Is alcohol and chlorine mixed together explosive?
No. Chlorine hypochlorate (used in chlorine tablets) and water, however, do react and slowly release gases. This in and of itself is not explosive, but if it is contained, e.g. in a pop bottle, the pressure eventually becomes great enough to rupture the bottle, and that is pretty explosive. Isopropyl alcohol typically has about 70% alcohol; the remaining 30% is water. This is enough water to tear apart a pop bottle by releasing oxygen and chlorine gas. The exact chemical equation is: CaCl2O 2 + H2O => Ca2+ + Cl2-gas + O2-gas The pop bottle experiment is very dangerous and should not be attempted by anyone, ever. The explosion releases a cloud of hot chlorine gas which can cause serious chemical burns if it comes into contact with skin or eyes.
Actually hypochlorite does NOT react with water! Hypochlorite in Bleach (since the pH is high) will react with ethanol(ethyl alcohal) to form chloroform (and some other byproducts so don’t think this is a good way to make sleeping gas) If you mean the element chlorine, then, the reaction with an alcohal will produce and explosive organic hypochlorite that will not be soluble in water, but will be soluble in alcohal. If excess chlorine gas is reacted with a very dilute solution of alcohal, the organic hypochlorite will form a separate layer like oil in water. It is dangerous and could easily explode for almost no reason, it might cause severe chemical burns on contact with skin if it doesn’t explode on contact. Wear safety goggles and don’t use a glass container.
