Make Potassium Nitrate from Instant Cold Packs and Potassium Hydroxide
Warning: This reaction will produce large quantities of toxic ammonia gas. Perform the reaction outside or in a fume hood. Potassium hydroxide is highly corrosive; wear gloves when working with it.
Some instant cold packs contain ammonium nitrate as their active ingredient and when mixed with potassium hydroxide will produce potassium nitrate and ammonia gas.
Get an instant cold pack that clearly says it contains ammonium nitrate, cut it open, and pour the contents into a container. If its unused there will be a water pouch that you can discard. The rest of the pack is ammonium nitrate. Usually its coated in an anti-caking agent so it’ll be off-color.
If you’re using an already used instant cold pack then filter out the liquid and let it evaporate until it’s dry. The crystals will be ammonium nitrate.
Take 80 grams of ammonium nitrate and dissolve in 70 milliliters of hot water. This will take some time so be patient. It will take even longer in cold water so use hot water when you can.
If it has an insoluble anti-caking agent then you need to filter it off through a coffee filter.
Separately, measure out 56 grams of potassium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide is sold online to make homemade soaps and for biodiesel.
Add just enough water to completely dissolve the potassium hydroxide.
When both solutions are clear and ready, add the ammonium nitrate solution to the potassium hydroxide solution. This step will produce large amounts of ammonia gas and must be done outside or in a fumehood.
Leave the solution in a very well-ventilated area (outside is best) for all the water and ammonia to evaporate. You can also boil the solution to dryness, just remember it is still producing ammonia.
Now you have potassium nitrate!
To test it, mix a small portion with an equal amount of sugar and set it on fire. Normally pure sugar does not burn but if the potassium nitrate works then it will flare up in a purplish pink flame.
-EDIT-
Since the comments “why don’t you buy it?” are now exceeding actual questions, commenting will be disabled.
The whole point of the video is to make it and do interesting chemistry. I make no claims that it shouldn’t be purchased in favor of making it. If you can buy it, go for it.
But it? is difficult in some regions to procure certain chemicals due to legislation. So, for some, making it is the only way to get it.
Just because you can buy something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t understand how it can be made. The chemistry is often useful in understanding how other chemicals can be made.
As a final point, there dozens of videos on where/how to get potassium nitrate, why am i not allowed to have one purely on making it?
Apparently the commentors don’t realize these points.
Now since alot of questions have already been asked and answered about potassium nitrate. If you have a specific question please search through the prior comments first, it may have already been asked.
Duration : 0:2:59
Commenting has been …
Commenting has been disabled until further notice. The reason why is in the bottom of the video description.
is it possible to …
is it possible to do using the ammonium nitrate method rather than using nitric acid>?……Maybe I will just experiment by trying it.
alright…thank you
alright…thank you
it would work, …
it would work, check around youtube for some videos on that, there are a couple of good ones.
I have some …
I have some potassium chloride sitting around and i am wondering if this could be substituted for the potassium hydroxide…it’s been i while since i have looked at the action series so I am not sure if it will kick the chloride ion out or not.
salt peter
salt peter
in that case, read …
in that case, read the comments before you post. There was already another poster stating the exact same thing you just did on the same page (before your comment pushed it down).
The video is about …
The video is about doing interesting chemistry. I make no claims that this is better/easier/cheaper than buying it.
Just because you can buy something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t understand how it can be made. The chemistry is often useful in understanding how other chemicals can be made.
Also it is difficult in some regions to procure certain chemicals due to legislation.
These videos are about learning and understanding new things.
Think about that before you decide to be condescending.
in garden store ask …
in garden store ask for kno3 i think its like salt
no you can buy it …
no you can buy it in garden store its called kno3 or salt lolz
its dissolving
its dissolving
Look at 1.18 at the …
Look at 1.18 at the glass is it melting?
where can you buy …
where can you buy potassium nitrate
is potassium …
is potassium nitrate elligal
if you cant find …
if you cant find grants go to lows and look for specricide stump remover. this also works
I also looked up …
I also looked up spectricide stump remover and it said that the gray container contains 100%. this is sold at lows and hardware stores.
same here!! i mixed …
same here!! i mixed with gun powder and sugar!
not available in …
not available in all areas
just go and buy …
just go and buy some “grants stump remover”, its 98.6 % pure and only 5 bucks a pound.
that and that it’s …
that and that it’s a pretty strong oxidizer and it’s non toxic.
hey this is really …
hey this is really cool n stuff n i enjoy watching your videos, but what are the special characteristics of potassium nitrate? just that it burns really well?(not sarcastic, really)
You can also mix …
You can also mix any well soluble, non-reducing potassium salt (like KCl) with another well soluble nitrate (NH4NO3, NaNO3..) as their concentrated solutions and cool it down in a freezer as far as you can so that it just doesn’t freeze (around -20°C). The KNO3 will percipitate in form of large crystal needles because it has a very low solubility at such a temperature. (The other salt which is made at this conversion reaction must be well soluble too, that’s the case with NH4Cl and NaCl)
explained in video …
explained in video and description
y do u add sugar?
y do u add sugar?
go for it
go for it