I spent the whole weekend building an excel spreadsheet to express the behavior of a certain salt

[NNadir]

under a neutron flux.

I mean you can buy commercial software to do these calculations, but it isn't any fun.

I was always the kind of guy who loved to use HP41C programing to take the cubic Van der Waal's equation and solve for moles.

It's frustrating as hell, but it's better than watching TV.

I was trying to make a certain subset of so called "nuclear wastes" more radioactive in hopes of addressing the scourge of halogenated organic pollution.

I am such a dork, but it was a great weekend, more peaceful than others I've experienced recently.

[quakerboy]

1. Well done

sounds like time well spent. Which salt, if I may ask?

[NNadir]

2. Cesium iodide, having a mix of unnatural isotopes.

Next weekend I will install routines to give the output of valuable xenon gas and barium.

During the week, I'd like to investigate the density, if it's published somewhere, of molten cesium iodide beyond it's melting point at 895K, in the fully liquid phase.

I'd also like to get the thermodynamic function for the changes in heat capacity and the thermal expansion coefficient over a range of temperature.

This system is hot.

[Pierre.Suave]

3. This is cool and fascinating, but...

why did you do all of this in excel?

[quakerboy]

4. oh. Much better question than mine

[Pierre.Suave]

5. well...

You had already taken the good questions, so I had to work with what was left...

:rofl:

[NNadir]

7. Because it was there.

[Pierre.Suave]

8. That is as good as any other reason I guess...

but you do know there is software specifically for this purpose, right?

edit: I should add that I do find what you are doing interesting on an intellectual level. I am not just giving you grief.

[NNadir]

10. I would have to shell out money to buy the software, and learn little from running it.

Here, I am intimately aware of the assumptions - and thus the limits - because I have assembled all the nuts and bolts.

[Pierre.Suave]

11. Those are good points

I have never liked excel that much so I try to avoid it at all costs.

[Orsino]

12. Metal halides forever, dude!

[jpak]

16. How's the molten salt breeder reactor coming along???

:shrug:

[NNadir]

20. You would need a scientific education to understand it, frankly.

There is no point, therefore, in discussing it with you.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear NNadir!

Good for you!

It sounds worthwhile...

I am not scientifically oriented...

Glad you had a great weekend!

:hi:

[ThomCat]

9. Spreadsheets are the greatest software ever writen.

I get far more done with Excel than with anything else I have ever used.

[mike_c]

13. with respect, may I suggest R..?

http://www.r-project.org

R is free, open source numerical processing software. It's main strength is data analysis and statistics, but I use it for all kinds of numerical processing-- I even use it for string-processing jobs that Perl would do much more efficiently, "just because."

I totally understand your motives-- I do the same sort of thing all the time. Just getting a solution with canned software is boring. Creating a solution yourself is interesting and creative. I'd MUCH rather spend my time doing interesting and creative problem solving rather than cut-and-paste applications management!

[bbernardini]

14. I did that too! Here's mine:

Column 1 Column 2
Table salt Makes my food taste nummy

[jpak]

15. Fascinating

:D

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. Kids today. When I was a kid, we didn't fear halogenated organic pollution, we ate it for lunch.

At least, on those days that we could afford at least to eat deadly pollution, because we were so poor. In fact, everyone was poor. No one had money. And we laughed the whole time we ate it, because we were tough, and goddamned happy to have something to eat!

Tougher than you kids.

[TZ]

18. I'm gonna sum up your post in four words:

"Get off my lawn"!!!:rofl:

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. And pull your pants up!

They should at least be at your navel, you whippersnappers!!