Making calcium acetate from Tums

Hey guys, today we are making some calcium acetate from TUMS. In a previous video I said i would get to this eventually...but I decided to do it right away.
I should add, the reason I didn't just try to wash away the sugar with water is because it forms an insanely terrible suspension that is a pain to deal with or filter off.
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Nile talks about lab safety: • Chemistry is dangerous.

[@mikebarnacle1469]

The reason I'm addicted to these videos is the subtle dry humor sprinkled about

[@ramenlover3608]

@Duncan Marcellus nice alt account lol

[@oscill8ocelot]

"a nice Tums fire" - lol, awesome. =P

[@KnutNukem]

Quality content right here.

[@takumifujiwara1931]

These positive vibes #niceshirt

[@NileRed]

+Hans Müller thanks!

[@NileRed]

+Hans Müller thanks!

[@NileRed]

+Hans Müller thanks!

[@NileRed]

+Hans Müller thanks!

[@mindovermanners_]

If you still have mercury, I would recommend creating mercury (II) iodide. It's a beautiful red color and has an interesting property where if you heat it, it will turn into a bright yellow powder. Pretty simple to make as well.

[@RelinaUlryy]

As an end-stage renal patient, I have to take enormous amounts of calcium acetate with every meal to bind with phosphorous in my stomach before it enters into my blood stream.

[@ToXiCxMadness2]

6:51 the magnetic stir bar looks motionless yet it’s mixing the liquid quite heavily

[@Fy12-c5p]

2:59 I never thought I’d hear those words in my life 😂🤣

[@jamesweldrick9761]

Very excited/intrigued for the future uracil video! Great content as always though!

[@a3xccy379]

Awesome Videos as always ! Due to it beign light weight and fluffy and easy to get it on fire calcium acetate was used in old days as fuel source for explorers they took it with them dump alcohol on them make the jelly and then paste it on wood logs to burn it. People think it could be the greek fire. Amazing

[@ficolas2]

but greek fire has nothing to do with alcohol jelly

[@a3xccy379]

ficolas2 I can have connections as this also afloats on top of water ...

[@krausrepair1171]

Great video Nile. What happened to the mercury distillation? My mercury will forever be dirty and contaminated without you.

[@Fy12-c5p]

Organic or man made mercury

[@proud2deviate]

Recently, I was searching for a smallish bag of sand for a sand bath. I looked in the pet section at Wal Mart and came across a bag of Premium Reptile Sand (or something like that.) I passed on it though, because the sole listed ingredient was calcium carbonate. Very nice, fine white granules, IIRC. Might be easier than Tums if you want another go ;)

[@MadScientist267]

Heh love these mentions. It's like all the shit is out there if you know what rock to look under... Not that they're intentionally "hiding" calcium carbonate from anyone... 🤣

[@jesscorbin5981]

Calcium sand on ebay

[@kensclark]

You can also react calcium chloride and sodium carbonate (or bicarbonate) to get calcium carbonate.

[@MadScientist267]

And you get calcium chloride from Tums? 🤔

[@kensclark]

@@MadScientist267 No? Tums contains calcium carbonate.

[@eier5472]

But you don't get a nice Tums fire

[@MadScientist267]

@@kensclark Don't stand up too quick when those come by... You'll get nailed right in the forehead. Jus sayin.

[@zachx4338]

Could you possibly make a video with different types of uses for the vacuum pump setup that you sometimes use? I would love to see more about that piece of equipment from your point of view.

[@deepovertone]

Since the Calcium Carbonate isn't very soluble in water, Why not just crush them up and wash the other ingredients away with water? Seems that most of the sweetness and binders could rather easily be washed away with a few water washings. Much easier than trying to burn them away?

[@NileRed]

+Timothy Meche I forgot to say why. It just forms a suspension that never settles. And it is super hard to filter and becomes a mess. I think there is corn starch too, which doesnt wash away anyway

[@user255]

+Nile Red I think you can haste and even get better result with the burning, if you add some H2O2 to it or liquid O2. Maybe some other oxidant would work too... NO2?

