“You have to make something explode to truly understand it. You have to examine the tiny particles while they’re on fire.” — Charles, mental patient in Sling Blade
After school I experimented in my room with various combinations of the three ingredients of gunpowder, purchased at three different drugstores. In article Library Card, I said “There seemed no limit to the information available in the library. Here I found the recipe for gunpowder…”
Fortunately for my eyesight and my fingers, there was a limit to the information available in the library. Although the three simple ingredients of gunpowder have been known since the 14th century, without a Wikipedia or an internet, I never found the proper portions for maximum explosive power.
I tried various mixes, a little more of this, a little less of that, placing tiny amounts of each ingredient on a sheet of heavy glass, mixing them together into an slightly larger pile, then applying a match to see which combination produced the biggest flash.
My experiments never came anywhere near the “correct” 75%, 15%, 10% ratio the article mentioned above spells out. Even the best mix I found was not very powerful. If I had had Wikipedia, I could have earned myself a nickname, like my friend Jimmy, who stole blasting caps from a construction site and tried to get the insides out of one by tapping it against the sidewalk. They called him Jimmy Three Fingers.
Fuses were hard to make. I can’t tell you how to make one because I honestly don’t remember, beyond a lot of trial and error and sparkly experiments with doctored twine.
Another buddy and I had some thoughts about making guncotton, a fairly powerful and uncomplicated Civil-War-era explosive. Again fortunately, we couldn’t figure out where to get two of the key ingredients.
My mother never asked about the burnt sulfur smell lingering in the house when she came home from work at night. I guess she trusted me not to do anything crazy.
I won’t mention any other lame-brained experiments, actual or proposed. It’s all out on the internet now, kids, and ten times more dangerous. Be careful to wear safety glasses.