Easy sulphuric Acid

[BlazeXploder]

Now, before I start, I want to make this known: Not many people will be able to do this, and if you want to make a big batch, then you'll have to go collect for the cause!

 

So, most of you wont know, but Pyritic fossils (they are common in chalk and at the jurassic coat (thats lyme, seatown and charmouth in Devon)) can get infections. A tiny bacteria, the scurge of collectors, attack the pyrite, breaking it apart. Now, this is infectious: Keep infected fossils with uninfected and the bacteria will jump over eventually.

 

But, what has this got to do with it? well, Pyrite fossils break down into sulphuric acid in humid conditions, which further deteriorates them. The bacteria is awesome at speeding this up. so, an old box of fossils that have been mistreated are now a source of sulphuric acid!

 

But that takes a long time, and you get tiny amounts, you cant use this for much, but if you want to ignite Potassium chloride (chlorate? I dont remember) then you only need a little bit. But what if you want a little more? Well, there are two options:

 

Destroy 100 million year old fossils in a pestle and mortar:

Once the fossils are about a year old, they become....fragile. They can be broken up and then heated to react them into the acid.

 

Gather Pyritic sand:

Now, this stuff is....rare. This option is basically only available to people who live near a beach with pyrite fossils, as not many people would take a pot of this home with them. But, if you walk up a beach on the very extent of the tide, you will eventually find brownish sand gathered in a small area. it might be closer to cliffs, or buried, but this is a load of brown sand and its 100% pyritic and 100% fossilless (it tends to be broken down fossils, so theres nothing left). This should be able to be broken down for more sulphuric acid.

 

Basically, this takes time, but heating to 40 degrees and keeping hydrated (and outside as it can create HS2, which im told is toxic) should give enough sulphuric acid to do minor experiments.

 

Anyone who could improve the yield of the acid, please pipe up!