Boomershoot 2011 slogan and image

Today daughter Xenia sent me the image for Boomershoot 2011 t-shirts, hats, thongs, etc.

I haven’t created the Cafepress Boomershoot 2011 “store” with it yet but I will soon. That store is the one remaining item I need to complete before opening up entries for Boomershoot 2011.

For your viewing pleasure:

1boomershoot2011Web

Defens will get a free t-shirt for his contribution of the winning idea.

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12 thoughts on “Boomershoot 2011 slogan and image

  1. That’s one sweet formula….hey, waaaiiiitttt a minute! It’s missing something… Sugar!… AND it’s not balanced! I can’t claim to be a science teacher and wear that to school!

    OTOH, I’ve never taught *chemistry*, and I like it a lot, because most folks at school would not like me wearing it to school even if it *was* stoichiometrically correct.

  2. Tim,

    Both equations have the same number and type of atoms. Mine describes the molecular arrangements.

    Everyone,

    Regarding the balancing of the equation to be really accurate is a little difficult because the pressure also affects things. I know for certain there is some excess oxygen with our mix–it is not stoichiometrically balanced. If the prills of ammonium nitrate don’t break down in soon enough there may be some CO formed instead of CO2. And with high pressures involved there may be some interesting nitrogen oxides formed in addition to the N2.

    Hence, I decided to just keep it simple even if it isn’t really complete and completely accurate.

  3. I gotta admit, it took me a little while to get the Ethylene Glycol. And this was infinitely more entertaining than most of our science experiments.

    Most being that there was that one experiment where someone shoved a golf-ball sized piece of lithium down the drain… and became the reason why they don’t allow experiments with Lithium at that high school any more.

  4. Bill & Kris – I was doing a Wurtz reaction in Organic Chem Lab once, and had not noticed that my lab partner had added excess Na metal to the reaction vessel. He also left several small slivers of the metal in a 100ml beaker of hexane. So there I was standing in front of the sink, cleaning glassware. I tossed the beaker of what I thought was water into the sink, heard a small sizzle, and was faced with a sink-shaped, ceiling-high pillar of fire. After a second of thoughtful shock, I realized what must have happened. I ran for the fire extinguisher, which was about 3 feet tall and loaded with baking soda under pressure. By the time I got back to the sink, the fire was nearly out, most of the hexane having been consumed. But how often would I get a chance to shoot off a giant fire extinguisher? So I shot the whole thing into the sink, powdering half that lab bench with excess baking soda. And the extra Na did indeed give us a good yield in the reaction. Good times, good times.

    For busting sink plumbing in a lab, Ammonium Iodide works fine also. If you pour some newly made product down the sink, in the hope it will dissolve or otherwise dissipate, it will collect in the thick glass trap and explode upon a vibration sometime later. Don’t ask me how I know, as I am unsure of the statute of limitations in the state where I spent my college years. I swear it was not done on purpose, and the plumbing was even replaced before the next morning!

  5. The adding of metal salts for color has two issues.

    1) Any change in the recipe requires a lot of testing–safety, reliability, and storage.
    2) The reaction is not your typical fireworks deflagration. This is a detonation and the entire reaction is over in a few microseconds. As soon as the reaction byproducts start expanding they rapidly cool down. The additives must be very hot to show their colors and the time they are at those high temperatures will be very short. The flash of color will only be visible for maybe a millisecond or ten.

    I just can’t see it being worth the effort. If color is desired then the chalk is the best idea I have heard of so far.

  6. We might want to try chalk bags instead of lime bags in a few of the 4″ targets. Slip a few into the rifle clinic batch and see if anyone notices?

  7. As a chemist, I have to say that Mr. Huffman is correct. We know what all of the reactants are, but due to pressure, probably incomplete combustion, etc. we can’t know (precisely) what all of the products are. They depend on the atmospheric conditions and then some. So a simplified version conveys enough information to get a general idea of what’s going on. Also, balancing a reaction like this–even assuming infinite oxygen–is doable, but a major pain. The equation conveys sufficient information to get the gist of what’s going on, which is most important 😀

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