Making Alcohol Jelly (from Calcium Acetate)

[@bur1t0]

There's actually a trick to holding the burning ball. If you hold it in your open palm, less air gets in below it and the underside burns cooler, allowing you to hold it for longer (I'm talking half a second to a whole second here). You also want to handle it *slowly*, to prevent fanning air onto the ball. You can also throw it back and forth between hands slowly in a sort of juggling motion, allowing you to hold it indefinitely. I'd also encourage you to do this without water on your hands, as it's actually safer. The next trick is with a friend try throwing them to each other, over a distance of 5 - 10 metres, the noise they make while airbourne is something to behold. Again, just like holding them, nice gentle arcs through the air, limit the speed of any movements you make, and do it in an area where you can drop it if if gets too hot. Also, tie back any long hair, and make sure you pull up the sleeves of any shirt or jumper you're wearing. The smell of burnt arm hair and bacon will go away in a day or two.

[@brisingreragon95]

Children : snowball fights! Nile : FLAMING SNOWBALL FIGHT MOFOS, get on my level

[@mihawkdrakule3869]

Well , his real name is nigel braun

[@Ishsa]

Potato Boy I don’t know why you’re right, but you are

[@Prchemist06]

@@mihawkdrakule3869 how did you came to know?

[@mihawkdrakule3869]

@@Prchemist06 Insta

[@Prchemist06]

@@mihawkdrakule3869 ohk

[@buckstarchaser2376]

I bet this would be handy in a toothpaste tube, along with one of those spark-making rods. This stuff seems like it would be much easier to use for starting campfires than many of the other handy firestarters. If you run out of the paste, you still have the spark stick, but both should remain functional if the tube and stick got wet.

[@Apastorfield]

I really love that even going back 4 years your content is still totally enjoyable and educational. My 4 year old loves your videos and as soon as I'm not poor im going to make him his own lab

[@isaackalashnikov3681]

Based

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

That's awesome, good for you! I'm really looking forward to showing my son some cool reactions in my lab, but he's only 1and a half now.

[@Algorhythm027]

when cutting up the ball of the jelly, you refer to the alcohol as ethanol even though you used isopropanol

[@CanIHaveACookiee]

"hey bro are you gonna join us in the snowball fight?" "sure bro lemme just get my calcium acetate"

[@MrAgentMooshroom]

Do you think you could do a tour of your lab?

[@Oliepolie]

MrAgentMooshroom no because he probably just has shelves of certain substances and a section full of different beakers and other stir bars and stuff, he just sets all the stuff up, and he's either in his garage or outside some times

[@richardwu9013]

he did

[@maybewise]

"Alcohol jelly: sounds like something crazy kids from MIT would come up with.

[@Flederratte]

I like this video very much. It reminds me when I first discovered this after I added Isopropanol to dissolved eggshells in vinnegar.

[@emilalmberg1096]

I did this experiment with my children, we started from the calium acetate we also made from eggshells. The kids loved to play with fire! The recipe is perhaps 5 times too big to be safe for children ... Thanks for an effort to make all those nice video!

[@Valenspire]

Hell yes it works! It seems like all that work paid off. I failed to pyrolyse my calcium carbonate so it got half burned which made it brown, but I turned it to calcium acetate anyway, it was very hard when I dried it so I was really unsure it would work, but it turnes out it did. Edit: Huh is doesn't last when I stored it away, it just turned into more of a liquid. Must be the impurities.

[@pvc988]

I like how the fire forms kind of standing wave pattern.

[@Eli-ns5uw]

Sorta fun fact: Some old flamethrowers had this stuff inside as fuel

[@petercoutu4726]

The stored flammable jelly can be used as a flexible ice pack if stored in a freezer. It should also reduce the evaporation of the ethanol even though the ziploc bag.

[@Basslastique]

You Sir, brought me back into chemistry. 😊✌

[@jessicaevans7847]

Back in high school, we used to take two pieces of paper and crumple them into one ball, doused in lighter fluid, and coat them in candle wax. Light it and play hacky sack. Just a warning, you probably want to do it without shoes or a shirt, nothing baggy or anything you care about.

