Silver nitrate and aluminium powder also does the same….my chemistry teacher set a short quiz and the winner got to shoot at a pile of it with a water pistol! Went on to study chemistry at university too!
That makes me sad because my high school chemistry teacher was horrible, boring, and never did anything except book work. I ended up doing liberal arts in college, never finished, and now work in the service industry 😭
basically how this works: Zn + NH₄NO₃ Zn could theoretically easily kick and replace NH₄ out of its partnership with NO₃, but unfortunately for it there isn't enough movement for Zn to have a chance of replacing NH₄ Adding H₂O, a pretty good solvent, makes NH₄NO₃ separate into its components, NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻, which then start floating around in the H₂O, with the dissolution of NH₄⁺ being more relevant to Zn. Zn itself doesn't become an ion just because of H₂O, but it can forcibly give NH₄⁺ an electron due to Zn's ability to make more stable ions than the neutral NH₄•. The equation for this is Zn + 2(NH₄⁺) → Zn²⁺ + 2(NH₄•) NH₄• isn't stable in this neutral form, which causes it to decay with the following equation: 2(NH₄•) → 2(NH₃) + H₂ The total formula, including the NO₃, is Zn + 2(NH₄NO₃) → Zn(NO₃)₂ + 2(NH₃) + H₂ All this exchange produces a lot of heat, which can melt the Zn (420°C) and NH₄NO₃ (170°C). This allows for combustion of the released H₂ [2(H₂) + O₂ → 2(H₂O)] and combustion of the Zn without NH₄NO₃ [2(Zn) + O₂ → 2(ZnO)]. The molten state of the Zn and NH₄NO₃ allow for further reaction, even though the original H₂O should've long since evaporated. tl;dr the video edit: realized I accidentally wrote down the formulas for zinc(I) nitrate instead of zinc(II) (real) nitrate. This didn't change any of the explanations though, and only changed numbers by factors of 2.
@@smgdfcmfah The extreme volume of bodies of water will probably both quench the Zn and dilute the NH₄NO₃ to the point where the reaction cannot happen. However, for the first few seconds, the reaction should still occur, producing the ZnNO₃, NH- Hang on, just realized that there is no compound called ZnNO₃, and zinc nitrate is in fact Zn(NO₃)₂. Will correct for a bit.
@@smgdfcmfah @smgdfcmfah @smgdfcmfah The extreme volume of bodies of water (H₂O) will probably both quench the Zn and dilute the NH₄NO₃ to the point where the reaction cannot happen. However, for the first few seconds, the reaction should still occur, producing the Zn(NO₃)₂, NH₃, and H₂. Considering that the simple addition of sodium (Na) to H₂O can still ignite hydrogen despite the quenching properties of H₂O, I presume that the result will be everything igniting, except for 2(Zn) + O₂ → 2(ZnO), because H₂O will probably remove all the O₂ by quenching. EXTRA (Probably won't happen in bodies of H₂O): Forgot to mention this in the original message, NH₃ can burn as well, using the following process: 4(NH₃) + 5(O₂) → 4(NO) + 6(H₂O) Zn(NO₃)₂ can also decompose at the melting point of Zn: Zn(NO₃)₂ → Zn + 2(NO₂) + O₂ Same with NH₄NO₃, at lower temperatures: NH₄NO₃ → N₂O + 2(H₂O) This effectively results in the ending compound being a bunch of zinc oxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, and water.
@@user-pr6ed3ri2k Thank you for the explanations. I was thinking, would the reaction with zinc also work with other nitrates, as an example sodium nitrate, maybe like this?: 2(NaNO3)+Zn=Zn(NO3)2+ 2(Na)
@@JSK-projects While the reaction does work with certain other nitrates (ex: silver, copper, other unreactive metals), it does not work with your specific example. This is because sodium is much, much better at forming stable ions than basically anything else on the table, and would not allow zinc to replace it in compounds.
Maybe this is the secret of the ancient "greek fire" used in naval batles in antiquity. It was a mixture of unkown composition which set fire in contact with water.
Hey man, I really dig your videos, and this automatically makes me think of an old story about a Greek warfare substance that I believe was referred to as "Greek Fire", which was(from what I can ascertain) a napalm-like goo that would further ignite when water was applied to it.. I would LOVE to see you do a video on this also; I dig your thorough yet summated style of presentation.
You just gave me a brilliant idea 💡 I think there's a "no-bake _negative X_ cake" with my ex's (pun intended) name on it, just *_dying_* to be made‼️ 😈💯
Does this also work with potassium nitrate? Will this or my mix ignite magnesium powder? That'd be a great survival fire starter in wet conditions... Unless you get it wet... Keep the components separate! 😂
So basically Driver: San Francisco. In this game main villain stole tankers full of ammonia and later some platinum to make hydrogen cyanide and use it as a chemical weapon. I wonder how similar this reaction is to what you showed just there, as I'm no industrial chemist.
(Sturying for a biochem degree) i do not believe it is possible irl. Hydrogen cyanide requires a carbon atom, and there is no carbon present in ammonium nitrate (nh4no3) or platinum. Now if you had methane or another good carbon source, it might be possible, but under the conditions you describe, it is not Edit not to mention i believe it would be in bad taste to accurately describe exactly how to carry out a massively lethal terrorist attack in a videogame
What is the catalist i can understand you mix ammonium nitrate with zink an add water and mix after you put catalist that you not sayed what is it I know you need ammonum chloride too
Wouldn’t mixing the chemicals in an aluminum container add aluminum to the catalyst? Isn’t that why you’re supposed to mix chemicals in glass so that they don’t come in contact with other contaminants, metals, etc.? Forgive my ignorance, I don’t need everybody to jump on me I’m just asking a question.
Probably not, as aluminum is actually too reactive. The oxide coating forms effectively instantly and thus the ammonium nitrate solution wouldn't be able to come in contact with aluminum metal. That's why lighting thermite is so difficult: you have to heat the aluminum powder high enough to melt it out of its oxide coating.
Isn't zinc and sulphur reactive? Zinc powder, burning sulphur, ammonium nitrate and dry chlorine makes a great way to die suddenly. I've mixed up my own concoctions when I was a kid. Mixed in glass with a glass stir stick remotely by a kitchenaid mixer and it went off by itself depending on its mood. The mixtures are critical. Some go boom while mixing some go boom hours after mixing for no apparent reason, some go boom handling it or at the slightest tap and others wouldn't do diddly. One fizzed one rearranged the whole garage. Kids don't try this at home.
If it helps, even three months later, it's basically because there was likely a breach in the walls and all the air got sucked out Since things like oxygen and carbon dioxide are lighter then water, they naturally rise to the surface when the two are introduced to each other, the former will always rise to the top...and the more water there is on top, the more violently the air gets sucked up So then when you have a craft that low down, and even a slight crack forms in the walls, all the air gets sucked out toward the surface of the water with such intense force that the craft crumples in on itself
