GCTVMD Element #60 (Traditional Cache) in California, United States created by GeekDad

This cache has been archived.

RedHiker: Archiving this cache as there has been no response and/or no update and it has been unavailable for a while now.

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RedHiker
Volunteer Reviewer Northern California

GCTVMD ▼

A cache by GeekDad Message this owner

Hidden : 3/11/2006

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Element #60 is Neodymium.

Neodymium is a silvery metal, a member of the actinide or Rare Earth family of elements, one of those strange extra rows of elements stuck at the bottom of the Periodic Table. It was first discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist von Welsbach. Its name comes from the Greek: neos (new) and didymos (twin) as it was isolated from an almost inseparable mixture with lanthanum.

Its main uses appear to be in coloring glass and ceramics. In a way, I guess, that’s how I first met Neodymium. In grad school I worked in a laser lab. One of the lasers was a Nd:YAG laser (that’s Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet). Basically, it’s a specially shaped synthetic crystal with small amounts of Neodymium doped into it that produces a very short and very intense infrared laser beam when excited by xenon flash lamps. The infrared light isn’t too useful (except for grad students to set pieces of paper on fire!), but the IR can be converted to green visible or even ultraviolet light with special optical crystals.

The company located near the cache is a leading manufacturer of Nd:YAG lasers.

Now my laser days are over, but I’m still playing with Neodymium. It turns out that an alloy of Neodymium, Iron, and Boron, in the ratio Nd₂Fe₁₄B produces the most powerful permanent magnets known. I had thought that Samarium-Cobalt magnets were strongest, but it looks like Nd now has the record. (When my wife was in grad school, she used Samarium-Cobalt magnets in her research, but that’s a story for another Element.)

The cache MAY at times contain some small (3/8 in. diameter) Nd magnets. Please help yourself to a couple (i.e., TWO) to use in your magnetic micros—you should be able to come up with some interesting hides with these things. I can’t guarantee that they’re the strongest Nd magnets available, but they’re pretty strong. I can get a stack of 98 of them to stick out horizontally from a vertical surface without falling (see picture below).

98 Nd magnets on the wall, 98 Nd magnets...

Update: (July 2008) This cache has distributed over 500 magnets so far, so I'll take a break with trying to keep it regularly stocked. There may be some magnets in the cache, but not always.

The cache is a camouflaged water bottle. Please replace the camouflage so that the cache is well-hidden. You'll know what I mean when you find it (assuming you do find it...)

You do not have to disobey any No Trespassing signs to reach the cache. There are plants nearby which can have potential toxicity issues if you ingest enough leaves or get sap on your hands. So don't eat the shrubbery and probably best to wash your hands if you think you got some sap on them.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Unatvat va gur genvy fvqr bs n ohfu

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)