Nitrogen Triiodide

Nitrogen Triiodide is a contact explosive. Here I have some on five filter papers stacked on a ring stand and the original filter paper is just off to the left of the screen (if you watch when it detonates you can see a secondary purple cloud from the left). You can hear my skepticism as I talk to my students because I have had this demonstration not work several times before in practice or in class [I had failed to dry it long enough or it had prematurely detonated]. Here, though, it worked great (although the sound was much louder than what the video has- I should have been wearing hearing protection because my right ear rang for a long while after this). When NI3 detonates it decomposes to form nitrogen gas and iodine gas which is what gives the purple cloud/smoke.

[@mrericsully]

Thank you for the kind words- they are encouraging and humbling. I had a similar experience when I was a student where we did very little and learned too much by theory without example. I try to do differently now that I teach. I also appreciate that you understand the work and time that even a short demonstration like this takes because it took me many tries to get this one to work and the work even on one setup is much greater than the few seconds of excitement it gives. Again many thanks.

[@kevinleblanc838]

Would have loved to have this guy as my science teacher

[@mattysandi10]

My teacher made a fly trap out of this stuff. Just add honey!

[@AletaBoddy]

What is up with these kids yelling their heads off.

[@guymarktee4556]

Superb demo - and nicely set up to illustrate how sensitive it is - and create a very visual (and audible) result. If more teachers took the time to do this sort of practical, I am sure more students would take an interest in science. When I was at school we *DID* a few fun practicals - conc H2SO4 and sugar etc - which can make a pleasing change from just reading. Alas now it seems people like yourself who take the time to make science fascinating are in the minority. 10/10 :)

[@mrericsully]

@billsnitzer Forget them, I almost damaged my own hearing. This demo had failed in the past for me, so I wasn't protecting my hearing with I detonated it. After the explosion I walk in front of the camera to turn on the fume hood and I remember thinking how painful my ears were and wondering if I had just really screwed up, then I realized that I could hear the students out of the left ear (it was an hour before I could hear out of the right ear and the next day before it stopped ringing).

[@mrericsully]

It depends on the preparation method. If produced without ammonia, then: 2 NI3 (s) → N2 (g) + 3 I2 (g); and the iodine gas is the purple cloud and yes it is toxic. If produced with ammonia, then 8 NI3NH3 → 5 N2 + 6 NH4I + 9 I2; and the purple gas is still iodine and toxic.

[@jmburk55]

I first learned of Nitrogen Triiodide from a movie years ago. A student put a few liquid drops into a key hole as a practical joke on another student. (Wouldn't recommend) Since then I have been fascinated by it and wanted to see it. Thank you for doing this and posting. I wouldn't attempt it myself as I have no background in it, so it's nice to see it done by someone who knows what they're doing.

[@mrericsully]

@LebronJames4eva It is stable when wet (which is part of the production process), so after I filter it I transfer it to another clean filter paper and let it dry there. Then when it dries it is explosive. This particular video is of the first time I had success with it, prior to that it had always self-detonated before I got a chance to trigger it.

[@mrericsully]

You are correct that NI3 is explosive because of the steric effect. I don't know if that is why NBr3 is unstable also, but it is very unstable. This is an absolute guess, but it could be related to the state of matters of the parent reactants.

[@LunaLover231]

Not being a chemist, I can't call myself familiar with the topic, but I find it hard to comprehend that anything could be MORE reactive than what we just saw. It would surely explode spontaneously without any stimulus, wouldn't it?

[@BenjaminEsposti]

Yes, it can spontaneously detonate!

[@enterBeastmode1]

This explains the truth behind Mr. Finnigan and the Wingardium Leviosa spell.

[@shootmup1]

I wish my science class was this fun!

[@Ferid0ayedi]

+shootmup1 It's not fun it's fucking deafening

[@shootmup1]

Ferid Ayedi Just wear ear pro!

[@marsCubed]

I worked as a club decorator (& Art teacher), so might be a bit overly cautious re; safety. however be careful with very loud sounds. Reverb and shape of a space can potentially make it louder in 'unexpected' places.. a classroom/auditorium might be designed to project sound to the back etc. Measuring the frequency response of different parts of the classroom might be a good preliminary project/lesson. Perhaps could use chemical 'bangs' to test with & explain as measurable energy of reaction.

[@mrericsully]

@antiswattt3 I think the feather provides a much lighter touch than I could any other way. Many of the demonstration books I have suggest detonating it in this manner.

[@Narmatonia]

Well Iodine and Bromine are both Halogens so it makes alot of sense that NI3 and NBr3 would behave similarly

[@BurakkuInferuno]

That was freaking cool o.o

[@klksplsor]

A-A-AWSOME at the end lol.

[@HonkityTiddlefish]

Whilst I understand this would be more difficult to make, I don't understand why it would be more reactive? I was led to believe that its explosive instability was due to the size of the iodine atoms causing massive steric effects. I may well be wrong.

[@SaltpeterexitwounD]

Just like my first time..

[@mrericsully]

Yes,it is iodine gas (I2) and some ammonia gas (NH3) is released too.

[@GetMeThere1]

VERY cool ! :)

[@mrericsully]

@DANGJOS No, they knew it was coming, but I told them I had made more duds than successful versions before. In addition, the volume was louder than any of them expected I think.

[@DarkWarchieff]

How powerful of an explosive is it? can it break the skin?

[@mrericsully]

@antiswattt3 You and I define SLAM differently, if you saw and felt the feather you would notice that it was not that hard of a touch. Also, I had this demo fail several times because the material had not dried enough making it difficult to set off so maybe I waved the feather instead of tickling the the NI3 with the feather.

