[TML] Ingenious Chemistry, was Re: NY Reload

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 3/3/08 10:18 PM, "Richard Aiken" <raikenclw at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 3:41 PM, Mark Urbin <eclipse at urbin.net> wrote:
>> The Mythbusters TV show "cooked" cartridges in an oven.  When the
>> powder ignited, the brass case caused more damage to the inside of the
>> oven than the bullet.  It was moving faster.
> 
> Anybody else watching "Breaking Bad?"  Last night's episode revealed a
> neat use for chemistry knowledge, that could easily show up in
> someone's game.  Not sure how "real life" it was, so I'm throwing it
> out here, just to check.
> 
> SPOILER SPACE
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> Setup:  Gangsta has been selling the meth they made retail; one ounce
> has brought them just over $2000, but Teacher isn't happy with that.
> Desperate for funds to finance his chemo treatments (without having to
> accept charity from the now-very-wealthy ex-best-friend who married
> his first love), he pushes Gangsta into selling wholesale to the
> area's New Distributor.  (What happened to the *Old* Distributor is a
> looooong story, involving a large quantity of strong acid . . .).
> Gangsta finds an Old Cellmate of New Distributor to make an intro.
> 
> The Bad Luck: New Distributor is not amused that someone has been
> selling ultra-pure meth in his patch, without his leave (or him
> getting a cut).  So New Distributor beats the s*** out of Gangsta -
> putting him in the hospital with broken ribs - and steals the entire
> pound of meth.  Teacher discovers what happens and asks Old Cellmate
> for a full briefing on New Distributor.  NOTE: Due to the chemo
> treatments, Teacher is looking rather haggard and is shaved bald.  He
> actually looks rather like a worn-out ex-con . . . which proves useful
> for blending in.
> 
> The Ingeniousness: Some hours later, Teacher walks up to New
> Distributor's hangout and demands a meeting.  Curious, New Distributor
> let's him in, but (of course) has him patted down for weapons.  No
> weapons are found, but the henchman do find a bag of large, clear
> crystals, which they turn over to New Distributor.  New Distributor
> makes a small slit in the bag with his bowie knife and lifts out a
> sample crystal, which he closely examines for clarity before laying it
> down on his desk blotter.
> 
> He looks up at Teacher and demands: "Well?  What do you want?  It's
> your meeting!"
> 
> Teacher, very calmly: "$50,000."
> 
> New Distributor laughs uproariously for a bit, then demands: "For WHAT?"
> 
> Teacher, still calmly: "$35,000 for the pound of meth you stole and
> another $15,000 for my partner's pain and suffering."
> 
> New Distributor looses it again for a while, then eventually gasps:
> "Let me get this straight.  You send my your mule with a pound of
> dope.  I beat the s*** out of him and rob him.  So you show up
> yourself!  Not only that, but you bring me ANOTHER pound of dope!  Is
> that right?"
> 
> Teacher glances around the room <checking the positions of the
> henchmen> then looks back at New Distributor and says: "That's almost
> right."  Bending down, he picks up the sample chunk New Distributor
> lifted from the bag.  "Except that this isn't meth."
> 
> Covering his eyes, Teacher SLAMS the crystal into the hardwood floor behind
> him!
> 
> <View of building from across the street>  BOOM!!!!  ALL the windows
> blow out in gouts of smoke and flame!!  The wall A/C unit is thrown
> out into the street below!   Car alarms start going off everywhere!
> People on the street, are staggered, some picking themselves up from
> the ground.
> 
> <Back inside hangout> Teacher was expecting blast, so even though he
> is a little charred around the edges, he manages to stack up the bag
> of crystals and hold it over his head, before anyone else can gather
> their wits.
> 
> Teacher, in a very tight voice: "I want my money."
> 
> Needless to say, Teacher gets his money.  He also get a deal to sell
> New Distributor a further two pounds, at the same price, money up
> front.  New Distributor has discovered that the ultra-pure product
> literally flew off his "shelves."
> 
> Just before Teacher backs out the door, New Distributor asks, "Just
> what is that stuff, anyway?"  Teacher hefts the bag a bit and says
> shortly, "Fulminate of mercury."
> 
> So . . . my question is: Would this actually work?  Are raw crystals
> of fulminate of mercury clear enough to pass for pure meth?  Would a
> chunk about the size of someone's thumb create an explosion like that?
> If the person setting off the blast was expecting it (and had STRONG
> willpower), could he stand a couple of feet away and remain unscathed
> enough to act as Teacher did?  NOTE: The only visible effect of the
> blast on Teacher was a bloody nose and some singed clothing.
> 
> BTW, the actors weren't shouting at each other after the blast (as
> real people with appropriately stunned hearing would have been), but a
> GM can correct for that easily enough in-game.

Well, fulminate of mercury *is* an explosive.  Like 4250 m/s velocity.
Highly sensitive to friction and shock.  I'd have expected that big an
explosion to set off the rest of it.

Used in blasting & percussion caps to set off other explosives.  I've never
heard of it being large clear crystals, just a gray crystalline powder.
Easy to make: dissolve mercury in nitric acid then add ethanol.  Of course,
these days getting the mercury would be the hard part.

By the way, silver fulminate is even less stable.  It explodes under water!
even the weight of it's crystals can detonate it.