Oban Kobi

Woah, way to resurrect a 3 year old thread... But yeah, I've had 3 years to think about it Got a 5 on my AP test Thanks in part to the threads on the site. But really, I think this needs to be closed... PS: Darkblades right as far as I can remember

Yes, I have. I suppose I'll just have to try to measure it, and just remember it might be a bit off. Thanks though

How much heat is released from the reaction of aluminum chloride and water? Yes, I've tried google. No, I don't have a calcinator. Now I could get really clever with some thermometers and styrofoam, but that wouldn't be very accurate, and would be a bit difficult to keep the reaction in an enclosed space with the large quantities of gas released, and I was rather hoping someone here might be able to help. Thanks

Ok, thanks, I'll go try that real quick, I have to go, though I'll post what happened in case any one else cares to know Ok, it did not turn purple when I added the H2O2. The purple color from before has since disappeared, and is now more pale yellow. Also, when I added the acid to the KNO3 it gave off a gas, I imagine hydrogen and chlorine, which would probably recombine to become once again HCl, which would explain that oh so pleasant smell. Any thoughts? Alright, I tried it again. I'll write down everything I did. First I placed about a gram of KNO3 in a glass test tube. I then poured about 15 ml of 20% HCl into the tube. It became purple, starting at the bottom where the KNO3 rest, and released a gas, I think HCl, judging by the slight burning it caused in my nose, which made me hold it a bit further away. I then used a syringe to pull half of the purple liquid out of the tube, and left the rest in there. The liquid in the tube slowly lost it's color, and became a bit of a light orange. The liquid in the syringe was stoppered, and retained its color. I emptied half of the syringe into another test tube, and gently heated it to avoid boiling. It's color changed from purple to a yellow green, and smelled a bit like chlorine. It is still yellow green, and the liquid in the syringe slowly became that same yellow orange color. That's about it. So now I have two questions: What would mixing HCl and KNO3 result in? Me thinks KCl and HNO3, which would combine with the remaining HCl and make aqua regia, which would explain the orange color. But why was it at first purple? What is the yellow green liquid? I think it's probably chlorine, but then where did everything else go? I didn't heat it insanely hot, just a bit. I appreciate any help or explanations you can give, thanks

I mixed HCl and KNO3 and the solution slowly became purple. The acid is blue, mostly because it's not just acid and water, but there is nothing else in it other than coloring and I imagine glycerin to make it thicker. Anyway, what is the purple? My first thought was Potassium something, probably Chloride, but I'm not sure. I searched Google and read a thread about it on this site, but neither helped much. I did find that if it in fact made nitric acid, it would react with the remaining hydrochloric acid and produce aqua regia at least according to Wikipedia, which isn't entirely reliable. Aqua regia is red(ish) and mixed with blue would make purple (that's right, I know my colors:-p) I would appreciate it if some one would explain to me what the result is.

I was here before, but then I forgot the web address. I found the site again and tried to sign up, but I was already registered! Who knew? I feel special now So hi, and hello all other newcomers. No one actually seems to greet anyone.

Hm. Cool. Thank you for your prompt, and helpful response. So much to learn, so little time. Thanks again:-)

I crushed Magnesium Sulfate into a fine powder, and held a flame up to it. It started drying out (despite the apparent dry nature of it) and water, from who knows where, started boiling. I was left with a very hard clump of it, almost transparent. I could get it to glow red-hot, but not catch fire, and it would cool off the instant I removed the flame. Any ideas what's going on here? My thought is that the epsom salts gained water from the atmosphere, and the heat boiled it out.

You're right, I looked at it today, and all of it has gathered at the bottom Now if only I could get my parents to let me get sulfuric acid. Hmmm.... Thanks Darkblade, it does.

Thanks I did get a white material that was a bit like calcium, crumbling easily, and insoluble. It appeared rather quickly on the copper attached to the cathode. Could that be magnesium hydroxide? The solution is blue, though for some reason, some of it settled as a blue precipitate in small pieces. As for a white one, it's difficult to tell, but it appears as though there is a bit of white in a few places, in little flake-like things. Not quite sure what you're saying here. I know what sulfuric acid is, I just haven't ever used it. Why does it do that?

Ok. I'm kind of new at this, so could you explain why it is copper hydroxide, not sulfate? What causes that to happen? Will do, thanks. I don't know how to respond to that, cause I'm a bit of a newbie, but isn't copper sulfate CuSO4? That would leave hydrogen to form and be released as a gas, and the magnesium to just drop away. For copper hydroxide, Cu(OH)2, the MgSO4 would be left intact, and no gas would be released, since it would be bonding with the copper. I'm not sure if that's right, so correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I thought of it.

Sorry bout that, was in a bit of a hurry. Anyway, I mixed MgSO4 with water (I don't know how much), and hooked up two copper (pre1985) pennies to the terminals of a nine volt battery. I then placed the two pennies into the water and waited. A while later, the water was yellow. It should have been blue, copper bonding with the sulfur and leaving magnesium as a precipitate. Instead, a fine yellow powder appeared in the water. It has now concentrated itself in a pinwheel pattern, a hub at the middle, and spindly arms swirling of, so it's obviously not homogeneous. I was just wondering if the yellow powder was sulfur, and if not, what it is. I did get it to work though, using clean copper wire instead of a corroded 90 something percent copper penny. Pretty cool stuff.

Ok, so I read other posts on using epsom salt as an electrolyte, and copper electrodes with 9v to create copper sulfate. This method apparently worked for some people, but my water isn't blue, it's yellow. I tried to think of anything that's yellow, and came to sulfur. It's a really fine yellow powder suspended in the solution, and I'm not sure what it is. I'd sniff it, but that doesn't seem very wise. Any ideas? Thanks:-) I just touched it, to see if any temperature change had occurred, and it feel slightly warm, compared to the copper/water mixture I have sitting next to it in an identical container.