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This chemical really doesn't want to exist

May 30, 2021
For at least a year now I've been telling myself that I would make shorter videos. However, I always ended up choosing much larger projects and then, while editing it, I wondered why it was already 20 minutes long. Finally though I have committed to making some shorter ones, like

this

video. And there were a lot of different topics that I eventually

want

to cover. But to start: I decided to use something called "manganese heptoxide". Manganese heptoxide is nothing new; It is known to have

exist

ed at least since the mid-19th century. It is made by mixing two relatively common

chemical

s, where the first is simply concentrated sulfuric acid.
this chemical really doesn t want to exist
I like to add a pipette full, which is about two (2) milliliters, and then just sprinkle in a small amount of the second ingredient, which is potassium permanganate. When mixed, sulfuric acid reacts with potassium permanganate to form permanganic acid. This acid is then dehydrated by sulfuric acid, meaning that the water is extracted and an anhydride version is formed. This new molecule is a combination of two permanganic acids and it

doesn

't

really

want

to

exist

. It's a very strong oxidizer, but it's also not very stable... So it's basically looking for any reason to break down. This can be reacting to something or just spontaneously.
this chemical really doesn t want to exist

More Interesting Facts About,

this chemical really doesn t want to exist...

For example,

this

was a different sample I made using a lot more potassium permanganate and all I did was touch it with a hot piece of metal. All the green oil on top was manganese heptoxide, and you can see that almost immediately it ALL reacted. However, when the amount of (potassium) permanganate is low, as I did in this first test, and when the temperature is below 55°C, you don't have to worry too much about it spontaneously decomposing. It's

