kiwigirl71
Forum Replies Created
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From what I learned here is not that you shouldn’t add water to the lye, but rather DO NOT USE HOT WATER. If you use hot water, regardless which method you’ll have a problem.
The heat released using cold water doesn’t seem to be sufficient to create an explosive exothermic reaction. And I guess my next step now will be to prove that mathematically. Luckily, we are now venturing into thermodynamics here, into my field of expertise. I’m back at work today, but will post the exact calculations later.
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As you said, the water they used was already hot. Here’s a video, not mine using cold water.
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@Perry and @MarkBroussard
The reason for doing this is because the experiment doesn’t match the theory. And yes this is a ‘theory’, which should be able to be proven scientifically. I’m not a chemist, but a physicist, so the scientific method is familiar to me.
When I try something, in this case to test if adding water to solid lye ‘explodes’, I expect the theory to hold. And I expected a reaction. Because this didn’t happen, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why, that’s why I came here.
Out of curiousity, have either you actually tried this out? I have. And yes, wearing the whole Breaking Bad outfit, which really must have looked hilarious to anyone watching for lack of any reaction.
And as to why, to demonstrate that it really is a bad idea to add water to solid lye.
And lastly, I did the next batch of experiments, each time using 50 g solid NaOH. Each in a 250 ml pp beaker. Using 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon, 50 g and 100 g of distilled water at room temperature respectively.
Results: none of the samples reacted in a violent manner as expected. None of the samples boiled, although the temperature did rise, with the 50 g water sample showing the highest temperature increase. I did not see any gas (steam) coming off in the smaller samples, only in the two with 50 g and 100 g water.
But most importantly, none of them showed any exploding tendencies.
I don’t have any conclusions yet, only that maybe the samples are not large enough.
Soap makers usually make 1000 g of soap in a batch, using around 130-140 g of NaOH, depending on the type and quantity of the oils used.
So tomorrow, I’ll repeat the test using 200 g of NaOH with 5 g, 15 g, 100 g and 200 g of water respectively.
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How small an amount are you talking about? I just went outside and tried it again. I was going to post a video, but I can only post images.
From what you are saying, a smaller amount of water would create a stronger reaction. I added about a tablespoon of water to half a cup of NaOH, expecting this stronger reaction, but nothing much happened. It barely got warm. It dissolved some of the solid, but that was it.
PS I’m not doubting you at all. I’m just flummoxed why the experiment doesn’t back the theory. I used room temperature distilled water. And the NaOH is 99% pure according to the label. How can I create that boiling effect?
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Thank you, Perry!
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Thanks, Perry! That’s been really helpful. And thank you for clearing up the difference between SLS and SCS.
2. Sodium laureth sulfate is ethoxylated, you say. Is that SLS that has gone through the extra step of ethoxylation with ethylene oxide to become sodium laureth sulfate?
6. I got as far as it being a conditioning agent. But got stuck on the ‘Hydroxyethylmonium’. Something with hydrogen, oxygen, ethyl and ammonium, I’m guessing. But what is it? Some kind of special ethylene oxide?
(Geologist here, so chemistry really very basic)
That whole ‘natural’ thing is really annoying. And everyone defines it by their own rules. Imo, everything is naturally derived at some point. And even petroleum could be considered natural, since it occurs naturally. But I’m guessing what people are asking is if something is organic (as opposed to inorganic). But then they also define clays and micas as natural. Go figure.
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I was thinking of this one: distearoylethyl hydroxethylonium methosulfate.
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Oh and I also just realised soap = salt (of sodium) and salts have a crystalline structure aka crystals. Duh.
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Ah, I wish. I’m a blogger, so I can’t exactly not tell. But I did suspect it would be a very low risk. Thanks for the reply!
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Thanks! I wasn’t sure if it was just some kind of soap making speak like ‘volcano effect’ or ‘dreaded orange spots’. Interesting book! Thanks for the recommendation!
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I will, but was wondering if there is actually a need for it. I’ll be using a mix of benzyl alcohol and dehydroacetic acid.