Ready, Set, WAIT! Is our safety system in place yet?

Grant Thompson demonstrates exothermic (explosive) reactions of 4 chemical elements/compounds, with confidence that his viewers will share his interest in safety.

If, after reading this 6-page article, you find yourself intrigued and wanting to experiment yourself, STOP AND PURCHASE THE SAFETY GEAR FIRST: GLOVES, GOGGLES, APRON. Here is a great source for low cost, good lab safety gear.

After all, it is the potential for harm that would cause such interesting experiments to be excluded from a chemistry lab, as his title implies. And that is a sad commentary on how public education can be self-limiting, with the result that we have less opportunity to see how the world works.

In his “5 Crazy Science Stunts You Won’t See at School,” he demonstrates how 4 chemical elements or compounds transform into explosive energy.

In his video you will see:

how elemental sodium, a metal, “rips water molecules apart to release hydrogen gas,” which spontaneously burns,
how liquid nitrogen becomes fuel to blast off a bottle rocket,
how calcium carbide produces flammable acetylene gas, and
how potassium nitrate (saltpeter) produces the explosive effect for which it was utilized in gunpowder.

We will not be explaining the electric metal-melting process he demonstrates, which is a bit off-topic for this review.