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Nitrogen Triiodide (2016)

Nitrogen Triiodide

So small is the activation energy that NI 3 can be detonated by just about anything: being tickled by a feather, the impact of balloon, an air current, an insect landing on it, or a loud noise. This is good because the stuff is very easy to make, and when I was a kid you could buy the ingredients at most pharmacies (pro tip—don't ask for both at the same time; old-time pharmacists have seen it all), and they're available in almost any inorganic chemistry lab. Little is known of its physical and chemical properties because it is difficult to study a substance that explodes whenever you try to do an experiment with it, and because modern chemists are fond of their fingers and eyes.

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