What chemical catches on fire or burns when in contact with a living organism?

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Filed under: burns 

It looks like sugar in its solid form, and when you get it in contact with a living organism in it's liquid form, after you heat it up, it burns, or catches on fire. Like if you put a popsicle stick in a glass vial of its liquid form, it would catch on fire.

Pure sodium would not look like sugar. I am thinking maybe you saw a demonstration with potassium chlorate. Potassium chlorate is a white, crystalline solid that looks like sugar. In a common experiment, potassium chlorate is melted in a flame. Once melted, some form of carbon (usually sugar based) is thrown into the test tube and flames shoot out.
I've included a link to a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUensqImzXM

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3 Comments on What chemical catches on fire or burns when in contact with a living organism?

  1. kyle h on Fri, 12th Dec 2008 4:22 pm

    2. pure sodium
    References :

  2. pinkyprince07 on Fri, 12th Dec 2008 4:45 pm

    3. Pure sodium would not look like sugar. I am thinking maybe you saw a demonstration with potassium chlorate. Potassium chlorate is a white, crystalline solid that looks like sugar. In a common experiment, potassium chlorate is melted in a flame. Once melted, some form of carbon (usually sugar based) is thrown into the test tube and flames shoot out.
    I've included a link to a video.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUensqImzXM
    References :
    chem major

  3. Unknown on Fri, 12th Dec 2008 4:50 pm

    4. Many different compounds are known to do that, usually those compounds are powerful oxidising agents such as peroxides. I think the chemical your trying to describe is sodium peroxide since it is solid in its pure form but reacts to many different organic matter (including living tissue) when in its aqueous solution causing a fires. However sodium peroxide is a yellow powder and does not resemble sugar in appearence. Let me do more research.
    References :

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