[@CleanFreeMedia]

Haha I love the reaction of the class

[@mrericsully]

I have not worked with hydrazine before so I do not know. I do know however that the nitrogen triiodide made with ammonia and iodine is volatile enough that I don't think I would attempt to modify the procedure without research to back it up.

[@mrericsully]

@Corydon76 I've experienced such phenomena as well, and would almost welcome the excitement, if it weren't for the fact that I only get to teach one section of chemistry and have other physical science classes through the rest of my school day, which causes us to get off topic if we spend time on chemistry.

[@mrericsully]

@antiswattt3 It helps show how sensitive it is.

[@mrericsully]

Some did, and they all should have. Of course, I forgot my own hearing protection, so I cannot complain too much.

[@artman40]

I wonder if nitrogen tribromide reacts the same.

[@ricktbdgc]

what gas is created and is it toxic ?

[@1roughneck5150]

this is great stuff- I've made it and coated door hinges, bottoms of soda cans and other movable objects with the paste. Hard to get the iodine anymore, since all the tweekers are using it for making meth....

[@mrericsully]

As far as I know no. I would also not recommend this as an at home thing. However, if you can obtain iodine it shouldn't be too difficult to find concentrate ammonia.

[@Mabozarichy123]

@ricktbdgc Iodine Vapor, and yes.

[@mrericsully]

Send me a Personal Message via KZbin, if you'd like to learn the details. Also, Shakhashiri has it in one of his demonstration manuals if you'd prefer a professional source (I think it is in Volume 1).

[@Brassmonger]

Looks more powerful than nuclear bombs.

[@mrericsully]

Yes?

[@iamdeafzed6]

@mrericsully Take damned good care of your inner ears. 5 months ago I was afflicted by an ailment (labyrinthitis), most likely a viral cause, and let me tell you...it was MISERABLE! And it's still screwing me up. Inner ear trauma is FAR worse than most people realize. Prolonged ear ringing implies some degree of damage. Do that enough and not only will you lose some hearing, but it'll affect your balance, attention span, memory, and far more. TRUST ME! Also, great video. Thanks.

[@mrericsully]

@rnbpm2 If anything comes into contact with it it will detonate/explode.

[@Zeamus634]

Screams & Cries...hahaha

[@mrericsully]

It is much harder to make and more reactive.

[@Ozgrin_thewizard]

@Parkinson9999 lol you got that right man XD

[@sandres5291]

Wet?

[@sinbrown1501]

science rules.

[@BillSnitzer]

Nothing like afflicting permanent hearing damage on a bunch of young people.

[@pgbdynasty]

science KICKS ASS!

[@NuisanceMan]

Warning: may cause paralysis among youngsters

[@mrericsully]

@antiswattt3 Whatever you say.

[@DANGJOS]

You didn't tell those poor kids that its an explosive? lol

[@BranFlakesR1337]

nice job leaving the fume hood open😝

[@mrericsully]

+BranFlakesR1337 That was done on purpose. The fume hood was used mostly to isolate the NI3 from air currents and accidental premature detonation. If the hood had been running it would have detonated long before I was ready for it to. In fact, you can hear my skepticism about it working before I did it because so many times when I have set this one up it has either triggered early, or not been ready to go in time for class and would not trigger until it was dry enough after that group had left. Also, I don't have a sash/window on the hood that makes it easy to initiate this reaction while keeping the sash down. There are plenty of demonstrators who do this one in an open [but ventilated] classroom rather than under a hood, and I turn the hood on after the demonstration occurs.

[@BranFlakesR1337]

+Sully Science I was talking about how he should have closed the sash after detonating it. Now everyone breathes in iodine gas and then he wafts it towards them haha. This guy clearly has no regards for safety whatsoever

[@BranFlakesR1337]

+Sully Science I'm just looking out for the teacher/professor because all it takes is one rich ornery kid with lawyers. Whenever I write procedures I always include a hazards section. Ammonia has already been filtered I assume so the safety there is only in preparation, hence the students probably wouldnt be there for that. So the only real concern is the iodine vapor. The vapor has health hazards GHS07, GHS08, and GHS09. A description of these hazards is here, and I emphasize the GHS08 section most.www.sigmaaldrich.com/help-welcome/hazard-and-precautionary-statements.html#hazard

[@mrericsully]

+BranFlakesR1337 Well first off the teacher is me and I take some offense at the blanket statement that I "clearly have no regards for safety whatsoever". Secondly the room ventilation is going during this demonstration and is directly above my head, in addition to the fume hood fan being turned on immediately afterward, and the sash being lowered right about the time the video ends. Third the students are plenty clear of the demonstration and the concentrations of iodine vapor released are well below accepted values for the size of the room and the quantity of iodine being used, assuming that all of the iodine is vaporized, which actually did not happen because some remain unreacted in the prep, some was disposed of after prep, and some remained unreacted in this demonstration. I will give you that I could have lowered the sash before turning on the hood, instead of after, but even so I think it is a stretch to take that and this 27 second video and declare that I have NO regard for safety WHATSOEVER.

[@BranFlakesR1337]

+Sully Science OK I apologize for saying that. I only thought that there was a blatant disregard for closing the sash immediately is all

[@VicariousReality7]

No one held their ears

[@zombicreature]

animals auuuu arrrhhrha aaa oooo uuu

[@Negostrike]

Dem white ppl screamin nonstop

[@MrShotgunWaffles]

+CaptGeech Now that was a burn.

[@HorizonExer]

+Negrostrike americans...

[@Chemi4001]

7.8/10 too much iodine

[@mrericsully]

@UTubeisSHIT523441 My goal is to teach and not to entertain. I assure the crowd and the average student does not agree with your opinion.