Good story. I showed it to my husband, the chemical engineer, and he doesn't believe you, but it's still a good story.
He has a true story. My husband went to Tulane and took chemistry with a guy who made nitrogen tri-iodide after hours in the lab. This stuff is more powerful than TNT and more sensitive than nitroglycerine, but it is difficult to make in large quantities. He filtered it in a vacuum flask filter, and the filter funnel got stuck. It came loose very suddenly, and he noticed a very fine dust settling around the hood. He took a step backwards, and there was a "Baffff!!!!" Then he took a step forwards, and there was another "Baffff!!!" He touched his lab apron, and there was a little "bafff!!!" and a purple stain appeared. He finally had to take a pencil and tapped each of the crystals to set them off, producing a little "bafff!!!" each time. I know the fellow, I think it's a true story. The fellow says that it does make a fun prank to put one of the crystals into someone's keyhole, and when they put their key in, there is a "Bammm!!!" |
