Log in

View Full Version : Potassium permanganate+ Gatorade=fire/melting


CDAWG
2008-01-24, 00:30
So today I was drinking my bottle of gatorade (rain,berry to be specific) when i got bored.
I figured I had some Potassium permanganate just laying around so i added it to the couple sips left in the bottle. Closed the top an shook it up.
About a minute later the bottle got very warm, all the way to becoming hot an eventual started melting the bottom of the bottle. not to the point were the solution came out but to the point where it was soft rubber.

Out of curiosity I wanna know why this happen.

my best bet is that the acid on the label,Phosphoric acid caused a chemical reaction..
my other possible more probably bet is that the high fructose corn syrup cause this.
since KMnO4 is reactive to glucose an can produce flame

am i right?
i tried to recreate the experiment. but failed.
maybe i didnt save the same magic formula..instead the solution turned thick an became brown

And1129
2008-01-24, 08:49
Yeah, it was the sugar. The KMnO4 is a strong oxidizer, so it oxidized the fructose sugar to produce heat.

It would be something like KMnO4 + C6H12O6 ---> CO2 + H2O + K2O + MnO2 (not balanced)

It would work a lot better in a dry environment, just mix some KMnO4 and sugar (go ahead and play with ratios yourself, you'll get more out the experience) you'll get the idea. More or less the same things happen in concentrated solution as in a dry environment. It's an oxidation - reduction reaction.

Spatula Tzar
2008-01-24, 21:04
Actually it needs a bit of water to spontaneously react. Anhydrous KMnO4 and sugar won't do anything unless heated or moistened.

Mokothar
2008-01-24, 21:29
Yeh, dry on dry hypergols suck, and they're dnagerous because a bit of moisture can set the entire thing off when you thought it was safe ...

sugar moistened with alcohol works pretty well.