FZFF2 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X X X FOLO ZONE FUN FILES X X X X FILE "2" -- Nitrogen Tri-Iodide X X X X X X X X by X X Z. DeBuggah of the Folo Zone Gang. X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> < > < Content Hazard Rating --- Moderate > < risk of blindness. > < > < Hazard Type -- . . . . . Explosive > < > < Special Precautions -- Keep it WET > < until ready for final use. This > < stuff stains things badly, watch > < where you put/use it. > < > YOU WILL NEED:- Iodine crystals (there is no substitute). Available from university stockrooms (with a little pleading), VW&R, American Scientific and some drug stores. Ammonia (clear - not the detergent kind). Available in super-markets, drug stores, hardware stores, and laboratory supply houses as above. Heavy walled glass bottle with water tight lid. (Plastic lid - not metal.) Strips of filter paper, newspaper or paper towel. CHEMISTRY:- 3 I2 + 4 NH3 --------------> NI3 + 3 NH4I iodine ammonia nitrogen ammonium (crystals) (aqueous) tri- iodide iodide THE SETUP:- Use about a teaspoonfull of iodine for a cup of laboratory grade ammonia, or for about three cups of household ammonia. Put them in the bottle and put on the lid, tightly. (Ammonia is easier to handle out of doors, or anywhere that is well ventilated.) Swirl the bottle a bit, and let it stand over night. USING IT:- Select a non-metallic location where you want to use the NI3. It can be put out either by scooping out some of the solid material from the bottom of the bottle with a piece of paper, and leave the paper and the NI3 to dry. Alternatively it can be scooped out with a plastic spoon (or a popsicle stick) or knife etc., and applied like frosting to places where people may walk, to banisters on stairways or the underside of door-knobs. Pick a place where it will not be disturbed until it is completely dry. The most important limitation is that it is incompatible with metals, which will absorb the iodine out of the NI3 and turn to rust. The other thing to remember is NITROGEN TRI-IODIDE CANNOT BE MOVED AFTER IT IS DRY. THE LEAST DISTURBANCE WILL SET IT OFF. If you put a piece of paper smeared with it out in the sun to dry, or under a heat radiator in a room, the com- bination of heat and the twisting of the paper as it drys, will make it hop a- round at 1/2 to 5 minute intervals as areas of the prepared paper dry out. Each hop is accompanied by a loud pop or snap, and if the location is obscure enough, the comparatively long delay between pops can make it very hard to find where the sound is coming from. If the NI3 is left in a cool dry place to dry out, it will remain ready until it is touched, like a hand reaching for a doorknob or sliding town a banister. Alternatively, NI3 can be applied to the ground as a perimeter alarm, because no matter how gently or quietly it it stepped on, it's gonna go BANG!