really

just when you add quite a bit, and all that oil floats to the top. Regardless of that, it is still dangerous and should be treated with respect.
this chemical really doesn t want to exist
But anyway, back to this sample, for the first test I simply dropped a cotton ball on it. (Popping and cracking sounds) The reaction was quite fast and generated a lot of heat. Then, almost immediately it caught fire. However, most of the heptoxide (manganese) reacted or decomposed almost instantly. So the violent part of the reaction did not last long. To quench this, I simply added a little water which removed any remaining heptoxide (manganese) and converted it back to pinkish-purple permanganic acid. A bunch of brown stuff also showed up, which was all manganese dioxide. For the next run, I made it with a French fry and it was mainly the oil that reacted.
this chemical really doesn t want to exist
However, this time, for some reason, it released much more manganese dioxide. I did it again from another angle just to really show how much he was missing. (Reaction sounds) The chip didn't react as much, but the effect was almost the same. Which he told me was probably just the (manganese) heptoxide decaying. Initially, manganese dioxide was a very fine powder, but once it was in the air for a while, it started to form these little pieces. They were still extremely light. But now they were too heavy to just float in the air, so they all started (falling) downward.
For the sake of visuals, I turned off the exhaust hood for most runs. But I had to be very careful, as inhaling this stuff wouldn't be very good, to say the least... However, when I turned the (fume) hood back on, you can see how everyone just changes direction. . And they pushed me away. For the next run, I added a lot more permanganate (potassium) and there was a lot more heptoxide (manganese) floating on top. I figured this would make the reaction even faster and more violent, so I threw another cotton ball at him. However, it was actually another delay.
And I'm not entirely sure why. (Cracking hissing sound) In general, the heptoxide (manganese) reaction appears to occur in 2 stages. Where the first is directly between Heptoxide (Manganese) and cotton. This then generates enough heat to quickly break down the rest of the heptoxide, and in doing so, it splits into manganese heptoxide, as I mentioned before, and a large amount of oxygen and ozone gas. Both gases can immediately react with already burning cotton and cause it to burst into flames. However, the problem with this more concentrated execution seems to be in the first part. The purer heptoxide (manganese) apparently has trouble "attacking" and oxidizing cotton on its own.
In the other run, because I used less (potassium) permanganate, there was more sulfuric acid present, and I think it helped somewhat. Sulfuric acid reacts quite easily with cotton, and I think perhaps it helped speed up its reaction with (Manganese) Heptoxide. However, this is just speculation on my part. I tried this again using one (1) gram of permanganate and the same thing happened. It just sat there for a while and then suddenly exploded. However, the heptoxide in the dish continued to decompose for a while; which I thought was great. To test this delayed action I prepared more heptoxide and carefully pipetted it onto a paper towel.
Concentrated sulfuric acid can easily tear apart a paper towel in seconds, and in doing so, generates a lot of heat. However, nothing happened here, which supported my idea that the concentration was too low. I initially planned to wait indefinitely for it to react, but I got impatient and kept adding more heptoxide. However, in the end, for some reason, it just snowballed and was much more violent than any of the other races. (Poofs) This is because what I made was a sensitive mixture of a strong oxidizer and a fuel. So when they decided to react, the entire heptoxide section did so almost instantly.
Mixing an oxidizer and a fuel like this is a basic recipe for making an explosive that can obviously be very dangerous. Also, like other explosive mixtures, heptoxide ones, which are super unstable and unpredictable. With cotton and paper the reaction seems to be relatively calm, but with other fuels, things can get really violent and dangerous. For example, this guy made it with hexamine, which is commonly used as camping fuel. It's also a precursor to the C4, and I think that might be why he tried to use it. Poof In the end, he apparently wasn't hurt, but I think adding heptoxide as fuel is just a recipe for disaster.
It's too unpredictable and I personally don't think it's worth the potential danger. So far, everything I've been adding to it has been solid. But I wanted to try it with some liquids. Almost any flammable liquid should work and for the first test I did it with acetone. Also, for all these tests I am doing a slightly more concentrated version. So I am using one (1) gram of permanganate. (Flashes) The reaction was almost instantaneous And at 60 frames per second It only lasted a few frames. For the next one I did it with 95% ethanol, which was another solvent I had on hand. (Blinks) As expected, this reaction was also super fast.
But what I thought was the coolest part was when I slowed it down. Of course, I was still only able to get a few frames of the reaction, but I thought it looked like a mini nuclear explosion. After playing around with this a little bit and watching these solvents react and light up. The moment they hit the heptoxide, I started thinking about the rocket video I made. In that video, I talked about hypergolic combinations, which is where a fuel and an oxidant combine spontaneously. light on contact That's exactly what was happening here and I thought the next thing I wanted to try was aniline, which was old rocket fuel.
I really thought this reaction would be much more violent, but it seemed to be more or less the same as the others. However, the main difference was that I felt like it generated a lot more heat. Unfortunately, after trying this, I ended up having to put the project on hold. for a couple of months. However, when I came back to it, something strange happened. I decided to redo the tests without adding solvent and for some reason the results were different. It was relatively quiet before, but this time, when I added acetone, I was surprised by the difference (loud pops).
It was a much more violent reaction and when I did it again and the same thing happened (pops even louder) The sound that each one made also surprised me because I didn't hear anything similar in any of the others so I tried it with ethanol and it had a tone much higher. and a more violent snap (Pops/Cracks) I also did this a second time and it still had that nice snap (Pops/Cracks) For the last try I did it with aniline and it wasn't as close. Just as violent as before, although I could feel it generating much more heat.
Since the aniline seemed to be relatively tamed, I decided to try shooting it in the test tube like I did in my rocket video. So, to a test tube. , I carefully added a little sulfuric acid, followed by a small amount of permanganate. I thought it was best not to use the full gram like I did in testing and make it a little more diluted here. All this was mixed completely and then I added the aniline. It seemed fine, and by that I mean it didn't explode, so I tried it with the narrow neck. The reaction here was much more violent and also quite strong.
The full impact of the sound, although the same as in all the other races. . The microphone didn't pick up very well. So a mixture of heptoxide and sulfuric acid and a fuel like aniline could work to fire a rocket, but it had too many disadvantages. The main one was that heptoxide is too sensitive and if stored in a tank it would simply explode. The decomposition of the heptoxide could also travel through the feed lines and return to the tank, which would again explode. . Also, a large part of its mass is basically manganese dioxide, which

doesn

't really contribute much to the reaction.
And not only is it dead weight, but it would also probably get stuck in the rocket motor and start to build up, which could cause a host of other problems. But anyway, I think that's it. Manganese heptoxide is definitely an interesting

chemical

and I think it can be fun to play with sometimes, but it is also extremely dangerous. I don't really recommend anyone try this for themselves unless you have the right setup to handle it. Not only is it super reactive and explosive as we saw, but it also shoots dangerous fumes and dust into the air that should definitely not be inhaled.
Plus, when you're done playing with it, you're left with a bunch of manganese waste that needs to be dealt with properly. This means that even after neutralizing it with water, you can't just pour it down the drain or throw it in the trash. In my last video, you guys seemed to like me showing you how I handled my waste, so I decided to do it again. This was also posted on my other channel NileBlue and there is a link in the description. Oh, and I also started working on making a ferrofluid again and this time I was successful.
I'm still working out some kinks with the whole process though, so I'm not entirely sure when I'll post a video about it. There's a pretty decent chance that it might even be in the next video, but I don't really want to make any promises. As always, thank you very much to all my followers on Pateron. Everyone who supports me can watch my videos at least 24 hours before posting them on YouTube. Also, everyone on Patreon can message me directly and if you support me with $5 or more, you'll get your name at the end, as seen here. English subtitles written by: - ​​Alex C. - @ericjx

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