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albinas69 · 04-11-2004, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Fox

"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

By the way you can buy kmno4 from a garden store. the website is www.gardendirect.co.uk. The site is still under construction and you will need to ask them to send you a catalouge of their products to your adress. Anyway it costs £14 for 500 grams and it comes in the form of crystals or powder. Also what are you going to use it for? if you are going to use it to make pyrotechnic mixtures i suggest replacing it with kno3 (potassium nitrate) which is also sold at garden direct and is much cheaper and a much more forgiving chemical

Marcus[/quote]