crazyboy25 Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 A while back i made "negative x" im sure it has a proper name...i just don't know it. anyway i made a batch and WOW just put a drop of lukewarm water on it and it bursts into bright green flames! anyway i am in no way claiming this as my invention just posting a small tutorial. The required chemicals are: Ammonium Nitrate (14.0 grams), Ammonium Chloride (1.5 grams) and Zinc Dust (34.5 grams) Grind the Ammonium Nitrate and the Ammonium Chloride together in a mortar & pestle until they are a fine powder. Once the remaining chemical, Zinc Dust, is added, this composition will become extremely water sensitive. It is suggested that before you add the required amount of Zinc Dust, you move your experiment outdoors just in case accidental ignition occurs. Note that as soon as all the components are mixed, it will become extremely water sensitive! Even a tiny amount of water will ignite the mixture. You must use this composition immediately after it is made DO NOT STORE IT for any length of time. Take about a teaspoon full of the mixture and make a small pile of it on the ground. Press a little indentation into the top of the pile and add a drop of water. QUICKLY STAND BACK! In a second or so it will bubble, hiss and smoke, and instantly burst into a blue-green flame. Negative x
rocket Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 It also works with NaCl, I think any chloride will work IIRC.
mormanman Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 what do you mean " It also works with NaCl, I think any chloride will work IIRC." what do you use that instead of.
asilentbob Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 Sodium chloride (table salt) instead of ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac).
cplmac Posted April 6, 2007 Posted April 6, 2007 No kidding? I was planning on making this, just gotta wait to get restocked on zinc. Thanks for the table salt substitution, saved me another order.
crazyboy25 Posted April 6, 2007 Author Posted April 6, 2007 i got all my chemicals from united nuclear just cause they had all the chemicals and they sell small retail sized amounts
aquaman Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 I never order from UN. Their prices are soo expensive. Just don't store this stuff or put it in your pocket! I've heard of some stories...
hst45 Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 cplmac, I too was unaware that the substitution of NaCl would work. This sounds like a fun experiment for an Easter Sunday. The kids always enjoy a little excitement after dinner, so I hope not to disappoint. I'll let you know how it works on Monday.
pudidotdk Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 The -Cl is only catalyst, so I guess it would work even without it. Just not as fast
itwasntme Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 You can use salt water too, instead of grinding up the salt(which isnt so easy to do). It worked just fine like that.
al93535 Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 Yes this works fine with table salt, and works quite well! It's an interesting experiment.
hst45 Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 I tried the substitution of NaCl this weekend, and no dice. I mixed the ammonium nitrate and sodium chloride, and then moved outdoors and added the Zinc. I added a few drops of water, and nothing. I added a few more, and nothing. Would the fact this I used iodized table salt be a problem? Another thing that may be an issue is the purity of my zinc. I got it from a ceramic supplier and it doesn't have a stated percentage of purity. It's very finely ground, with a rather greenish-yellow cast instead of blueish-greyish. Could it perhaps be contaminated with a percentage of zinc oxide? I've never tried negative-X before, and I have no Ammonium chloride on hand to test. Perhaps I'll try the saltwater route, with uniodized salt, or whatever other suggestion that you guys might have.
rocket Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 When I did it the comp lit very easy, I just used sea salt NH4NO3 and 4-6 mic Zn powder. If any thing I would think that it’s your Zn that my be the problem. Video: http://www.apcforum.net/files/NegativeX.MOV
hst45 Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 rocket, thanks. Looking at your video I think you're probably right. Your compound has that blueish-grey look, and as I said mine is much more greenish-yellowish. Probably crap zinc. Garbage in - garbage out. That's what I get for buying cheap materials of unknown purity. I'm a victim of my own cheapness, if cheapness is in fact a word.
pudidotdk Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 http://www.pudi.dk/video/negativex2.mov Used NH4Cl + a mom as audience.
Mumbles Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 I've actually never seen a ceramic supplier sell zinc metal. Clay Art Center comes to mind. They sell a product that is labeled as zinc, but in reality is zinc oxide.
hst45 Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 DING, circle gets the square! That's where it came from. I threw it in the cart when I ordered KNO3. Thanks Mumbles.
BigBang Posted April 9, 2007 Posted April 9, 2007 Just don't store this stuff or put it in your pocket! I've heard of some stories... Whaaaaat? But seriously, do not store this stuff, especially on your persons. You WILL get burnt!
aquaman Posted April 10, 2007 Posted April 10, 2007 ^^^^ I thought it was you but I wasn't for sure... But for real this stuff is hygroscopic (this is the right term ) and it will attract water from the air. So don't mix it if it is raining, high humidity, or if what ever your working on has condensation from the temperature or a drink that you might have nearby. This stuff will suprise you if you're not watching.
styropyro Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 As weird as this sounds, clumped up Ammonium nitrate seems to screw up my mix. At first I had nice dry Ammonium Nitrate, and My Neagative X worked fine, it lit in a few seconds with a huge green flame. Even with a tight lid, my Ammonium nitrate kept on sucking water out of the air. Pretty soon it took longer for a new mix to light and now when I make it it doesn't even light! I would think it would light even quicker with the water already in there. I don't know what the problem is. I use Ammonium Chloride for a catalyst and my zinc is good.
h0lx Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 The water is inhibiting the burn. you need water for it to ignite, but not for it to burn.
evilgecko Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 I made some negative x with sodium chloride as the catalyst and it took about 10s to light. Did not work half as good as with ammonium chloride.
mormanman Posted April 17, 2007 Posted April 17, 2007 I got a question it kind of dumb but what exactly happens to the water? You don't have to answer if you don't want to but i would appreciate it. thanks
DeAdFX Posted April 17, 2007 Posted April 17, 2007 Well there are two things that might happen to the water.. One it can be vaporized and two it can react with the zinc to form H2 and ZnO. If you wanted to no for sure the oxygen in the ammonium nitrate would contain one isotope of oxygen and the oxygen in water would contain another. .
armogedon Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 this my sound stupid but where can i get the materials (ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride and zinc powder) for a reasonable price. thanks
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