Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Holy freakin' COW!

There's this chemical.

Dioxygen diflouride.
(No, not dihydrogen monoxide)

O2F2.

Some chemists write it as FOOF - and for good reason!

This stuff explodes when you mix it with other chemicals - and that's way down at -180ÂșC! I'd hate to see what happens when you try to do anything with it closer to, I don't know, the boiling point of liquid nitrogen?

Apparently it just can't be warmed to room temperature without Bad Things (tm) happening...

One example reaction: 4O2F2 + H2S -> SF6 + 2HF + 4O2 + 5920kJ/kg of energy

On an energy basis, a kilo of this mix would be as productive as, say, 1.3kg of TNT. Yes, the stuff that goes bang.

Nasty stuff...

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