Battery acid is bad

[Sword and Shield]

dry cleaning fluid also makes phosgene if you have a hot metal catalyst
i never checked what process that was tho

h2so4 + 2naoh -> 2h2o + na2so4
i don't see what's so bad about this?

i'm not surprised about people knowing about the bad things that can happen but still doing stupid things
the information goes in but it just doesn't interact with the rest of the brain
i've seen people using a drying agent and leaving the container open next to a window while it was raining

There isn't a problem with Na2SO4, save one. H2SO4, being diprotic, only wants to let go of one hydrogen easily. That ends up binding with the -OH from NaOH, leaving NaHSO4 and H20. In excess hot NaOH, you will eventually get Na2SO4, but you'll make a lot of NaHSO4. That will really put the hurts on.

So you end up with NaHSO4, H2O, and some small amount of Na2SO4. Don't try it.

 

[lambertiana]

Looks like it's time for a chemistry lesson.

1. The chlorine + ammonia = phosgene myth.

Just look at the proposed reaction (unbalanced, just showing the reactants and products):

NaClO + NH3 = Cl2CO

Now, the Cl and O are in the reactants, but where did that carbon come from? Just pulled out of the air? CO2 is very stable. Chlorine bleach, NaClO, is an oxidizer, the Cl is at the +1 oxidation state and wants to go to -2. Just what role would the ammonia play in this purported reaction? And common sense would make even a non-chemist to ask where the carbon came from.

Time for the mythbusters. There are several possible, competing reactions. They are:

NH3 + NaOCl = NaOH + NH2Cl (chloramine, which is used for water treatment and is not very good for you), followed by:

NH3 + NH2Cl = H2O + H2NNH2 (hydrazine, which is, besides being a very good rocket fuel, very toxic). I believe this is the primary hazard with the mixing of chlorine bleach and ammonia. Other competing, and I think minor reactions, are:

NaOCl + NH3 = NaONH3 + Cl2, chlorine gas, which is very bad for you

and

NaOCL + NH3 = NaOH + NCl3, nitrogen trichloride, which is not only very toxic but also unstable and explosive. Not as unstable as NI3, which I have made, but bad enough. This reaction can be improved by having a large excess of NaOCl.

2. Mixing sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide will result in complete neutralization, not stopping at NaHSO4. NaOH is a very strong base, and NaHSO4 is a weak acid. You will only have Na2SO4 at the end, assuming that the molar relationship is in favor of the NaOH. The primary danger of this reaction is the evolution of heat, the likes of which you have never seen in aqueous solutions. If you think just mixing concentrated H2SO4 with water generates heat, try mixing it with concentrated NaOH. I only tried that once, and once was good enough for me. It was in very small amounts, yet completely blew up in my face because of the instantaneous vaporization of the water.

Maybe I should sign up with the Mythbusters show.

 

[Gollnick]

I was told that it was this one: NaOCl + NH3 = 2NaOH + Cl2 that it forms NaOH, which is nasty stuff, while evolving chlorine gas which is, of course, poisonous.

Bottom line is that people assume that because it's sold by the gallon at the grocery store, Chlorine Bleach is safe stuff. It's a powerful chemical and you need to be careful with it. It's not called "Chlorine" bleach for no reason. There's real chlorine in there. And it's not to hard to shake that chlorine free. In fact, just shake the bottle up and some of it will literally shake free and you can smell it. Chlorine gas is not good stuff be breathing.

As several learned members have posted here, chlorine is part of a lot of nasty chemical compounds. And chlorine is very reactive meaning that it reacts with other chemicals and forms new compounds (many of them poisonous) very easily and very quickly.

Household Amonia is another chemical sold by the gallon at grocery stores. And it's another chemical that's very reactive and also tends to form nasty poisonous compounds.

So, be careful with these things.