It was pouring cats and dogs..
I was doing my assignment..
The subject I hate the most..
Its not a pleasant experience to do something you do not like, but i had no other option.. Its worth 5 marks.. And our education system has a strange liking towards the number game..
And all of a sudden, there was complete blackout.. Power crisis..!!!!
It was later that i got to know that the transformer had damaged..
The task at hand could not be aborted.. I had to do it at any cost..
Soon i had an emergency light in front of me..the work resumed..
I was not aware of the fact that it was not charged..
I was left in complete darkness, again..!
I started to think of the days, when there were no emergency lights/lamps.. And came to mind the luxury of "CANDLE".!!!
In that situation, calling it a 'luxury' would not be wrong..
And the assignment was soon completed..
The flame danced in front of me.. I wondered what candles were made of..
The chemical composition of wax.. It was something very fascinating, at that instant of time..
I had never thought that a simple thing like a candle could grab my attention.. But it happened.!!!
And a series of Google searches began on my mobile..
Wax, or Paraffin wax was an interesting subject to study..
Wax is insoluble in water.. and non-reactive..
But i had also read an article in some journal on 'wax bombs'..
When wax does not react, how is it used to make a bomb or cause an explosion..??
This question haunted me for almost a week..
Then i decided to carry out the experiment myself..
An explosion meant 'danger'.. But it was a puzzle i had to solve..
I created it.!!
I mixed wax with hot water.. with Sulphuric acid.. Nitric acid..
The king of chemicals failed too..
But I could not digest this defeat..( i'm a bad loser)
I tried reacting wax with 17 different chemicals(including reagents)..
I would not stop this mid-way..
Then i recollected a concept that i had studied in 8th grade chemistry..
Increasing surface area by using the substance in powder form of liquid state..
I preferred the liquid state..
And it worked..!!!
Liquid wax was taken in a test tube.. this involved heating the solid wax at 130-140 degree Fahrenheit..
This was then immediately dipped in freezing water..
And there was the Explosion i was waiting for..
A yellow flame accompanied with white odourless smoke..
The test tube cracked and as water came in contact with the hot wax, a reaction took place.. that led to the blast..
Success really tastes sweet and i could feel it.!!!
This experiment is potentially dangerous.. and all precautions were taken while performing it..
Please do not try it..!!!!
I was doing my assignment..
The subject I hate the most..
Its not a pleasant experience to do something you do not like, but i had no other option.. Its worth 5 marks.. And our education system has a strange liking towards the number game..
And all of a sudden, there was complete blackout.. Power crisis..!!!!
It was later that i got to know that the transformer had damaged..
The task at hand could not be aborted.. I had to do it at any cost..
Soon i had an emergency light in front of me..the work resumed..
I was not aware of the fact that it was not charged..
I was left in complete darkness, again..!
I started to think of the days, when there were no emergency lights/lamps.. And came to mind the luxury of "CANDLE".!!!
In that situation, calling it a 'luxury' would not be wrong..
And the assignment was soon completed..
The flame danced in front of me.. I wondered what candles were made of..
The chemical composition of wax.. It was something very fascinating, at that instant of time..
I had never thought that a simple thing like a candle could grab my attention.. But it happened.!!!
And a series of Google searches began on my mobile..
Wax, or Paraffin wax was an interesting subject to study..
Wax is insoluble in water.. and non-reactive..
But i had also read an article in some journal on 'wax bombs'..
When wax does not react, how is it used to make a bomb or cause an explosion..??
This question haunted me for almost a week..
Then i decided to carry out the experiment myself..
An explosion meant 'danger'.. But it was a puzzle i had to solve..
I created it.!!
I mixed wax with hot water.. with Sulphuric acid.. Nitric acid..
The king of chemicals failed too..
But I could not digest this defeat..( i'm a bad loser)
I tried reacting wax with 17 different chemicals(including reagents)..
I would not stop this mid-way..
Then i recollected a concept that i had studied in 8th grade chemistry..
Increasing surface area by using the substance in powder form of liquid state..
I preferred the liquid state..
And it worked..!!!
Liquid wax was taken in a test tube.. this involved heating the solid wax at 130-140 degree Fahrenheit..
This was then immediately dipped in freezing water..
And there was the Explosion i was waiting for..
A yellow flame accompanied with white odourless smoke..
The test tube cracked and as water came in contact with the hot wax, a reaction took place.. that led to the blast..
Success really tastes sweet and i could feel it.!!!
This experiment is potentially dangerous.. and all precautions were taken while performing it..
Please do not try it..!!!!
