• Question: What are the worst two chemicals to mix and why?

    • Keywords:
      • Royal Society of Chemistry: Find out more about:
      Asked by DA HATTER to Shreesha, Sarwat, Peter, Anaïs, Alex on 17 Mar 2015.
      • Photo: Peter Maskell

        Peter Maskell answered on 17 Mar 2015:

        no perfect answer but if you mix oxygen and hydrogen an get a flame it will go bang!

      • Photo: Shreesha Bhat

        Shreesha Bhat answered on 17 Mar 2015:

        There are many things that could go wrong just with simple chemicals. Although i know of one chemical (azides) which can be quite explosive just if you left it to dry, or scratch it or just add dichloromethane to it. Dont ever try it.

      • Photo: Anaïs Pujol

        Anaïs Pujol answered on 17 Mar 2015:

        Hi Da Hatter, The most basic one is never put water in acid always acid in water. The reaction is exothermic so if you add water to strong acid, you might burn your skin quite badly (acid rejection).

      • Photo: Alexander Henderson

        Alexander Henderson answered on 18 Mar 2015:

        There are lots of combinations of chemicals that make explosives, release large amounts of heat, make toxic gases or will simply catch fire! Safety is an important part of chemistry.

    Comments