Chemical Thunderstorm in a Beaker

In this video we make a chemical thunderstorm in a beaker using manganese heptoxide.
I wanted recreate the test tube thunderstorm on a larger scale, adding sound for a more immersive experience. The setup involved using a glass funnel to carefully pour sulfuric acid into ethanol and form a layer of it in the bottom. Sprinkling potassium permanganate into the mix led to the formation of manganese heptoxide that reacted with ethanol and produced display of small explosions, accompanied by popping sounds and flashes of light.
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[@Cowrish]

Yoo the old intro is back

[@NurdRage]

lol. Whenever i think a video is "fun" or highly informative, i use the flashy intro. Whenever i think a video is technical or simple, i use the white intro. :)

[@Cowrish]

@@NurdRage Nice

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Had this run away on me in a test tube using acetone. Pop pop pop pop POP BWOOSH! Sprayed out everywhere while on fire. My students were entertained...

[@NonEuclideanTacoCannon]

Sounds like water in a deep fryer.

[@madmax2069]

I thought of the same thing.

[@kimh9736]

Thanks for spoiling us with content, it feels a bit like we're back to 2012 when I started watching 😊

[@arnecl9566]

NurdRage: "I need some potassium permanganate. It's useful for analytical chemistry. ... And I'm gonne make a thunderstorm in a beaker with it."

[@CourtneyDeez]

That was awesome! New sub here! How is this channel not over a million subs...people are nuts... They need to see this awesomeness!

[@edgeeffect]

I must have missed this first time round. Pot. Perman. is my favourite reagent and this is it's best show yet... Great stuff!

[@hackerjamsjustwegamer1568]

Every day NurdRage post, is a good day

[@paxandromeda]

Heh, you had fun with that edit. I'll say again... *fwoompf* ...fire safety protocols must be in place

[@csn583]

Fun! Makes me think of star formation in a dark early universe. Can you snuff the flame normally? There is an oxidizer and fuel, but presumably the flame on top is primarily using the atmospheric oxygen. Could one maintain an inert gas layer to completely avoid a fire?

[@NurdRage]

Yup! if you keep the whole thing in inert gas it won't catch fire like this. You then just have to wait until the manganese heptoxide is consumed.

[@piranha031091]

No need for argon, just covering it with an hourglass or a piece of aluminium foil should do the trick. (That's how I put out flaming hexane beakers, that caught fire when I was etching pieces of potassium in them...)

[@GigsVT]

@@piranha031091 a watch glass would be cheaper

[@MordecaiV]

I am pretty sure @@piranha031091 means a _watchglass_ not an _hourglass_

[@GodlikeIridium]

Cool! I didn't know you could go that crazy with the amounts :D Thanks Mr. Rage. With crszy stuff like burning gloves with fuming nitric acid, I always go haywire because I know what's going to happen. But from relatively safe experiments like this one, I've got a lot of respect, because if that goes up in flames, it's bad. But knowing it's just a flame like in your demonstration, I know how to handle it. The kids will love it :D And the employees too xD But nothing beats my main demonstration of chemistry for kids looking for a career: The silver mirror! I do it with them in a 20 mL Vial, then put a round glass bead in it and close it, so they've got a cute little bell to take home.

[@conormarie4310]

I've done the very same mirroring little glass bottles with silver nitrate. Making mini blue bottles in small conicals is a bit more simple for the younger ones. Good fun

[@adamwiess]

If KZbin demonetizes this video you could change the name to The Tempest in a Teapot Reaction

[@andersjjensen]

LOL! Good one!

[@demandred1957]

Nice! Glad to see you uploading frequently. Almost forgot about you...

[@RaExpIn]

This reaction is so simple and yet looks and sounds so awesome, but I never got it to work as beautiful as in these shots... Maybe I should give it another try.

[@ShadowDragon8685]

Heard of a temptest in a teacup. This seems to be a brouhaha in a beaker!

[@pootentate6184]

Forbidden Pop Rocks!

[@erikhartwig6366]

What an incredible effect. looks just like videos from the ISS looking down at storms on earth. thank you for sharing!

[@umbrakinesis2011]

It looks so awesome! If you could film it in slow motion (not even super high frame rate), that might have a better effect so we could see more of the action.

