Liquid Nitrogen Rocket Experiment
Monday September 29 1997
/g hole
[=Status=] You are now in group hole
/w .
Group: hole (mvl) Mod: snozer Topic: bite mack cheese boy
Nickname Idle Resp Sign-On Account
tranze - - 5:52pm tranze
ix 5m - 8:26pm tuggy
ephedrina - - 8:22pm kia
nNn 12m - 9:24pm aaronf
*snozer 4m - 9:27pm snozer
poly 23m - 9:35pm poly
thrust 1m - 8:40pm rtp
saturn5 1m - 9:50pm steve
Q - - 9:52pm queue
SpaceCadet - - 9:58pm spcecdt
<Q> spacecadet: PD and fire are going to your house.
<spcecdt> really?
<Q> for an explosion heard.
<Q> across the street neighbors called.
<spcecdt> d'oh!
<Q> two pd units and possibly the k9 unit.
<ix> nice
<Q> two people called, one said they heard an explosion with a
<Q> green light seen, another thinks it might have been a gunshot.
<Q> so that's how they're responding.
<ix> flush it all down
<Q> PD unit on scene just cancelled everyone else, including fire.
[=Arrive=] Davinator (dpassage@flophouse.com) entered group
<spcecdt> yep
<Davinator> hi holes
<spcecdt> mike is explaining to the nice officer downstairs
<Davinator> officer?
<Q> space: so, what happened?
<spcecdt> Mike was doing experiments with LN2 + hot water in 1.5L water bottles,
[=Arrive=] leek (leek@end.com) entered group
<Davinator> hi leek
<leek> hi tranze ix kristen aaron daniel david todd saturn qarin john
<leek> and david.
<spcecdt> with nozzle open...
<tranze> hi leek, I'm Randy.
<leek> hi randy ix kristen aaron daniel david todd saturn qarin john
<leek> and david
<Davinator> aha
<leek> see how i'm learning?
<Q> space: oops. at least it's all legal (non-pyrotechnic) stuff.
<leek> now let me make a wild stab here
<Q> space: is he getting told it's perhaps a little late at night
<Q> for science?
<leek> hi randy ix kristen aaron daniel david todd steve qarin john
<leek> and david
<Davinator> did said bottles make end up elsewhere than the armory
<Davinator> grounds?
<spcecdt> Apparently the officer thought it was hilarious, after being shown the LN2 and such...
[=Sign-on=] sef (sef@garth.kithrup.com) entered group
[=Arrive=] zenomt (zenomt@aldebaran.armory.com) entered group
<zenomt> hi
<sef> Hello zenomt.
<leek> hi sean and mike.
<leek> *yawn*
<thrust> explosive leek
<thrust> watch out
<zenomt> so, i just had a non-suck encounter with scpd
<thrust> she'll vaporize you in a green flash
<zenomt> has john explained all of what happened?
<Q> zenomt: did you smile all sheepish and stuff?
<leek> boom!
<zenomt> q: not really, i just told him exactly what happened
<sef> zenomt: What happened?
<zenomt> i, uh, accidentally caused an extremely loud explosion
<sef> Oh.
<Q> i like hearing dispatches at my friends' houses.
<zenomt> i made a LN2-powered rocket, but it wasn't strong enough to
<zenomt> withstand the chamber pressure, and exploded
<sef> Q: Do you hear about the problem on icb first, though? :)
<Q> sef: did i? no.
<zenomt> q told me, so i got into presentable clothes and went outside
<zenomt> to meet the officer
<Q> sef: i, aah, might have warned the armory of the pending
<Q> visit.
<sef> Q: Ah.
<sef> hahaha
<Davinator> heh
<sef> Yay Q.
<zenomt> i had done three tests holding the plastic bottle in my hand,
<zenomt> and the last time i decided to let it go (pointed upward) and
<zenomt> see if it flew. the rocket went about three feet from me and
<zenomt> blew up
<leek> <zenomt> q told me, so i put on some clothes and went outside
<spcecdt> I was in the doorway (15' away) and it was LOUD
<zenomt> i heard someone way down the street yell "WHAT WAS THAT?"
<nNn> woo!
<nNn> go mike!
<nNn> why was there a green flash, though?
<zenomt> there was no green flash from my explosion
<spcecdt> But our yard light is green...
<leek> nNn: that was just The Green Flash saving us all by swooping
<leek> the rocket up into the atmosphere to explode harmlessly.
<nNn> oh
<nNn> go Green Flash!
<spcecdt> Mike recovered 2 pieces of extremely mangled bottle...
<sef> So, uh, what, exactly, went boom at the armory?
<spcecdt> It was a 1.5L water bottle, full of hot water + LN2
<nNn> some inert gas was made to expand rapidly
<sef> Ah.
<sef> Oh.
<spcecdt> "lay on ground, light fuse. Do not hold in hand"
<sef> George says, "Pop!"
[=Sign-off=] sef (sef@garth.kithrup.com) has signed off.
<zenomt> i think this stunt should be classified under "cryotechnics"
<nNn> haha
<spcecdt> HEY wait... "mike, you should see if it can fly next time."... I SAVED MIKE'S HANDS!
