It was in three separate jars: one of charcoal, one of sulphur, and one of saltpetre (potassium nitrate). Each jar was labeled: Charcoal, Sulphur, Saltpetre.
Via Schneier on Security. The three chemicals make gunpowder.
2009-01-02
Charcoal + Sulfur + Saltpeter = ?
I should try to carry charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter on a transcontinental flight and see what happens:
Via Schneier on Security. The three chemicals make gunpowder.
Via Schneier on Security. The three chemicals make gunpowder.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hey Fish, when I was in High school my neighbor and I used to make gunpowder using these three ingredients. He had lifted a bottle of silver nitrate from the chem lab at the HS he went to. (ya not nice but old news now). We synthesized it and mixed it in the correct amounts with the other two ingredients. We made pipe bombs out of brass pipe and pipe caps, and really bad 'roll your own' rocket engines. They sometimes worked but often just blew up. The pipe bombs always blew up with lots of shrapnel. We had a cement block blind in a sand pit. We soaked our own fuses but some of them burned painfully slow and other very fast thuse making lighting an interesting proposition. The local police got wind of it and asked us to stop. Of course this was way before the days of 9/11. Today just the hint that HS students were home producing pipe bombs might be a reason for suspension and investigation.
Ah... I hope the idea of transporting the substances on a plane is just a mental musing!
Great story!
Indeed just musings on my part, and if I did ever move the three ingredients, then I'd never try anything as stupid as making gunpowder on a plane.
I've heard some very interesting stories about home made gunpowder. Supposedly, back in the day my math teacher filled a coffee can with gunpowder and set it off under a power line, accidentally melting the plastic off the lines. The power company was not amused.
In case your curious, someone actually did this:
Carrying Gunpowder Through Airport Security
Thought that might amuse you...
Peter: ...the first link in the post is actually that article...
Post a Comment