Instant Fire. Potassium chlorate, KClO 3, is a white, crystalline or powdery solid which is a very good oxidizing agent; it is used in explosives, fireworks, matches, etc. When it decomposes under heating (especially in the presence of a manganese catalyst), it releases molecular oxygen, O 2 : 2KClO 3 (s) â.
Bluing for Laundry. Bluing is an old-fashioned product that was once a staple of the laundry room; chances are good that your grandmother was very familiar with it. Referred to as a whitener, bluing is added to the wash or rinse cycle for the purpose of giving whites a very subtle blue tint. Why blue?
Tacking (sailing) Tacking or coming about is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel, whose desired course is into the wind, turns its bow toward the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction. The opposite maneuver to tacking is called jibing, or wearing on square-rigged ships, that is, turning the stern through the wind. No sailing vessel can move directly upwind, though that may be the desired direction, making this a