

Pharaoh's snake - est
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN9pioJWTk0&fmt=18

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profquail
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>

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pmiller2
Just out of curiosity, what's the APL angle?

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profquail
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).

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michael_dorfman
That was unexpected.

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

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

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abhay
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.

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ivankirigin
I doubled this with the akira soundtrack:
[http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http://www.youtube.com...](http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DyN9pioJWTk0&start1=80&x=131&y=27&video2=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DevcmsR57Xo4&start2=&authorName=Results+may+vary)

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georgecmu
<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.

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

Video of mercury thiocyanate.

(Bad wikipedia link BTW)

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rodyancy
This video is way better.

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

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algorias
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.

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

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ryanwaggoner
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.

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mhb
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".

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

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

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abhay
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>

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count
Am I the only person who thought of Akira?

