My Halloween chemistry adventure

For my channel's one-year birthday and as a Halloween special I decided to once again conjure spirit flames! Here I document some of my trials in a continuing effort to make a colorful flame candle and other spooky fiery sprites.
NileRed's Alcohol Jelly video: • Making Alcohol Jelly (...

[@SolarSeeker45]

Methanol is sold as HEET in a yellow bottle at most any auto parts store. Copper chloride is much easier to make from copper metal and meuriatic acid, it takes a little bit of hydrogen peroxide,copper chloride, or corroded copper to jump start the reaction but once it gets going it will continue eating the copper as long as it has excess chlorine ions and can draw oxygen from the air.

[@wesleymccravy901]

And if you add to this a nitrate salt , such as potassium nitrate (saltpeter) or ammonium nitrate (fertilizer or from instant ice compress packs) - you will make nitric acid.

[@martbouv3332]

@@wesleymccravy901 but where in this is lapis philosorum? cus thats the goal right ?

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

​@@martbouv3332that comes after Rubedo, the formation of Spirit of Niter is only Citrinitas. Do you truly intend to complete The Magnum Opus without the Blood-Watered Rose? Bah, your supposed triumph will turn sour on you if you go down that route.

[@stemdeckesupreme164]

Heet makes good camp stove fuel , but it burns clear in sunlight and before it heats up the stove. Invisible flame can be kinda dangerous.

[@marekbykowy1107]

"Alcohol so strong its much too dangerous for human consumption" *Laughs in polish*

[@user-qh3xo4zm2b]

Spiritus?

[@mm-ly9df]

came to comments to write this lol

[@coledavidson5630]

So the only things I've seen on this channel are this video, and (apparently) the very first one. And wow the quality difference is incredible, even just the added confidence in your voice makes the whole thing so much better. Great job man

[@alllove1754]

If you want to get your ethanol to a substantially higher percentage thru distillation, put some of ypur hydroxide salt in the condenser column, in such a way to be able to easily remove. The KOH or NaOH you use soaks up the water as the ethanol passes right thru. I do strongly caution however, not to ever drink it!! Btw*** I was surprised you were using the chems you used. Most go the boron route, ie trimethyl borate. Yours was more like i liked when i was little, abput copper, so it goes way back, deeper seeded. Pretty awesome i think

[@grinninggoat5369]

A wick soaked and dried in a Boric acid solution works just fine as a green flame alcohol burner or wax candle wick. Works for me. I also add just brushed then dried table salt solution around my alcohol vapor burners to make my faint blue burning ethanol flames burn yellow like methanol for safety/visibility in daylight or more visible light to turn a methanol flame into a decent brighter reading light at night.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Just found your channel, great video! Very few chemistry channels show their failures even though they're an important part of learning. Subbed.

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you, i really appreciate that :)

[@vanillabreado]

I really like the neutral lighting in the video very enjoyable chemistry video

[@mellowspider]

This is really cool! These are the types of experiments I wish we did in school

[@jhonbus]

Dr. Crusher is going to be very excited about this!

[@chiaraoneill2050]

what an amazing increase in production quality! Very enjoyable video to watch

[@snubig1698]

Great video as always, a little sad that almost all of the experiments went wrong, then again just watching the process is quite nice no matter the result. Also was the brazier made out of Alchemist's clay?

[@fraserbuilds]

yes! i did make it out of alchemists clay :)

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

This year you should put one in a jack o lantern! Love this channel BTW.

[@Just_Sara]

I think he did.

