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A chemist chimes in...
Posted by Whirligigmike [Email] (more from Whirligigmike) on Sat, 6 Mar 2010 00:07:05
In Reply to: Re: mixing acid and water, swede-murphy [Profile/Gallery]
, Fri, 5 Mar 2010 08:07:44
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The general rule is "Add Acid to Water".
Sulfuric acid has two pronounced characteristics which demand careful handling.
1> It has an extremely high "Heat of Dilution". When DILUTED it generates a lot of heat! Adding a pint of Concentrated Sulfuric Acid to a pint of Water
will bring the combined solution to the BOILING POINT!
2> Concentrated Sulfuric has a density of 1.98! It is twice as "Heavy" as water!
Those two factors conspire to make H2SO4 extremely dangerous. Because, if water is added to the acid, it will "float" on the more dense acid (and not mix) and, the interface between the acid/water generate enough heat to flash to STEAM. The resultant flash boil/steam zone will instantly erupt from the container, resulting in a faceful of hot concentrated Sulfuric Acid.
The good news is,
1> Most of you will never come into contact with CONCENTRATED Sulfuric Acid (Sp Gr 1.98)
Fresh Lead/Acid Battery Electrolyte has a Sp Gr of ~ 1.260. It is it is quite dilute (compared to Concentrated!).
2> As it becomes more dilute the above characteristics become less extreme.
Diluting battery electrolyte will still generate some heat, but generally not enough to create a problem. The density is much closer to that of water, so stratification is less likely.
So, "Do as you oughta, Add Acid to water".
Work safely, Wear safety glasses, and if possible "disposable" clothes.
If you get sloppy, the holes in you clothes will not show up until you launder them. By then you will have forgotten about your battery adventure and wonder where you got the Swiss Cheese jeans and tee shirts from...
Mike
PS Clean up any spills with Baking Soda. Rinse any skin contact for at least 5 minutes.
Posts in this Thread:
- what is the liquid in car batteries?, rob 94 aero, Thu, 4 Mar 2010 07:17:30
- Re: what is the liquid in car batteries?, jp498, Fri, 5 Mar 2010 04:40:40
- battery balance, BobS, Thu, 4 Mar 2010 17:39:05
- If you're in a cold area..., Ron, Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:25:31
- Re: what is the liquid in car batteries?, swede-murphy , Thu, 4 Mar 2010 11:23:32
- Safety consideration......., Herb Hirsch , Thu, 4 Mar 2010 10:58:10
- Re: what is the liquid in car batteries?, JimBlake , Thu, 4 Mar 2010 07:57:38
- Something you don't want to drink :^), Eric Law, Thu, 4 Mar 2010 07:43:04
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