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Old 01-09-2003, 03:12 PM
Marcus Fox
 
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Default Potassium Permanganate...


"Racf" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Djay" wrote in message
...
In the US you can get it at a "water softening" company like Culligan.

They
use it to clean "green sand" water conditioners. Maybe check with a

similar
company in the UK?


"Marcus Fox" wrote in
message ...
Where can I buy this as crystals or solution in the UK? I doubt it's

readily
available as crystals as they can be mixed with sugar to make an

improvised
explosive. Mind you, I guess they can be re-crystallised from

solution
too.

Marcus





Here Sears and Roebuck sells it as a cleaner for water softeners and
iron removers..... Interesting that adding sugar makes it an
explosive.......I did not know that....I guess they do not care here in
the US since we can buy gun power and fertilizer at Wal-mart.


Potassium permanganate is an oxidising agent, formula KMnO4. Sugar is a good
source of energy for the body. But the energy can be released in other ways.
I saw a demonstration once where a cube of sugar was immersed in liquid
oxygen for a minute, then thrown in a bonfire. The explosion was quite
spectacular.

I've also seen a similar experiment done with a small amount of powdered
sugar and potassium chlorate - another oxidiser. A £1 coin was placed
between a steel block and a heavy sheet of tin. The mixture was placed on
the top of the tin and a long, red hot poker applied. The force of the
explosion was enough to clearly indent the tin with the image of the coin.

Marcus