Mix chlorine with brake fluid. What happens if you mix bleach and brake fluid video? Why doesn't the reaction happen?

Bleached lime contains atomic chlorine, a gas with very high reactivity. If you add bleach to brake fluid, there will be a stormy chemical reaction with the release of gas and subsequent ignition. However, often nothing happens when these components are mixed. We will tell you what conditions are necessary for the reaction to occur, and also describe in detail the mechanism of interaction.

Brake fluid contains polyglycols - polymer forms of polyhydric alcohols (ethylene glycol and propylene glycol), polyesters of boric acid and modifiers. Chlorine includes hypochlorite, calcium hydroxide and calcium chloride. The main reagent in brake fluid is polyethylene glycol, and in bleach it is hypochlorite. There is also a liquid form of chlorine-containing household products in which sodium hypochlorite is the oxidizing agent.

Process description

If you mix bleach and brake fluid, you can see an intense reaction with copious gas release. The interaction does not occur immediately, but after 30–45 seconds. After the geyser is formed, the gaseous products ignite, which often ends in an explosion.

Reaction mechanism

In the experiment, freshly prepared bleach is used. Instead of bleach, you can use sodium hypochlorite, which contains up to 95% active chlorine. Initially, the hypochlorite salt decomposes to form atomic chlorine:

NaOCI → NaO+ + CI

The resulting chloride ion bombards the ethylene glycol (polyethylene glycol) molecule, which leads to destabilization of the polymer structure and redistribution of electron density. As a result, the monomer, formaldehyde, is separated from the polymer chain. The ethylene glycol molecule is converted into an electrophilic radical, which interacts with another chloride ion. At the next stage, acetaldehyde is separated from the polymer and ultimately what remains is the simplest alkene - ethylene. The general breakdown scheme is as follows:

Polyethylene glycol ⇒ Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Ethylene

The destructive destruction of ethylene glycol under the influence of chlorine is accompanied by the release of heat. However, ethylene and formaldehyde are flammable gases. Thus, as a result of heating the reaction mixture, the gaseous products ignite. If the reaction rate proceeds too quickly, an explosion occurs due to the spontaneous expansion of the gas-liquid mixture.

Why doesn't the reaction happen?

Often nothing is observed when brake fluid and bleach are mixed. This happens for the following reasons:

Using old household bleach

When stored outdoors, calcium hypochlorite slowly decomposes to calcium carbonate and calcium chloride. The content of active chlorine is reduced to 5%.

Low temperature

For the reaction to occur, the brake fluid must be heated to a temperature of 30–40 °C

Not enough time has passed

Radical chain reaction occurs with a gradual increase in speed. It will take about 1 minute for visual changes to appear.

Now you know what will happen if you mix bleach with brake fluid and how the interaction occurs.

Replies: 4

Question for the experts: If you mix brake fluid with chlorine-based detergent, smoke will come out. Will there be a lot of smoke???

Sincerely, Tatyana Kalinina

Best answers

Academician:

Is the ubiquitous smoke not enough for you?...

Descended from heaven to ParadiseNo place:

….before you know it, the doctors will be working on you….

Video response

This video will help you figure it out

Answers from experts

Aleksandr Vladimirovich:

brake fluid has only one composition, and mix antifreeze with antifreeze

Dmitry Sosnovskikh:

place the same or compatible one

Alexey Kaskeyev:

It’s better to drain all the antifreeze and replace it with antifreeze. As for the brake, take some honey. syringe, take a little from the tank and mix with the same amount of the other (which you want to add). And look, if it curls up, it means they don’t suit each other. Better yet, drain everything and fill it with new stuff (remembering to bleed the brakes later!).

Alexander Zhanpeisov:

“I recently bought a car...” - I think it’s a VAZ. This means your brake fluid is most likely “Dew” (transparent color), if it’s red it’s BSK. You can't interfere. A precipitate will form and clog the tubes. As for antifreeze, type in a search engine “10 myths about antifreeze” - you won’t regret reading it.

Oleg Zlanepomnyashchiy:

I would look at the brake overpass first, then the brake cylinders. I changed the brake fluid with a domestic one once every three years. Antifreeze, why is it needed? Lay antifreeze, some advantages, for example ARCTIC.

Yandex iilltdmmmyyu:

antifreeze is antifreeze, only some other additives were invented by us, and when the cold war began, the Americans were forced to buy a patent - like this is our invention - they sent us and called it - antifreeze - but with the brake fluid, forget nothing terrible, all the brake fluid is practically from one barrel, although they will tell you a lot Why, I myself have 4 auto services - we interfered and will interfere - 90 percent of them drive and don’t know what we’ve interfered with them \\\nothing works - just for fun, buy different brakes and put them in a glass jar and watch and then you’ll send them all and remember me - don’t pour this jar out - leave it as a monument to the loons - show me

Bleached lime contains atomic chlorine, a gas with very high reactivity. If you add bleach to brake fluid, a violent chemical reaction will occur with the release of gas and subsequent ignition. However, often nothing happens when these components are mixed. We will tell you what conditions are necessary for the reaction to occur, and also describe in detail the mechanism of interaction.

Composition of components and reagents