Better Pranking Through Chemistry
by Kenneth Hanson on Mar 13 2011 (17598 Views)“I have some news...I’m pregnant.” That’s my wife’s opening line on her yearly April 1st telephone call to her mother. It’s not really considered an effective “fool” anymore, but at this point it’s a fun and expected tradition. With April 1st quickly approaching, I’ve realized that chemists have a significant advantage over our non-chemistry friends when it comes to pranks (Unless they are diabolical engineers. I imagine that is a relatively even and terrifying match). I don’t have any April fools’ traditions, but it might be time to start planning some especially given the wealth of ‘fools” available to the average chemist.
Disclaimer time: If you choose to use your chemistry powers to prank either in or outside of the lab it is important to understand the associate risks and consider the safety of others as a priority. Always wear the proper protective equipment.
Ga Spoon
Gallium, while solid at room temperature, will turn into a liquid just above ~30°C (~86°F). That is a relatively low melting point, well below the temperature of a cup of coffee or tea. If one were to pick up some Gallium, heat it up above ~30°C, inject it into a spoon shaped mold, and ever so kindly offer it to a friend/coworker/significant other that was trying to stir a hot drink, it might result in a funny outcome.
*Note: Although gallium is not readily soluble in water it is probably not a good idea to drink the solution after the spoon melts.
Explosive Ketchup:
If we take a quick flash back to our 6th grade science fair everyone remembers at least one baking soda and vinegar volcano. These demonstrations utilize the evolution of CO2 bubbles after mixing sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid to create the eruption effect (reaction below).
Because there is a significant amount of vinegar (1-2%) in ketchup, the same concept can be used to create a ketchup volcano.
Be aware that pressure is being created in a closed system so only the minimal amount of baking soda should be used to create the desired effect.
Burning Money
Nothing invokes panic like taking a friend’s $20 bill and lighting it on fire right in front of them. The key to preforming this act, without getting a phone call from the Secret Service, is to cover the flammable dollar in a volatile solvent like ethanol. To do this you need to soak the bill in a 50/50 ethanol/water solution. You can add a little bit of table salt to change the color of the flame from blue to yellow/orange. Once you ignite the bill, the ethanol will burn away but the dollar will remain intact.
Liquid N2 Rat
Most people have heard or seen of the chemistry magic show bit where a flower, frozen with liquid nitrogen, is smashed into a million pieces. Now (disturbing concept alert), imagine the same scenario but with a dead rat/mouse in a dorm room. It probably becomes very difficult to clean up when the pieces thaw. I do not personally know of someone actually doing this, but there is no doubt a special place in science hell for anyone that does. I am not going to link a video of someone smashing a rat but here is a video of a flower. You can use your imagination.
These pranks are just the tip of the chemistry-based tom-foolery iceberg. If you are going to try any of them, please enjoy, but be safe.
I had colleagues in graduate school who were fond of rigging the hood sashes of vacationing lab workers with various devices. (A cup of water set to splash on the victim, for example.)
Of course, the trick is for the vacationer to make sure that the hood is prank-proof beforehand (perhaps by rigging up your own device!)
I expect the rat would be pretty hard to smash, based on my experiences with frozen meats. The flower is a delicate object to begin with, the rat is a tough bastard in any form.
A 200 level biochem lab involved injecting a rat with C-14 sodium acetate, giving it a half hour, then freezing the rat in LN2. The rat was put into a plastic bag, broken into fragments with a hammer, and blended with some buffer to make a ratshake. Then it was partitioned into fat, protein, etc. This was ca. 1963 when this stuff was okay.
BTW, the rat was rendered unconscious by holding it in the N2 gas above the liquid until it suffocated. There was no panic or resistance. It just went limp, so we didn't feel we were torturing it. I wouldn't do that experiment today, having reserved that treatment for politicians.
@Matt: Rats get pretty brittle at LN2 temps. It was like breaking a cheap vase.
My favorite is cryocrackers (new window)
These are great...and the naive patient population
in China is ripe for the testing! muah-hah-hah-ha
[...] Chemistry Blog has a great post called “Better Pranking Through Chemistry.” The one below (“Gallium Spoon”) is my favorite, but go to the blog to see other videos [...]
These are some amazing pranks my favorite has to be the gallium spoon. I have a chemistry video on youtube its: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vsG0xZFQ4A&feature=email. It is the element song and i think it would suit your website well.
Isn't the gallium prank quite expensive? It wouldn't be nice if the April fool got ticked off enough to run off with $50 worth of gallium metal, given that he understands what it is made of.
[...] Wat zijn dan de echt goeie grappen? Wat zijn nou goeie scheikunde-pranks? De Chemistry Blog maakte een korte opsomming: [...]
LOL:) Love the Baking Soda and Ketchup Prank! I'm truly inspired now...It's payback time for my Dad for his classic dip-your-straw-in-vinegar-when-you-leave-the-table-prank!