My 5 and 7 year old sons are big fans of the show. They want to know if chocolate can be used as rocket fuel... They will have a lot left over after Trick or Treating tonight - so if you need some for testing - let us know.

Yes, chocolate could theoretically be used as a fuel, although it wouldn't be very efficient.

Chocolate, by itself, is a bitter, powdery substance. The stuff we associate with Halloween candy is MILK chocolate, which has a lot of sugar in it to keep your children bouncing off the walls well after Thanksgiving and you family dentist in his Florida condo.

Although milk chocolate is almost useless as a fuel of any sort, the sugar in it is another story. Sugar (sucrose: C12 H22 O11) will burn, but not fast enough to make a useful rocket propellant. However, it can be mixed with water and yeast and left to spoil (ferment) in a dark, cool place. In a while, you'll have ethanol (grain alcohol, the same stuff in beer, liquor and wine), which makes a potentially useful rocket fuel, as it has a tendency to oxidize (That is, it combines with oxygen to form new substances.) very fast, which puts out a lot of energy.

Ethanol is already used in many gasoline blends today and has been used as both racing and rocket fuel. Ethanol is not used in rockets today for a number of reasons, the main one being there are things that give off a lot more energy and are easier to work with. Ethanol can be corrosive and will dissolve a steel tamk over time. This may be especially true in the high temps and pressures normally encountered in rocketry.

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Sugar (sucrose: C12 H22 O11) will burn, but not fast enough to make a useful rocket propellant.

Actually, if you use the right oxidizer, sucrose will burn extremely rapidly. The one rocket I used it in had a few problems, but if it hadn't, the thing would have launched. It didn't launch because the reaction welded part of the rocket to the launch stand. Otherwise it worked. And milk chocolate would burn given the right oxidizer too.

Sugar as rocket fuel... Huh. Whaddya know? I learn something new every day. Thanks for the insight, Qwerty, it's an eye-opener. However, what I said stands, such as it is. Although almost anything will burn, given the right conditions (oxidizer, heat, etc.), there are better fuels than chocolate for rocketry. Sugar burns, but burns better when converted to alcohol. Just to be sure, I'll Google the MSDS and other pertinent data. If I'm going to talk thru my hat, I should at least make sure the hat fits, yes?

Pure chocolate containing cocoa butter or a sustitute fat would make a better rocket fuel.

Nanomyth, I refer you to the "salami rocket" episode. The MBs tested the myth that the fat in a salami would make a decent rocket fuel and got bupkis. Are you sure about this, lad?

I checked the link you gave, Nano, and I saw little to indicate what use cocoa butter would be as a rocket fuel. It doesn't seem to give off much energy when burned, but I'm open to new info.

I was stating it would be better than cocoa powder not that it would be "a decent rocket fuel".

LIke it was stated before sugar mixed with an oxidizer ALONE can be used as an Effective rocket fule. Sugar powered rockets have actually been launched as far as 1 mile into the atmosphere. There is in fact a rather large hobby group that is based around hommade rockets with sugar and KNO3 as their fuel

So we have both sugar (sucrose) and saltpeter as rocket fuel, eh? OK, I'm learning a thing or two here. Saltpeter doesn't surprise me, as it's an important ingredient in black powder (gunpowder) and other explosives. Jojomufasa, I did a bit of digging and you are absolutely correct. There's video and a Wiki article about this subject, as well as numerous sites devoted to the hobby. I learn something new every day!

Nano, I stand corrected. I sahll now hop down off my soap box.

I understand that powdered confectioner's sugar can react spontaneously with KMnO4.

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Originally posted by jojomufasa:
LIke it was stated before sugar mixed with an oxidizer ALONE can be used as an Effective rocket fule. Sugar powered rockets have actually been launched as far as 1 mile into the atmosphere. There is in fact a rather large hobby group that is based around hommade rockets with sugar and KNO3 as their fuel

Wimps. I prefer something a bit more dangerous than KNO3 for my fuel, although I can't reveal the secret ingredient(s) I like to use.

Two words, Qwerty: Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2).

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Wimps. I prefer something a bit more dangerous than KNO3 for my fuel, although I can't reveal the secret ingredient(s) I like to use.

You could always use axxx and xxxate. The combination makes axxxate that will go BOOM almost spontaneously.

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Two words, Qwerty: Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2).

There is something more dangerous that they will not ship in mail.

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Originally posted by Master Booger:
Two words, Qwerty: Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2).

So close and yet so far. I prefer the mixture watcher posted. Spontaneous ignition, baby

Bear in mind, Qwerty, we're trying to launch a rocket, not you!