- #1
Weissritter
- 37
- 0
In a very similar way to my first post ever, a short series of reactions came to mind that could be seen as apparent magic. You could use it for gaining instantaneous fame in a party, convincing people into pay attention to chemistry in basic levels of education and in conjunction with a time machine you could use it for making people believe you are a real magician.
In a recipient of any kind, high-purity ethanol, which can be bought pretty much everywhere, is mixed with sulfuric acid. The ethanol becomes ethene. (Does it become some sort of equilibrium situation there?). Now, the ethene is polymerized with FeCl3 and polyethylene appears "magically". These two reactions are easy to understand for me. What bugs me is the aftermath. If done in any glass-lab recipient, I can only imagine polyethylene would stick to it, rendering it useless for using it anytime else. So should these reactions be done in something disponsable, like a plastic bottle, for ensuring minimal costs?
In a recipient of any kind, high-purity ethanol, which can be bought pretty much everywhere, is mixed with sulfuric acid. The ethanol becomes ethene. (Does it become some sort of equilibrium situation there?). Now, the ethene is polymerized with FeCl3 and polyethylene appears "magically". These two reactions are easy to understand for me. What bugs me is the aftermath. If done in any glass-lab recipient, I can only imagine polyethylene would stick to it, rendering it useless for using it anytime else. So should these reactions be done in something disponsable, like a plastic bottle, for ensuring minimal costs?