Tuesday, May 5, 2009

life changing moment... coming soon

I recently promised a story about a recent life-changing moment. I didn't forget. Things are just getting really busy, what with the imminent end of the semester and all (3 days and then finals). I promise I'll tell it soon.

Let me whet your appetite: This life-changing thing will probably contribute to my downfall on many different levels. It is related to my hobby run amok. This thing could be used to kill mjenks.

Until then, watch me "blow up" shit:



Only four stars???? YouTube users suck!!!

5 comments:

Katie Collette said...

That was awesome!! It would be even better at night, I think, with all the sparkleyness and molten stuff dropping and splashing on the ground.

Chemgeek said...

That is a good idea. Maybe for the 4th of July... Stay tuned....

~E said...

I like how burning gummy bears smell like faded childhood dreams.

And that explosion rocked!

milkshake said...

Here is much better aluminothermic experiment for the 4th of July, preferably done after sundown:

First, get hold of large quantity of potassium permanganate, and powder it (I can't recommend mortar and pestle because it is too easy to spill it, use old coffee grinder blender adapter instead). Mix the powdered permanganate with a small amount of sulfur powder, like 10 parts of permanganate for 1 part of sulfur. The mixture should be ignitible but should be very oxidant rich and not burn fast. Then get Reynolds heavy-duty Al foil, cut about 15 large squares, sprinkle each square with thin layer of your permanganate mix, add new square on top, more permanganate mix etc until you get something like a lasagna of alternating metal-oxidant layers. Then pour the rest of the permanganate mix in the middle into a nice heap, that will be the heart of brightness, then wrap the layers around that heap to get a ball (you can also roll it to make a burrito) and finally wrap the finished product in one extra layer of Al foil as to prevent the permanganate powder from spilling out on your tuxedo as you carry it around.

The finished product is insensitive to shock, and it is fairly resistant to humidity, but there is severe potential for staining things, so it is best to mix it up with latex gloves, outdoor. When ignited with a sparkler or by injection of a small drop of antifreeze (glycerol also works), it bursts into astonishing white flames of burning aluminum. Molten metal flying everywhere. In the winter the snow is getting colored pink and green and brown. Happy times.

Sweet Tart Recipes said...

Great bllog post