Water Activated Flash Powder from Silver Nitrate and Magnesium

[bagofbones11]

My chem teacher showed our class this kind of flash powder but didn't show us how to make it. Great video.

[BlackMagicProd]

unlisted now haha

[NurdRage]

@BlackMagicProd fine, i'll make it private.

[BlackMagicProd]

@NurdRage nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!

[BlackMagicProd]

@NurdRage you just took the meaning out of my life. my heart is broken </3

[AguxOne]

Simple question, why the nitrate ion is reduced (NO2) and not the silver ion? And which reaction makes the water to evaporate, there's no hydrogen involved from magnesium and water? Thanks great demonstration

[AguxOne]

Simple question, why the nitrate ion is reduced (NO2) and not the silver ion? If water is evaporated, where lies the silver ion? It is reduced too?

[AguxOne]

Simple question, why the magnesium reduced the nitrate ion and not the silver one?, NO2 is formed

[BitsFan]

Lol im 15 yrs old and i know what a mole isxd

[mattg889]

You should use a high speed camera on that!!

[m109mike]

flashbang much

[Pipwig12345]

@m109mike Idiotic general public of video gamers addicted to things such as "killstreaks" and "c4" much.

[scientologyRfail]

google "micromole" if your not a chemist

[NurdRage]

@scientologyRfail you'd be amazed at how many people don't even know how to use google.

[scientologyRfail]

@NurdRage I actually am studying chemistry at school for my GCSE so obviously i know what a micromole is. But yes you do have a point my dad doesnt even know how to use google, Only facebook

[tuipale]

@NurdRage nurdrage is right... this stuff will detonate if you store it even in dry place. so do not use this stuff for explosives -.-

[serentzu]

@NurdRage google should be a lifeline option on who wants to be a millionaire

[mtflyer05]

@NurdRage Hahaha. I love it.

[DeathDart2k]

@NurdRage ugh i have to tell my parents how to open the internet again....

[BlackMagicProd]

And that's where babies come from.

[asvestomixZ]

nice video, Crappy voice effect

[NurdRage]

@asvestomixZ turn off the sound and turn on the subtitles.

[asvestomixZ]

@NurdRage cool

[19dma95]

you should buy a high speed camera so instead of frame by frame it can be view super slow motion matrix style

[pxmstr]

hi Dr. L as before I would like to know the secret of aluminum foil melting thru your hand with just any liquid applied to it help?

[Argon014]

Any possibility of using pure potassium + water in a future video?

[LoverUndercuver]

It Melted The Glass Thing Go Go Go! NurdRage 4 ever.:D

[starshock01]

Mg+H2O=MgOH+H2

AgNO3(weak acid)+MgOH(weak base)=MgNO3+Ag...im guessing the hydrogen is ignited since its endothermic? lol the pipette got totally fried



[Michaeljustarock]

wonder if the same thing would happen if you throw it into water instead

[adagjlzhepr]

what if u did like 3 oz. of this on top of a concrete block. u could break out of prison with this stuff!

[Legofan78]

bravery and foolishness? WTF, Why does either die?

[Legofan78]

well what is a mocleable anyway?

[ConnorXV]

@Legofan78 mole equivalent

[snipesnrifles]

i had my nose fixed cuz i got hella bloody noses so the docter shoved some silver nitrate up my nose it hurt for a week.....it was great for about a year then more bloody noses

[Tacocat21]

Times that by 50, and you'll have some fun.

[markkumhyr]

thumbs up if the annotations pissed u off

[hawk1buster]

Silver Nitrate is used as a substitute in homemade blasting caps,it is very strong and loud as hell even in small amounts

[rob27222712]

wouldnt half of a micromol of AgNO3 be .00008496 grams? how do you measure that? you must have a very precise scale.

[csknives1985]

no offence your voice sounds like serial killer masking

[N1ck1Sk123]

so if some swet drips off your head u can say goodbye?

[JavAnarkoMet]

im a chemist too and i cant describe my amousement watching this

[ChemistryNutAndProud]

This is similar to igniting lithium with just water. first you grate the lithium against a file that conducts electricity THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS BY THE WAY! this may produce sparks so must be performed by NurdRage or other experienced chemists as they know how reactive sparks and lithium can be! As you do this it "statically charges" the lithium. add A DROP of water and the lithium should ignite . This is dangerous the more that the lithium is oxidised. Can't be bothered going into full detail.

[MrEinstain]

Woah,man,it's goin to be better to forget what a mole is for this...

[JaimeJenaimpas]

Excellent video- an undergrad at my University tried this, and nearly had his eyebrows burned off--which is actually why I think you might be a woman. If you are, more power to you. If not?

. . . Watch out for your eyebrows, love.

Thanks again!

