"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
dpb wrote:
On 2/14/2012 12:33 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
...

... Naptha is a little more volatile, less viscous, about as
plastic-safe, and more effective as a solvent....

That, of course, depends markedly on what the intended solute is...

Well, I was comparing it to paint thinner. I can't say for sure, but my
guess is that anything that is dissolved by paint thinner is better
dissolved by naptha. I'd be interested to hear otherwise.

Bob

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha

As you can see the answers to chemistry questions aren't simple, even for
this.

Naptha is pretty much a more carefully refined (less smelly) version of
gasoline. Since it is separated from crude oil by distillation it contains
whatever mix of straight-chain, branched and ring hydrocarbons that was in
the crude to start with. It doesn't have oxygen-containing compounds so its
solvent properties are different from alcohols, acetone, MEK or lacquer
thinner which do.

Naptha will probably dissolve the same things as kerosine or Diesel fuel.
All are chemically very similar, differing mainly in carbon chain length and
boiling point.

HTH
jsw