Stall The Ball

With all the hype around the current security alert where liquid bombs were going to be used to blow up airplanes en-route to the states I wondered exactly what is a liquid bomb?

Initial guesses are that it’s some sort of acetone hydrogen peroxide combination to make Acetone Peroxide which in fairness is a fairly explosive substance. And it is some thing you can make at home using hair bleach (Hydrogen Peroxide) Acetone (nail polish remover or thinners) and sulphuric acid (Car Battery Acid).

Furthermore these are all clear liquids that could be disguised by containing them in a drink bottle etc. However there’s a slight snag. Acetone Peroxide, after you make it, is a whitish granular powder. Not a liquid. And it is highly unstable. When I was a kid you could buy “Snappers” small amounts of whitish grains wrapped in a paper twist that you threw on the ground and it went “SNAP!”.

Follow up:

Similar stuff. Drop it and it goes bang, hit it and it goes bang, heat it and it is goes bang. Look crooked at it and it goes bang. But much much more importantly it how you make it and why that might, just might draw some attention to you as you sit in your airline seat.

Note I have deliberately left out the quantities and or ratios from the following procedure or the maximum temperature you should allow the mixture to reach.

Put acetone and hydrogen peroxide into a glass container and mix thoroughly. Cool the acetone/peroxide mixture by placing its container in a larger one containing a mixture of ice, salt, and water. Cool the acetone/peroxide mixture Add concentrated sulphuric acid to the acetone/peroxide mixture slowly. Stir the mixture during the addition of the sulphuric acid, keeping the temperature low. After all the sulphuric acid has been added, continue stirring the mixture for another five minutes. Let the acetone/peroxide/sulphuric acid mixture stand in the ice/water/salt bath or remover the inner container and place it in an ice box for 12 to 24 hours. After 12 hours white crystals of acetone peroxide will precipitate out of the once clear solution. Precipitation should be completed after 24 hours. At this point the mixture is a primary explosive. Keep away from shock, friction, and flame. Filter the mixture to collect the solid particles. Wash the solid particles collected. Discard the liquid in the container. Place these explosive crystals in a container and allow to dry. Do not scrape or handle it roughly. Keep away from sparks or open flame. Store in a cool, dark, dry place.

“Stewardess, do you have any ice cold water, a fridge and don’t mind the noxious fumes I just bleached my hair while removing my nail polish”

I don’t think so. Never mind the amount of liquid required to generate a reasonable amount of explosive. Think 10s of litres per hundred grams.

The alternative suggestion is that some sort of binary mix explosive, but if you can make that then we have serious problems, never mind liquid bombs.

And if your thinking that I have opened some sort of Pandora’s box by “revealing” the secrets of the mix visit http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/ka_fucking_boom/10great.html for more fun with home made explosives or wikipedia it.

EDIT
Probably the easiest liquid bomb in the world to make is a water bomb. An electric current passed through water seperates water into its costituent parts namely hydrogen and oxygen. So get a wide necked water bottle, a large battery or batteries. Fill bottle with water, insert batteries ensuring water is up to brim. Seal lid. Wait. Wait. Wait. You will see bubbles from both terminals of the battery, hydrogen from the negative and oxygen from the positive. Once the batteries are exhausted you should have what looks like an air gap at top of bottle. This is hydrogen and oxygen in a two to one mix (H2O remember). Ignite.

Ok so its more a pop than a bang but the principle is sound