[@TizonaAmanthia]

So, burning off the sugar, is this process called Calcination? I don't think I've seen you do this one before, hooray for new content!

[@joeysavel4224]

the yellow color is actually contaminates like sugar, flavoring, and leftover carbon from the burnt off sugar. I did this with egg shells and used a lot more calcium carbonate and less of a concentration of acetic acid plus extra filtering which resulted in a completely white solution and precipitate the whole time. just trying to give you a couple tips. good luck if you try it again!

[@therandomman2971]

Can you make that stuff from chalk?

[@siggyincr7447]

A cheaper and cleaner source of calcium carbonate would be the lime they sell as a soil additive for increasing soil pH. Some people people have been suggesting chalk but most chalk sticks are actually made of gypsum and a binder these days.

[@sobbe07]

Great video as always!

[@FantasmaNaranja]

3 mins ago vid was posted 9 mins ago and it takes 10 mins to watch "great video" and you fully watched it of course

[@sobbe07]

+FantasmaNaranja Because I'm incapable of typing a comment as the video is playing. Troll.

[@hikaru-live]

Maybe the sugars can be removed by powdering the Tums up and dissolve the sugar. Calcium carbonate dissolves a lot less than sugar, so this process should dissolve off all the sular and leave you with a slightly sticky (leftover sugar) pile of calcium carbonate powder.

[@editname6868]

That’s what I was thinking. But it uses F I R E

[@editname6868]

So it’s om

[@editname6868]

Ok

[@rolandsandoval6786]

I used 3 775mg tum tablets, I crushed them with a pill crusher. I mixed it with about 3 ounces of ethanol for about 15 mins then I let it sit for a few hours. What I got now is white precipitate at the bottom and the ethanol is a green color. Correct me if I'm wrong but sucrose is soluble in ethanol while calcium carbonate isn't. I should have about 1.5grams when it's dried

[@MadScientist267]

Well? Lol

[@SkylerPC]

hey nile! Have you ever considered making silica aerogel? It's got some very cool properties like great heat resistance and its exceptionally low weight. There's a few tutorials out there, but i feel you might be able to do it easier and cheaper than others because you're on a budget. Thanks for your consideration.

[@NileRed]

+Skyler P.C. about a year ago i was super interested but i kind of forgot :p

[@SkylerPC]

yeah it seems like it'd be pretty cool, even if it was just as a novelty. I don't know of any applications regular people might have for it, but it'd be a cool project just for fun.

[@NileRed]

Skyler P.C. i mean, it is definitely something cool just to play with

[@NutSaxs]

Sorry for late comment but is it possible that you make those alcohol jellies with just tums since they’re mostly made of sugar and calcium carbonate?

[@buspsychologist9640]

i think the sugar in the process would be a mess in the making of the calcium acetate process

[@Chomzik]

I think that easier method would be to "dissolve" tablets in water and filtrate calcium carbonate. CaCO3 is rather poorly soluble in water (solubility is even smaller in slightly basic solution) so this procedure should be much faster then burning all sugar. But your procedure is also interesting.

[@NileRed]

+Chomzik i should have mentioned that i tried... It becomes a terrible suspension that takes forever to filter

[@jonasstrzyz2469]

Is there the possibility of there being some sort of CalciumAcetate(bi)Carbonate salt forming? Just a question I had since you added an acces of calcium carbonate.

[@nolanwilson3021]

"So at this point we have a nice tums fire going" 2:57 Made me cackle XD

[@bobdole57]

Its like a Tums festival

[@pixelpatter01]

Wouldn't a cheap bag of masonry lime from a hardware store contain more calcium oxide and be suitable for making calcium acetate without all the trouble from TUMS?

[@edwardvarby4363]

I wonder if the Tums could be fermented to produce vinegar, converting the calcium carbonate to calcium acetate.

