Pipe Bombs
Kids shouldn’t play with matches
When I was growing up in the Midwest, I predominately hung out with a group of close friends. This catastrophic series of events happened during my middle school years. At that time, the middle school included the grades 6th, 7th, and 8th.
There were four of us in my group. Steve was the oldest member of our group, he was a year older than the rest of us, and a grade ahead of the majority of our group. Which included me, John, and Matt. Even though Matt was the same age as John and me, he was a grade behind us since his parents held him back one year.
Gunpowder is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels, while the saltpeter is an oxidizer.
Saltpeter can be easily obtained at a feed store. Farmers use saltpeter to relieve constipation in their sheep. (It makes the sheep crap.) Anyone that grills know where to acquire charcoal.
Sulfur has been used for centuries to help treat acne and other skin conditions. It’s also easily accessible. Sulfur is widely available in over-the-counter acne products.
The science.
It started when Steve’s science teacher taught Steve’s class about gunpowder. By the end of the year, Steve’s science teacher would vow to never teach his students about gunpowder again.
A simple, commonly cited, chemical equation for the combustion of gunpowder is:
2 KNO3 + S + 3 C → K2S + N2 + 3 CO2.
KNO3 is the potassium nitrite or saltpeter. S is the sulfur, while C is the carbon derived from charcoal.
Equating middle school-aged youths during the 1970s to the learned men of medieval times to be near in chemistry skill levels. The exact percentages of ingredients varied greatly through the medieval period as the recipes were developed by trial and error, and needed to be updated for changing military technology.
So, with a little knowledge of the periodic table and molecular weights. And trial and error, my group of friends started making gunpowder.
We started off using gunpowder to make flares. You would think flares would be much safer than pipe bombs, but Steve acquired third-degree burns over his leg and had to be hospitalized. This was his first hospitalization due to gunpowder.
We all waited for Steve to recover from his injuries. The day came when Steve recovered. Our group looked at Steve's accident with levity as we advanced from flares to pipe bombs.
There were a couple of motels being constructed in the area. We would gather scrap pipe from the construction sites to be used as material for our pipe bombs.
We would pack the gunpowder into the pipes and insert a fuse. Likewise, we would try to seal the pipes as well as possible.
We were pleased with how well the bombs seemed to work, as we blew holes in the ground of a nearby cemetery.
Then one day, Steve took the material for building the pipe bombs across the creek that ran through our neighborhood to show off to another group of kids.
I heard the following account second-hand:
- Steve was in a garage, screwing the cap onto one of the pipe bombs. When the friction caused a spark and the pipe bomb exploded in his hands. As Steve exited the smoke-filled garage, he was on his hands and knees. He was calling for help.
- The ambulance soon arrived and took Steve up to the hospital.
The next day, I was awoken from sleep by my parents informing me that Steve was in the hospital and would have to lose one of his hands.
As I lay there contemplating the strangeness of Steve being one-handed, it all seemed surreal.
The next day, I was awoken again by my parents, who informed me that Steve would have to lose his entire arm. I was astonished when I thought of Steve losing his whole arm.
A couple of more days passed when my parents informed me that Steve had died.
Steve had a closed casket funeral. My group of friends who remained never again assembled gunpowder.
DISCLAIMER: This article is for entertainment and informational purposes only.
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