[@SodiumInteresting]

I detect some guilt for making those piranha solution videos 😅 It's a useful acid though

[@spaceyboi6651]

Plz do acetone from dry disstilation next

[@TileBitan]

yes please!

[@Hello-qq2to]

I'm researching how to make parrafin wax and it's made using oil and a solvent like acetone. Acetone is made by dry distilling calcium acetate. Calcium Acetate in turn is made by soaking calcium carbonate in acid, like egg shells in vinegar. So my idea is to soak some small animal bones in vinegar to form calcium acetate. Then i let it dry out. The calcium acetate will then be mixed with oil under some light heat, or in my case pine pitch. We will see what happends. Hopefully it forms sort of a solid, hence wax. I will also try just simply mix pine pitch with charcoal and ground chalk. This may or may not give a slower burn. Then I can make a bushcraft candle haha lol.

[@Tonisuperfly]

Did it work?

[@ثرا-ظ9م]

​@@Tonisuperfly انا نجحت بها حقا

[@namibjDerEchte]

This stuff is in gelling-for-flame purity really easy to synthesize. Just get 25% acetic acid from your supermarket, react it with as much calcium hydroxide (in the cement section of your local building supply store, you might wanna check the web for "brand" names. (Here in germany its "Calciumhydroxid" vs. "Löschkalk", which is called slaked lime. If you cant get that, try to substitute for calciumoxide. Beware that this does more damage to skin, so be more carefull. The dry/non-slurry hydroxide is not more dangerous than the acid itself, and that is not too dangerous. It is defatting thoug by creating soap.) The mixing ratio should be aroung 1 volume part calcium(hydr)oxide for 10 volume parts 25% acetic acid. Maybe even 1:30 or so. just try a small scale to get a feeling. You have to barely dissolve all lime, but you don't want more acetic acid than necessary. Anything above 10% over the required amount could lead to slower gelling. The resulting mixture (mine was a little brown stained, like tea, but that doesnt really show in the gel) can be directly used from between 1:20 to 1:5 calciumacetate-solution to (for my case) ethanol. The key is to mix it before it gells, as that prevents further mixing. I had good results pouring the ethanol into the burning container and injecting a stream of solution with a syringe. Also usefull to get the right dose. Just align and shoot as fast as you can. Try not to touch the syringe into the alcohol, and ofc you do not need the hypodermic needle. Just as simple plastic syringe suffices. If you do touch the alcohol, the syringe might require cleaning. Use cold-ish water (hot might be dangerous for your hands and the plasic of the syringe. Really cheap. Like 5 bucks for gelling a 10l bucket of ethanol. Also the only heat required is to ignite. It does however speed the reaction up.

[@mr.b4259]

The overall shape, of the ball on fire, reminded me of old school Street Fighter Hadoukens. Now I'm in nostalgia mode.

[@theamateurscientist]

visit me channel

[@0osk]

+the amateur scientist How about you fuck right off, my dude? Self advertisement on others' videos is the quickest way to hate.

[@mr.b4259]

+Sychopath52 Yep, despicable, dude. I won't visit, unless you have explicit, written consent from this channel.

[@gijose83]

remember us when you're famous

[@Ecksterphono]

Some people roast marshmallows in the flame of this gel in other youtube demonstrations. I wouldn't recommend eating the marshmallows because they end up absorbing the acetone that comes off of the burned byproduct or even acetylene depending on what form of alcohol they use. It's good for filling empty fondant fuel containers. Even though it's considered food grade the byproduct it produces isn't.

[@xTheDeerLordx]

No, this is not true

[@Ecksterphono]

​@xTheDeerLordx 2:56 As he mentioned, using methanol and certain types of alcohol is toxic and not recommended, even though food grade. Also isopropyl alcohol and ethanol is safe, provided the isopropyl is 99% and not 70%. Isopropyl alcohol is also expensive now. However with all fondant fuels and gel fuels there's a certain amount of toxicity from them.

[@crewrangergaming9582]

4:10 that fire was lit af.