[@ForcesOfOdin]

"We have a nice tums fire going" 😂

[@mattk6315]

"an beaker would be better" - Nile Red #NileRedForPresident2016

[@stormtorch]

*lives in canada*

[@quickscience5090]

Sprinkles HCl on opponents

[@nilnileer]

Too young and lives in Canada so no

[@Bouzsi]

4:38 RIP tums. You were a good friend to me.

[@spiderdude2099]

So…..correct me if I’m wrong but couldn’t you just take the tums and dissolve it in water to remove the sugar and leave behind the insoluble calcium carbonate? It would take some thorough washing but….idk it might be better than incineration

[@mrhomescientist]

What's the benefit of the burning step? I would think that if the impurities are sugars like you mentioned, you could just dissolve the tablets directly in water and recover the pure CaCO3 as whatever doesn't dissolve. If there were any inert binders that also wouldn't dissolve in this step, then you could filter them off after reacting the carbonate into the acetate.

[@Dude8718]

Read the description. Also I like your videos too, where've you been?

[@mrhomescientist]

+The Herb Damn! I always get mad at people that don't read those and look at me now. I posted a few videos recently, check em out!

[@WolverinStudio]

Calcium Carbonate aka Quick Lime. You can also make this by just burning limestone for several hours.

[@jjppmm29]

IIRC there are generic versions of Tums that have little or no sugar in them or even any other additives... though off the top of my head I couldnt tell you of any.

[@moamenazizieh3044]

Can you try to make the tums again from the calcium carbonate that you extracted ?

[@RedDogForge]

so my propane forge would make quick work of the initial conversion?

[@origamigek]

Hey Nile, instead of eggshells or tums I'm currently trying to make CaAc from a rock I found in my garden. I think it's mostly CaCO3, the rock was easy to powderize and it's almost pure white. But it doesn't dissolve very well and leaves a faintly yellowish greenish solution. Only a fraction had been able to dissolve. Have any idea on what to do next? Just try to dissolve it in more and more acetic acid?

[@origamigek]

Oh, I was only halfway the video, seems like the yellow color is nothing to worry about.

[@TheKnaeckebrot]

+ᴠᴧᴨᴛᴧᴃᴌᴧcᴋ does it bubble while dissolving in acids?

[@origamigek]

TheKnaeckebrot It does, but way less then I expected. With each addition the fuzzing is minimal and dies down pretty quickly. So it doesn't seem like the acetic acid is the limiting reagent, but it should be!

[@olivierpare-labrosse7814]

Question that might be stupid... Couldn't one dissolve most of what you burnt in hot water?

[@shrikesavadithya6683]

so the high yield is due to the fact that there is still some water and other impurities .also what kind of other heat source would you recommend . that is easy to use and store more TUMS at one time so we can prepare big batches . also what is TUMS ?

[@joshl1350]

Tums is a brand of antacid

[@boobiesandshit]

Why did you choose not to powderise the Tums before heating it? Seems as though it would have been easier to deal with post burning, even though I can imagine it sticking and forming into a disc of some sorts.

[@NileRed]

+Something Something it kind of all just melts together anyway. Also it was due to laziness

[@chemistrylab4497]

actually i think that by heating the calcium carbonate in the first of the video can make some calcium oxyde. CaCO3 --> CaO + CO2

[@mistertheguy3073]

Chemistry Lab true, but it still reacts with the vinegar

[@theterribleanimator1793]

Mister Theguy but the end result us the same?

[@wilsonhui475]

+The Terrible Animator of course, btw CaCO3 decompose at around 800C so not a big deal tbh

[@chasestuff2230]

Thanks this helped me a lot dude

[@douro20]

Isn't acetic acid the only carboxylic acid that is a liquid at room temperature?

[@lohphat]

Why not use a food grinder/blender or mortar and pestle to maximize the surface area first?

