5 ms·
Who among us lit up the chunk of sulphur and (out of innocent curiosity) took a good snork off it, realizing too late that it was a stupid thing to do ? I sure
by euroderf 4y ago
Who among us lit up the chunk of sulphur and (out of innocent curiosity) took a good snork off it, realizing too late that it was a stupid thing to do ? I sure did.
Tinkering with chemistry also motivated me to look for sources of hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, but in New York state the guy at the pharmacy said I needed parental permission. Wasn't gonna happen.
- greenbit 4y agoBeen there, done that, burned holes in the T-shirt too.
- denton-scratch 4y agoHydrochloric acid: My hardware store sells 30% HCl as Spirits Of Salts, for removing limescale from toilet bowls. It's effective, unlike toilet bleach. It's nasty stuff, and if your seat-hinges are metallic, you risk corrosion. And remember to flush before you crap. Sulphuric acid: No, hardware stores don't sell that here. You can get it from car batteries, and builders use the strong stuff for clearing drains. I have no idea how I could legally buy fuming sulphuric acid. Nitric acid: Even less. Fuming nitric and sulphuric acid mixed gives you nitrating acid, which in turn is the gateway to nitrocellulose (and I suppose nitroglycerine), fulminate of mercury, and ghod knows what. It's just as well that these latter two acids are restricted; if they weren't, I'm quite sure I'd have tried to make guncotton, and probably blown myself up.
- euroderf 4y agoTwo words: ice bath.
- deepspace 4y agoI had the same idea when I was in school, and wrote a chemical company I found in the yellow pages for a price list and order form for Sulphuric and Nitric Acid. The happily provided both... with a minimum order quantity of around 250 gallons.
- nahkoots 4y agoWhere do you live? If you're in the US, check if you live near an Ace hardware store; mine sells gallon jugs of 90% sulfuric acid for something in the range of $25. Look for Rooto brand drain cleaner, and if it doesn't say on the side of the container, you'll want the one that feels like it's full of heavy viscous liquid. And Duda Diesel sells a liter of 67.2% nitric acid for $60.43, or $101.69 for 2.5 (plus shipping ofc).
- jacquesm 4y agoI ended up with a fair bit of unusable glassware after a week or two. Fortunately we had a whole kitchen full of stuff. Bad idea. Lots of pocket money got docked.
- djmips 4y agoYou found out why they called it brimstone! I did exactly what you did as a kid and I wondered if it didn't permanently damage my lungs...