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| author | Collin Williams <96917990+bluedragon1221@users.noreply.github.com> | 2024-10-24 20:03:03 -0500 |
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| committer | Collin Williams <96917990+bluedragon1221@users.noreply.github.com> | 2024-10-24 20:03:03 -0500 |
| commit | 72685228a7aacd6daa44da3833ac2eaeb80d1e39 (patch) | |
| tree | e86bf47796f74a943fc810f89b36f100b799425e /md/29_The_Match-Head_Bomb.md | |
| parent | 46f8080b710fd4ece1f1eb56418888f8991fe27d (diff) | |
move some stuff around
Diffstat (limited to 'md/29_The_Match-Head_Bomb.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | md/29_The_Match-Head_Bomb.md | 36 |
1 files changed, 36 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/md/29_The_Match-Head_Bomb.md b/md/29_The_Match-Head_Bomb.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e5e752 --- /dev/null +++ b/md/29_The_Match-Head_Bomb.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: The Match-Head Bomb +--- + +On another occasion when we lived in the flat-roofed house, Tom and I +were home alone and itching for some mischief. We set up a card table in +the living room to serve as our chemistry lab. I cut the heads off of a +bunch of common matches and put them into a small glass Christmas +ornament. It was the kind that you hang on the tree with a little wire +hook. We simply removed the little wire loop and the thingy that covered +the hole in the glass globe so we could fill the inside of the ball with +the match heads. I didn\'t have any real goal with this dangerous stunt, +so I started doing some crazy stupid experimenting with this little +bomb. We had a candle mounted on a small plate that was on the card +table. I lit the candle and held the phosphorous filled ball with my +bare hand. I can\'t imagine what ever came over me to do such a crazy +thing, but I then proceeded to hold the Christmas ball over the flame to +see what would happen.\ +\ +Well, you can guess what happened next. Pow! The glass ball exploded +with a nice poof noise. Fortunately, the glass of the ornament was so +thin that it didn\'t create a very strong containment for the energetic +combustion reaction that started inside it. Thus, the explosion was more +of a poof than a big nasty bang you would expect from a well-built bomb. +Unfortunately, the consequence of this poof caused burning bits of match +heads and broken glass to be propelled all over the living room. My +mother\'s living room curtains took the worst of the explosion because +many of the burning match heads landed in the lacy folds of the curtains +and ended up as a bunch of ugly black-ringed holes.\ +\ +To this day, I don\'t understand how I avoided a month of being grounded +over this episode. Obviously, my mother was not pleased that I ruined +her living room curtains, but perhaps she and dad were just glad the +whole house didn\'t catch fire. I must have at least learned a lesson +because there were no more near disasters with explosives in my +remaining early years. |
