General Chat

No need for chemistry sets, you can make big bangs with custard powder, or flour or icing sugar.

Eee - isn't it marvellous that the majority are judged by the actions of the minority :-S

I've got an old Chemistry set, bought at a charity shop, to 'play' with when my grandchildren stay.
I suppose I should now forensically determine what they could potentially illegally do with it!

Glycerine tri-nitrate Kense. It loosens the arteries around the heart and lets more blood flow.

Well,no. She just looks like she is up to something!

I don't think dealers actually distil their own citric acid.

Ah... that might explain something.

Daughter bought a small net of lemons in a supermarket (about 5 or 6 ) and was stopped at the checkout until a more senior supervisor had checked the sale.

We thought it very strange at the time.

I grew up in a village that produced huge quantities of tomatoes and they make your hands and clothes filthy with green powder off the leaves and stalks. People who picked them would first rub citric acid into their hands to make them easier to wash. The local shops used to stock it.

The smallholdings have gone, as have the village shops and I needed some citric acid so I went into Boots. I was a person of a great deal of suspicion, closely questioned and they didn't have any anyway.

It turns out that people cut heroin with citric acid.

in very small doses, methinks...

Isn't nitroglycerin used for treating heart attacks?

Lol nooo I didn't! :-D :-D :-D

think you would need a steady hand to take that!!

You didn't ask for nitro-glycerine did you?

Last time I was in the chemist, I asked for a large bottle of glycerine as I had a bad chesty cough. If you put 2 teaspoons in a cup with fresh lemon juice, honey and boiling water, it makes a soothing drink. The glycerine is great for breaking up the yukky stuff.

The pharmacist asked me what I wanted the glycerine for? Surprised I said "to make a soothing drink for my cough", What else would I do with it?
He leant close and whispered, "well some might make a bomb with that stuff.!"

I laughed and said, "really?" I know the man well so wasn't offended by him asking. But wasn't ready for his answer.

I suppose if glycerine can destroy and blast away a bad chest infection, in the wrong hands, I guess it could be lethal!

When I was young we had chemistry sets and I have seen them still available to buy somewhere on line.

Florence in the hebrides

In the Star Trek episode "Arena", Kirk has to make gunpowder and the ingredients are quite clearly named (and readily available on that planet).

Can you?

That does surprise me.

You can most certainly get chemistry sets.

I always read the Beano very carefully. That was about the extent of my learning.

Encyclopeadia Brittannicae taught me all I needed to know.....70 years ago!!

You can't even get chemistry sets now and weren't they fun?

Sulpher and saltpetre, bought from the local chemist. The addition of iron filings made sparklers. I don't know where kids would buy the stuff now.

I remember The World of the Children. There were some interesting features, but as I recall the books were written in story form, so it was difficult to actually look up particular information.
I don't remember scientific recipes, but that's not to say it wasn't there.

It was a long time ago.