gp@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) (06/25/87)
When I was in college, I used to make a pretty simple explosive using ammonium hydroxide, and iodine (I think it was ammonium tri-iodide). Anyway, when the resulting powder was dried, it made quite a good explosive that was EXTREMELY sensitive to jarring (it made a great flytrap). What I was wondering was, does anyone know if that is the same substance used in the commercially available "snappers". They are small bundles of some powder that "snap" when they are thrown against something. By the way, I'm just curious... I have no intentions of blowing anything up. -------------------- "We thank you for your support" Mr. B.
wallis@weitek.UUCP (Bob Wallis) (06/27/87)
In article <209@picuxa.UUCP> gp@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) writes: >When I was in college, I used to make a pretty simple explosive using >ammonium hydroxide, and iodine (I think it was ammonium tri-iodide). >Anyway, when the resulting powder was dried, it made quite a good >explosive that was EXTREMELY sensitive to jarring (it made a great >flytrap). What I was wondering was, does anyone know if that is the >same substance used in the commercially available "snappers". They >are small bundles of some powder that "snap" when they are thrown against >something. I remember when I was a kid (in my pyro phase) getting silver looking things called "torpedoes" that had little loose BBs inside them that exploded when you threw them at something. I believe that both these and the party poppers (that spew confetti when you yank the string) use silver or mercury fulminate. My favorite homebrew was lead azide which is trivial to make (that is what was in those famous bullets designed for sky marshals, also used in the Reagan assassination attempt). Your iodine stuff is really called nitrogen (tri) iodide. It is too sensitive to be anything but a laboratory curiosity, but is well suited for sadistic practical jokes (it works great if you put it under toilet seats). Bob Wallis UUCP {turtlevax,pyramid,cae780,apple,wyse}!weitek!wallis
jl@fornax.uucp (JL) (06/28/87)
> In article <209@picuxa.UUCP> gp@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) writes: > >When I was in college, I used to make a pretty simple explosive using > >ammonium hydroxide, and iodine (I think it was ammonium tri-iodide). ******************* ...stuff deleted... >Your iodine stuff is really called nitrogen (tri) iodide. ********************* > Bob Wallis No, it IS called ammonium tri-iodide. -- Jay-El
robert@uop.UUCP (Robert McCaul) (07/01/87)
In article <2631@weitek.UUCP>, wallis@weitek.UUCP (Bob Wallis) writes: > In article <209@picuxa.UUCP> gp@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) writes: > >When I was in college, I used to make a pretty simple explosive using > >ammonium hydroxide, and iodine (I think it was ammonium tri-iodide). > well suited for sadistic practical jokes (it works great if you put it under > toilet seats). then again there was a student at new mexico tech. who almost was thrown out of school for injecting the mixture into a dormatory door lock...the unsuspecting victim later inserted his key and well... "Why do you wear a hand-grenade around your neck?" ....cogent!uop!robert OR .....seismo!lll-crg!ucdavis!uop!robert ...."pull the pin, and see whats on the other side"
howard@cpocd2.UUCP (Howard A. Landman) (07/01/87)
in article <209@picuxa.UUCP<, gp@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) says: < < When I was in college, I used to make a pretty simple explosive using < ammonium hydroxide, and iodine (I think it was ammonium tri-iodide). In article <531@nonvon.UUCP< apn@nonvon.UUCP (root) writes: <The commercial snappers... are based on silver fulminate and sand. <Cheap actually... Another few favorite combinations are <from arsenic trioxide/sulfides or ( origins from india ) <red-P and KClO3 or PbN3 or One more that no one mentioned is silver acetylide. Packs quite a wallop and doesn't leave that iodine stain or any toxic residue. Why bother with arsenic and lead? -- Howard A. Landman ...!{oliveb,...}!intelca!mipos3!cpocd2!howard howard%cpocd2%sc.intel.com@RELAY.CS.NET "You just ask them?"
