Article Five Peroxy-Acetone Made Easy The following are instructions given in the file HANDBOOK.TXT on how to make Peroxy-Acetone: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Peroxyacetone Peroxyacetone is extremely flammable and has been reported to be shock sensitive. Materials- 4ml Acetone 4ml 30% Hydrogen Peroxide 4 drops conc. hydrochloric acid 150mm test tube Add 4ml acetone and 4ml hydrogen peroxide to the test tube. Then add 4 drops concentrated hydrochloric acid. In 10-20 minutes a white solid should begin to appear. If no change is observed, warm the test tube in a water bath at 40 celsius. Allow the reaction to continue for two hours. Swirl the slurry and filter it. Leave out on filter paper to dry for at least two hours. To ignite, light a candle tied to a meter stick and light it (while staying at least a meter away). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, these instructions have some major problems! Let's see... 1. Peroxy-Acetone IS extremely flammable, but it is NOT shock sensitive. That is, the Peroxy-Acetone that you can make at home isn't. You will be limited to using (at best) only 31.4% Hydrochloric Acid and only 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (that's the only concentration sold in drug stores). What this means is that your reaction will not occur as fast, and will produce less Peroxy-Acetone then mentioned in the above passage. 2. Suggestion: If you are going to do this, due to the weak concentrations of your chemicals, do it on a larger scale with the same ratio. For example: 4 parts Acetone 40 parts H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) 22 drops HCl I haven't actually tried these specific amounts yet, but mathematically speaking, they sound good. Since we want 30% H2O2 in the solution, and we only have 3%, adding 10 times the amount of 3% H2O2 should contain enough to react properly. The increased amount of HCl should compensate for the concentration problem, aswell as the excess water in the solution (ie. the H2O2 is 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and 97% water so there is all that water in our solution because of it). 3. The reaction MAY produce white crystals in the solution as early as in 20 minutes, but don't count on it. Be patient, they'll form! Give it 12-24 hours. If nothing occurs after that, try heating the solution a little either through a hot water bath, or gently heating over a candle (make sure you don't catch the Acetone on fire, it's EXTREMELY flammable). 4. Filter out the crystals and leave them on the filter paper to dry. When dry, use them right away. Ignite them with an open flame. To be safe, use a long piece of wood (30cm should do it) and light the one end somehow, or use a fuse. This stuff goes up FAST as in INSTANTANEOUSLY! So make sure you're watching, or you'll miss the flame ball :) NOTE: Acetone is carcinogenic! In other words, it causes cancer (in large amounts). So don't start inhaling the stuff, and try to keep it off of your skin (it'll take the natural oils out of your skin).