I know about salt, sugar, sand, rubbing alcohol, and fire.. But I can't think of anymore, I'm using it for a science project but i could use help...
2007-01-20 13:52:44 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Actually, if you are thinking of this in terms of Chemistry project... sugar, sand or even rubbing alcohol are not good candidates to melt ice.
See, the reason why people use ice to melt ice (e.g. icy road) is because salt, NaCl is highly soluble in water and it is able to ionize into two ions; Na+ and Cl-. These ions lowers the freezing point of water, causing the ice to melt. Things like sugar and sand do not break up into ions as well (if at all) and they do not effectively lower the freezing point.
According to freezing point depression eqn:
ΔTf = i · Kf
The higher van 't Hoff factor (i), the better.
You should try water soluble compounds that break up into multiple ions, such as CaCl2, Al(C2H3O2)3, Na3PO4, etc.
If you are looking for more easily obtainable chemicals, you can get muratic acid (HCl) from Home Depot or Propylene glycol commonly found in Antifreeze from any automotive stores.
Good Luck on your project and always practice safe Chemistry! =)
2007-01-20 14:02:27 · answer #1 · answered by †ђ!ηK †αηK² 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In snow country they use Calcium Chloride, brine and Calcium Acetate (or is it Calcium Lactate?) to de-ice the roads. Anti-freeze is propylene glycol or ethylene glycol. Depending on your age, there are some dangerous things that maybe you shouldn't try - like drain cleaner - it can hurt you. I'm not sure how a microwave would do, its tuned to the frequency for liquid water, but its not heat - even though it heats the water! Sand does NOT melt ice and fire (and sunlight) are NOT substances. ANd I'm not at all sure that sugar melts Ice either... but maybe it does.
For planes they use steam to de-ice the wings.
2007-01-20 14:10:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anything that can be disolved in water which alters the temperature it freezes at.
Baking soda, vinegar.
An interesting side note, when the Airforce were designing the X1 to break the sound barrier, the windscreen kept freezing up from the liquid hydrogen used to power the rocket motor. They tried many solutions to stop it from icing up. They settled on a compound at around $60, but Chuck Yaeger and his engineer found that dish washing detergent smeared on the windscreen worked even better
2007-01-20 14:00:34 · answer #3 · answered by boobboo77 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hot water
2007-01-20 13:56:43 · answer #4 · answered by Sliceathroat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sunlight melts most of the ice around here.
2007-01-20 13:58:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Scalding hot water
2007-01-20 13:56:05 · answer #6 · answered by ☮ 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
calcium carbonate (lime) or calcium chloride flakes
2007-01-20 14:02:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
magnesium chloride
acid
2007-01-20 14:01:18 · answer #8 · answered by Bobincan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