[frosch45]

One suggestion, a fume hood can cost thousands of dollars for a really nice one, but one thing that I've found useful is a gas mask. It only cost me $20 USD at a local sports store after September 11th. Very useful, just to be safe. Granted, it won't save your skin, but it can certainly help save your lungs (which is the greater threat anyway).

Eventually they wear out, but I rarely do anything that isn't very well contained that deals with toxic vapor.

[hermanntrude]

one warning... some gases will pass right through a gas mask. Not many, but it's better just to take the gas away rather than risk it. It's also not difficult to create a hole in the seal between your face and a mask, causing you to breathe the gases inadvertantly

[night-rate]

DrDNA said:

Uhm.....
I don't think it is a good idea to be trying this; esp at home without a fume hood.

And you should not be adding conc base (including ammonium hydroxide) directly to any conc acid (including HCl or H2SO4).

Are you sure that your instructions didn't say something about just using the vapors to test??

yes,

sorry , i meant let the fumes ( vapours ) from the ammonium hydroxide flow over the top of whatever you have made the hcl in. then the clouds of ammonium chloride should appear.

i did the experiment after all, i did it outside with safety clothing and stuff.

but i would suggest if someone else try it, get your hands on a 2 litre boiling flask, a glass funnel, a clamp and stand, a controllable flamming heat source, and the correct connections from your reaction vessel to the collection vessel.

i tried it without these things and tasted gaseous hcl ( not nice) ,

as the retard that i am, i used a 2ltr plastic coke bottle some garden hose a glass jar and some electrical tape, so i guess i deserved the lungfull of acid gas,but at least i know it works and how to do it properly next time.

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged
would the gas evolved be able to be condensed into a concentrated form if it were in the presence of enough moisture??

what i was thinking was, to perform the NaCl and H2SO4 as somebody else and i suggested previously, and symaltaneously boil some water in another flask and connect the tubes from both vessels to a condenser.

any help on this would be much appreciated.

thanks.

[HeXx]

blike said:

I can't see any reason why method would not work?

From what i know the only way to electrolyze something it has to be on the liquid state, so first the melting point of NaCl is way to high (over 1000 C), but even if you could do it from what i know the only thing you will get is pure sodium on one of the cathodes that by the way will combust as soon as you take the cathode from the NaCl, and a very nice gas named chlorine which improves your breathing... (obviously not) which will also be impossible to use due to the extreme temperatures near the environment of the experiment.

That's what i know from this mater. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This post has been edited by HeXx: 19 June 2009 - 07:26 AM