Hey guys,

New on the forums

I have a free house this weekend and access to a wide range of chemicals (my dad has a masters in chemistry, go figure) not least of which, pottasium permanganate. Any good, interesting reactions you would suggest?

 

(have already tried with icing sugar )

 

Thanks in advance

You can make a solution go from inky-purple to pale pink (almost colorless) very quickly with a bisulfite or metabisulfite solution. This is a simple oxidation-reduction reaction, where the KMnO4 oxidizes the bisulfite to bisulfate and is itself reduced to [ce] Mn^2^+ [/ce].

 

Don't bring any hydrochloric acid near it or you will make toxic chlorine gas.

 

I did this series of color changes with my little cousins:

 

KMnO4 in water (dark purple)

Add some NaBr (No change)

Add a little sulfuric acid (purple vanishes and is replaced by the sort-of-pale reddish-brown of bromine water)

Add a little KI (Solution goes dark brown from formation of iodine and triiodide ion)

Pour a little hexane or heptane on top and swirl (heptane goes violet from dissolved iodine)

Pour a little bisulfite solution into the beaker (the lower (water) layer goes pale yellow as any remaining iodine is reduced and a yellow iodide-sulfite complex is formed. The complex is something woelen reported a long time ago.)