Foolish kids learn about chemicals the hard way.
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Joined: Aug 2003
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From: The Beach, CA
It's probably in school that they learned about mixing those two chemicals 
.
I heard from another forum that the kid lost his arm or something and also he went blind in one eye from the chlorine.
.I heard from another forum that the kid lost his arm or something and also he went blind in one eye from the chlorine.
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Davison
What is wrong with kids today?!?!?!? Have their parents taught them nothing?!?!?!? My dad imparted wisdom on me from a very young age, "Son, if you are going to make homemade bombs, throw them at whatever you are trying to blow up and run like hell." He even checked my first mortar for strength before we fired it off. Parents need to spend more time with their kids. They know they are going to do stuff like this, might as well teach them munitions and improvised explosives the right way.
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Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Undisclosed,
Migod that is so stooopid. From what I recall in Chemistry class, the risk of mixing Chlorine Bleach with other solvents is a danger because other components can easily break the Bleach molecule apart, and when that happens, gaseous Chlorine gets liberated.
In this case, alcohol was the solvent that liberated the Chlorine gas, and because the bottle was capped, it burst under pressure. I don't think the bursting would have occured if the bottle wasn't capped.
As for the kid? I'd be surprised if he lost the arm in the bursting, but I could envision his hand getting burned from the burst. And yeah, if he got any unreacted bleach-alcohol mix in his eyes, that would mess them up.
Nasty.
In this case, alcohol was the solvent that liberated the Chlorine gas, and because the bottle was capped, it burst under pressure. I don't think the bursting would have occured if the bottle wasn't capped.
As for the kid? I'd be surprised if he lost the arm in the bursting, but I could envision his hand getting burned from the burst. And yeah, if he got any unreacted bleach-alcohol mix in his eyes, that would mess them up.
Nasty.
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Joined: Mar 2003
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From: San Diego
Chlorine is incredibly reactive...not quite sure what they thought would happen. next time maybe they'll throw some cesium in distilled water and shake it up.....
"it'll fizz like sodium only better!"
Cesium, for those that don't know, is an alkaline metal which reacts with water to form heat and Hydrogen gas by disassociating the Hydrogen in the water. hydrogen gas go boom...I've seen Cesium break Pyrex beakers upon contact with water. good times.
other fun stuff: stoichiometrically balanced balloon with Hydrogen and oxygen.
Thermite
Methane mambo: route the gas line from the burner outlet into a tray/trough of water, put detergent/soap in the water, and wait for bubbles to form...toss match and observe.
We had too much fun in chem class...
Quick2k
"it'll fizz like sodium only better!"
Cesium, for those that don't know, is an alkaline metal which reacts with water to form heat and Hydrogen gas by disassociating the Hydrogen in the water. hydrogen gas go boom...I've seen Cesium break Pyrex beakers upon contact with water. good times.
other fun stuff: stoichiometrically balanced balloon with Hydrogen and oxygen.
Thermite
Methane mambo: route the gas line from the burner outlet into a tray/trough of water, put detergent/soap in the water, and wait for bubbles to form...toss match and observe.
We had too much fun in chem class...
Quick2k
