- of the bodies of Bunting’s & Wagner’s victims, placed in barrels of hydrochloric acid:
{Examiners attempting to identify the remains found them to be mummified rather than dissolved.}
Why did they not dissolve?
what should they have used instead of hydrochloric acid?
hydrofluoric acid probably.
The_observer said:
- of the bodies of Bunting’s & Wagner’s victims, placed in barrels of hydrochloric acid:
{Examiners attempting to identify the remains found them to be mummified rather than dissolved.}
Why did they not dissolve?
what should they have used instead of hydrochloric acid?
HF is quite a weak acid. It kills people by tying up calcium in every cell, but it is not a usual organic solvent.
Use H2SO4. Then do something about the bones and teeth. Oh and the brown-black goop, too.
NaOH would also do a pretty good job on all the organic bits.
Bones and teeth would be the difficult bit. I have teeth here that are around 1-2 million years old, and still have good original structure and dentine.
NaOH + heat + time
And a seive at the end for the left overs.
pig farm..
Although sulfuric acid will do bones as well, apparently. Much harder to get hold of the required concentrations though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyEBXTL1Y3U
Dropbear said:
hydrofluoric acid probably.
just don’t do it in the bathtub
Mythbusters did a thing debunking the HF-in-the-bath episode of Breaking Bad.
Dropbear said:
pig farm..
roffle… Woo’s Pigs
Michael V said:
Mythbusters did a thing debunking the HF-in-the-bath episode of Breaking Bad.
bastards
Dropbear said:
Michael V said:
Mythbusters did a thing debunking the HF-in-the-bath episode of Breaking Bad.
bastards
really… I mean I knew they are good friends and all…
diddly-squat said:
Dropbear said:
Michael V said:
Mythbusters did a thing debunking the HF-in-the-bath episode of Breaking Bad.
bastards
really… I mean I knew they are good friends and all…
Michael V said:
Mythbusters did a thing debunking the HF-in-the-bath episode of Breaking Bad.
Pity I missed it. Yoo hoo, uncy Torrence…!
Paul Keating owned a pig farm
The_observer said:
Paul Keating owned a pig farm
They were family.
When I was initially on the run I mixed with some very unsavoury chaps.
These chaps were none too bright but they knew things that a chap like me of impeccable breeding would never know.
Quick lime I recall being mentioned at one stage by a particularly nasty chap with an eye missing and a scar from his other eye to his adams apple.
Sorry I cant help more.
Spiny Norman said:
The_observer said:Paul Keating owned a pig farm
They were family.
Dear oh dear.
Outdoor gas pizza oven but rigged with oxy acetylene burners…
Stealth said:
Outdoor gas pizza oven but rigged with oxy acetylene burners…
Yes, I’d like fries with that.
KOH will do an even better job than NaOH I think
Thomo said:
KOH will do an even better job than NaOH I think
It’s a long time to think why it wasn’t…
You could start with the various digestion methods used to determine total nitrogen in organic substances.
me personally?
i’d by a meat grinder spread it in the garden a little and just allow the birds to come and eat it
no chemicals or evidence laying around
you might spread the mincemeat in a special tray that makes it likely things like crows would eat it and then fly away
the evidence gets spread far and wide
when the police come visiting none of them suspect a 6ft diameter raised platform swarming with crows and its unsavoury avian friends as being anything other than an innocent bird feeder
The was a fellow who knocked off his wife here a couple of years back.
He used 70L of HCl in a wheely bin. All the police were able to retrieve were her false teeth and some hair.
Perhaps HCl sold in South Aus is lower concentration. Those guys weren’t exactly rocket scientists, perhaps they diluted it to make it cover the bodies?
The=There
pool HCL is about pH 1 I think
pool HCL steams as it reacts with the moisture in the air
Teleost said:
The=There
actually The+re=There
there there
golf clap
>Why did they not dissolve?
Just because it is a strong acid and has a low pH, doesn’t mean it will dissolve everything. Think about it; the wheelie bin didn’t dissolve. HCl is more likely to dissolve bones than flesh. There simply isn’t a reaction path for the acid with flesh.
Acid dissolves bones and leaves skin relatively intact. For example, the tanning of hides and skins is done with sulfuric acid.
Alkali (eg. lye) tends to dissolve soft tissues and leave bones intact.
Both strong acids and alkalis strongly deter biological degradation of all soft parts that happens at near-neutral pH.
(wrong conjunction, fixing)
Acid dissolves bones but leaves skin relatively intact. For example, the tanning of hides and skins is done with sulfuric acid.
Alkali (eg. lye) tends to dissolve soft tissues but it leaves bones intact.
Both strong acids and alkalis strongly deter the biological degradation of all soft parts that happens at near-neutral pH.
Would nitric acid be a contender? It seems to prefer organics.