First of all, sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in, if this is the case, feel free to move it.
I was trying to reproduce an experiment that I always wanted to do since I was a child: the reaction of KMnO4 and glycerol.
So I took some aluminum foil, made a small "bowl" with it, added the KMnO4 and then a bit of glycerol. I did this outside, it was very cold (about
2°C) and even after waiting a couple hours, the reaction didn't start.
The mix however became brown, making me think that the KMnO4 was entirely reduced to MnO2, and that the reaction wouldn't proceed.
So I took it back home and threw it in a bin. I then forgot about it and went at the chess club. I was out of home for one hour. However when I went
back home,
I found the kitchen full of smoke, and the top of the contents of the bin on fire. I immediately threw water on it to extinguish the fire. Thankfully,
nothing else burned. I was pretty sure if I stayed 1 or 2 more hours out of home, the entire house would have burned. The funniest thing is that I
realised a bit before throwing the "bomb" in the bin that it could catch on fire but still decided to take the risk for some reason.
The moral of the story is : "Always trust your first idea, especially if you only have one"Herr Haber - 7-2-2023 at 12:33
Glad you didnt burn your house down !
I'd have flushed it down the sink or hosed it.
I'm pretty sure we could open a thread "I knew it was a bad idea but did it anyway" Cathoderay - 7-2-2023 at 13:20
You know that with enough oxygen aluminum will burn, especially thin aluminum.
Use steel or ceramic next time.
Also drown any experiment like that with water afterwards whether you see it react or not. B(a)P - 7-2-2023 at 15:36
Thanks for sharing and glad to hear everything was ok in the end. Do you have a smoke alarm? If not, maybe time to get one, if so, maybe time to get
it tested.andyloris - 8-2-2023 at 03:27
I have a smoke alarm, but for some reason, the smoke didn't escape the kitchenarkoma - 8-2-2023 at 12:55
