Exploding Drawer
What was the name of the substance he made to make that kids drawer explode and is it real?
shareI don't remember exactly what he claimed to have used in the film, but there are a variety of semi-unstable explosives. One that we did several experiments with way back in high school was nitrogen triiodide. It's so unstable in its pure form (after the solution you make it in evaporates) that we set off a small sample of it simply by having the students in the classroom jump in unison.
It made a loud bang and a pretty purple cloud. Overall, not very powerful considering the amount that my teacher used, but it sure got our attention - kind of like the prank from this film if I'm remembering it correctly.
I saw part of it on AMC or one of those channels a couple weeks ago, but I didn't see that scene this time so my memory's kind of foggy on that part.
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In the movie he says it is nitrogen triiodide. We did some cool detonations with it too. It's fun stuff (not that anyone should try it at home!). But it doesn't really work as fast as the movie depicts it. It also is a bit different in the way it works (but it's obviously done that way for dramatic purposes). The chemical reaction between the two reactants takes about 15 minutes, and it forms crystals. Then it could take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or two (depending on the environment) in order for the crystals to dry out. Only when they are dry do they react to shock.
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