fandomhigh | Mythbusting, Tuesday, 7/28, Period 2

There were ice baths set up at each Danger Shop lab station today, and Tyler tossed goggles and gloves at each student as they came in. He folded his arms and waited for the class to settle before beginning. If he was enjoying teaching this session a little less than he normally did, he gave little sign.

Then he reached onto his desk and held up a container of clear, thick stuff. "So this," he said, "is the extra glycerin from the soap we made the first week. And now it's time to get to the fun part and make it nitroglycerin. Not a straight myth, but hey, it seems worth exploring in class."

He pointed out two vials on his desk. "This is nitric acid. The big one is sulfuric acid. What you're going to do is add the nitric to to three times the amount of sulfuric in the ice batch, then start adding the glycerin with an eyedropper."

"This is a delicate reaction, so please, work in pairs if you can stand it. One person watches the vat, other one drops in the glycerin. You'll know you're done when it gels up."

"Once you see that happen, you can scoop it out and mix it with sawdust to get a plastic explosive. You can roll it together and light it on fire. We don't have to do that this week, but if you have time, we have a lovely shooting range for you to test it in." He gestured to the back wall of the shop and hit a button on the control panel, transforming it into a wall of assorted moddable targets.

"You can also fake a similar reaction with some supermarket stuff -- Diet Pepsi and kitty litter, or orange juice and gasoline. I'm ~~handwavily~~ passing around a handout on that stuff, if you're interested and want to do that instead of nitro. Just remember, this is Danger Shop only."

"Go to work. I'll be around. Ino, ~~if you're here~~ please wait after class."

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"Good," Kyle nodded. "One more. This is the part where you don't know if it's going to blow up or not." He let another drop go. It didn't go boom, thankfully. "And you have nitroglycerin. I don't think it's part of class, but if you package it right, you've got a pretty good explosive that you can carry around that can do some serious damage."

"How do you package it right?" Claire asked.

It might come in handy in the future.

Kyle explained about needing an absorbent (only in less technical terms) and a casing and how to position a fuse and how to be careful with screwing a cap on. "Then you light the fuse, throw it and take cover. You can add shrapnel too if you really want to make a mess."

Claire nodded, making mental notes about all of this. "Shrapnel is just random metal bits, right?"

"I've used nails and rocks before too," Kyle nodded. "Whatever your shrapnel is, it's going to get really hot and thrown in all different directions really fast, so don't be around when it goes off."

Again, not a concern Claire really had since she would heal, but she nodded anyway. "Good to know."

"You can test it if you want," Kyle offered since Professor Durden had offered. "But it definitely works."

Claire glanced at the clock. "I don't think we really have time. Class is almost over. So I'll take your word for it."

"That went fast." He was still getting used to following the time. There didn't seem any point before. "If you ever want to make explosives, well...actually this is pretty much all I know how to do. But I'm going to learn more," he assured her.

"I definitely wouldn't mind practicing some," she said. "I don't think I'd need it here, but back home I might."

"You can get all the stuff you need to make more at Turtle & Canary. I work there on Saturdays. If you come in, I can show you everything to get. It's not safe to do it on your own unless you know what you're doing though."

Claire smiled. "Thanks. I will definitely stop by this weekend."

Mythbusting, Tuesday, 7/28, Period 2

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