I am making a hand cannon for my physics project. Today I got some steel pipe and wood but the problem is obtaining the chemicals. When I nonchalantly asked the pharmaceuticals clerk if they sold potassium nitrate (KNO3) I was promply asked to leave. So where can I get sulfur, potassium nitrate? Also, will activated carbon for an aquarium filter work in place of charcoal? Is it illegal to make gunpowder in Canada?
2007-11-23 08:41:51 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Its got to be classical physics and I am not bringing any explosives to school obviously. I am video taping the experiments.
2007-11-23 08:48:24 · update #1
You should be able to get both smoleless and black powder at any gun shop that sells supplies for muzzle-loading wepons. I suggest you get an adult to buy it for you (they probably won't sell it to minors). I'm in the US, but I think they sell it in Canada too. Actually, I'm surprised they are letting you bring something like this into school, considering how paranoid they are about wepons in the schools now. I would double-check with your teacher and get written aproval to bring this into school/class just to cover your a**. Also please be careful, steel pipe is not as strong as the alloys used for gun barrels, start with a SMALL amount of powder and be behind a strong barrier of some kind untill you know how it will work. You can gradually increase the load until it launches the projectile at a decent velocity. Don't try to duplicate the velocity of a real gun; your just showing proof of concept, you don't want it to explode and take out your whole class! You might be able make one that would use the little compressed CO2 cylinders used for BB guns or something like that; would be safer and probably easier.
2007-11-23 09:00:48 · answer #1 · answered by Flying Dragon 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
KNO3 is also known as saltpeter and it is the black powder that is within shotgun cartridges.
It can be refined from fertilizer, but unless you want to get caught with a risky process that can give you an unreliable yield, then go for it.
I won't be able to actively stop you, but I won't tell you how to do it- it is circulating around the net if you know where to look. It's something you've got to do under supervision really - you just need to know what can go wrong.
Oh, and it may count as a firearm, so creating the KNO3 shouldn't be illegal, but using it will be if it's used in a dangerous fashion.
2007-11-23 09:02:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't even think about doing this! It sounds very much like a pipe bomb to me, and I'm sure it would to police as well. I don't know about Canada, but most communities in the USA have very strict laws (felony) for possession of explosive devices.
2007-11-23 09:08:23 · answer #3 · answered by Dennis M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would not make gunpowder for a school science project. I do not think that the school would appreciate it much.
I would, however, look into air compression based canons or something that does not need explosives.
2007-11-23 08:45:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please do not carryout this project. It is not legal and also you could get burned or badly injured. Explosives are not for playing or for school projects. Instead lookup compressed air projection projects. It is also dangerous but it's applied physics and the study of pascal's law of gases.
2007-11-23 14:48:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