Ok here is a mystery,
I bought two 5 litre bottles of the recent Lidl low temperature screen wash. One bottle has never been opened, one has been and is diluted to 50% strength.
Both are at the back of the house, in the sun.
This morning both were coloured blue, this evening the unopened one is now clear, but the diluted one is still blue. I opened it and it smells the same.
So whats happened? I assume its sun or temperature, but we have had similar weather to today. So why hasnt the diluted one changed, and why in the space of 12 hours?
|
|
Someone's realised it's alcohol, drunk it and replaced it with water. They didn't want the diluted stuff, not strong enough. ;>)
|
|
The lid was still sealed. Its not been opened.
|
I you leave a bottle of alcohol in the sun it turns colour, but something else changes too and besides not tasting good, it's bad for you.
Google says ethanol turns to methanol in sunlight?
|
Does it? Has it?
It was Alcohol, glycol, under 5% anionic surfactants, colour, perfumes.
Assuming its been exposed to Heat, UVa, UVb, what is it now?
Where the chemists when you need them!
|
Interesting, Z..... mine are all in the garage still at 100%.
The only thing I can think is that the dye affected by temperature - and that the water added to the diluted one increased the heat capacity, and therefore it didn't increase in temperature as much (also possibly as it was diluted the colour was less strong and it absorbed less heat) - but that's pretty far fetched! Maybe the dye only becomes UV stable when mixed with water...
BTW: "sunlight turns ethanol into methanol" hmm, I sincerely doubt it. Ethanol CH3CH2OH wouldn't decompse directly to methanol CH3OH - there would be an unstable CH2 molecule left over... and I rather suspect the energy required would be more than the sun can provide without being concentrated.
|
Reckon the increased temperature causes the dye to react with either the alcohol, glycol or anionic surfactants, something that does not happen once diluted (or perhaps it would at a high temp).
|
|
Didnt take much temperature, I estimate it to have been about 25c
|
Ok its not temperature, I just put a small amount of the diluted mix in a cup and microwaved it.
Disgusting fumes, but still blue.
|
|
My God, I can't wait until I'm retired. Hopefully I'll be able to afford Lidl screen wash. Or a car come to that. Let alone a microwave.
|
|
see you can look into lifes imponderables when you retire. Its a time of discovery.
|
>> Ok its not temperature, I just put a small amount of the diluted mix in
>> a cup and microwaved it.
>> Disgusting fumes, but still blue.
And what did it taste like? ;>)
|
Lidl screen wash - bathtub tom