[@southof.nowhere6096]

Is water needed or could I pour powdered calcium acetate into a 70% isopropyl alcohol

[@AR0LAS]

Hi, man I was looking for way, how to solify alcohol for the purposes of the computer game I am going to developed durring the summer, so I would like to thank you for this video :)

[@coreyheidemann6873]

Since calcium acetate is used as a food additive, would it be safe to assume you could make some sort of edible alcohol jelly with ethanol?

[@siffle4249]

Corey Heidemann not safe

[@DanielOverbeekB]

Siffle doubt it

[@mattlogue1300]

I 1st thought for real that Nile blue was your alter ego twin.

[@SkylerPC]

nile have you tried setting up the "support this channel" button on KZbin? I think you can use that to give like a one time donation unlike patreon where people have to sign up for monthly donations.

[@NileRed]

+Skyler P.C. They have a button like that? I had no idea...

[@SkylerPC]

Here's some info on what it looks like too a viewer. support.google.com/youtube/answer/6052077?hl=en

[@SkylerPC]

and here's some info on setting it up. They call it "fan funding". www.reelseo.com/how-to-youtube-fan-funding-tip-jar/

[@DonCarlos590]

@@NileRed00:06 what are other uses for the calcium acetate alcohol jelly ? If you aren't going to burn it, then what else is there ? Is there something else more on the topic I'm missing ? Is the alcohol jelly for another project or just a toy ? could you use it to dissolve MgSO₄ ? I got this crazy idea from watching athletes trying to rub salts on the body to release muscle aches. I tried disolving the MgSO₄ in alcohol and I believe also in a jar of water at room temperature. I didn't shake the container. Also, it failed to dissolve in room temperature water. That is surprising. Since I thought water could disolve just about everything as long as you give it time. Only disolve the MgSO₄ quickly in a steam bath. Maybe I should try taking a bath in Powerade , Metamucil , Theraflu , Codeine . Then pray for a miracle. What a great way to check out . 🤞 I am planning to use the acetone to remove graffiti. Do you think it would remove the paint from a vehicle? Yes ! My vehicle ! ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ Thanks for making public understandable information. I'm going to go back to the glowing baby presentation. That looks like a fun project. I'm always looking for a source of light. Also enjoyed the presentation you gave on how much water extracted MgSO₄ . 🤖I can't read books ! Do I look like a quick response scanner to you !🤖

[@Ecksterphono]

Collect washed egg shells to make your calcium acetate

[@MyLonewolf25]

These are great fire starters for camping!

[@markpinther9296]

This was cool. A few times you said “isopropanol” which appears to be unintended.

[@mwbgaming28]

I want to make some of this for my doomsday bag, If it starts to dry out, can you regenerate it by adding more alcohol to the bag and mixing it?

[@chickenspaceprogram]

Yes, I would think so. Do note that the alcohol you need to use would have to be anhydrous.

[@vesatakomo1221]

Nice. Made some with ethanol but it "melted" to running jelly after a day???? How to store this correctly and maybe recreate solid form?

[@mariokanehisa]

It is not alcohol jelly, but, calcium acetate jelly with alcohol (metanol or ethanol). After alcohol burned, the fire is acetone burning.

[@sethmitchell2176]

Do you think you could use isopropyl nitrate instead of alcohol? Invisible napalm / plastic explosive anyone? ;3

[@MostFolkCallMeOrangeJoe]

Try it.

[@sethmitchell2176]

Adam Harrington Sadly I don't have any, and I don't have the proper apparatus or reagents for nitrating isoproponol myself..

[@argenteus8314]

He said it works with alcohols specifically. So isopropyl nitrate probably wouldn't work, but picric acid (another explosive, and one that's technically an alcohol since it has a hydroxyl group) might.

[@Nukestarmaster]

@@argenteus8314 It works with anything that calcium acetate has a low solubility in, so you would have to know the solubility of calcium acetate in isopropyl nitrate.

[@camperchris7426]

I can't get my 70% isopropyl alcohol to gel in the 99.8% calcium acetate and 50ml water mixture. Am I missing something?

[@crazybigyo]

Is this safe to put in a tube and squirt it onto wood to use as fire starter?

