Working in a lab
I have access to lots of dangerous but exciting things. Some of which are chemical in nature.

So anyway, a year or three back I had a project student working with me for a couple of terms. He was a bright bloke, who shared my sense of humour, willingness to be diverted from work, and mischievous streak. So one day, when my boss was away, I introduced him to the world of lab pyrotechnics.

I concocted a mixture of chemicals. I won't say exactly what they were, but one was a flammable, finely powdered metal, another was a low grade explosive and the third an oxidising agent. I stirred the mixture all together and placed a few grams of it on a small ceramic tile and placed it on a tripod above a Bunsen burner (yes, pronounced 'boonsen', for you lot who have met me) which I lit and we retired to a safe distance.

My student was standing there with his phone, recording events. A minute or so passed.

Nothing happened.

Then there was a little flicker.

About a tenth of a second later, up it went. I won't post the whole video, but here's a frame I grabbed from it, just before the screen turned white.



I do rather like being a scientist.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 15:23, 10 replies)

This is why I always picture you without eyebrows.
.
( girlinthehole, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 15:25, closed)

A friend of mine
works at the labs at Cambridge University and spends most of his time with either no eyebrows or serious burns!

We was wiffling about something better and infinitely more explosive than gunpowder the other week, yellow something?
(Halfy By light alone, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 15:31, closed)

Phosphorus?
Maybe. Lots of things are more explosive than gunpowder. It's really not that good. But it's easy to make and fun to play with.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 15:39, closed)

thats the fella
he bores for england on Chemistry and explosives, always wanted to be a csi but couldn't be bothered to get qualified for it!
(Halfy By light alone, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 15:42, closed)

Hmm
Potassium Nitrate, Magnesium powder and something else?
( Hdjejjwsjdjjf LOOK, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 21:41, closed)

Hmm
Close, but no cigar!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 8 Jan 2009, 21:47, closed)

Flash powder with added explosive?
Would the metal have been aluminium?
(buzzmong procrastinating since 1987, Fri 9 Jan 2009, 2:27, closed)

Aluminium, eh?
Might have been.... :)
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 9 Jan 2009, 9:21, closed)

And would the oxidizer
be potassium chlorate or perchlorate? The purplish flame to me suggests a few K+ ions are involved somewhere... but I'm no expert.
(keyboardman, Fri 9 Jan 2009, 17:55, closed)

Is it
Fe₃O₄ + Mg + Al?
(oeb, Sat 10 Jan 2009, 0:08, closed)