[@tattooeddragon]

Tune in next week to see how to make NAM grade Napalm 🤯

[@samsalin]

Modern day alchemist

[@dakota6054]

I just found this channel a few days ago and it’s already become my new favorite. I’m also certainly not a 3rd generation moonshiner but if I were I might know where theres a relatively endless supply of methanol available that someone might just use as firestarter and not have much else use for 🤷‍♂️

[@Just_Sara]

Well, this is the last video of yours I can binge watch, as I've watched all the other ones. Now I'm sad! But that sadness will change when your next video comes out. :)

[@fraserbuilds]

Thanks so much! They always take longer to make than I expect but Im hoping to have the next one out before too long :)

[@7hunderstorm242]

Love it man you're very chill 💜

[@fraserbuilds]

thanks! I appreciate that :)

[@bestising]

Ive just subbed! Im ur 100th subscriber :)

[@fraserbuilds]

thank you!!! you'll always be my favorite!!

[@SodiumInteresting]

Maybe triethyl citrate would have worked instead of trimethyl citrate, no p-toluinesulfonic acid catalyst needed to make that just a bit of h2so4 with ethanol and citric acid refluxing until solution becomes biphasic. Then seperate and do some neutralising and drying steps. At least this is how I remember it. I don't know if it still has the properties you want though

[@fraserbuilds]

thats a really good idea! ill look into it a bit more.

[@melissam0ss]

So happy to find your channel!! You totally satisfy the geek 🤓in me! 💞 and I LOVE your ‘B roll’! You have awesome video making talent which is so pleasing and fun to watch…binge mode 😅 Thank you!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thanks so much! :)

[@SodiumInteresting]

Anhydrous Trimethyl borate wouldn't be hard synthesis for you, although what you came up with in the end was pretty good.

[@fraserbuilds]

i was considering that one! definitely will try it some time, i think its the preffered colorant for the trimethyl citrate candles as well

[@alicekiller7849]

Thank you do much for the time of joy with your videos. I like what it is about, how you explain , materials and style… lifestyle😄… manner of speech- you are a person I would like to hang out with- chill cool intelligent, great job on showing this parts of you to the world feel very good in your company ✌️ will do some stuff that you’re explaining here for sure. Very effective material , gracias 🙏

[@rickfalcon6437]

Liked, subscribed and shared with my friends. Love watchin yer videos, man. Its equally relaxing and informative!

[@fraserbuilds]

Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Very pretty results in the end.

[@QuadDerrick]

i remember making copper crystals with copper sulfide in the kitchen table when i was little,,, "open the window" grandma said :):) good old days

[@user-po2lm8ce2r]

love the green flame. What other colors can you make?

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

I tried making a green candle pretty much the same way last year, we'll get it eventually *shakes fist at cloud*

[@Gentleman_Jester]

That was really cool dude. Your videos are always entertaining, informative, and mischievously inspiring. This video gave me the answer to a problem I’ve been having. I have a big pile of gold contacts I’ve been collecting from old circuit boards. In order to turn all of it into a lump of pure gold I need aqua regia. A mix of acids. Unfortunately here in Canada we can’t buy sulphuric or nitric acid. But I found a product that will do it with out needing nitric acid. And as a bizarre twist of fate I happen to have Copper sulphate. Watching this video I realized there must be a way to extract the sulphuric acid from it. And there is. So thank you.

[@nobodyspecial.1312]

Solid video!

[@jerryrocketandthegogogirls3517]

That’s neat! I make Cobalt Stearate for a living :)

[@petevenuti7355]

What is that used for?

[@thotparnassus2617]

Very cool

[@denaroraflames]

Try Denarora Flame Color Changing Packets to get a colorful fire🌈🔥

[@coalthedergsune]

looks kinda like a MV lamp

[@RolandoBustos-qc3hk]

Master...

[@Blxz]

Every single video devolves into "I don't have enough time so I will cut steps which waste time and mean I have less time to make something". More haste, less speed. Good videos regardless.