[@brandonbaker9106]

The binders

[@thebestofall007]

Would it be cheaper to use chalk for the source of calcium carbonate? I mean the CHEAP plain white chalk, not the fancy "waterproof" or colored chalk either.

[@donm1547]

Where did the extra weight come from after drying the solution

[@Algorhythm027]

what stops the CaCO3 decomposing while you blast it with a torch?

[@MrCommanderPyro]

Well quite a lot of the calcium carbonate does decompose, but it doesn't change the outcome of the reaction with the acetic acid. You get calcium acetate with both CaCO3 and CaO.

[@NileRed]

+MrCommanderPyro Crap another thing that I forgot to mention!

[@TheKnaeckebrot]

+Algorhythm its just a calcium-source, so it doesnt really matter in which form it comes :D

[@rich1051414]

+Algorhythm Quicklime can be mixed with vinegar to get calcuim acetate as well, so who cares :)

[@joeysavel4224]

Algorhythm it's not hot enough to separate the calcium from the carbon and oxygen

[@chemplay1799]

Nice stuff here :) Did you study chemistry or are you just very curious about all this ? ^^

[@mrkint7083]

3 years late ik, but I believe he has a bachelor’s in Biochemistry

[@arvindabharat8862]

What if I use a mortar and pistol to grind the tums to dust at the start with out the hammer , will that suffice and can I thus follow the same procedure?????

[@NileRed]

+arvinda bharat Yeah that would probably work better too

[@arvindabharat8862]

Thx, can't wait to try !!👍👍👍👍

[@jasonsmith4591]

At about 8 minutes was the liter beaker broken? 😯

[@lassassindu5071]

4:17 If you used a hotter heat source, wouldn't you produce lime (Ca0) ?

[@stormtorch]

CaO also reacts with vinegar to form calcium acetate.

[@icedragonair]

Ah yes, a nice cozy tums fire. Almost as good as an aspirin fire.

[@DrDeFord]

So, you burn off the sucrose-- can't it be separated by dissolving in water and filtering? Sugars are quite soluble, and I didn't think calcium carbonate was particularly (limestone notwithstanding).

[@declanmercer2587]

Steven DeFord its not just sugar in tums there are binders in there too with most often turn into a stick glue like substance when wet

[@EBenderTheRobot]

What about dollar store chalk kids use to draw on sidewalks? Would that be a fair source of calcium carbonate?

[@XXLSkinnyMcGee]

can't you use some kind of spatula to remove any given chemical from a beaker/flask instead of adding more water to wash it out?

[@NileRed]

+Skinny McGee You can, but water is just so much easier

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

I have a very different explanation on what that cloudiness was from yours. You used the calcium carbonate in excess which you previously heated. That means there could have been some calcium OXIDE in the mixture and when you used this mixture in excess, the calcium oxide just made some hydroxide, which that after stirring, created the original calcium carbonate after absorbing CO2 from the air. I had a lot of trouble with this once before when I did stuff with calcium hydroxide and then I tried to wash the containers :D

[@rich1051414]

+Krisztián Szirtes Yes, the cooking of the calcium carbonate would have decomposed much of the carbonate into oxide, which means he had a lot of quicklime after cooking his tums. Regardless, vinegar added to quicklime will still result in calcium acetate, so it doesn't really matter.

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

+Richard Smith But he said he used the lime in excess, so the vinegar is the one that doesn't matter in this case :)

[@robertlittlejohn8666]

if the impurities are only sugar, why don't you just mix with water, dissolve the sugar, and filter the CaCO3? Re the weighing, if some of the CaCO3 was converted to CaO by the heating, then that will mess up your calculations.

[@angelcooch3379]

whats wrong with calcium acetate that has sugar in it would that not burn better

[@kevinbyrne4538]

I'm looking forward to the video on making "Sterno" (gelled alcohol).

[@FlyinZX10R]

Will calcium acetate gel gasoline or it it only alcohol?

