Where to find molten potassium chlorate

These are common mistakes when first presenting science demonstrations. All that being said, it was a great learning experience, and I am confident that my future presentations will be much improved as a result.

This demo continues to be one of my favorites and I look forward to the next opportunity to perform it at an outreach event. This demonstration has made the news several times due to injuries from classroom incidents. It is speculated that the different kind of candy, gummy bears plugging the tube, the amount of KClO 3 used, and cracked tubes contributed to the tube glass exploding. Truthfully it is tempting not to promote this demo by publishing it. But with so many teachers still doing it, as well as numerous YouTube videos providing evidence of the lack of safety precautions, it would be a missed chance not to stress the safety needed.

In April we asked teachers and some members from the Lab Safety Institute for their thoughts and experiences with this demonstration.

We recommend you read this in addition to following all the safety precautions listed with this demo. We have posted this again on our website — under Supplemental Materials. Serendipitously, Michael Jansen see his article on page 4 suggested some follow-up activities for this demo around the same time we received this article. Michael suggested tests for white-ish powdered product, which can be found inside the tube, near the top.

Potassium in the product can be verified with a flame test. Silver nitrate can be added to this product after it is dissolved in distilled water. A precipitate of AgCl can be observed. This demonstrates that the product is KCl. She is considering a career in medicine upon graduation. The energy evolved as heat is calculated below:. Safety: Potassium chlorate is an extremely strong oxidizer.

Goggles and proper protective equipment should be worn while performing the experiment. Experiment should be performed in a hood.

Keep all flammable or combustible materials clear of the reaction. Do not store mixtures of sugar and potassium chlorate.

Concentrated sulfuric acid is a strong dehydrating agent and should be handled carefully. Spills should be neutralized and wiped up. Political Science. Welcome to Owlcation. Related Articles. By Darla Sue Dollman. By Glen Rix. By Linda Crampton.

By Eric Caunca. By Jule Romans. By precy anza. By Alianess Benny Njuguna. By Jason Ponic. I generally get the best results with this demo by using ordinary granulated table sugar or powdered confectioner's sugar. Reagent grade sucrose often consists of larger granules, and requires more sulfuric acid to get the reaction to sustain itself.

When using confectioner's sugar, it is especially important to get a good mixing between the two chemicals, otherwise the finely powdered sugar can smother the fire.

This reaction often produces a great deal of smoke, and must either be done in a well-ventilated area, or in a working fume hood. I've set off smoke alarms when doing this demo in hoods whose ventilation was under par. I've seen videos of this demonstration being done by dropping a source of sugar such as a piece of candy into a test tube containing molten potassium chlorate.