Chemical Questions

[Mohit Pandey]

Can you add water to Caustic soda, 50%? or is it add caustic to water?

 

oh! that is the basic rule of dilution of a conc. acid or base. u should always add water to acid/base. otherwise, a explosion!:(

[JMJones0424]

oh! that is the basic rule of dilution of a conc. acid or base. u should always add water to acid/base. otherwise, a explosion!:(

 

That is the opposite of the rule. For a long time I had a hard time remembering which way you were supposed to work when dilluting an acid or base. Remember that either way, what you are trying to avoid is the splattering of the harmful substance all over you. If you are pouring an acid or base too rapidly into water, you will end up with water splashed all over you (with a small amount of dangerous substance). If you are pouring water too rapidly into a highly concentrated acid or base, you will end up with that dangerous substance splashed all over you.

[modest]

+1 on adding the acid/base to the water. And, as my highschool chem teacher said, for God's sake don't point the test tube at your face while mixing them.

 

As far as sodium hydroxide specifically, I agree—diluting it is quite exothermic, so you should slowly add the base to cold water. NaOH is extremely corrosive and will dissolve eye tissue and blind you for life—not to be messed around with lightly.

 

~modest

[Mohit Pandey]

thanks, JmJones. sorry for the mistake,