[TheMasterRCH]

ncie video man :D

[link0099]

whats a micromole if i may ask? ive never heard of the term. im assuming its like mm is to cm

[AxcelKaru]

Do you know if anyone has made landmines with this? just step on a pouch of water on-top of the mixture and boom...

[redtailedpython]

I am tempted to fill a bucket with this flash powder and use a hose as the water supply.

[redtailedpython]

Could i use a 1 to 6 ratio as 1 mole of silver nitrate and six moles of magnesium?

[mmcallery]

dude a half a micromol is like nothing 

[mmcallery]

caus i know what a mol is, can i try it?

(6.022x10^23)

[silenceisgod]

"If you don't know what a mole equivalent is then you aren't a chemist, and shouldn't be trying this anyway."

:))

[timngo65]

why did you have to show this? some hardcore people will take an extremely large amount of the materials and probably blow themselves up.

[Almontmarine]

You sure are very brave to conduct these sort of experiments, nurdrage. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a laboratory.

[billybobjoe102]

cna you move the subtitle in the frame by frame cause i cant see wats going on

[japanesepoptart]

hey nurdrage? kinda weird question but...

what do you mean burn? does aluminum metal really burn? or is it just melted.

[murfthe3rd]

@japanesepoptart i know this one. Yes the Al will burn as will many other metals. even steel will burn you can try this with fine steel wool. it is a little safer than burning Al.

[Denm2]

I think the voice changer sounds awesome almost like a diabolical chemist.

[onetwopussies]

oops I posted on the other video. Is half a micromole 30 to 1?

[0123legoman3210]

would this be activated by the touch of human skin?

sam

[Adelbert1309]

can I ask you...can you tell what will happen if a cup of this solution will be added with enough amount of water?...

[diapysik]

no they wont in the us army like this shit burns so fucking fast and is so unstable it would burn you into ashes but still you is fucked if you mess up your arm is in a pile on the ground

[starseed1337]

dont worry so much about people attempting this one , silver is expensive :(

[MonkeyWhoWouldBeKing]

does anyone know the ballanced eqn for this - id be interested to see it.

and cna i ask how experienced u shd be before trying this (im doin well at higher but im still at skl - i assume tht isnt suficient)

[sniped101]

what do you use flash powder for?

[poweressen]

@sniped101 its for rogues

[frankthetank520]

Nurdrage this is incredible, but i bet you cant make a version of greek fire

[NurdRage]

@frankthetank520

Feel free to post a video of it.

I encourage everyone to make videos of things i can't do so that everyone else may be enriched by the combined knowledge.

[AlphaMaleRyan]

@NurdRage greek fire is a fake version of fire used in greek mythology

it's supposed to burn underwater

[JavAnarkoMet]

@AlphaMaleRyan

sorry but is real, you just need to use certain cheical that can take out the elements of wather and burn em like [censored with a chiken's sound] and [censored by a donkey sound] mixd well in the paste-like thing

[dukilaki]

@NurdRage greek fire is fire witch cant be extingushed by whather thats when you burn magnesium if you add water water will react on temperature and give you hydrogen gas and oxigen so just light up magnesium salt

[gehtomacgyver]

@frankthetank520 Umm what's Greek fire ? 

[WolvesLeader91]

probably good for survival camp to light up a campfire without a lighter or matches....perhaps a little too explosive...

[elderfunthark]

do you know the power it would have if put in a durable enough model rocket engine, im testing purpultion power of several ideas

[GeneralBerger]

In the US Army Improvised incendinary devices and techniques manual they have instructions of how to make this stuff into a device.

[sciencefreeak]

thanks man this is awesome and i promise i wont do it until i become a chemist

[freakin1random]

i don't really think it needs to be very stoichometric....and honestly most people will figure it out.

Ag(NO3)2 + Mg -> AgO MgO + 2 NO2

1 to 1 mole should be fine? how you get 1/2 to 3 by definition of mole equivalent i have no clue. Its the definition, or you're using 1/2 micromole more than you need.

[ThisScreen4Rent]

is there any way to prevent spontaneous combustion of the 2 powders while stored?

[marek0086]

just keep them separated.

[macandfinder]

Think a full bucket of thath and water BOOM!!!!

[pedrolibres]

is it possible to get pure magnesium from epsom salt? ive looked everywhere, but cant find mention of it - anyone got a clue?

[512Airsoft]

Is it possible to make water activated flash powder from NH4Cl NH4NO3 and Zn dust? Just curious, thanks.

[2334Johnlegend34]

Can someone explain the reaction to me? Is it a Redox or not?

[papercuts777]

I just made a gallon of that stuff. Now I'm going to hit it with a garden hose from about 50 feet away. Wish me luck!

[vtech22ajdm]

what kind of magnesium did you use

[marek0086]

HAHA!

