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Sort of related: you can also obtain "dissolved electrons" by putting chips of sodium or potassium in pure ammonia.

I forgot what I used this for back in the day, but the solutions were very very beautiful. Apparently electrons dissolved in ammonia are an intense, deep blue. Photos don't really do it justice:

https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000lH1LMamRdV8/s/86...

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What happens if you hold a magnet near those free electrons?

Interesting question, considering that they're "wet" electrons in a dynamic environment, I'd say the effect would be not so much different from applying a magnetic field to any other solution with dissolved unpaired electrons. So: fun for doing electron spin resonance studies, nothing spectacular otherwise.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_paramagnetic_resona...

There are quite a few interesting applications should this ability be harnessed in water.

Science.

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