[@someguy6573]

Why didnt you just dissolve the sugar into water, and filter out the calcium carbonate?

[@da1otta]

I have a question. Since CaCO3 is water insoluble and sugar is, couldn't you just have crushed it and let the sugar dissolve leaving the CaCO3 just drop to the bottom? I'm no chemist so I'm asking out of curiosity. Thanks.

[@shrijkumar8704]

while extracting caffeine can we use any thing except DCM

[@PyroRob69]

Rather than using Tums, why didn't you use chalkboard chalk?

[@liammcneely4013]

would it be possibly to remove the other stuff from the calcium carbonate powder by dissolving it in Ethanol or some other chemical?

[@buspsychologist9640]

well the calcium acetate here would be later used in a solution with ethanol, so it would probably have some trace, therefore inaccurate amounts of ethanol in the final product

[@zavalondc]

wath a great video!!! in my country we can buy pure calcium carbonate medical grade for like 20€ per kg

[@lich_boss2115]

would you be able to use black board chalk to do this reaction?

[@KleinLuzi]

chalk is mostly made of calicum sulfate, so yea. It would work but you would produce sulfiric acid while doint it. It wouldn't produce CO2 during the reaction

[@edwardvarby4363]

I wonder if one could ferment tums, to make calcium acetate in one op. Course it'd be mixed with the other junk.

[@cobalt7530]

I think it is easier to just go to a pet store and buy farm animal calcium (I don't think that this is its name in english, but I'm not from an english-speaking country). I got it as a 2 kg bag of 99% CaCO3 powder for about 0.5$.

[@nadipenadinesh6513]

maybe u can react the tums powder with calcium nitrate and produce a mixture of caco3 and cao?????

[@SzeregowyCieplak]

Everyday ends with a Tums festival

[@ConnorNolanTech]

I see you too are a man of culture.

[@vance7354]

I am Hoping that you or one of your other subs can answer a question for me. I am looking to make a home made Buffering solution for indoor gardening, Basically ill be making a Cal Mag solution. I would like to know how to make Calcium Acetate from Garden Lime and 5% Distilled white Vinegar, Any Ideas How much Of each Lime and Vinegar ?

[@aliarshad5551]

Dear can we use CCR calcium carbonate, which is use in p.v.c pipes

[@ObeyCamp]

3:48 you're crushing the tums with your mortar, not your pestle! :P The pestle would be real awkward to try and hold in an even bigger bowl and crush anything very effectively. (The pestle is the bowl, mortar is the stick thing 😉)

[@parkerb5053]

If i use 6% vinegar, does that mean I need 2,520 ml? Or could I still use 1800 ml?

[@NileRed]

+aruther01 youd need to use more to account for the reduced concentration.

[@NileRed]

+aruther01 youd need to use more to account for the reduced concentration.

[@scibear9944]

Since sugar is water soluble and calcium carbonate is not, why not just crush the tabs and wash with water? Seems like it'd be less messy and take less time🤔

[@brandonbaker9106]

It's not just the calcium carbonate and sugar there are binders as well which aren't water soluble mist likely a starch like corn starch

[@teologean5952]

do you live in canada ?

[@NileRed]

Yup

[@teologean5952]

K

[@jacobdehovitz156]

How do you know you didnt make calcium oxide when burning the tums?

[@manuelbonet]

Jacob DeHovitz In other comments, I've read that both CaO and CaCO3 worked for the reaction.

[@lithiumlight6128]

because it's not hot enough

[@Scientist12345678910]

Wouldn't it be much cheaper and easier to actually buy CaCO3 on Ebay? I can buy an entire pound of it for $6.62, but 160 g of it from Tums would cost over $15, and then you have to deal with all that burning and still not getting a pure product.

[@AltoidJTP]

+Scientist12345678910 The point of these videos is to explore the science.

[@thatoneidiot9929]

Didn't you already do the Iodine Clock Revisit just a few days ago? If so, you should probably remove it from the list (unless you plan on posting another video about it, that is).