[@WXUZT]

This stuff was once made and sold in large quantities as "Chafing dish solid fuel" in India

[@gangleweed]

I used it in the 60's when I was staying at a hotel for lathe night tea making.....it was a pink colour, sold in a small tin and called solid meths.

[@anthonynowlan9765]

Just wondering if this is similar to hand sanitiser. Been wondering how that stuff doesnt just evaporate etc.

[@haddoxguitars9158]

Mine is not working at all. I used a white wine vinegar, maybe that had to do with it? I also did not clean the powder afterwards, maybe that was the problem? Maybe I overheated while crystalizing. I'm not sure what I did wrong. I also soaked the eggshells with the vinegar in a stainless steel pot. Any tips here? Thanks

[@Nicoya]

Looks like i'm not the only one who's wondering if you can make chewable shooters with this method.

[@Spycyzygy]

So for making acetone, if I use calcium benzoate, can I make benzophenone? There was a video from chemplayer but I can't seem to find it anymore and they made acetophenone

[@NileRed]

+Rsaramallac Apparently it is possible. www.prepchem.com/synthesis-of-acetophenone/

[@Austingame]

+Nile Red Can i have a link to your other YT channel? i couldnt find it

[@Spycyzygy]

search "Nile Blue" it should come up right away

[@grantstewart5453]

Make acetone from calcium acetate dry distillation! I've been looking forward to this one forever!

[@NileRed]

+Grant Stewart haha sorry. It has been a while. That is the next one that will be uploaded

[@grantstewart5453]

+Nile Red Awesome, I'm looking forward to it. I've been making calcium acetate from limestone and calcite as of late with plans of doing the same, so I am quite interested in seeing it.

[@NileRed]

Grant Stewart Just keep in mind that the yield isn't amazing and the product needs to be thoroughly purified. It isnt exactly the cleanest way to make acetone

[@grantstewart5453]

+Nile Red Definitely. I'm also interested in the reddish oil that allegedly comes over after the acetone with higher heat.

[@Mattes_______]

Nice stuff man :D going to try it out if I get some anhydrouse alcohol^^

[@pauldunn1901]

It perfect for quick campfire starter

[@justanpayne8748]

Just a thought. Can the jel be wax coated? For a simple fire starter.

[@mgritsch]

I had the impression that the jelly isn't easy to moldel and won't stick together to allow more or less arbitrary shapes. Do you think it is possible to control the jellification process in a way so that you can mold nice looking items?

[@haileymccurry3756]

aha! one time I mixed ethanol with a store brand frozen grape juice, and it resulted in a very sterno-like smell. Calcium Acetate is used as a ph regulator. Coincidence?

[@JohnSmith-vb6jx]

Very well done.

[@alpo789]

Does this work with other acetates? I'm thinking about creating nice coloured flames with transition metals

[@tomasbalnionis1399]

it depends, because some acetate salts are rather soluble in alcohols , such as sodium acetate

[@yourgodsisspeakingtoyouher4284]

Does this light with a spark of a ferro rod also?

[@rpichay]

Hi sir is this possible with a 70% ethyl alcohol?

[@ВіталійКривий-р6ц]

I think if we use 70% alcohol we woudn't need add more water. Only calcium acetate and alcohol.

[@gracepine7582]

So this would not be considered a precipitate?

[@hamptoncopeland3616]

Hey Nile. Please please please make that video on Lithium Peroxide. I'm really looking forward to it!Best wishes,Hampton.

[@NileRed]

I have it made and everything, i just need a way to demonstrate it

[@hamptoncopeland3616]

You should do a flame test. Fill two beakers with CO2 and then put matches in them. In one suspend a coffee filter of Li2O2. That should convert the CO2 to O2? Best of luck, looking forward to it! P.S. I'm currently in the process of getting glassware and a setup. so soon, hopefully ill be able to go through each of your videos and do them myself!

[@WaschyNumber1]

Hello Can the calcium Acetate be reused after the alcohol burned off ? Is it possible to use something like a press to make fuel tablets from it, or would be to much alcohol pressed out and the burntime would be reduced to much? 🤔

[@talideon]

You'd need to prevent acetone from forming, but burning of the alcohol will naturally lead to the calcium acetate breaking down. You'd need to evaporate the water and alcohol off to get at the calcium acetate.

