without water. When
this is applied to other chemicals, it implies that the chemical in
question, if exposed to damp air, will absorb water (and therefore gain
molecular weight). I have no specific information about lanolin, but IF is
were to absorb water, and IF the hydrated form had a lesser volume than the
anhydrous form (as can happen with other chemicals), this MIGHT serve as a
useful replacement for the poltergeist theory. Presumably, only the top of
the tube would become hydrated each time, accounting for the independence
on tube filling height.

As long as we are speculating, there is my go at it. Let us know if you
ever find out what is really happening.

At 18:29 01/25/2001 -0800, you wrote:
> I use 'pure' (pharmaceutical grade) lanolin as my cork grease. It
>comes in a large tub, and I have saved a few empty lip balm dispensers
>such as cork grease normally comes in. I pack these dispensers with
>the lanolin and do my best to remove the air bubbles.
>
> Now here's the mystery:
>
> Even though the dispenser stays at a constant temperature (as
>constant as my household thermostat can maintain and therefore there
>presumably is no shrinkage or expansion), and even though the dispenser
>lies horizontal on my desk (and thereby eliminates any vertical movement
>due to gravity) --- each time that I remove the lid from the dispenser,
>the lanolin has sunk down into the dispenser by about 1/8", such that I
>must twist the dispenser a quarter-turn in order to push the lanolin
>back up to the top where it was when I capped it the previous day.
> It doesn't matter whether the dispenser was recently packed full
>and therefore the little piston is at the bottom of the tube, or is
>mostly empty and therefore the little piston is near the top of the
>tube.
> So far as I know, lanolin does not evaporate or sublimate, and
>pharmaceutical grade does not contain any solvents that can evaporate
>(at a constant rate of 1/8" per 24 hours regardless of the volume in the
>dispenser).
>
> So where does that 1/8" of lanolin go each day? I don't believe
>in elves or poltergeists.
>
>
>
>Cheers,
> Bill
>
>
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-----------------------
George Kidder
MDIBL
gkidder@-----.org

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