[@scrappydoo7887]

These are the kind of things that make relatively amateur chemistry fun 👍 If it involves fire or the appearance of it will always make me happy lol

[@JehuMcSpooran]

That's some pretty good ASMR right there. Sounded like you were deep frying some chips.

[@guythat779]

You keep redoing favourite videis which i have referenced recently

[@jesseluna4406]

Wow, very nice effect! I would love to see the slow mo version of this using a slow motion camera.

[@jerematic]

Seems like something the SlowMoGuys would be interested in.

[@SafetyLucas]

Yes! A super close-up macro slow motion video would be awesome!

[@aSCrouton]

would be cool but maybe its too dark overall for it to be captured, slo mo requires a ton of light

[@1BobTheSubGenius]

This reaction really looks like a universe photo's. Very beautiful and good to see you around again!🎉

[@barry7608]

Thanks never seen that one before, looks great, good for the grandkids to see.

[@DanielGBenesScienceShows]

This is absolutely amazing! I would love to see these oxidation explosions filmed at high speed.

[@zachreyhelmberger894]

WOW! What fun! It'd be fun to see real close up one crystal in a test tube with a close up lens and high speed camera to see what is going on.

[@jeremycrochtiere6317]

Very interesting chemical Reaction

[@COLOMBIANFIELDS]

It sounds addictive

[@niemam5825]

That's actually not thunderstorm in a beaker. It's bombing of Dresden in a beaker.

[@rex-up9ln]

Lol

[@mamupelu565]

Wow there's always a fun experiment I've never seen before

[@scrotiemcboogerballs1981]

Awesome thanks for sharing

[@markedis5902]

Nice one

[@experimental_chemistry]

Reactions with manganese heptoxide are able to run out of control easily which can get very dangerous. So this should by done in a high form beaker kept cool from the outside by an icewater bath. Not too much permanganate should be added at once. A face shield and protective gloves need to be worn.

[@chemistryscience4320]

Hey So nice to see you back in action !! On the intro i immediately remembered the distinct smell of aldehyde and acetic acid from the experiment haha. Am i to obsessed with chemistry, or is these normal between us chemists xD ?

[@SomeGuyInSandy]

That's crazy!

[@therocinante3443]

It's really sad that youtube would demonitize such a video

[@mtalhakhalid1679]

sounds like hot oil in a fryer hahaha after a while saw your video.

[@nirvanamadpaul]

Ive got a chemistry book from the late1800s.... I get to see it in action now :)

[@Auroral_Anomaly]

Bro took “little fires everywhere” to a whole new level.💀

[@jackhydrazine1376]

Here I thought the reaction was going to be molten potassium chlorate and screaming Jelly Babies!

[@9daywonda]

Back to basic chemistry which is always good and do'able. Just like scientific rice crispies. SNAP CRACKLE AND POP!!!

[@ChaosUnit178]

I really want to see this reaction filmed by The Slo-Mo Guys

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

Holy fuck what a beautiful reaction holy fucking shit! Wow smple displacement but still!! Beautiful to see!

[@jeffreyyoung4104]

Sounds like something frying!

[@Hobbychemiefreak]

1:29 I've learned and always assumed that it's sensible that it's not the manganese heptoxide floating up since it's so much denser then the sulfuric acid, but that it decomposes and produces ozone which then bubbles up. Is that wrong? Why would the manganese heptoxide float up?

[@twocvbloke]

Change the container for something else and you could have a storm in a teacup too... :P

[@bpark10001]

When I was in college a chemistry stockroom manager became severely injured mixing up potassium permanganate with concentrated sulfuric acid for glassware cleaning solution.

[@LFTRnow]

A few thoughts on this - did you try isopropyl alcohol? That's another easy to get for most people and cheap too. Some other variations I wonder about: - if you can't get sulfuric, how about NaHSO4 dissolved near its solubility limit, and then use perhaps a light oil for the alcohol replacement? - the top layer burns due to atmospheric exposure, why not try some ways to close it off? Perhaps a layer of shaving cream or something else that could float on top would block most oxygen, or maybe even a simple watchglass dish dropped on top would starve things enough. It might ignite, but it wouldn't last - A comment mentioned inert gas fill, but you could combine this demo with the CO2 fire extinguisher (vinegar, baking soda, pour invisible gas demo) and pour it into the thunderstorm demo before dropping in the permanganate - could you get color flashes by dissolving things in the top layer? Perhaps a copper salt for green, etc Thanks for the fun demo! Worth the Patreon money :)

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

sodium bisulfate wouldn't work as the reaction procceds via a dehydration of the permanganic acid to manganese heptoxide unfortunately, and in an aqueous solution it simply will not dehydrate. solid sodium bisulfate also would not work as it isnt dehydrating like sulfuric acid is

[@LFTRnow]

@@EdwardTriesToScience Ah that is interesting. I had thought it was just being oxidized. I'm not too surprised a sulfuric acid substitute wouldn't work, but thought it would be interesting. Thanks for the clarification. Would love to learn more about my other suggestions.