<Davinator> yes.
<zenomt> (v. pyrotechnics)
[=Arrive=] zap (zap@[204.182.113.26]) entered group
<zap> honk
[=Sign-off=] zap (zap@[204.182.113.26]) has signed off.
[=Arrive=] zap (zap@richthofen.tooluser.com) entered group
<zap> woops
<zenomt> q: was the dispatch to "305 mcmillan" or was it to "mcmillan"?
<Q> zenomt: the dispatch was to "across from 304 mcmillan".
<zenomt> oh. hm.
<spcecdt> hord
<zenomt> well, my one hope is that it doesn't get back to arthur.
<zenomt> hord.
<spcecdt> So, the *real* question is, does Mike post to ROCKETS node or pyrotechnics node?
<zenomt> if the neighbors weren't exactly sure where it came from, then
<zenomt> hopefully they won't bother to tell him
<zenomt> i wonder how much hearing i've permanently damaged
<spcecdt> Mike: the trick is to determine which ear got it worse, and then make sure that
<spcecdt> ear is facing future Loud Noises, so that you retain good hearing in one ear.
<tranze> silicone earplugs are a good thing.
<zenomt> yeah, like i was expecting it to explode.
<zenomt> haha
<zenomt> i just called yvonne and told her about it. my lesson: "i'm
<zenomt> never going to do that again. at the armory. maybe linda's
<zenomt> house or the beach."
<zenomt> btw: she didn't hear the bang
<spcecdt> And you'll wear gloves next time, right?
<zenomt> oh. yeah, i guess.
<Q> i didn't hear the bang, either.
<Q> just the dispatch tones for our local fire station.
<spcecdt> I think you just need to use a stronger bottle.
<spcecdt> I'll bet a gallon glass jug would be WAY stronger...
<zenomt> mmm glass.
<Q> but would hurt more when it explodes.
<spcecdt> Oh yeah, also I think hot vinegar would be better as the reaction fluid.
<zap> oh dear.
<Q> maybe.
<zap> what did you guys do *now.*
<zenomt> me.
<zenomt> i did it.
<zap> liquid nitrogen?
<zap> cops?
<zap> pizza?
<zenomt> ford: i made a noise loud enough that 4 people called it in,
<zenomt> and fire and police were dispatched.
<zenomt> liquid nitrogen, water, plastic bottle, nozzle.
<zenomt> excessive pressure.
<zenomt> explosion. very loud bang.
<zap> did said public servants recieve an appropriate explanation?
<zenomt> why, yes they did.
<zenomt> the officer who arrived thought it was just hysterical.
<zap> haha
<zap> any shrapnel injuries or just ringing ears?
<zenomt> he didn't even scold me or tell me i shouldn't be doing that,
<zenomt> or that i shouldn't do it again. "so you're not hurt at all?"
<zenomt> "nope." "well, ok. have a good night."
<zenomt> my ears feel like they're packed in cotton
<zap> heh. cool cop.
<zap> is the experient described somewhere? Water in a bottle and
<zap> then LN2?
<zenomt> i haven't posted yet. i don't know which would be the most
<zenomt> appropriate forum, since there isn't a "Cryotechnics" node
<zenomt> yet.
<zenomt> water in bottle, then ln2, then nozzle cap. take outside,
<zenomt> turn upside down, release.
<Davinator> i think ROCKETS is more appropriate than pyrotechnics
<Davinator> since it was an attempted rocket
<zenomt> yeah
<spcecdt> Does anyone else remember the fairly large LN2+water rocket that
<spcecdt> someone tried in the last few years?
<Q> but the boom was more "pyro"technical.
<zenomt> there was no fire involved.
<zap> but it didnt involve combustion.
<Q> and the police and fire was mostly a "random encounter" for
<Q> me.
<zap> im surprised that there was no bang beofre you turned it over.
<spcecdt> Mike had done this several times before w/o explosion.
<spcecdt> Which was fortunately since he was holding on tightly...
<zenomt> why?
<Davinator> is LN2 less dense than water?
<zenomt> the N2 gas had no trouble shooting out the nozzle
<zap> i guess it would depend on how much they mix. did you shake
<zap> it?
<spcecdt> The LN2 tends to float.
<zenomt> i just turned it over, the idea being it would just boil on
<zenomt> top and force out the water.
<zap> ah
<zap> gotcha.
<zenomt> there was only a thin layer of LN2 on top of the water. there
<zenomt> was plenty of empty space
<zap> i recall *way* back some dry-ice bombs at crown/merrill
<spcecdt> Yeah, dry ice bombs are pretty popular.
<spcecdt> I need a camera with a *really* fast flash, a dark room,
<spcecdt> and a tripwire to wrap around a soda bottle...
<zenomt> a dark, sound-tight room
<zenomt> the shredded bottle pieces are hilarious
<zenomt> twisted and mangulated
<spcecdt> MMMMMM first use of new UPS.
<zenomt> ooh. another brownout
<zenomt> three so far this evening
<spcecdt> Glad that last one finally drove me to make this UPS usable.
<Q> none here.