Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Mark Robers Secret Devil's Toothpaste Recipe Revealed

Mark Robers Secret Devil's Toothpaste Recipe Revealed

EliasExperiments - 29-1-2021 at 09:45

In this video I show with experimental proof how you can make devils elephants toothpaste:

https://youtu.be/KERPITDcPDQ

What do you guys think? Did I miss anything, or is this actually the devil's toothpaste? Does anybody have any other ideas?

RustyShackleford - 29-1-2021 at 14:37

pre-heating up the solutions would be interesting as mentioned in the comments. I think maybe upping the peroxide concentration also, but youre nearing dangerous levels so maybe not if you want to keep an impressive scale like you just did.

Johnny Cappone - 29-1-2021 at 15:08

It was quite fun! I would feel a little uncomfortable working with 5 liters of hydrogen peroxide at this concentration. 35% H2O2 is a very unpleasant substance.

By the way, seeing you talk about how difficult it can be for a private individual to get concentrated peroxide reminds me of how curious the availability of OTC chemicals is from place to place. 50% H2O2 is readily available where I live, it is used to treat vegetables in hydroponic cultivation. On the other hand, I feel very envious of those who can get concentrated sulfuric acid as a drain cleaner.

DBX Labs - 29-1-2021 at 15:22

Very nice video! Yeah, that amount of peroxide in the states is nearly unthinkable to private citizens.

ChemTalk - 29-1-2021 at 18:47

In the USA, it is no problem to buy 200 liter (yes 200 liter) drums of 35% or 50% hydrogen peroxide. And the cost is just a few hundred dollars. The issue is really not whether you are a private citizen or not, but whether you have the facilities to safely receive, store and dispense a large drum.

We also can easily buy 93% sulfuric acid at any hardware store, except Home Depot.

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chemistrytalk.org

[Edited on 1-30-2021 by ChemTalk]

Vomaturge - 29-1-2021 at 22:09

I think you nailed it, but because he kept referring to it as this distinctly different formula, and because it shrank considerably on cooling, I also wondered if it was 30% or lower peroxide that was somehow reacting with an organic reducing agent at low temperature to foam up with steam and CO2.

I'll try to crunch some numbers but as I recall, some researchers found out that a 60/40 water/peroxide solution, diluted even further with glycerin (moderately flammable, reducing agent) had a reaction much more, ahem, vigorous, than any of these "toothpaste" reactions. This was obviously under very specific conditions.

[Edited on 30-1-2021 by Vomaturge]

EliasExperiments - 30-1-2021 at 20:29

@RustyShackelford What do you mean with dangerous levels? Isn't 50 % already dangerous?

@Johnny Cappone I also felt a little uncomfortable cause if anything went wrong I would have been kind of screwed XD

@DBX Labs Well in Germany too, you just have to ask enough people until you get it.

@ChemTalk Well I guess if I want to break the world record at some point I need to figure that out. XD

@Vomaturge Okay that sounds really interesting. If I had some 60 % H2O2 left I might have tried that.

Fyndium - 31-1-2021 at 11:20

I consider that a huge waste of good reagents.

Vomaturge - 31-1-2021 at 22:32

Decomposing a liter of 50% H2O2/water solution generates 7.35 mol of O2, 42.4 mol of H2O, of which about 27 mol is in vapor form at 100C. This explains the foam quickly shrinking as it cools and re condenses.

A back of the envelope calculation says that if you could somehow cause the components of a 15.5% H2O2, 6.6% sucrose in water solution to react spontaneously, you would actually get a somewhat larger gas volume, consising mostly of steam with some CO2 thrown in. I have no idea of how this would actually be accomplished, but I assumed that if Mark Rober took that route, he probably found a cheap organic compound that reduced peroxide at room temperature.

Johnny Cappone - 1-2-2021 at 00:41

Quote: Originally posted by Fyndium

I consider that a huge waste of good reagents.

Don't be so hard. It's a fun demonstration.

Furthermore, our friend seems to find it quite easy to get his hands on generous amounts of useful reagents.

RustyShackleford - 1-2-2021 at 01:13

Well i mean so dangerous that it will explode by itself, 50% still has a ton of water to "stabilize" it more or less. pure peroxide is very very dangerous

Fyndium - 2-2-2021 at 06:05

Quote: Originally posted by Johnny Cappone

Don't be so hard. It's a fun demonstration.

Furthermore, our friend seems to find it quite easy to get his hands on generous amounts of useful reagents.

