Pharaoh's snake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN9pioJWTk0&fmt=18

by est • 16 years ago

77 24 16 years ago

youtube.com

michael_dorfman• 16 years ago

That was unexpected.

If you haven't watched the video yet, do it now. Some cool juju.

jgrahamc• 16 years ago

When I was a kid there were cheap fireworks which I believe used a similar chemical. It was amazing to watch them grow.

staunch• 16 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3aAksyabes#t=0m15s

I loved them too.

abhay2• 16 years ago

Most of these (at least now) are made of sugar and baking soda. They used to be made of mercury thiocyanate back when we didn't know mercury poisoning was trouble.

lutorm• 16 years ago

Ah, brings me back to the chemistry experimentation of my youth! :-)

profquail2• 16 years ago

When I first looked at the title, I wasn't sure if it was going to be about chemistry or APL.

Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Magic_Snakes

pmiller2• 16 years ago

Just out of curiosity, what's the APL angle?

profquail2• 16 years ago

They edited the original title, which was the chemical formula for the reaction. At first glance, I really thought it was APL for a second (with all the symbols it had in the formula).

est2• 16 years ago

The original title was

    4Hg(SCN)₂ Δ= 4HgS + 2CS₂ + 3(CN)₂↑ + N₂↑

The moderators changed it.

georgecmu• 16 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaohs_serpent

The traditional "Pharaoh's serpent" version of this firework produced a more impressive snake, but its operation depended upon mercury thiocyanate, which is no longer used because of its toxicity.

joshu• 16 years ago

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=327_1222010828

Video of mercury thiocyanate.

(Bad wikipedia link BTW)

khala• 16 years ago

pretty

rodyancy• 16 years ago

This video is way better.

makmanalp• 16 years ago

I wonder if this could be harnessed to be used as some sort of physical force generator.

ryanwaggoner• 16 years ago

Why is this comment voted down to -3? Granted, his proposal might not be feasible, but at least he's thinking...if it wouldn't work, post a comment explaining why.

mhb• 16 years ago

If what wouldn't work? It's a chemical reaction that produces some kind of foamy result. You can buy a can of foam spray at Home Depot that expands and could be used as a "physical force generator".

est2• 16 years ago

Stupid question: if Hg(SCN)₂ were heated evenly, will this produce fractal?

algorias• 16 years ago

Not stupid at all, I'm wondering too. It does look self similar to some extent, but then again fractal is a word that's thrown around way too lightly.

count• 16 years ago

Am I the only person who thought of Akira?

ivankirigin• 16 years ago

I doubled this with the akira soundtrack: http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http://www.youtube.com...

tel• 16 years ago

Any chemistry guys able to explain in detail how this works?

abhay2• 16 years ago

It's been a while but I could start to explain it and maybe someone can pick it up from my rusty memory.

Mercury thiocyanate, Hg(SCN)2, decomposes at about 165 degrees Farenheit[1] to elemental components. I would guess that the shape of the product in that video is most likely due to the gases that are formed (most likely cyanide and mercury gas). I'm guessing the products are sulphur, cyanide vapor and mercury vapor. I'm also guessing that there are some oxides of sulphur and nitrogen forming since oxygen is readily available.

[1] http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/1048

electromagnetic• 16 years ago

A safer experiment can be performed using baking soda and sugar, although I believe you've got to add a fuel to allow it to self-burn, but isopropyl alcohol should be all that's required. These produce 'black snakes' rather than the golden ones from this video. There's recipies online for the concoction, however you can pick up packs of a dozen or so 'black snakes' from firework stores.

They're non-explosive, so I don't imagine you'd have a hard time tracking some down if you wanted to see it personally.

kostko• 16 years ago

Now if someone could just make the untoxic version of this taste like cheese...

Pharaoh's snake

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