Instant Fire - Portland Mercury

"Don't try this at home, kids. This is not Jackass," says Matt Staab, a chemistry teacher at Cleveland High School, as he puts on goggles and starts rummaging around in a green plastic box marked "Explosives 'Kit.'" His trucker cap says "I [Heart] Chemistry."
Staab visited the Mercury to show us a few ways to blow things up, in honor of America. Some of his experiments can be replicated at home—if, like he says, you're not a kid, and might we add you're not drunk, high or stupid—but some use top secret ingredients that only real science teachers (and probably terrorists) can get their hands on.
We tried 'em under Staab's watchful eye, didn't get a visit from the Portland Police Bureau's bomb squad, and lived to tell you all about it. God bless America!

www.portlandmercury.com

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