How to Make Sodium Acetate From Household Ingredients

Sodium acetate is the sodium salt of acetic acid. It's also the primary flavoring in salt and vinegar potato chips. This Instructable will show how to make sodium acetate using common household ingredients.
No special equipment of measuring is required. You can pretty much eyeball the whole process.

Note: This is a bit smelly and can irritate the eyes and skin.

This process is not sufficient to produce "hot ice". Too many contaminants. If you want to get a purified form for use in "hot ice" experiments, there's an instructable by indigoandblack that should help. It's more involved but much more likely to get the results you want.

STEP 1:Materials

You'll need:
- sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
- acetic acid (vinegar)
- microwavable glass or ceramic containers
- coffee filters
- spoon

STEP 2:Chemical Reaction
Put some baking soda in one of the containers. I used a heaping spoonful in a measuring cup.
Add vinegar very slowly. Too much and the container will overflow with foam. Add a little, wait for the foaming to subside, add a little more.
Keep adding vinegar a little at a time, stirring the mixture.
Stop adding vinegar once the mixture stops bubbling, even with stirring.
What you should have now is a solution of sodium acetate in water. I ended up with the measuring cup nearly full of solution.

STEP 3:Boiling
Microwave the solution to boil off the water. It took me about 20 minutes on High. I did this in three 5-minute segments, followed by a series of 1-minute segments.
Keep boiling it down until you start to hear sizzling and popping sounds. It should still be a liquid, though. If you end up with a foul-smelling yellow lump, you've gone too far.
The resulting volume should be about 1/10 the original solution.

STEP 4:Cooling
At this point, you should have a super-saturated solution of sodium acetate. If you've got it right, blowing across the surface will cause crystals to form.
Let this cool to room temperature. It should form a translucent gel.

STEP 5:Drying
Scrape up the gel and any stray crystals and transfer this to a small bowl lined with a coffee filter. The filter will absorb some of the remaining water.
It helps the drying process if you break up the gel into smaller pieces.

STEP 6:Granding
Break up the pieces into powder using the bowl of a spoon.
If the powder seems a bit sticky, put it on another coffee filter for a while to dry out.
At this point, you're pretty much done. There might still be some moisture in the powder but it should be minimal.

Popular posts from this blog

Organic Fertilizers, Fungicides & Nutrients

Image
Organic fertiliser is obtained from various chemicals. It contains range of nutrients at different ratio, making it effective for plants. These are easily absorbed in plant systems. Organic Fertiliser are available as solid spray dried powder or liquid solution. This powder if fully soluble in water and can be dissolved in water to prepare formulation of required concentration HUMIC ACID: Application of humic acids has several benefits and agriculturists all over the world are accepting humic acids as an integral part of their fertilizer program. Biochemical active and plant responsive humic substance are naturally occurring humic acids. They can be applied directly to the plant foliage in liquid form or to the soil in the form of granules alone or as fertilizer mix. Benefits of Proper Application of Humic Acid increase soil fertility, Increase humus contents, Effectively chelates meta...
Read more

CarBon Di-Oxide

Carbon dioxide gas is colourless and odourless gas or extremely cold liquid under pressure or refrigeration. It will not burn. Carbon dioxide is a COMPRESSED GAS. It Can displace oxygen in air, it may accumulate in low areas and is a confined space hazard. Carbon dioxide is a very mild central nervous system depressant. Very high concentrations may cause headache, nausea, dizziness, sweating, restlessness and disorientation. Liquefied gas may cause frostbite. Where do you find carbon dioxide gas? CO 2 gas is used for the carbonation of beverages; for pH control; as a chemical intermediate; in chemical processing; as a food preservative; as an inert "blanket"; and in enhanced oil and gas recovery. Liquid CO 2 is used as a refrigerant; for low temperature testing of aviation, missile and electronic components; as a fire-extinguishing agent; for stimulation of oil and gas wells and for controlling temperature in chemical reactions. CO 2 gas is a by-product of carbonaceous ...
Read more

Complete defination of Fertilizers

FERTILIZERS : Growing plants are nourished by certain constituents which they absorb from the soil and air. The chief elements drawn from tho soil are potassium, calcium, sulphur, phosphorus, and nitrogen; other elements such as silicon, iron, sodium, magnesium, and chlorine are taken up to a less degree. The natural weathering of the minerals in the ground usually provide the elements necessary to plant life; but the supply of potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen may be insufficient and become exhausted by frequent repetitions of the same crops on the same land. The soil becomes less productive, and finally the crops are failures. To supply this continued drain on the soil, fertilizers are employed. The natural fertilizers, barn-yard manure, urine, and decomposing vegetable mould or muck, will not be considered here, as they need little or no treatment before use. By artificial fertilizers we understand those manurial substances, prepared from materials which need some special treatmen...
Read more