[@NileRed]

+ThatOneIdiot yeah the one i did a few days ago was with vitamin c. The revisit would be like the old one i did where i straight up used KI. It would be a much more in depth video on the reaction

[@thatoneidiot9929]

Nile Red Ah, alright. Thanks for clearing that up!

[@jacobwaldman1888]

Can you do this with calcite or limestone?

[@RTSCSGOVIDEOS]

How much better is 30% vinegar? The stores here only sell 30% and 5% vinegar.

[@GLITCH_-.-]

Alot?

[@braceharvey]

that's means you can use 600ml of vinegar instead of the 1800ml used in the video, which will require less boiling.

[@zeratulrus142]

+RTS Studio Ah, it's good to have an unlimited and cheap supply of 70% acid. Still, 30% is fine and is definitely much better than 5%.

[@GLITCH_-.-]

Zeratul Rus I hate you.

[@thomasryan2847]

can you do a synthesis of pyridine from niacin?

[@deliamaria7489]

Does sodium carbonate, citral and d-limonel affect the reaction? (cause of the source)

[@NileRed]

+tatiana popescu You mean if you wanted to react it without burning the tums?

[@sergioalvescordeiro9495]

Será que não é melhor misturar Ca(OH)2 com ácido acético??

[@spookywizard4980]

You could have just dissolved the sugar in water and filtered off the CaCO3...and burn it afterwards much more quickly if necessary

[@WaffleSmoof]

Can you just start with road chalk?

[@yessin0624]

make a video about extracting pure lactulose

[@avion3033]

Whoa nile, you got a new mic? :)

[@NileRed]

+PrecisionKobra i got one a while ago!

[@avion3033]

Nile Red oops. Well, usually i wait a while then binge watch your videos because they are super good! Also, you should look up "nighthawkinlight". He is currently doing a alkaline metal project, maybe you can give him advice! :D

[@Tasitel]

Did smoke smelled minty?

[@FoxDog1080]

What gives tums their smell I assume they taste the same

[@evanjones1996]

Isn't acetic acid also know as ethanoic acid??

[@milyan360]

Yes

[@rutvikpatel5436]

can you give me some information about nurd rage's air sensitive rexn video

[@NileRed]

+Rutvik Patel which is this? Ill have to check it out

[@robloggia]

If the calcium carbonate is insoluble in water, couldn't you just grind up the tums and mix them with water until the other components dissolve, then filter off the calcium carbonate?

[@Dude8718]

Read the description fam

[@robloggia]

+The Herb Ah sure enough thank you.

[@manithapasandul473]

the esyiet way to this is get some calcium carbonate

[@DreamsCatcher101]

Would it work better if i burnt the tums in an oxygen free environment? In a char tin?

[@stormtorch]

Then it wouldn’t be burning.

[@mateipopescu8207]

Can i use chalk? It's almost pure CaCO3 and it's pretty easy for me to get.

[@googleeatsdicks]

+Matei Popescu Modern chalk is made of magnesium oxide or calcium sulfate. You have to test it. If the chalk produces foam when mixed with acid it is CaCO3.

[@mateipopescu8207]

+Anticonny Thanks a lot! As another question, if it is made from magnesium oxide or calcium sulfate, is there any way to identify the compounds ?

[@googleeatsdicks]

Matei Popescu Magnesium oxide should dissolve in acids or ammonia without foaming, unless it once was heated above 1000°C - 1500°C then it will not react anymore. Calcium sulfate is harder to identify at home. It decomposes at about 800°C to calcium oxide and sulfur trioxide. You can heat it with a blowtorch and maybe you smell the pungent odor of the sulfur trioxide. I haven't tested it myself.

[@akakak8006]

can you tell how to make aderall ?

[@thomastruant8837]

You mix methamphetamine dextroamphetamine and 2 others idk just avoid that shit