Concepts:

Flammable solid testing, homemade explosives labs, ingredients used, processes, technical references

Safety:

Safety glasses MUST be worn at all times by demonstrator and the audience.

Move all combustible away from the watch glass area

Equipment

• Black powder (Older and chunky is the best, hard to find).

• Watch glass.

• Thermal explosives tool (Nail punch)

• Propane torch.

Preparation:

• Place a 50 cent size amount of black powder in a watch glass.

• Move away all combustible surfaces.

Demonstration Instructions

1. Heat your Thermal Analysis tool (Nail punch) until it is glowing a red/orange color.

2. Don't hesitate, touch the edge of the black powder and it will take off!

Observations:

• Makes great videos! Take the video in real time but if you can edit to slow mode is where you see the flame.

Learning Outcomes:

• You can talk about Homemade Explosives (HME)

  • Black powder (Sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate)

  • Can lead into an HME lecture to cover all of the types of HME (See Lab ID 2.0 and Chemical Companion)

• Discussions about oxidizers and fuels

Chemical Disposal:

None, all gone!

Additional Information:

Bigger is not better!