Smoke Bomb

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by Gondolin, Nov 24, 2004.

  1. Gondolin Hell hath no fury like squid Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    709
    Me and my friends have the urge to make an awesome smoke bomb, only problem is is that the materials we are given could present a problem. Heres the deal.

    The smoke bomb we want to make consists of 4 parts sugar, 6 parts potassium Nitrate. The only potassium nitrate we could get our hands on was that in fireworks. Now I read these fireworks have sulfur in them. If we were to make this smokebomb with the materials at hand, would the sulfur pose a health problem or change the composition into something very dangerous?
     
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  3. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    make some potassium nitrate:

    Materials needed:
    -3.5 gallons of nitrate bearing earth or other material
    -1/2 cup of wood ashes
    -Bucket or other similar container about 4-5 gallons in volume
    -2 pieces of finely woven cloth, each a bit bigger than the bottom of the bucket
    -Shallow dish or pan at least as large in diameter as the bucket
    -Shallow, heat resistant container
    -2 gallons of water
    -Something to punch holes in the bottom of the bucket
    -1 gallon of any type of alcohol
    -A heat source
    -Paper & tape


    Procedure:
    - Punch holes on the inside bottom of the bucket, so that the metal is"puckered" outward from the bottom
    - Spread cloth over the holes from the bottom
    - Place wood ashes on the cloth. Spread it out so that it covers the entire cloth and has about the same thickness.
    - Place 2nd cloth on top of the wood ashes
    - Place the dirt or other material in the bucket
    - Place the bucket over the shallow container. NOTE: It may need support on the bottom so that the holes on the bottom are not blocked.
    - Boil water and pour it over the earth very slowly. Do NOT pour it all at once, as this will clog the filter on the bottom.
    - Allow water to run through holes into the shallow dish on the bottom.
    - Be sure that the water goes through ALL of the earth!
    - Allow water in dish to cool for an hour or so
    - Carefully drain the liquid in the dish away, and discard the sludge in the bottom
    - Boil this liquid over a fire for at least two hours. Small grains of salt will form - scoop these out with the paper as they form
    - When the liquid has boiled down to 1/2 its original volume let it sit
    - After 1/2 hour, add equal volume of the alcohol; when this mixture is poured through paper, small white crystals appear. This is the posassium nitrate.


    Purification:
    - Redissolve crystals in small amount of boiling water
    - Remove any crystals that appear
    - Pour through improvised filter then heat concentrated solution to dryness.
    - Spread out crystals and allow to dry
     
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  5. Gondolin Hell hath no fury like squid Registered Senior Member

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    Cool, thanks... I think we are gonna do that instead.
     
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  7. Gondolin Hell hath no fury like squid Registered Senior Member

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    How much potassium nitrate can I expect from this?
     
  8. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    probaly a few teaspoons, i havent done it on a large scale yet, i only make small amounts to light on fire
     
  9. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    Vslayer NOPE NOPE NOPE, WRONG!! You are not making anything that way, instead you are leeching the soil to get out the mineral content. aint going to work sorry.
    KNO3 is made by reacting Potassium Carbonate/Sulphate... with Nitric acid.
    Alcohol is not going to do you any good. You are not going to get any usable KNO3 with your method. I have found an alternative source for KNO3 at the Chinese grocery/China town. You have to look for preserving salt for making sausages. I can't remember the name right know but you'll find it I think it is called rooster brand preserving salt. Should be $5.00/lb
     
  10. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    i didnt write the recipe myself, all i know is that i get a substance that burns well from this, i dont have the equipment or the time ta analyse it, so it may very well not be potassium nitrate
     
  11. Emmveepee Registered Senior Member

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    41
    Those are really messy burns and very cancerous.
     
  12. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    please check out the pyrotechnics and explosives forum.

    There are all sorts of goodies waiting to be seen

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    please be aware you must be 18 Years and older to view the forum.
     
  13. GRO$$ Registered Senior Member

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  14. GRO$$ Registered Senior Member

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    304
    http://www.unitednuclear.com/smoke.htm

    It works pretty easy: you light the saltpetre (common name for pot. nit.), it burns the sugar. Sugar burning causes badass smoke. Not exactly College Chemistry here...

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  15. GRO$$ Registered Senior Member

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    vslayer: promise to take pictures and post them?
     
  16. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    next batch i make ill borrow a camera

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  17. guthrie paradox generator Registered Senior Member

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    4,089
    HHmmm, that saltpetre recipe Vslayer posted looks like a useless attempt to get it by converting sodium nitrate into potassium nitrate. But its a little harder than that.

    Speaking as someone whose worked with acids and alkalis, I can assure you they arent very cancerous.
     
  18. Gondolin Hell hath no fury like squid Registered Senior Member

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    709
    Any idea where I can get some saltpetre? I dont need a license to buy it or anything do I?
     
  19. GRO$$ Registered Senior Member

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    304
    RTFT- ebay
     
  20. guthrie paradox generator Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,089
    Vslayer, if youve actually done that experiment, and get something that burns well, its probably sodium nitrate, which is the ingredient in your average fertiliser bomb.
     
  21. phyre Registered Member

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  22. lumburgur Registered Member

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    ok this is method of getting kno3 (saltpeter [potassium nitrate]) is a little steep, but its also untrackable ;-) : drug stores sell the stuff... its about $5 for a 4 oucne bottle though, so you cant get much, however, if you are <18 and you've got bitchy parents who wont let you make pyrotechnics, you dont have to borrow a credit card.
    i think that you can buy 8 oz. or 10 oz. which would be cheeper, but i havetn seen any in my town. just buy it cash and there will be no trail whatsoever.

    also, kno3 along with sulfur can be used to make balck powder in a long and involved process that i only tried once, and screwed up by using too much sulfur
    i think that htis website: www.xinventions.com has a few recipies for pyrotechnics as well as the recipe for black powder
    also if you can get your hands on smokeless powder (also called grey or green powder) you can mix that with pvc solvent to make a mean fireball (looks wicked when you put it on a string and swing it around like a yo-yo trick)
    ok, thats it for now, enjoy!
     

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