[roberth214]

@papercuts777 hey, so what ever happened with the gallon of flash powder and the garden hose? Was it a great fireworks show?

[mazdawg89]

@papercuts777 you should probably make it 6 gallons, just to be safe. just make sure a camera is rolling and you aren't wearing safety goggles!

[00011theman]

@papercuts777 alive?

[TheFyroPyro]

@papercuts777 so i assume you several thousand dollars worth of silver for that silver nitrate

[misko112100]

could that be used for making water activated firecrackers?

[thepiper84]

Mr nurd Rage is the man, he rocks.

[hiphopemanuel]

dats cool

[darksideofthebrick13]

fuminating silver

[ConnorXV]

NurdRage,

I did an experiment at school where KMnO4 was ignited with glycerol or vice versa and was wandering if flash powder (in the form of KMnO4 + Al) could be ignited with glycerol giving a timed fuse effect but with no fuse, don't worry it's just for a trick I wanted to show people at school.

[ENGterrorman]

can silver nitrate be used as an oxidiser in black powder? (as an experiment)

[adriiPortillo]

maybe copper or mercury nitrate also works. but this is not very interesting.... no practical use!

[TheCLockMen]

Why does only silver nitrate work?

[Keeroe]

Why would you explain this here, I know one can google such things easy enough, but now that you are making it easier for those out there who are stupid enough to try it on their own. There was a reason why he didn't explain what a mole was, because he didn't want people to try it out unless they were qualified.

[bobcorporation]

even so, he didn't explain how to find the molarity of a compound. So, it still would not be very useful.

[purplemutantas]

@nbrosens One mole of helium is 4.002602 g.

[freakin1random]

by the way, if you do this anyway and you dont want to go blind, dont look at it you stupid fucks x.x

[mutantsheepofdoom]

Hello NurdRage. I would just like to say that I enjoy every one of your videos and find them very educational. I was also wondering if you have ever personally made and/or ignited thermite. I found it to be quite fun. (Safety First).

[AgentCROCODILE]

I reckon if you use a stoichometric ratio of AgNO3 + Mg and some black powder you should theoretically get a bigger boom. Am I right about this?

[AgentCROCODILE]

Or even instead of black powder using thermite for a high temperature boom.

Of course then doing this means I doubt a fume hood would even cope with it.

[JaycubL]

Why the black powder?

[paneerdog]

Do you say half a micromole of silver nitrate?

[nicehandsfeet11]

yesterday was mole day ironic kinda :)

[altf8]

can we use magnesium from a magnesiun firestarter?

[simbathewildcat]

this would be soo sock for a timewarp

[panzuman]

you never mentioned what the mesh was for the mg powder.... :(

[JaycubL]

I'm sure the finer the better.

[ItsCallum]

cool. on the second one it stopped to buffer right on the explosion and it looks so good.

[lolzsik]

it was pretty cool that u did a freeze frame of the explosion.

[mpoertner]

whats with the weird voice?

[NurdRage]

@mpoertner

Sorry about the weird voice. If you have trouble understanding you can turn off the sound and turn on the subtitles.

[Emilioanaire007]

@NurdRage I think you sound like the allstate guy :D

[ssdwellah]

@mpoertner what do you mean? Michael Dorn aka Worf did the narration! ;)

[silverblotter]

yeah get a high speed cam that would rule

[09876124]

You need a slow mo cam........ This would be damn cool in it

[sciencoking]

OH MY GAWD.... amazing!

[netstepb]

exothermic reactions, oxidation reduction,

don't you just love it?? Thanks doc!!!

[Swindle35437]

I CAN make magnesium party popper fireworks

[anlasda34]

ermm nurdrage i am just only 11 can i do all the experiment that you've done??

[milotickz]

He says you shouldn't try this, unless you know what a mole equivalent is.

[coolbeans143]

dude i know what a mole equvilant is and im 14. its not that hard i.e he means an experienced chemist- if you are 11 and have worked with chemicals for years,which i highly dought dont try it!

[DevotedCokey]

Foolishness Lives

Braveness Dies :)

[ninja313124]

interwebs

[milotickz]

I think you forgot to mention that the experiment is also noisy, not that I blame you for muting the bangs.

[vivalaray]

WHERE DO I GET Magnesium powder? or how can i make it? can someone tell me or help me ?

[sciencerulez777]

get a bar of magnesium from wal mart or some place like it, they will be in the camping area, they are used for starting fires, then u should file it down to a powder, simple as that!

[THEOMGProduction]

lol

[DecemberControversy]

if you have to ask, you shouldn't have it.

[Lvduggo69]

NO !!!! NO !!!! Never use flash powder in firearm's. Please. !!! U will die. Before the bullet leaves the barrel it will expload !!!!!!!!!!!  Kafuckin boo M !!! Biach!!!!

Don't listen to the dipshit below me.

