# What Would Be the Result: "cocktail of lye and sulfuric acid"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 15, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980 "2022-07-15T02:07:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980/41 "2022-07-18T01:10:15Z")

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I keep seeing it as an oversized science fair volcano, only with more heat and more dangerous splash.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980/42 "2022-07-18T02:35:48Z")

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Although baking soda and vinegar is a bit different from most acid-base reactions, in that one of the products is a gas, carbon dioxide, which is mostly what drives the “eruption”. When you replace the baking soda with a hydroxide, you won’t get that direct gas production (though you might boil the water from the heat produced, with a similar but more dangerous effect).

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980/43 "2022-07-18T15:11:54Z")

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> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#):
>
> Both solutions can then be mixed together to produce a neutralized waste product that can be safely & responsibly discharged into the sewage system.

“Responsibly”? Interesting to consider someone “responsibly” disposing of a body this way. 🙂

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**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980/44 "2022-07-18T15:30:09Z")

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> [@ftg](#):
>
> “Responsibly”? Interesting to consider someone “responsibly” disposing of a body this way. 🙂

> **[Water cremation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_hydrolysis_(body_disposal))**
>
> Alkaline hydrolysis (also called biocremation, resomation, flameless cremation, aquamation or water cremation) is a process for the disposal of human and pet remains using lye and heat, and is an alternative to burial or cremation.
> The process is based on alkaline hydrolysis: the body is placed in a pressure vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide, and heated to a temperature around 160 °C (320 °F), but at an elevated pressure, which prevents boiling. Instead, ...

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-result-cocktail-of-lye-and-sulfuric-acid/967980/45 "2022-07-19T01:16:33Z")

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> [@TroutMan](#):
>
> I worked with fluorine gas in a research lab. Talk about scary…

And yet I’ve heard chlorine trifluoride described as “a stronger fluorinating agent than molecular fluorine” 😱

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