How to test unknown substance

Ok to be more specific I have some white granules/powder (like household salt) in a jar. This comes from my last house and just getting some stuff from the garage unpacked (after 2 years) Now has anyone got any tests for checking what this could be, its possibly one of the following. Salt, although unlikely as it was stored in garage. Sodium chlorate (weedkiller) I had some but that was in a plastic tub containing sachets, so again probably not. Caustic soda for drains.

Reply to
ss
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Hand some in to the local police. They'll tell you if it's something "interesting".

Slightly more seriously, have you a local(ish) university that has a chemistry/pharmacology department?

Reply to
Frank Erskine

Caustic reacts with fat to make soap when heated for a while. All 3 kill plants.

Reply to
meow2222

Not substances you want to get wrong. If you touch caustic soda with wet fingers and then rub them together, you get a very distinct "slippery" feeling which any chemist will recognise immediately. You then need to wash them thoroughly, or to be on the safe side dip them in an excess of vinegar and rub them until the slippery feeling is gone.

Litmus paper is cheap on ebay; one granule on damp litmus paper will give you an instant pH 14 which would also be a fairly good warning of caustic soda (washing soda will do the same).

Washing soda crystals are transparent when fresh, but get develop a white powder on the surface when exposed to air.

Caustic soda granules are normally rounded, not "crystalline". Sodium chlorate used to look a bit like granulated sugar, or sea salt for a grater. Neither looks much like normal kitchen salt. OTOH salt for putting on icy paths can be rounded granules.

If you do a flame test and *don't* get the characteristic sodium flame then it isn't any of your three options, perhaps it is fertiliser or a different weedkiller. To do a flame test, dissolve one granule in one drop of water, heat a bit of wire to red heat in a gas torch flame (or on the cooker, at a pinch), dip it in the solution and then put it back in the flame. If you don't know what a sodium flame looks like, do the same thing with some salt.

Reply to
newshound

No, I always kept fertilisers and moss killer in their own boxes and other weed killers were liquid. so I can eliminate them. I did have some carbide but that was more crystal then small grain.

I cant see any reason for it to be salt as I just used from the pantry in winter when required. I am hedging on caustic soda.

Just goes to prove when using any chemical stuff to label it properly :-(

Reply to
ss

if you dont have litmus, try red cabbage or tomato juice. Google their pH colour scale.

Just hold a granule in the flame, sodium produces a streetlight yellow.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Thanks all for the replies, I know I should just bin it but being a mean git I have a use for both sodium chlorate and caustic soda so can use it.

I will do some tests.

Reply to
ss

Sugar soap?

Reply to
Adrian C

I recently discovered that beetroot works, too.

Reply to
Ivan Dobsky

Nope never bought that.

Reply to
ss

Soda crystals?

Reply to
Ivan Dobsky

unlikley as you say

thats more crunchy than salt..

that's easy. get a little and pour boiling water on it.

Id suspect some form of poison or weedkiller.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Assuming you are a sensible sort, one would hop you would have labelled the weed killer as dangerous. thus I plump for drain cleaner. If its salt then if you try it as drain cleaner no harm could come from it, if its the week killer you would have weed free drains but might upset things in the local river unless you shove it into a proper sewer!

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

In message , Brian Gaff writes

We are not supposed to use Sodium Chlorate any more. Apart from the flame colour SC liberates oxygen so should aid combustion.

Reply to
Tim Lamb

Oh yes! Fun stuff. Sheets of toilet paper soaked in sodium chlorate and allowed to dry, then folded and put into an old cigar tube with balsa fins stuck on, and lit, made an interesting rocket.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

Friend of mine made 'simulated nuclear explosions'.

Old paint tin with small hole, sodium chlorate, sugar, and magnesium powder.

Nice mushroom cloud.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Decant it into little bags, and sell it for 20 quid a baggie to the local crack heads, you make some money and do the community a favor if it turns out to be something other than salt :)

Reply to
Gazz

Obtain 3 cats.

Reply to
alan

Sounds like a good test to distinguish chlorate from chloride or hydroxide. Except don't they put a flame retardant in it these days?

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

There are a heck of a lot of white powders and it could be - almost anything from ammonium sulphate through to potassium cyanide! It is wise to label containers you put into storage.. but labels do fade.

I have done this once or twice clearing out the garage of a former deceased chemist and it is a bit tricky when you don't know what the unknown chemical(s) are even as an experienced chemist.

Assuming it is a common chemical then given the location it is most likely a gardening chemical or a caustic cleaner. Test the pH to determine if it is acid, neutral or base and as someone else suggested do a flame test to see if it contains sodium. Beware of caustic burns and treat it as corrosive and deadly poisonous until you have a clear identity. Wear eye protection and rubber gloves just in case.

If you can't ID it then treat as hostile chemical waste. Your local recycling dump will have a facility to deal with unwanted chemicals.

The scariest thing I ever encountered was five gallons of 40% HF in a UV degraded plastic bottle and when I picked it up I thought it was pink paraffin until I saw the label. My PPE was nothing like good enough for that and I would have been dead if the container had failed. I put it down again very very carefully. The hazard awareness film for working with HF causes casualties in the audience most showings.

Reply to
Martin Brown

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