# Is there anything that gets more powerful the more it is diluted?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154>\
**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:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**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, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/21 "2012-03-08T21:12:30Z")

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> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#):
>
> 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.

> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#):
>
> I should add, an actual chemist should check that what I’m saying is sensible.

I think you are describing a _distribution,_ not a dilution.

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**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, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-that-gets-more-powerful-the-more-it-is-diluted/615154/22 "2012-03-08T21:17:46Z")

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> [@I got some 100% isopropyl alcohol. Any precautions vs the 70% stuff I normally use?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-some-100-isopropyl-alcohol-any-precautions-vs-the-70-stuff-i-normally-use/615102/9):
>
> Ironically, the 100% is not as effective in killing germs as the 70% is
> 
> [Why 70 percent Isopropyl alcohol is preferred hand disinfectant Why not 60 or 80 percent? - Answers](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_70_percent_alcohol_a_better_disinfectant_than_100_percent_alcohol)

> [@](#):
>
> as an antiseptic, 70 percent of alcohol is prefered to a stonger solution. Pure alcohol coagulates protein in contact. Suppose the pure alcohol is poured ovr a single celled organism. Th alcohol will penetrate the cell wall of the organism in all direction, coagulating the protein just inside the cell wall. the ring of the coagulated protein would then prevent the alcohol from penetrating farther from the cell, and no more coagulation woul take place. At this time the cell would become dormant butnot dead. under the proper condition the cell would then begin to function. if 70 percent of alcohol is poured to a single celled organism, the diluted alcohol also coagulates the protein, but at a slower rate, so that it penetrates all the way through the cell before coagulation can block it. then all the cell is coagulated and the organism dies.

Although I find that hard to follow, it doesn’t seem to make the chemical more powerful when diluted, it just allows a slow process to finish, and that is the preferred action.

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