Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Chemistry => Topic started by: Intellicide on 09/09/2014 08:24:04
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So today my science teacher told the class that when you mix sodium with water it explodes. I am writing a book where there is a war and they fight with chemical based weapons, e.g. sodium and water. I was just wondering what other cool/dangerous reactions you can get with various chemicals by mixing them? Also, is there a gas that ignites on contact with oxygen? And is this emoji a cyborg? [B)]
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"Also, is there a gas that ignites on contact with oxygen?"
There are a few
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimethylborane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silane
And, in my opinion, the really really impressive set of chemical reactions are called life.
For example, every cell in your body contains (coded on a molecule called DNA) the instructions to make You.
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Google "Periodic Table videos".
This brings up a periodic table - click on any element to see a short video about that element - and see some way of making it explode, glow, change color or do other weird things.
These videos are produced by the chemistry department at Nottingham University.
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For the record, most of what we fight wars with today are awesome chemical reactions (all conventional fuels, propellants, explosives, and "agents" are chemicals that produce the desired effect by chemical reaction)
I would add trimethylaluminum to bored chemist's list. This is actually a liquid that bursts into flame on contact with air, producing thick black smoke (I believe this compound was included in the original formulations of the molotov cocktail)
see also: white phosphorous, thermite, sodium-potassium alloy (this is a liquid at room temperature and is far more reactive than either sodium or potassium), nickel tetracarbonyl and hypofluorous acid--these are all pretty nasty, and their chemical reactions can leave one quite awe-struck (or dead)
In the first world war, the germans used bombs that contained 2 liquids that were mixed together after the bomb was dropped, and form an incredibly explosive mixture by the time it hit the ground (I am pretty sure it was carbon disulfide and dinitrogen tetroxide, but I am not 100% certain)
**definitely do not mess around with any of these chemical reactions!** This is good stuff for writing a book about, but I wouldn't try any of this in the real world...