[@evanrondinelli2008]

It's so weird to see what looks like a flaming snowball that doesn't melt

[@carlguthyv.agustin7094]

Is calcium acetate gel lyophobic or lyophilic? Thanks

[@subzeroelectronics3022]

Fun fact: Moonshiners spread this on their toast.

[@DUIofPhysics]

I'd really like to see you attempting the synthesis of Trimethylaluminum There are some interesting papers online about the procedures too.

[@NileRed]

+Just Power Electronics what is it used for?

[@DUIofPhysics]

+Nile Red as a catalyst for some polymerization reactions. it also reacts with air to ignite. periodic videos have a video on it. I feel it would be an interesting challenge. if I knew more of the chemistry involved I would have like to attempt it myself with a home machined reaction chamber. have a look. I'd be interested in what you think.

[@NileRed]

Just Power Electronics Pyrophoric liquids are a little too dangerous for me to make right now i think. I want to make butyl lithium at some point though.

[@DUIofPhysics]

Is there a way I can contact you out of KZbin comments, an email?

[@melissahauke8682]

#NileRed Please tell me how to turn my rum into jelly. The thing is that I want to make edible jelly from 80% dark rum and need to add a little bit sugar. Someone adviced me to use agar-agar but it didn't work for me.

[@sanjuanwin]

NileRed do you know why it would liquify after storing in airtight container? Bummed bc a made a bunch successfully using non-denatured ethyl alcohol and it's now back to being liquid (pretty much).

[@CSxKonio]

What do you think about making a cinnamic acid by using benzaldehyde and acetic anhydride? Of course with steam distillation process;)

[@SJPrepper0569]

can you reuse the calcium carbonate once the alcohol has been burned off?

[@NileRed]

+SJPrepper0569 Depends on what want to use it for. Some of it might be CaO though. If you want to make more calcium acetate, it would probably work.

[@SJPrepper0569]

+Nile Red that's what I was wondering if you could rehydrate it then add more alcohol and make more burning gel

[@superdau]

+SJPrepper0569 You start out with calcium *acetate*, but end up with calcium *carbonate*. That's not the same

[@SJPrepper0569]

+superdau so use the acetate that turned into carbonate to make more acetate then use that to make more the burning gel? just wondering if you can continue to recycle until it's depleted?

[@superdau]

+SJPrepper0569 In theory, yes, if you add acetic acid to the carbonate it should turn into acetate again and also all the Ca should stay in the tray. How often you can do this in reality until you somehow lost the Calcium (ash blown away; reaction products that don't turn back into acetate again; still assuming you're 100% efficient in scooping up the everything in every step) or until impurities you add with the acid just make it not work well any more, I don't know.

[@MechaTehDark]

Do you think we could get a video on the synthesis of cyclohexylamine?

[@atharvakumbhar1150]

Which other alcohol can be used in place of isopropyl alcohol

[@DeathMetalDerf]

What is the app I'm supposed to download that will help the channel?

[@828312]

U can use sodium polycrylate to. 😊

[@victorgigante5374]

Colloids are fun to play with. XD

[@alklazaris3741]

Wait did NileRed just teach me how to make Napalm?

[@seannot-telling9806]

How do they make the fire jelly that pops and snaps?

[@mckryall]

Mistake at 3:59. You said ethanol instead of isopropyl.

[@magnuswootton6181]

this would be good for firing carbon mixed with it.

[@timnash9264]

Hi, I wondered if you could do a video on the process of methylating transition metals? just curious as to how methyl organometallic compounds are synthesised, thank you :)

[@whatsupeveryone]

no Tim, he will never make a video on that.

[@konrad8509]

I know how it sounds but... is it edible? Calcium acetate is labeled as E263 so it kinda should be. Although it's not like I'm gonna eat a snowball that contains some 99% ethanol. It's just curiousity

[@talideon]

It's probably safe in _very_ small amounts. The problem with calcium acetate is that you probably don't want to consume too much of it, as there's a risk of hypercalcaemia. Mind you, I checked and there's less bioavailable calcium in calcium acetate than there is in calcium carbonate, which means the risk of that is less than you'd get from chewing on chalk.