[@kurttaz]

Mad❤

[@bobwerner6512]

sounds like deep fry LOL

[@drmarine1771]

As usual you make my day. you're by far the best chemist going around.

[@Trauerdurst_TD3D]

for some weird reason i now crave popcorn... 🤔

[@Novalight2550]

This needs a wide container and shot from above with a slow motion camera.

[@glarynth]

Forbidden grape soda

[@devorakman112]

Need to get with the slo mo guys and get this in super slow mo

[@SurvivalSquirrel]

A bit of history would be great, to know how they this was discovered.

[@rex-up9ln]

It was invented, not discovered. Most probably

[@eruiluvatar236]

Regarding the "fuel", wouldn't it work better with a non polar solvent that is inmiscible with the sulfuric acid or that is a bad idea for some reason?

[@NurdRage]

I tried with many solvents and it seemed my sprinkling technique for the KMnO4 had greater effect.

[@eruiluvatar236]

@@NurdRage Thinking about it I can see how an inmiscible solvent may do something like coating the KMnO4 particles and keep them away from the acid. Thanks for relieving my curiosity about other solvents.

[@rex-up9ln]

Dumping a handful of permanganate into a beaker full of concentrated sulphuric and ethanol and hoping it wont go into runaway mode , what could go wrong? Mn heptoxide scares me for real

[@dissahc]

awesome, i would really like to see this filmed with a better camera

[@senorjp21]

Super cool. I've never heard of this before. Do you think it would work with drain cleaner sulphuric acid, everclear, and pot perm pro?

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

yes it should work

[@rex-up9ln]

No. Conc. H2so4 is essential

[@Sox207rocks]

The thunderstorm kinda looks like your in a rocket ship zooming through space whizzing past galaxies, I really enjoyed this video. Thanks!

[@andyd8370]

Pop Rocks!!

[@ZoonCrypticon]

A great presentation ! Could you, show methods in future videos on how to produce calcium carbide and hydrogen peroxide with easily available items and chemicals ?

[@Ioun267]

Could the risk of a fire during the quenching step be mitigated by adding some water to the reaction beaker first? Or does the heat of hydration with the Sulfuric make that moot?

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

I will be honest, making permanganate and not doing this right afterwards is a crime lol

[@N1ghtStalkerNL]

Hey Nurdrage, great video! I was wondering as this reaction works in many types of flammable solvents, will it also work in cheaper non-lab grades of ethanol:methanol mixtures?

[@rex-up9ln]

Should

[@1.4142]

certified zeus classic

[@asvarien]

Why grounds would there be to demonitise this vid?

[@Draftmission]

Probably since it's dangerous. KZbin can be quite harsh with that...

[@rushi5638]

Boy am I glad I'm not epileptic.

[@ChickenPermissionOG]

does it work with Oleum.

[@sehrgut]

Any progress on making potassium via your method? You said you would inform us...

[@lazersteve]

Can this be used to perform a reaction that produces a useful product? Is potassium metal one of the intermediate products that produce the lights?

[@rex-up9ln]

No

[@pikadroo]

Would you be able to pick that reaction up on an AM radio?

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

likely not as its chemical, not electrical

[@pikadroo]

@@EdwardTriesToSciencethe reaction is so great I find it hard to believe there isn’t some electromagnetic energy coming off that. I mean he did call it a ‘thunderstorm’ so i figured it was more then just an observational reason for that. 🤷‍♂️

[@DevinBaillie]

What if you replaced the ethanol with a flammable oil of some sort to prevent/reduce mixing with the sulfuric acid?

[@NurdRage]

i did try it with other solvents, but it seemed my sprinkling technique with the KMnO4 had greater effect on the result. So while i'm sure other solvents do have an effect, it's better to go with cheaper ethanol and practice good sprinkling.