Bigger the better, I suppose. I guess the guy's parent(s) work at some sort of company that handles that stuff on daily basis, so getting buckets of anything dirt cheap is not an issue. I'm still living in the economy of scarcity, even though I also have company.

EliasExperiments - 3-2-2021 at 09:57

@Vomaturge Interesting idea with the organic compound reduction, but I highly doubt any reaction like that can happen at room temperature upon pouring in something else so quickly. If you can find me a reference for that I would be more than happy to read it however.

Johnny Cappone & Fyndium: This is not from my parents I bought the stuff with my own money on the internet. It is all a matter of asking enough people, being persistent enough and explaining yourself adequatly. I currently have some money, that is just laying on my bank account, so I am investing it in youtube, maybe it will pay out one day.

@RustyShackleford I acutally have no idea how dangerous pure peroxide is, I never worked with it before. But most likely more dangerous than 50 %

Johnny Cappone - 3-2-2021 at 15:42

Quote: Originally posted by EliasExperiments

Johnny Cappone & Fyndium: This is not from my parents I bought the stuff with my own money on the internet. It is all a matter of asking enough people, being persistent enough and explaining yourself adequatly. I currently have some money, that is just laying on my bank account, so I am investing it in youtube, maybe it will pay out one day.

It's all right. I believe that none of us wanted to appear rude. It's just that getting such reagents, in such quantities, can be quite difficult for most of us. I think that is what Fyndium meant, suggesting that it could eventually have a better use.

Good luck with the channel, I also created one recently where I plan to post some interesting experiments. I am a photographer and I enjoy producing videos, although recording the experiments properly is much more work than simply executing them for personal satisfaction.

EliasExperiments - 4-2-2021 at 10:45

Thank you! I wish you good luck on your projects! ;-)
Everything that is actually worth having is difficult to get. Of course there is always a better use for anything. The thing is if you always wait for the very best thing, you will never do anything.

draculic acid69 - 12-2-2021 at 03:13

I wonder what the elephant toothpaste rxn would be like if rubidium/cesium iodide were used instead of potassium.

ChemTalk - 14-2-2021 at 17:08

Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69

I wonder what the elephant toothpaste rxn would be like if rubidium/cesium iodide were used instead of potassium.

Based on the mechanisms, I would not expect it to be any different. It is the iodide ion that plays a part in the reaction. It would certainly be more expensive!

[Edited on 2-15-2021 by ChemTalk]

draculic acid69 - 15-2-2021 at 06:11

Quote: Originally posted by ChemTalk

Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69

I wonder what the elephant toothpaste rxn would be like if rubidium/cesium iodide were used instead of potassium.

Based on the mechanisms, I would not expect it to be any different. It is the iodide ion that plays a part in the reaction. It would certainly be more expensive!

[Edited on 2-15-2021 by ChemTalk]

Well I've seen a video of sodium iodide being used instead of KI and it was far
less energetic of a rxn. My theory is if KI works better than NaI then maybe
rubidium iodide will be even more energetic with cesium iodide being
stronger still.just a theory but I don't think anyone has done it yet to prove
whether I'm right or wrong.

ChemTalk - 15-2-2021 at 07:55

I understand, I just think the theory is unlikely and the percentage peroxide was probably different, which plays a large role in the rate of the reaction. But of course, it wouldn't hurt (except for someone's wallet) to test it.

Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69

Quote: Originally posted by ChemTalk

Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69

I wonder what the elephant toothpaste rxn would be like if rubidium/cesium iodide were used instead of potassium.

Based on the mechanisms, I would not expect it to be any different. It is the iodide ion that plays a part in the reaction. It would certainly be more expensive!

[Edited on 2-15-2021 by ChemTalk]

Fyndium - 15-2-2021 at 09:47

Quote: Originally posted by EliasExperiments

Fyndium: This is not from my parents I bought the stuff with my own money on the internet. It is all a matter of asking enough people, being persistent enough and explaining yourself adequatly. I currently have some money, that is just laying on my bank account, so I am investing it in youtube, maybe it will pay out one day.

Didn't mean your parents paid it, but if you've got connections, you can get stuff very cheap compared to amateur. 25L canisters of stuff cost a fraction per liter what hobbyist pays for 1 liter.

Youtube can be a great investment. I've got a couple of friends who make 5-figure money annually from The Tube. Purchasing thousands worth of stuff that gets literally wasted is a horrendous thought for anyone, but for Youtuber it's called a normal day. Better yet, companies not only give you the stuff for free, but actually pay you to test (destroy) it on video.