Quote by Liz
Hydrofluoric acid in a 50-gallon acrylic barrel
- Hydrofluoric acid is toxic and corrosive, but actually isn't that strong of an acid compared to other hydrohalic acids; the fluorine has a very good orbital overlap with hydrogen and is also not very polarisable, therefore it resists donating its proton, unlike other hydrohalic acids which are good proton donators. It will break down some tissues, but it will take a relatively long time and won't turn the entire body into stuff that can be rinsed down the drain. Hydrochloric acid is a much stronger acid, and as it has several uses from pH-balancing pool water to preparing concrete surfaces, it's available by the gallon from any hardware store. However, it isn't very good at dissolving bodies either; while it will eventually work by breaking down the connective tissues, it will make a huge stink and take several days to dissolve certain types of tissues and bones.
Someone DID do their chemistry homework! I'm pretty impressed.
As far as I know, in their golden days, the mafia used hot concentrated potassium perchlorate (KClO4). That's a pretty darn strong base and an excellent oxidizer. It oxidizes pretty much everything it gets its unimaginable load of electronegativity onto. You will oxidize any biological tissue so much you can't even tell this soup used to be biology while (relatively) strong acids like HCl will have a hard time dealing with bones, teeth, nails, hair et cetera. Also, HCl can be very dangerous, especially in such quantities. KClO4 is a safe-to-handle powder and can just be added to the barrel of hot water.
But if you're insisting on acid, why not go for the real bad molecules (the ones that make sulfuric acid look like a "weak" acid). Take fluorosulfuric acid or fluoroantimonic acid. It won't get much more acidic than that.
This is... I'm speechless...