[@TaintedMojo]

Have you tried making jellied alcohol with methylcellulose?

[@Frank.B.Crafts]

So, is this basically Sterno? If no can you make sterno?

[@Oseois]

Any chance you could do a video on deep eutectic solvents?

[@ChrisTheGregory]

You can also use it to protect yourself from extraterrestrial viruses.

[@parasthukral6052]

Brother, tell me how do I make powder of this jelly? ASAP

[@harriscasiano5114]

we are going to make an expiremental research in which instead of eggshells, we will use golden apple snail shells. Is it a good alternative as source of calcium carbonate?

[@luisp.3788]

You need calcium acetate, not carbonate.

[@budmeister]

Now mix gasoline with Styrofoam!

[@5h4yn3]

you should make the mercaptan (Thiol) they add to gasoline for the smell. it's like pure rotten egg smell.

[@NileRed]

+Shayne Lafferty It is super potent I think. Not sure ill make it. I will be making some pure cadaverine and putrescine though...

[@kennethphillips9348]

Where can one purchase the calcium acetate? Thank you!

[@jeffborders1146]

Probably a good thing you didn't title this one "how to make napalm molotovs.

[@NOSrommel]

do you need to use high concentration ethanol? or could you also use 10% to 30% ??

[@EvelynH-tj1qt]

fun party trick, get some 70% easily acquired from the store, start by adding ice to very cold water and then take a spray bottle with alcohol and spray it through a candle flame at your hand, it should burn up as it gets close but it burns so fast and theirs so little that you only feel a pleasant warmth, also good for removing hair XD.

[@shaliniarora2890]

can i directly add isopropyl alcohol to calcium acetate

[@dumitrumindru7762]

Does the fire last for long

[@Vulcano-xw1xw]

Is it possible to use methylated spirit ( i dont know the actual word but it i mean the liquide that you use in small burners) instead of isopropyl alcohol?

[@Vulcano-xw1xw]

Sorry for bad english

[@andrewlorona7360]

Yes. But you should use gloves for that one.

[@kirxtinkirstine908]

Are you using white vinegar or cleaning vinegar?

[@Ricky_1531]

cannot wait for the red phosphorus vid!

[@RB26DETT_]

Does this leave a bad smell or toxic fumes?

[@Noob___Noob]

did the fire produce any smoke - black or white?

[@NileRed]

+9-BBN I actually dont remember. I dont think it produced much smoke at all. Maybe a little bit black if anything?

[@Noob___Noob]

Nile Red I was wondering whether the orange fire originated from the Ca2+ ion or the carbon.

[@diakmef]

What's a piranha channel?

[@jimsvideos7201]

Not so much Stern-O as Fun-O?

[@kurokaminari4566]

Can we use spirit?

[@data901]

Could this work with Methyl Hydrate? I use that as fuel for a "do it your self" pop can stove. It works great to heat up water and make coffee. But it be nice if it was in a gel form.

[@chickenspaceprogram]

It should work; I believe Methyl Hydrate is a synonym for methanol. Probably would want gloves though.

[@yingxiawei821]

Flammable snowballs

[@TheShiroKuma]

Nice vid, wish i could do this stuff at home..

[@KowboyUSA]

+MegaFrostNova It's impossible to understand how Nile can only have a little over 50,000 subs. He makes awesome videos about stuff most of us can't do at home (or even if we could it's just easier *and more relaxing to watch Nile do it.

[@NecroBanana]

+John Ratko 50k subs in two years is decent growth, really. If you want him to have more, spread the word, show his videos to anyone you know and they might be interested.

[@KowboyUSA]

NecroBanana Wasn't trying to be disparaging. Just believe he should have a lot more subs. For hands on lab work Nile's the best channel on KZbin, imho. And, yes, I do recommend the channel often. Cheers, friend!

[@mercury6800]

FrostNova you can and for the low low price of $40000

[@kastynm.9004]

The closest i can get to this is jello shots