[divorcedme]

Funny man. I know it's true but I still laughed at the way you expressed it :-D.

Maybe the thought of them going Kafuckin BOOM had a little to do with it too :-D

[killman369547]

i make it using white spirit a gas cooker and the core of emergency flares sure the end result is flash paper but who really cares all u gotta do once u made it is crush it into powder form anyway see How To Make Flash Paper for details its easy (this can also be used in guns as a replacement for gunpowder)

[zbret]

Very impressive! Thanks for showing the frame by frame view, I thought that, and the science explanation was really interesting!

[milotickz]

Hey NurdRage, if you seen a purple flash from a mixture of potassium bromate and sulfur pelted by a drop of sulfuric acid, is it as dangerous as this flash powder?

[Armageddon3284]

so since this can be used for other than scientific means, does that mean that certain laws prohibit this experiment outside of specific places?

Could you be charged with a crime for conducting these types of experiments?

[NurdRage]

depends on the specific laws in your area.

[JVLRHappy]

that is some scary stuff right there O.o

[lolman12334]

i liked it all but then i heard the word's spontanulesly combust... then I got worried

[mxracer6969]

dude i like all your videos but you fucking creep me out with the voice changer.

[NurdRage]

most videos have subtitles, you can turn those on then turn off the sound.

[protechreviews]

ur safe without a voice changer bro

[NurdRage]

Once again, turn on the subtitles.

[BassDude50000]

yeah no one is gonna stalk u or anything

[howe094]

you can also do this with copper nitrate since copper nitrate is way cheaper and almost as reactive as silver nitrate

[marmaladekamikaze]

have you tried it? I'd imagine that it isn't quite as fast in reaction rate as this is.

[howe094]

yeah i tried it and it actually worked pretty well. copper is right next to silver in the reactivity series anyways.

[marmaladekamikaze]

Yes I am aware of that, was it slightly less vigorous? could you make a video?

[howe094]

slightly less vigorous but it was still an interesting reaction because of the blue-green color of the flash.

[NurdRage]

We might revisit this reaction in the future with copper nitrate. But we have to be careful not to make it too easy for people to hurt themselves. Videos like these are right on the edge of being too unsafe to share.

[howe094]

most likely though an amateur chemist who has a hard time getting silver nitrate will have just as hard of a time getting copper nitrate because both aren't exactly common substances.

[NurdRage]

Once you get nitric acid, both are pretty easy make. Since we've shown how to make nitric acid we've pretty much opened the gates. The issue now is getting a cheap source of metal, Silver is obviously not cheap. But copper..... ;)

so yeah, we gotta carefully word our video if we ever make it.

[marmaladekamikaze]

Yes I understand, Maybe use scientific nomenclature to obfuscate the description? Although I could easily do it via slowly sanding common magnesium pencil sharpeners etc. Unfortunately I won't be able to make the video myself due to the fact I am no longer a minor and sentencing for home experimentation is quite high.

[NurdRage]

Hehe, i'll see what i can do...

But i feel for ya about the experimentation. It's almost as if intelligence is illegal now.

Crappy world.

[howe094]

ok i didn't see that you had a tutorial on making nitric acid.

[matchbox2022]

Unless it's your major and your friends with the chemstores clerk at your university.

[howe094]

yeah but i said amateur, if you're majoring in chemistry you're probably not an idiot whose going to hurt himself, and if you are good luck getting your major i guess haha

[matchbox2022]

I have a huge request.

How to make KI3, aka bang powder.

I've heard it's pretty damn reactive, but I've forgotten the steps I was told to make it, apparently household materials will work.

[divorcedme]

NuedRage don't feel guilty if someone is stupid enough to try this at home and ends up redecorating their house with their intestines. You did warn them and the video clearly shows what a vigorous reaction it is.

It might be good if someone did do it though. As long as they ask a friend to post the video for them posthumously. :-)

[Hoser1358]

dude is that even legal?

[bwjn2008]

"The only difference between bravery and foolishness, is that one of them lives!" -Some poet dude?

[staticman20]

What (how big) would the flash be if you took a couple pounds of this and threw it in a lake?

[NurdRage]

What quantitative unit are you looking for?

[staticman20]

I meant in relation to a dram equivilent. or comparing it to a common explosive device. (firecracker, hand grenade, etc.)

[NurdRage]

hmm.. haven't actually tried it. So i wouldn't know. Explosives are hard to predict since one behavior that appears in small quantities might not apply to larger quantities.

Due to the expense of silver nitrate. I never will try it.

[staticman20]

I've only thrown a small brick of sodium in a swimming pool, kinda cool when it was near the end of reacting, but not awesome. Maybe I'll try getting like 3lbs of silver nitrate and tossing it in water.

[marek0086]

Thats hardcore stuff!

Is there any use for it what so ever??