Ready to prepare your fantastic smoke bomb? Whether you're a little chemist or a lover of smoke and special effects, this guide will show you how to build a beautiful smoke bomb with a couple of readily available ingredients. You can use potassium nitrate and sugar, table tennis balls or ammonium nitrate.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Smoke bomb with Ping-Pong balls
Step 1. Get 3-4 ping-pong balls
You don't have to buy any other extra ingredients for this method.
Step 2. Drill a hole in a ball
You can use a screwdriver or a knife.
Step 3. Cut the other balls into small pieces and insert them into the first one through the hole
Step 4. Put a pencil in the hole
Wrap everything with aluminum. The pencil is used to shape the aluminum sheet
Step 5. Remove the pencil
Step 6. Take the smoke bomb to an open area
Step 7. Turn on the tip of the aluminum foil which works as a fuse
Step 8. Launch the smoke bomb and watch the fire
Make sure you use it outdoors.
Method 2 of 4: "Cooked" Blend Smoke
Step 1. Gather what you need
Smoke bombs are made up of potassium nitrate and sugar. By mixing and fusing these ingredients together, you create a flammable product that creates swirls of smoke when you set it on fire. Here's what you need:
- Buy potassium nitrate, also known as saltpetre, on the internet. You can also find it in a garden shop, because it is used to treat the soil.
- Get some sugar. Whole grain is said to produce denser smoke, but white is fine too.
- Get some baking soda. About one tablespoon of this product slows down combustion.
- Take a small piece of fuse to insert into the smoke bomb.
- Get a cast iron skillet.
- Prepare a cardboard box lined with aluminum foil.
Step 2. Put on the protectors:
gloves, goggles and a mask with a filter.
Step 3. Put all the ingredients in the cast iron pot
Measure three parts of saltpetre for every two parts of sugar.
Step 4. Heat the pot over low heat
Stir constantly until the mixture has melted. When the sugar candy, it should turn brown or black.
Do not overcook the mixture. Make sure it doesn't catch fire. If it starts to smoke, turn off the heat immediately
Step 5. Add a spoonful of baking soda
Step 6. Pour the mixture into the cardboard box, very carefully
Step 7. Insert the fuse when the mixture is still soft
Step 8. Wait for the mixture to harden completely, this will take about an hour
Place the smoke bomb outdoors and in a safe place. Light the fuse
Method 3 of 4: Pipe Smoke
Step 1. Prepare the ingredients you need
Smoke bombs are a compound of potassium nitrate and sugar. Get these ingredients and mix them together, you can prepare your smoke bomb with products you find at the supermarket. Here's what you need:
-
Potassium nitrate also called saltpetre.
Make a Smoke Bomb Step 11 - Sugar.
- Sodium bicarbonate.
- Get a cardboard tube. Toilet paper is fine. Cut out discs and glue one to the end of the tube. Keep a second disc to close the other opening later.
- Get a small piece of fuse to insert into the smoke bomb.
Step 2. Put on the protectors:
gloves, goggles and a filter mask. This way you will be safe during the experiment.
Step 3. Grind the ingredients
You can use a coffee grinder (which has never been used), or a pestle with a mortar to grind the saltpetre and sugar separately. You have to reach a very fine grain; be careful with saltpetre, as it is flammable and sparks can develop.
Step 4. Measure the doses before combining the powders
You will need three parts of saltpetre by two parts of sugar. Then you can put them together in a bowl.
Step 5. Add the baking soda
Step 6. Pour the mixture into the cardboard tube
To make things easier, use a funnel, or put the powder in a plastic bag and cut a corner.
Step 7. Glue the second cardboard disc to the tube opening
Make sure it is firmly fixed.
Step 8. Insert the fuse or a piece of string soaked in flammable liquid
First you need to make a small hole in the cardboard disc that closes the tube. The fuse must be long enough to allow you to walk away once lit.
Step 9. Place the smoke bomb in a strategic spot
It must be outdoors away from trees, buildings, people and animals. Never light a smoke bomb in the house.
Step 10. Light the fuse
Step away and enjoy the show.
Method 4 of 4: Smoke with Ammonium Nitrate
Step 1. Open an instant ice pack
You can buy it in pharmacies or supermarkets. These packs contain ammonium nitrate, which can be used to create smoke bombs. Remove the water bag that you find inside the package.
Wear gloves when handling the granules. Ammonium nitrate is not very toxic, but it is best to be cautious. If it comes into contact with your skin, take it off and take a shower as soon as possible. When you are done with the experiment, always wash your hands at least a couple of times
Step 2. Pour all the granules into a bucket
Step 3. Add a little water at a time
Stir until the granules have dissolved. If you add too much water, the smoke bomb will not make smoke.
Step 4. Divide an old newspaper into 10 sheets
Make sure it is very old, because the freshly printed ones have a protective wax film that prevents good combustion.
Step 5. Fold each sheet twice to make 10 squares
Step 6. Dip the folded sheets of newspaper one at a time
After getting them wet, shake them a little and let them soak for about 30 seconds.
Step 7. Once wet, reopen the sheets carefully, as they can tear easily
Step 8. Leave them out in the sun
The driveway is a great place to dry them. If you live in a shaded area, place them on the ground with rocks / weights in each corner to prevent them from flying away. You will know that they are perfectly dry when you can lift them off the ground without difficulty.
Step 9. Roll up the sheets
Secure them with string in the middle, but don't close them too tight.
You can cut each sheet in half before rolling it, or leave it whole, the choice is yours. You can experiment with different lengths and widths
Step 10. Light your smoke bombs outdoors
There is nothing more thrilling than seeing your creation begin to emit billows of white smoke.
If you can't get the smoke to work right away, don't be discouraged. Try again putting less water
Advice
- Don't catch more than 5 broken ping-pong balls when using this technique.
- Obviously, do not light a smoke bomb in the house.
- It is legal to buy potassium nitrate in the United States, so make sure it is also legal in your country before following these instructions.
- When practicing the first method, be careful not to ignite the mixture inside the pot, you could burn yourself.
- Do not inhale the smoke. While it's not toxic, it's not a good thing to deprive your lungs of oxygen by breathing in smoke.
- Grind the powders thoroughly.
