Interesting Reactions?

[Andoz]

Hi, I've recently started to accumulate different chemicals (trying to make a small lab at home) and I was wondering if anyone could tell me some interesting reactions I could do with the stuff I got.

Here is what I have so far..

NaOH

KMnO4

KNO3

KOH

NaHSO4

C

S

Fe2O3

Al Powder

Glycerol

and SrCO3

 

I'm also getting some MnO2 and Cr2O3.

I've made some thermite and a little black powder but thats all so far. I was wondering If I could make some different chemicals from what I have that would be useful.

[YT2095]

there`s quite a few things you could do, but without knowing what apparatus you have it`s almost impossible to make a concise list.

 

an easy one that anyone can do is make some Soap with NaOH and vegetable oil, most kitchens have everything you need.

[Gilded]

Some reactions I've done with the listed chemicals:

- Al + S = burns nicely and forms aluminum sulfide which hydrolyzes readily to form hydrogen sulfide, which of course is a toxic gas but if you make just a tiny amount outdoors you'll just get that distinct rotten egg smell. Good way to impress/disgust your friends/neighbors

- KMnO4 + glycerol. A true classic and a good example of an intense reaction that doesn't require added heat, just the mixing of a fuel and an oxidizer.

- I'll assume you can get some sugar in addition to the mentioned chems. KNO3 and sugar makes a reasonably good smoke mixture, especially when melted into a paste.

 

Also, once you get MnO2 you could make potassium manganate, seeing how you have KOH/NaOH and oxidizers (like KNO3). I'm not sure how easy this is though. The reaction is mentioned here.

[Andoz]

Thanks Gilded I'll try some of those. I have very little lab equipment just a few flasks test tubes and Bunsen tripod gauze. The other day I made some recrystallized rocket fuel using glucose syrup, sugar, KNO3 and a little Fe2O3, it worked quite well.

 

> I just tried to melt some NaOH using ethanol but it turned into a black/brown sludge and a gas evolved. Would this be because the flame was too hot > bp?

Edited July 15, 2008 by Andoz

[Gilded]

> I just tried to melt some NaOH using ethanol but it turned into a black/brown sludge and a gas evolved. Would this be because the flame was too hot > bp?

 

Ethanol doesn't melt NaOH, it dissolves it. Also note that hot NaOH will attack glass flasks rather rigorously, be careful.

 

Can't think of any black/brown products from these chemicals though... might be something in the glass, or some other impurities.

[Andoz]

Oh sorry I meant to say I was using an ethanol flame to melt it. Yea I think what happened is the NaOH must of reacted with the glass like you said.

[frosch45]

well, theres always carbon disulfide

its so annoying how text cant communicate sarcasm

 

--very interesting if you can get a hold of some nitrous oxide (well, you probably won't be able to "get a hold of it" but that is actually quite easy to produce)

 

my avatar is an accurate representation

[YT2095]

you must have had some crud in the test tube or in the NaOH then, as the silicates produced by NaOH reacting with glass are Clear and not at all black.

 

what grade of NaOH were you using?

[Andoz]

Its 98.3% pure. What kind of vessel would you suggest to use? Would I be able to make elemental Mn and Cr using a thermite reaction with MnO2 and Cr2O3? And what would be the easiest way to get elemental Sr from SrCO3?

[YT2095]

meaning it`s 1.7% crud.

Sr metal can be obtained by electrolysis of the molten chloride, or via redox with Al metal powder at high heat and under negative pressure.

neither method is going to be easy with a home setup!

and yes a thermit reaction with the Cr and Mn oxides works quite well, although don`t expect a nice little ingot of the pure metal afterwards, you`ll get lots of little blobs that you`ll have to break up out of the alumina, although if you do your research, you Can get pretty decent results with the use of a flux.

be Very careful though, Thermit reactions with certain metals can explode violently! happily I have done the Mn and Cr reactions on a small scale myself and they are quite "tame" by comparison to other metals.