srp@ethz.UUCP (Scott Presnell) (07/05/87)
In article <531@nonvon.UUCP> apn@nonvon.UUCP (root) writes: >... >ammonium tri-iodide is basically held together by H-H bonding and as the >water ( or other polar aprotic solvent ) evaporates away it becomes >unstable. BTW, ammonium tri-iodide is not at all the correct name, but >it *is* the common one. It still is my favorite..... nothing quite like >purple clouds of smoke with accompanying crackles. There is no known crystal structure of Ammonium tri-iodide / Nitrogen tri-iodide as it is too unstable. The one thing that is known is the stoichiometry: it is one Nitrogen to three Iodides. N1, I3. Therefore it probably is not Ammonium tri-iodide in the sense that an ammonium ion is involved, unless the hydrogen stoichiometry was left out because it could not be determined. Disclaimer: After consulting a few of my colleagues and my Professor, this was the consensus agreement. ----- Scott Presnell Organic Chemistry Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zentrum) CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland. uucp:seismo!mcvax!cernvax!ethz!srp (srp@ethz.uucp); bitnet:Benner@CZHETH5A
collinge@uvicctr.UUCP (Doug Collinge) (07/06/87)
In article <2631@weitek.UUCP> wallis@weitek.UUCP (Bob Wallis) writes: >My favorite homebrew was lead azide which is trivial to make... I just looked up lead azide: bubble N2O through a solution of Na metal in liquid NH3 to get sodium azide, react this with a lead salt to get lead azide. This is trivial? -- Doug Collinge School of Music, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8W 2Y2 collinge@uvunix.BITNET decvax!uw-beaver!uvicctr!collinge ubc-vision!uvicctr!collinge
wallis@weitek.UUCP (Bob Wallis) (07/06/87)
In article <265@uvicctr.UUCP> collinge@uvicctr.UUCP (Doug Collinge) writes: >In article <2631@weitek.UUCP> wallis@weitek.UUCP (Bob Wallis) writes: > >>My favorite homebrew was lead azide which is trivial to make... > >I just looked up lead azide: bubble N2O through a solution of Na metal >in liquid NH3 to get sodium azide, react this with a lead salt to get >lead azide. This is trivial? >-- > Doug Collinge It is only trivial if you can get sodium azide, which is fairly common. You mix solutions of sodium azide and lead nitrate, and the lead azide percipitates out as a white chalky powder. If you try this, don't make too much, I've read that if you succeed in making the wrong type of crystals, it can be very unstable. The stuff is quite spectacular, unlike most explosives, this stuff NEVER burns quietly, it only detonates (it has to be very dry). Regarding the nitrogen/ammonium (tri) iodide issue, I thought that it's formula was NI3 2(NH3), and not just NI3. At any rate it is definitely considered a halide of NITROGEN (nitrogen cloride and bromide are also explosive), and not of AMMONIA (which should be quite stable). I agree that ammonimum iodide is the wrong name for it. Bob Wallis UUCP {turtlevax,pyramid,cae780,apple,wyse}!weitek!wallis
srp@ethz.UUCP (Scott Presnell) (07/07/87)
In article <265@uvicctr.UUCP> you write: >I just looked up lead azide: bubble N2O through a solution of Na metal >in liquid NH3 to get sodium azide, react this with a lead salt to get >lead azide. This is trivial? Not too bad (for a chemist). Sodium azide is pretty common, I use it all the time to keep those pesky bugs (bacteria) from growing in my buffers. But let's not post rough experimental descriptions on a "public" system. Someone may actually try this without the proper materials or supervision. (i.e. throwing the Na metal into NH4OH house cleaner, which happens to say "ammonia" on it, instead of real liquid NH3). Regards, Scott Presnell Organic Chemistry Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zentrum) CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland. uucp:seismo!mcvax!cernvax!ethz!srp (srp@ethz.uucp); bitnet:Benner@CZHETH5A
greg@mind.UUCP (Greg Nowak) (07/08/87)
Summary:bugs in buffers In article <128@bernina.UUCP> srp@bernina.UUCP (Scott Presnell) writes: >In article <265@uvicctr.UUCP> you write: >>lead azide. This is trivial? >Not too bad (for a chemist). Sodium azide is pretty common, I use it all the >time to keep those pesky bugs (bacteria) from growing in my buffers. But BUGS in your BUFFERS? And you use Sodium Azide? I just edit them out, ha ha ha ... (just another emacs zombie ...) -- greg Since I now handle mail and news from inside emacs, 90% of my time is spent there ... so I have my .login put me in emacs immediately. ...seismo!princeton!mind!greg MODIFY my BUFFERS! YOW!
stumpy@sdcc6.ucsd.EDU (pb) (07/13/87)
In article <990@mind.UUCP>, greg@mind.UUCP (Greg Nowak) writes: > BUGS in your BUFFERS? And you use Sodium Azide? I just > edit them out, ha ha ha ... that was THE worst joke i have ever heard on this net !!!