[@Bozemanjustin]

I use methanol and boric acid, super green

[@Mickeydisn]

Yo , nice green flame, i make my own way more easy : ( Acid Chloride + CuSo4 -> Acid Suf + CuCl.. ) + Aluminum -> Hydrogen + .Bleu Green flame ;)

[@stephenashford9006]

Can you buy candle wick with copper in it? Could that colour the flame like when electrical cables burn

[@fraserbuilds]

thats a cool idea! i have ignited copper metal before and it certainly does make a pretty flame, the trick would be ensuring that the copper ignites, which is hard, and then ensuring that whatever ignited the copper doesent outshine it, as it would only be visible if the flame near it is dim. i might play a but with that idea though! would be interesting to see

[@stephenashford9006]

@@fraserbuilds there’s probably too many variables😁 but I’m definitely doing the copper chloride lamp at some point. I don’t do these sorts of things so forgive any ignorance but I was thinking thin wire or wires wrapped within the wick material and then just whatever alcohols are safe to burn. Don’t know if methanol is ok or would work but all I know is methanol flames are almost invisible. Probably don’t get hot enough for the copper.

[@morgan0]

2:02 isn’t liquid soap usually sodium while solid soap is usually potassium?

[@fraserbuilds]

both can really be either, but to my knowledge normally sodium leads to a slightly less soluble soap that makes for a harder bar of soap whereas potassium soap is slightly more soluble and leads to a softer bar of soap

[@morgan0]

@@fraserbuilds oh interesting

[@evosticks]

I don't think this is the richest way to do it, I mean like making it pure so it give of a rich green flame, while triethylborane can also give off a green flame.. If you want copper to work without having to add a whole lot of copper into it. I rather soak the wick with concentrated copper chloride, take it out & dry it or remove the water. Then wax the wick. But never tried it.. I once try making fatty copper salts before too but never got the green flame.. I wanted to try making the mixture of fatty copper & oxidizer.. to at least see if the green flame would exist. But however you can try lithium, strontium, barium few other type of salts for different color, boron is the only one that can make liquid or wax like material as I know.

[@evosticks]

However I liked one idea you given me, using calcium chloride to produce copper chloride & the calcium drop out.. It would give a calcium free salt of copper, calcium actually give an intense orange flame & this could affect the blue color of copper also, it's essential that we removed it. Thank You

[@ladheesvashahroomi1452]

👍

[@Kachowchan310]

7:19 i beg to differ

[@JGHFunRun]

Ok so minor thing, it's not gonna be pure stearic acid, not by a long shot. Heck it's not even close to mostly stearic acid. Lard, despite being hydrogenated, is still mostly unsaturated fats. It has more saturated fats like stearic acid than the natural fats used to make it, sure, but it's actually mostly the unsaturated oleic acid. According to Wikipedia oleic accounts for a maximum of 50% of lard and stearic accounts for up to 30%, interestingly when oleic acid hydrogenates to form stearic acid. There is clearly quite a few other fats in there, although it is mostly C₁₈ fatty acids For those wondering, hydrogenation is where a double bond, C=C, is opened up to a single bond/an H-C-C-H linkage with, it requires a catalyst or _very_ high temperatures annoyingly so you can't just bubble hydrogen through the lard to make even lardier lard A more accurate term would be "copper soap", soap here being the more technical sense of a metallic salt of a fatty acid Edit: Lard is apparently made by rendering fat, not by hydrogenation. I also misread the percents on wikipedia: lard is up to 15% stearic acid and a max of 47% oleic acid

[@fraserbuilds]

im glad you brought this up! i meant to mention in the video that it was not specifically copper stearate, but that it was a significant amount of copper stearate among other copper soaps. i only said stearate initially because of the original redditor who said to try it. that and because stearic acid is named after that it comes from cows and is animal fat, and the historical candle making process i discuss in the video would have specifically used tallow from stears and was why they called it stearin wax. that said it's obviously more chemically accurate to refer to the whole mixture of fats, thanks for pointing this out :)

[@thekittenfreakify]

Ignis fatuus

[@Stormcloakvictory]

Awesome channel, definitely subscribed. Off grid AND chemistry? sign me up.

[@Amolosgatos-ob6te]

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