# Is there anything that gets more powerful the more it is diluted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154 "2012-03-08T16:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/1 "2012-03-08T16:04:10Z")
> [@](#): > > It is believd [sic] the more dilute a constitutional dose of a homeopathic remedy becomes, the more “energetic,” or clinically powerful it is. From Science-Based Medicine: [Marino Center for Integrative Health](http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/the-marino-center-for-integrative-health/) This is not a thread about whether homeopathy works. We know that is bunk of the highest order and there is no medicine in the “medicine”. (If you disagree with me, start your own thread.) What I am asking is **do we have any examples of _anything_, especially medicines, where the above statement is true?** Vaccines don’t qualify because, while they are relatively small doses, no one (except homeopaths) is claiming they become _more_ powerful as they are reduced. They are small doses because larger ones would not work any better, yet would do more collateral damage. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/2 "2012-03-08T16:15:57Z")
I don’t think that there’s anything that this could be point-blank true with, except maybe for a few special cases with living (or self-replicating agents) that can grow and change in the diluting medium. Otherwise - well, whatever you’ve got, let’s dilute it by a factor of a trillion trillion. Whatever it is, however it works, you’re going to tell me that having that much less of it will work better? No, I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/3 "2012-03-08T16:20:43Z")
Water? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/4 "2012-03-08T16:20:46Z")
It’s not strictly analogous, but I can store 98% sulfuric acid in carbon steel vessels and run it through carbon steel lines, but if I let it get diluted to 70% it’s going to make short work of my tanks and pipes. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/5 "2012-03-08T16:23:48Z")
Some catalysts maybe? By diluting it more, you may increase the total amount in a solution. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/6 "2012-03-08T16:25:55Z")
Antifreeze for cars freezes at a lower temperature when diluted with water than it does straight-up. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/7 "2012-03-08T16:28:50Z")
False belief systems in a population. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/8 "2012-03-08T16:29:52Z")
The homeopathic idea that more dilution equals more strength does have a significant problem. If that were true for any substance, how would you know when to stop diluting? Logic suggests that an infinite dilution would have an infinite (positive) effect, otherwise there would be a point in the curve where the effects started to go down. I guess applying logic to such an illogical concept doesn’t make much sense. Still, if no one can come up with an example, we have no analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/9 "2012-03-08T16:32:50Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Antifreeze for cars freezes at a lower temperature when diluted with water than it does straight-up. How about water diluted with antifreeze? 🙂 While I don’t doubt your statement, can we assume that the dilution ratios are quite different from most homeopathic ones and we are on an entirely different scale range? ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/10 "2012-03-08T16:33:19Z")
Doesn’t bleach work better if there’s some water mixed in? But that’s not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/11 "2012-03-08T16:41:27Z")
Tang ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/12 "2012-03-08T16:51:46Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Some catalysts maybe? By diluting it more, you may increase the total amount in a solution. Explain. If you dilute something, wouldn’t that _decrease_ the amount in a solution? > [@Leaffan](#): > > Antifreeze for cars freezes at a lower temperature when diluted with water than it does straight-up. After thinking about this, I’m not sure you could say the solution gets _more powerful_ with increasing dilution. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/13 "2012-03-08T17:05:25Z")
[According to a concurrent thread here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=644482), isopropyl alcohol gets more powerful as an antiseptic the more you dilute it, but only to a certain point. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/14 "2012-03-08T17:10:19Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > [According to a concurrent thread here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=644482), isopropyl alcohol gets more powerful as an antiseptic the more you dilute it, but only to a certain point. As mentioned up above, bleach works similarly, and I am sure there are many examples of substances that have an _optimal_ dilution. Substances that work better and better the more you dilute them though, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/15 "2012-03-08T17:12:57Z")
Religions. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/16 "2012-03-08T17:14:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Explain. If you dilute something, wouldn’t that _decrease_ the amount in a solution? I’m thinking of a lump of undissolved catalyst in the bottom of a test tube as a starting point. Adding water wouldn’t increase the concentration of the catalyst in the solution, but it might increase the total amount available to react with. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/17 "2012-03-08T17:28:56Z")
Love? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/18 "2012-03-08T17:38:10Z")
When you dilute water with alcohol, it becomes more powerful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/19 "2012-03-08T17:42:27Z")
I should add, an actual chemist should check that what I’m saying is sensible. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/20 "2012-03-08T17:43:17Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > When you dilute water with alcohol, it becomes more powerful. 🙂 Where’s our ‘like’ button? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154.md?page=2)