Self-Igniting High Temperature Reaction

This is a pretty basic but nonetheless awesome demo. Glycerine (Glycerol, 1,2,3-propantriol) is mixed with potassium permanganate (KMnO4), and within about 30 seconds, the pile starts to smoke, then burns with a very hot lavender colored flame.

Jargon:
-This is a hot-burning reduction/oxidation reaction. It doesn't spark as a thermite reaction would, but still, don't do something dumb like put it on a wood table.
-KMnO4 likes to stain stuff. If it comes into contact with moisture it will form a purple solution that will render anything purple permanently (your skin will turn brown but that comes off in a few days)
-Non-science types don't understand chemistry. People fear things they don't understand. In other words, many ignorant people think chemistry is evil/terrorism/just plain bad, so don't do this around people if you know they are going to flip.
-I am not liable in the event of fire, explosion, injury, disability, death, act of God/Goddess, rabid squirrel attacks, subpoena, lawsuits, or any other dumb situation you might manage to get yourself in. Use your brain and use basic common sense

Warning: Science content!
If you want to figure out how to get a stoichiometric reaction (basically molecule for molecule reaction, most efficient burn) you can start with this equation:

14 KMnO4 + 4 C3H5(OH)3 --> 7 K2CO3 + 7 Mn2O3 + 5 CO2 + 16 H2O + HEAT

That calculates out to be 6 g KMnO4 for 1 g glycerin. Honestly, there isn't any point to weighting it out, it works just as well mixing approximate amounts.

Step 1: Prepare your materials

You will definitely need:
-Potassium permanganate - this is sold at small hardware stores like Ace as filter cleaner - $5
-Glycerine - sold at RiteAid - $3

-Additionally, you can use antifreeze or windshield washer fluid if it contains the ingredient ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is C2H4(OH)2 whereas glycerin is C3H5(OH)3. It's the multiple alcohol group that makes it work. Also, make sure it is of the highest concentration possible. Water typically does not help with fire-making processes.

Stuff that's a good idea to have
-Burn plate - I used a granite tile I got as a sample from a countertop store
-Goggles - this isn't a super dangerous reaction, use your own discretion
-Sand - if for some reason you have to put it out - water will make a HUGE mess because it forms KMnO4 solution which stains anything and everything purple

Comments

[-Aj-]

best way to light thermite is to use 3 sparklers at the same time.

[qualia]

its the most efficient/easy/cheap/ foolproof way. its fairly difficult to light Mg ribbon in mildly windy conditions, whereas sparklers will burn even in mild rain. and sparklers can be inserted directly into a pile of thermite, without being extinguished. if you want a better way than either mg ribbon or thermite, use very thin-walled Mg tubing, filled with potassium nitrate. at the tip of the device, pack slow burning gunpowder for easy ignition.

[DeusXMachina]

Where the HECK do you get Mg Tubing?

[ilpug]

my reaction exactly!

[puffyfluff]

I'm getting wild ideas...

[Berkin]

You could make this like a grenade, so when you pull the pin it mixes the two chemicals and eventually explodes.

[puffyfluff]

Hey, that's a great idea!

[ilpug]

It really won't explode, just catch on fire. I suppose you could make it into some kind of fire paste like napalm if you could slow down the ignition time...

[ilpug]

We did this in chemistry class, it works great!

[DeusXMachina]

@ pyromaniac3-2-1 - unfortunately as oxidizers go, KMnO4 is no where near as reactive as nitrates, chlorates, or perchlorates. I've tried making firecrackers using fine charcoal and permanganate but it did bubkus. And I found this out through my awesome 10th grade chem teacher. Imagine the Roaming Gnome or Santa Claus in a lab coat. At the end of the year he'd shoot spudguns out the window. @Andrew - Wikipedia says that early flashpowder formulations used permanganate, but I have no clue what other ingredients were used with. I would think that permanganate reacts too slow, but maybe if you had aluminum and KMnO4 in a 1:3 ratio, with a dash of KClO3 for sensitivity, I think that would work. You would need very fine aluminum and you would probably have to run the permanganate through a ball mill first.

