Introduction: New Way of Making a Ferrofluid. Costs Less Than 3$!!!

Ferrofluid - a substance that's liquid under normal conditions, but turns solid in the presence of a magnetic field.

I found new way of making home made ferrofluid and I want to share it with you guys.

The advantage of my project is cost. It's way cheaper than all other methods online and it is indeed very simple.

My ferrofluid consist only two inexpensive parts, you only need old record tapes and a bottle of acetone!

Step 1: Materials

You will only need ACETONE, record TAPES, cooking OIL and MAGNET.

---500ml/16 fl. oz. Acetone. (1.50$)---
Acetone is high flameable be careful with it. You can get it at department store. It cost around 2$.

---10 music tapes or 4 video tapes. (0.00$)---
Use old music or video records tapes.You can get them virtually in any basement...

---5ml/0.2 fl. oz. Cooking oil. (0.00$)---
Every house has a secret room...The Kitchen...

---1 big strong magnet. (0.50$)---
You can get it from any old speaker in your house. Just take it apart and use it!

WARNING: IT IS VERY SIMPLE!
REAL WARNING: ACETONE IS HIGH FLAMEABLE AND NOISOME! BE CAREFUL WITH IT!

Step 2: Prepare Tapes

Tape:
The tape itself is actually very simple. It consists of a thin plastic base material, and bonded to this base is a coating of ferric oxide powder. The oxide is normally mixed with a binder to attach it to the plastic, and it also includes some sort of dry lubricant to avoid wearing out the recorder.

Ferric and iron oxides:
Iron oxide (FeO) is the red rust we commonly see. Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) is another oxide of iron. Maghemite or gamma ferric oxide are common names for the substance.

More info how tape work:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cassette1.htm

Procedure:
We need separate Ferric oxide from plastic tapes. Acetone will melt binder and separate Ferric oxide. But first we need to smash and break tapes!

Step 3: Melt Binder and Separate Fe2O3

Melting:
Find large enough bowl. Put all tapes in and fill bowl with acetone. Wait few hours. You should close bowl with something to keep acetone from vaporising.

Step 4: Collect Ferric Oxide

Collecting ferric oxide:
Get a magnet. Roll it with paper or plastic bag (it is needed to separate ferric oxide from a magnet easily). Collect all your Fe2O3. Let ir dry.

Repeat step 3:
If not all oxide has separated from a tape you can repeat procedure with acetone few time to get a better effect.

Step 5: Make a Substance

Mix with oil:
For 1ml of ferric oxide you need 1/3ml cooking oil.
Mix it. If it's to viscous fill a drop of water and detergent and mix everything again. It will help oil to mix with oxide.

Step 6: Overview

Magnetize ferro fluid:
Don't forget to strongly magnetize your ferro fluid.
Use biger magnets. Large ferrite magnets are better than small strong neodymium magnets.

Overview:
Bravo! You have made medium quality ferrofluid!

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