How To Find Potassium Nitrate In Nature

A lot of readers accept asked me where they can notice potassium nitrate or saltpeter, which is a common ingredient in many pyrotechnic recipes and other dwelling house science projects. Your two choices are purchasing it or making it from other chemicals.

Go Potassium Nitrate From a Store

Some types of stump remover are nearly pure potassium nitrate.

Where practise you find potassium nitrate in a shop? The answer: stump remover. Spectracide's Stump Remover is potassium nitrate. In the United States it can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot, among other places. Also, you can make potassium nitrate yourself from common salt substitute and a common cold pack.

How to Brand Potassium Nitrate

You tin can make potassium nitrate from other chemicals that are more readily available.

To brand potassium nitrate, you need:

40 grams ammonium nitrate
37 grams potassium chloride
100 milliliters water

The ammonium nitrate comes from a cold pack that lists it as an ingredient. It's the package of granules or crystals. Potassium chloride is sold equally a salt substitute. Make certain it's listed as the but ingredient.

The chemical reaction to brand the potassium nitrate is:

NH₄NO_iii + KCl → KNO_iii + NH₄Cl

Dissolve the ammonium nitrate in the water.
Filter the solution through a coffee filter to remove particulates.
Add together the potassium chloride and gently heat the solution to go the salt to deliquesce. Don't boil it.
Again, filter through a coffee filter to remove solids.
Place the liquid in a freezer or on water ice. The potassium nitrate volition crystallize out of the solution.
Pour off the liquid to get the potassium nitrate crystals. They won't be absolutely pure, but volition work for most chemistry demonstrations and pyrotechnics projects. If you similar, y'all tin evaporate the water out of the liquid to recover the ammonium chloride, too. Both chemicals are useful for science projects.