The Royal Institution
Nitrogen Triiodide is an extremely sensitive explosive compound that, when dry, can be detonated by the lightest of touches or vibrations. For this reason, it should never be contained or transported and we are not aware of any industrial uses.
A quantity of NI3 was prepared in the Ri Prep Room before being laid out to dry in the famous Lecture Theatre. This process took over two hours and, due to the extreme shock-sensitivity of the material, we were only able to attempt the reaction on this scale once. The crew were forced to wear ear defenders at all times in case the material spontaneously exploded.
As Dr Peter Wothers initiates the reaction, the Nitrogen Triiodide detonates incredibly quickly in a fraction of a second to release a purple cloud of iodine vapour into the room.
Peter Wothers explains further:
“To tie in with the theme of the first Christmas Lecture (Air), I wanted to show the rapid production of a gas, but unfortunately almost all gases are colourless. The rapid production of iodine vapour from NI3 seemed like the perfect solution. The most amazing thing for me was the delay visible from the slow-mo footage before the force of the explosion really hit me in the chest!”
Devised to promote the 2012 Christmas Lectures, this is one of three large-scale, chemistry demos that were too big (or too dangerous!) to perform in the Ri Lecture Theatre in front of 400 young people.
This experiment was undertaken under the supervision of professionals and should not be replicated.
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what does the force change the makes in explode?, pressure, i guess, but that makes chemical changes happen? idk
we will invade russia with this..
The slow motion is really good at telling how bad we are at reacting to explosions.
Safety glasses underneath a safety visor. He's taking no chances.
WIll a more concentrated ammonia create a stronger detonation?..or will its be of the same strength as using regular conc. store bought ammonia?
pi 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951941511609433057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548074462379962749567351885752724891227938183011949129833673362440656643086021394946395224737190702179860943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901224953430146549585371050792279689258923542019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960518707211349999998372978049951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522308253344685035261931188171010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909216420198938095257201065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968995773622599413891249721775283479131515574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754637464939319255060400927701671139009848824012858361603563707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104752162056966024058038150193511253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922796782354781636009341721641219924586315030286182974555706749838505494588586926995690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665499119881834797753566369807426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192173217214772350141441973568548161361157352552133475741849468438523323907394143334547762416862518983569485562099219222184272550254256887671790494601653466804988627232791786085784383827967976681454100953883786360950680064225125205117392984896084128488626945604241965285022210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645995813390478027590099465764078951269468398352595709825822620522489407726719478268482601476990902640136394437455305068203496252451749399651431429809190659250937221696461515709858387410597885959772975498930161753928468138268683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244136549762780797715691435997700129616089441694868555848406353422072225828488648158456028506016842739452267467678895252138522549954666727823986456596116354886230577456498035593634568174324112515076069479451096596094025228879710893145669136867228748940560101503308617928680920874760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821682998948722658804857564014270477555132379641451523746234364542858444795265867821051141354735739523113427166102135969536231442952484937187110145765403590279934403742007310578539062198387447808478489683321445713868751943506430218453191048481005370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675142691239748940907186494231961567945208095146550225231603881930142093762137855956638937787083039069792077346722182562599661501421503068038447734549202605414665925201497442850732518666002132434088190710486331734649651453905796268561005508106658796998163574736384052571459102897064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007230558763176359421873125147120532928191826186125867321579198414848829164470609575270695722091756711672291098169091528017350671274858322287183520935396572512108357915136988209144421006751033467110314126711136990865851639831501970165151168517143765761835155650884909989859982387345528331635507647918535893226185489632132933089857064204675259070915481416549859461637180270981994309924488957571282890592323326097299712084433573265489382391193259746366730583604142813883032038249037589852437441702913276561809377344403070746921120191302033038019762110110044929321516084244485963766983895228684783123552658213144957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915441101044682325271620105265227211166039666557309254711055785376346682065310989652691862056476931257058635662018558100729360659876486117910453348850346113657686753249441668039626579787718556084552965412665408530614344431858676975145661406800700237877659134401712749470420562230538994561314071127000407854733269939081454664645880797270826683063432858785698305235808933065757406795457163775254202114955761581400250126228594130216471550979259230990796547376125517656751357517829666454779174501129961489030463994713296210734043751895735961458901938971311179042978285647503203198691514028708085990480109412147221317947647772622414254854540332157185306142288137585043063321751829798662237172159160771669254748738986654949450114654062843366393790039769265672146385306736096571209180763832716641627488880078692560290228472104031721186082041900042296617119637792133757511495950156604963186294726547364252308177036751590673502350728354056704038674351362222477158915049530984448933309634087807693259939780541934144737744184263129860809988868741326047 Copy And Paste Boi!
Why can't all explosions be that cute? Also, pink/purple fire would be awesome 😮
At least it would disinfect your wounds after you touched it.
I recall as a kid making fly killers with this – mixing it with a bit of sugar, and spreading it on a little square piece of paper. When it dried, a fly attracted to the sugar would blow himself up. Much more entertaining than flyswatters.
2:56
Aqui muestran la síntesis https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-cZj9lcWcAOUW2mGXp13nA
this'd be a very useful liquid to carry around and lay in lines around places as traps. Maybe there could be some chemical way to create a quicker drying solution so you could throw sealed containers of the stuff and they'd act as non igniting explosives.
I'm 59 and I still play with it.
2:23 Cody makes an appearance?
10/10 cool looking fireworks!
I leant this in my chemistry class many years ago.
Got suspended for putting it in the teachers staff room on the kettle, taps, tables and chairs.
They could not take a fucking joke.
2:45 Looks like Britain
I'm up. Travis stopped by
We made this in high school and painted it on door knobs. One drawback…..it's shelf life of only a few days in the mother liquid before it self detonates.
Ny science teacher is doing this
Even more exciting is to use a 405nm "UV" laser (which can be seen as visible blue) to set it off as the photon energy is sufficiently high to star the reaction. A red laser won't do it as the photon energy is too low.
very good
One of my minor claims to fame as a schoolboy was putting a small portion of this while still liquid under the tip of a billiard cue, where it screws into the cue. The night before a pool tournament.
relevant.. oddly
I made this in chemistry class a long time ago (along with other things) it’s very messy
OMG I think this was in a Nancy Drew book when I was a kid. They never said what it was but I did always wonder. Wow this is not what I pictured.
Does the reaction happen in a closed or open system
This dude just blows up a bunch of iodine no mask
ich habe mal in einem Labor "NaN3" gelesen, das schein auch instabil zu sein
I wonder how much of a "chunk" of the substance before it would go off under its own weight?
Chemist really need to get better detonators instead of just whacking things with hammers that go boom.
No fume hood? No respirators? And an audience. Recipe for some irradiated eyes right there my guy
we used to inject it into keyholes.
Just to be boring you can't make NI3 by dissolving iodine in ammonia, it doesn't produce NI3.
What is the bacvround song in the video? Its sooo calming.
Cool!
It is reported that alpha radiation can trigger the explosion. Are you able to try it?
Wow that's a huge yield. 😳
also a way of storing cold neutrons readily available as it phase state changes?