I just got some aluminium powder :D

[Ice_Phoenix87]

I just got some aluminium powder Does anyone know much about it? We used it in science for a thermite reaction Can it be used as an oxidizing agent? Is their anyway of making it at home? Is it surposed to be highly reactive with water? What is the ratio of ferric oxide and aluminium powder in thermite reaction? Can Potassium permanganate be used instead of Potassium Nitrate as an oxidizing agent? Also i tried to make potassium nitrate with sodium nitrate and potassium chloride by using crystalization, it didnt work

thanx IcE pHoEnIx

[budullewraagh]

so lucky ;p

it is a mediocre reducing agent. it makes a glorious flash powder. it reacts well with water, but hey if youre looking for a nice bang, add it to some conc acid and run away. you can make it at home; just grind some aluminum sheets to dust. KMnO4 is a better oxidizing agent than KNO3 actually.

[Ice_Phoenix87]

would aluminium foil work?? conc acid??

[aommaster]

I think that you can get the concentrated acid from a wet car battery (sulphuric acid). Also, I think aluminium sheets should work, but you will need to grind them to powder!

[SurfSciGuy]

Yep gotta think of the surface area - get grinding.

[budullewraagh]

conc acid??

yeah; most metals replace the H in acids. Al does. Al powder does it especially exothermically due to its greater surface area.

 

as for a conc acid, car batteries do work, but the acid isn't too conc and you have a great deal of electrolytes dissolved in it. a good (and especially dangerous if you screw up) way to get a conc acid is to buy "muriatic acid" (HCl) and distill it. if you get too conc, it will begin to fume. be forewarned that as temperature increases, the HCl(g) gets less soluble in H2O so you will not have even 95% HCl (not that you'd want it). another way is to buy the acid and wait 25 years (like my parents did) then pass it down to your child when he/she asks about it. mine fumes when i open it. mine is incredibly conc and can be defined as a superacid. example; i made a solution of 250mL H2O and 10mL conc HCl the other day and it had a pH of 1. took half my reserves of finely crushed CaCO3 to neutralize it after i was done.

 

if you want to have a bit of crazy fun, i suggest slowly adding some H2O2 to H2SO4. DO NOT ADD IT TO A HALOGEN ACID. i've heard you can get 40-45% H2O2 at salons. to make it more conc, freeze it; the H2O2 freezes at -11C while H2O freezes at 0C. a word to the wise; don't get H2O2 above 70% or it will become hell on ice for you. seriously; it is so unstable that it will explode on contact with, say, a piece of dust. no joke. mixing H2O2 and H2SO4 will make "pirhana bath" (peroxymonosulfuric acid). it is to be treated with much respect, as it isn't terribly stable. do not expose it to much heat or you will regret it. touch it and your hand will burn off rapidly. seriously; this stuff will attack just about anything. but hey, all in the name of fun and chem, right?

[YT2095]

and avoid any organics (especialy keytones) as it will form explosive precipitates, MEK Acetone, Ether or Hexamine are typical examples of organics, that when reacted and precititated out, will remove you from your life rather fast! if an accident were to occur (

[aommaster]

How do they explode? When dropped? Or just when lit?

[rbp6]

Ice

 

75% Fe2O3

25% Al powder

by mass

 

To make something really sweet, use MoO3, I'm sorry I forgot that exact measurements for using MoO3.

 

To make a really big splosion, get a milling machine, and mill the powders together with about 2 mL of hexane for every ten grams used for exactly 30 minutes. This powder will be VERY explosive. So please be careful. I suggest use tungsten but anything will enjoy.

 

Enjoy the pyromania.

[budullewraagh]

good call, yt; i failed to mention the whole organic thing. never mix an inorganic peroxide with an organic peroxide; deadly stuff.

[Dragoncaviar]

I heard from one of my many chemist friends studying chemistry Masters Degree at York University (Yes England) That NH4NO3 and aluminium powder proves to be somewhat interesting if not deadly.

He would not tell me much, but said two words "Rocket Fuel", is he lying or can someone fill me in.

Iron Oxide can be used instead of ferric oxide in thermite right?

 

Also can anyone tell me what a suitable detonator for ANFO's would be, and the ratio of Fuel to NH4NO3 would be. I can get hold of blasting caps, however I would need to "Borrow" these if I did, so any alternative to these would be better.

 

Regards

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Oh, the irony...

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5256

[Ice_Phoenix87]

well i added both water and HCl to some aluminium powder, nothing happened, :S i dunno whats going on? i have used it in a thermite reaction, and it works. It is surposed to react with water i was told.

[Dragoncaviar]

Try to find some NH4NO3, and detonate it with a blasting cap, (This isn't one of these "throw on a match to get it going" experiments from all accounts!)

[Dragoncaviar]

I think that you can get the concentrated acid from a wet car battery (sulphuric acid)

 

Why does the car battery need to be wet, I got my H2SO4 from a dry battery, and I'm not dead.

 

[budullewraagh]

what kind of dry battery? i open up AAs and find MnO2 and carbon black

[Dragoncaviar]

It was a car battery according to aommaster,

When i open up AA batteries, I get Manganese(IV) Oxide, and this acts as a catalyst, and releases amounts of oxygen if you put it in H2O2

Burns quite nicely

[YT2095]

Try to find some NH4NO3, and detonate it with a blasting cap, (This isn't one of these "throw on a match to get it going" experiments from all accounts!)

aluminised AN slurry isn`t really the sort of stuff to use if you`re a newby and just want some Pyro fun with the tiny amount of Alu he managed to obtain.

besides if he HAD access to a #8 cap, he wouldn`t have to "FIND" the AN, he`de be a liscenced proffesional 99.999 times out of 100