[ablock]

You had Mr. Albee for Chemistry too?

[MadMechanicMike]

sulpher and fine mesh dark german aluminum powder is what your missing.

[YoungPyro19]

Very nice instructable.

[history323]

hey great 'ible
 do you know if this could ignite thermite?

[QwertyuioLP]

can this burn through wood? metal? plastic?

[DeusXMachina]

It can burn through wood and plastic pretty easily, although not very much of it. It doesn't quite have the penetrating power of Thermite.

[ramses]

DeusXMachina- where did you get the KMnO4, I found some at tractor supply $24 for 5 lbs, and at ace $12 for 1.5lbs. where did you find it so cheap?

[DeusXMachina]

Ace. I dunno why you got charged so much or why I got charged so little.

[bylerfamily]

Yours was probably on sale.

[Pumpkin$]

that's what.... *cackling*

[crapflinger]

hehe i like how in the second video you can see an ant (or some other bug) running for it's life

[bylerfamily]

Yeah,that is funny.

[MadMechanicMike]

lol thats what i was thinkin

[MattandJora]

funny as hell

[bespenschied]

I remember something from my 8th Grade science class that had to do with catalysts. I think we were making KMnO4 and the catalysts was a copper bb. Mine didn't change very quickly until some moron bumped into me and dumped it all over my light colored shirt and stained it purple. My teacher mixed something up in a beaker that took it right out. I forgot what it was he mixed up in that beaker but he said it was a miracle cleaner and would clean almost every stain. It was pretty amazing stuff.

[bylerfamily]

You mix 30% hydrogen peroxide,40% vinegar and 30% water to clean off permanganate stains.

[James (pseudo-geek)]

hahaha probably a mild bleach. (theres more than one type of bleach, you know)

[Aerospaced]

Anything that will break the oxygen bonds will work in that case.

[octavian234]

(removed by author or community request)

[DeusXMachina]

Probably... Try it.

[Evilblaze]

Hehe, nice:-) I did this with ethylene glycol, that was also a good fun. Have you tried self igniting mix with ammonium-permanganate? NH4MnO4 is a much more stronger oxidizer than KMnO4, it is a class 5 oxidiser (like +80% H2O2). I will test it soon.

[lobo_pal]

KMnO4 can be used as a prank if you put it in a pool, the water will turn purple, but it will dye the pool, so don't do it to your's.

[Bright Shadow]

unless you have a purple pool to start with.

[lobo_pal]

Yeah, also, I wouldn't recommend swimming in it. Great to use on enemies.

[rip333]

As to the people who say you don't need high temps to light thermite, you have to realize the sparklers are any were between 2000 and 4000 degrees Fahrenheit, usually around 3000.

[raykholo]

so to make it more like a flare can u put the powder at the bottom of pvc pipe (thin) , plug up the end, and find a way to "automatically" combine it with the liquid? and the sparklers work good with small amounts of aluminum (my personal experience says that they make lots of smoke if u put them into an empty can with the top cut off)

[Llamarama]

Nice instructable, it was good how the chemistry was included. Since i live in the UK it is very difficult to get any diescent chemicals for these projects in usefull volumes (i.e) 100-500 grams. Any ideas as to where i can get Pottasium permanganate cheaply? Also any good sources for sulphur too? Thanks!

[DeusXMachina]

http://www.pondrx.com/products/16133.html

www.skylighter.com

[rerat]

Is this the "mix 'blur' with 'blur'" reaction Mythbusters used to light their thermite?

[Xarkumetru]

No, what they where "blurring" out was the ingredients to thermite(Aluminum powder 400 mesh & Iron oxide Rust), they lit it with a strip of Magnesium Ribbon. all EXTREMLY easy to obtain, and they couldn't telivise that for obvious reasons.