Turning ‘red wine’ into ‘water’

Crystals of potassium permanganate(VII) and a glass of water with a pink-purple hue on a wooden surface

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Use acidified potassium permanganate – or ‘red wine’ – to make ‘water’, ‘milk’ and ‘lemonade’ in this engaging demonstration. Includes kit list and safety instructions.

In this experiment, students observe as a solution of acidified potassium permanganate(VII) (‘red wine’) is poured into a set of glasses containing small amounts of different colourless solutions, made up from barium chloride, sodium thiosulfate, sodium carbonate and sulfuric acid.

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