[@ArcadiaPalladius]

Will drain cleaner acid work as well for the bottom layer?

[@rex-up9ln]

No

[@htomerif]

can I use nitromethane instead of ethanol? :)

[@Ohverture]

You should hook up with the Slowmo guys and film that in a ridiculous frame rate.

[@mrslade]

For some reason I'm craving French fries.

[@dasbuj]

how it feels to chew 5 gum

[@conto7032]

Can you make colab with slow mo guys ?

[@Thesnakerox]

I wonder if some filmmaker could use this as a practical effect for something...

[@alch3myau]

wouldnt this have been better in a round bottom beaker?

[@mikeguitar9769]

The audio is very crackley, you should check your mic /s

[@cyan_oxy6734]

Couldn't you use mineral oil instead of ethanol? So mixing wouldn't be an issue and splashing/explosions wouldn't be such a fire hazard.

[@alch3myau]

Make it bigger. Earth scale bigger. lol

[@sonicase]

greetings fellow nerds

[@NITETROUS]

Brings the thought to mind of waters above waters below and a firmament . Or star in a jar of water and coloration of alleged meteors in the sky rubbing against a glass surface. Appreciate this video all your experiments are astounding 🏆

[@aufstieg6948]

WHAT are you talking about?

[@NITETROUS]

@@aufstieg6948 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYSsgaKipdudeLssi=9GAGLaJ5Qp3Gx0dR

[@NITETROUS]

@@aufstieg6948 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnK8Y5V4iqt0iLsfeature=shared

[@NITETROUS]

@@aufstieg6948 kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3bLmWyMjbV2o5Isi=E6MOcCdGdjSiX1JG

[@NITETROUS]

@@aufstieg6948 kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5rJlXiuq85rpcksi=T35q04aMFjXJA116 not making any claims just a curiosity

[@autodidact7127]

Dude I love NurdRage. The other chem channels are just imposter because you had to move your lab.

[@cyan_oxy6734]

And every non German car is a knock off as Mercedes had the first.

[@urgtuiop5455]

Sounds like frying bacon.

[@teachteacher]

Hi nurdrage.i want you speaking

[@lexer_]

I think a distinction should be made around videos showing potentially dangerous things. If you create a dangerous substance from usually innert ingredients that are easily accessible I understand the worry about this being misused by reckless teens or bad actors. But with reactions like this where the ingredients are highly reactive and dangerous on their own just showing a visually interesting chemical reaction involving those shouldn't be treated as if it somehow poses a danger. The footage in this video for example doesn't show anything more dangerous than the danger which the raw ingredients already bring with them. I get that algorithmically distinguishing between the two is probably very difficult at least with current tech but I would like it if at least the intent to distinguish between these two very different cases was more clear.

[@berniearts]

Hey NurdRage, have you considered posting your videos on Locals or Rumble?

[@nathanguyon7620]

See, THIS is what science is for.

[@teachteacher]

I am afghan

[@WindowsTutorial772]

Question: can i make explosives from household chemicals like bleach, ammonia, drain opener, etc.

[@NurdRage]

half my videos are explosive if misapplied.

[@madxenomorph]

Probably. Safely? Probably not. Will he/we show you? Also no.

[@demandred1957]

@@madxenomorph exactly.

[@Rhiawhyn]

If you need to know how to make explosives, you aren't in a field of work that uses them. Meaning you don't need to know how to make explosives. If you are in a field that uses them, you don't need to ask youtube how to make explosives. In short, they can tell you, but you don't need to know and they wont.

[@andersjjensen]

If you have to ask that question in the youtube comment section you don't have the skills to survive the manufacturing process. And if you had the idea that the youtube comment section is a place to get reliable answers then you don't have the brains to administer explosives responsibly. But the answer is yes. A skilled chemist can go to a grocery store and a hardware store and obtain everything needed to manufacture death and mayhem. So don't fuck with chemists. They can also make sure your body is never found in case you were wondering.

[@MrMegaPussyPlayer]

4:46 Educational content. That is not "we" (KZbin) want to see on this platform. We rather see 5-minute-crafts boiling eggs in a microwave. Not only will idiots lap that up like crazy, we also have additional content for when those blow up in your face and melt it off.

[@VexMage]

Forbidden Pop Rocks!