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hi welcome to my channel I'm your host G
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and today I'd like to talk about
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flotation flotation works by exploiting
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differences in how well materials can be
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wetted by water some particles will
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float While others sink based on their
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surface properties and interaction with
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air bubbles I like to tell my students
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to think of it like a party where some
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people let's call them the hydrophobic
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ones really don't want to hang out in
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the pool they'll grab onto any float or
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in our case air bubbles to stay out of
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the water meanwhile the hydrophilic
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folks are happily swimming around at the
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bottom that's essentially what happens
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in flotation separation except instead
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of partygoers we're dealing with
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different types of particles while
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density is important in flotation we
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actually overcome the natural density of
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materials by attaching them to air
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bubbles this creates a particle bubble
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unit that has a lower effective density
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than water causing it to rise think of
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it like giving someone a bunch of helium
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balloons even though that person is
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heavier than air attach another balloons
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and up they go similarly when we attach
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air bubbles to Mineral particles in
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flotation we're basically giving them
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their own personal flotation devices it
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doesn't matter if the original particle
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was denser than water those air bubbles
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are their ticket to the surface
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flotation is primarily used to separate
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minerals and ores particularly sulfide
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minerals like copper and zinc sulfites
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from waste rock it's also used to
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separate Plastics remove ink from paper
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during Recycling and clean up oil spills
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I have this fun demonstr ation I do in
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class where I use flotation to separate
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different types of plastics from a
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crushed water bottle the students always
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get a kick out of it especially when I
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tell them this is the same process that
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helps recover millions of dollars worth
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of minerals from rocks that otherwise
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look completely worthless it's like
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having a superpower that can find
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treasure in trash surfactants are
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chemical agents that modify the surface
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properties of particles making them
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either more hydrophobic or hydrophilic
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they're essential in controlling which
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materials float and which sink during
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flotation you know what surfactants are
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like those Social Butterflies at a party
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who can convince the shy kids to dance
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and the loud ones to quiet down in
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flotation they're basically telling
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certain particles hey you're going to
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stick to these air bubbles whether you
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like it or not while telling others nope
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you're staying in the water pool and
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just like a good party needs the right
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mix of people to be successful flotation
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needs the right surfactant to work
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properly and by the way if you are
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enjoying the video so far do me a quick
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favor hit that like button it really
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helps support the channel and it only
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takes a second in mining flotation is a
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huge deal it's used to extract valuable
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minerals worth billions of dollars from
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crushed ore the process involves
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creating a bubbly slurry where the
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desired minerals attach to air bubbles
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and Float to the surface while waste
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rock sinks back in my college days I
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actually worked at a copper mine during
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summer break the flotation cells there
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were massive like giant hot tubs filled
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with gray bubbling soup and here's the
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crazy part hard when you look at that
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murky bubbly mess you'd never guess it's
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producing pure copper that will end up
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in your smartphones and laptops it's
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literally turning rocks into treasure my
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students love when I tell them that
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their video game consoles wouldn't exist
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without this bubble magic hydrophobicity
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which literally means fear of water is
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the key property that makes flotation
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possible hydrophobic particles prefer to
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attach to air bubbles rather than stay
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in water while hydrophilic or
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water-loving particles prefer to remain
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in the water phase let me tell you
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explaining hydrophobicity to my students
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used to be tricky until I started using
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the high school dance analogy imagine
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the water is like the dance floor and
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the air bubbles are like the gym
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bleachers the hydrophobic particles are
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like the shy kids who'd rather sit in
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the bleachers than be on the Dance Floor
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while the hydrophilic particles are like
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the dance enthusiasts who never leave
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the floor works every time flotation is
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everywhere in our daily lives it's used
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in wastewater treatment paper recycling
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plastic sorting and even in removing fat
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from milk to make skin milk if you've
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ever used soap to wash dishes or shampoo
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to wash your hair you're actually using
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flotation just yesterday I brought in a
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carton of whole milk and a carton of
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skin milk to class I told my students
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see these two the difference between
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them is basically industrial scale
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flotation then I showed them how the
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cream Rises to the top in whole milk
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that's flotation in action although I
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have to admit one student asked if they
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could float their younger sibling away
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using this method I had to explain that
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unfortunately flotation has its limits
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the efficiency of flotation is measured
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by recovery rate and grade basically how
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much of the desired material we can
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collect and how pure it is we can
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improve efficiency by adjusting
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variables like bubble size pH
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temperature and surfactant concentration
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I'd like to compare this to making the
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perfect cup of coffee just like how you
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need the right water temperature grind
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size and Brewing time for the best
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coffee flotation needs all its
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parameters just right for Peak
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Performance and trust me if you've ever
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seen my attempts at using our faculty
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room's fancy coffee machine you'll know
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that getting all these variables right
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isn't always easy but that's what makes
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chemistry exciting there's always room
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for optimization and Improvement if
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you're looking for exercises to test
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your knowledge there is a link in the
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description for you thanks for sticking
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around till the end if you enjoyed the
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video so far and want to see more
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