SULFURIC ACID

Sulfuric acid is far too difficult to make outside of a laboratory or
industrial plant.  However, it is readily available in an uncharged car
battery. A person wishing to make sulfuric acid would simply remove the top of
a car battery and pour the acid into a glass container.  There would probably
be pieces of lead from the battery in the acid which would have to be removed,
either by boiling or filtration.  The concentration of the sulfuric acid can
also be increased by boiling it; very pure sulfuric acid pours slightly faster
than clean motor oil.


   AMMONIUM NITRATE

     Ammonium nitrate is a very powerful but insensitive high-order explosive.
It could be made very easily by pouring nitric acid into a large flask in an ice
bath. Then, by simply pouring household ammonia into the flask and running away,
ammonium nitrate would be formed. After the materials have stopped reacting, one
would simply have to leave the solution in a warm place until all of the water
and any unneutralized ammonia or acid have evaporated. There would be a fine
powder formed, which would be ammonium nitrate. It must be kept in an airtight
container, because of its tendency to pick up water from the air.  The crystals
formed in the above process would have to be heated VERY gently to drive off the
remaining water.

AMMONIUM TRIIODIDE CRYSTALS

Ammonium triiodide crystals are foul-smelling purple colored crystals
that decompose under the slightest amount of heat, friction, or shock, if they
are made with the purest ammonia (ammonium hydroxide) and iodine.  Such
crystals are said to detonate when a fly lands on them, or when an ant walks
across them. Household ammonia, however, has enough impurities, such as soaps
and abrasive agents, so that the crystals will detonate when thrown,crushed,
or heated. Ammonia, when bought in stores comes in a variety of forms.  The
pine and cloudy ammonias should not be bought; only the clear ammonia should
be used to make ammonium triiodide crystals. Upon detonation, a loud report is
heard, and a cloud of purple iodine gas appears about the detonation site.
Whatever the unfortunate surface that the crystal was detonated upon will
usually be ruined, as some of the iodine in the crystal is thrown about in a
solid form, and iodine is corrosive.  It leaves nasty, ugly, permanent
brownish-purple stains on whatever it contacts. Iodine gas is also bad news,
since it can damage lungs, and it settles to the ground and stains things
there also.  Touching iodine leaves brown stains on the skin that last for
about a week, unless they are immediately and vigorously washed off.  While
such a compound would have little use to a serious terrorist, a vandal could
utilize them in damaging property.  Or, a terrorist could throw several of
them into a crowd as a distraction, an action which would possibly injure a
few people, but frighten almost anyone, since a small crystal that may not be
seen when thrown produces a rather loud explosion.

    Ammonium triiodide crystals could be produced in the following manner:

     Materials                Equipment
     ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ                ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
     iodine crystals          funnel and filter paper
                              paper towels
     clear ammonia
     (ammonium hydroxide,     two throw-away glass jars
      for the suicidal)

1) Place about two teaspoons of iodine into one of the glass jars.  The jars
   must both be throw away because they will never be clean again.

2) Add enough ammonia to completely cover the iodine.

3) Place the funnel into the other jar, and put the filter paper in the
   funnel. The technique for putting filter paper in a funnel is taught in
   every basic chemistry lab class: fold the circular paper in half, so that a
   semi-circle is formed.  Then, fold it in half again to form a triangle with
   one curved side.  Pull one thickness of paper out to form a cone, and place
   the cone into the funnel.

4) After allowing the iodine to soak in the ammonia for a while, pour the
   solution into the paper in the funnel through the filter paper.

5) While the solution is being filtered, put more ammonia into the first jar
   to wash any remaining crystals into the funnel as soon as it drains.

6) Collect all the purplish crystals without touching the brown filter paper,
   and place them on the paper towels to dry for about an hour.  Make sure
   that they are not too close to any lights or other sources of heat, as they
   could well detonate. While they are still wet, divide the wet material into
   eight pieces of about the same size.

7) After they dry, gently place the crystals onto a one square inch piece of
   duct tape.  Cover it with a similar piece, and gently press the duct tape
   together around the crystal, making sure not to press the crystal itself.
   Finally, cut away most of the excess duct tape with a pair of scissors, and
   store the crystals in a cool dry safe place.  They have a shelf life of
   about a week, and they should be stored in individual containers that can
   be thrown away, since they have a tendency to slowly decompose, a process
   which  gives off iodine vapors, which will stain whatever they settle on.
   One possible way to increase their shelf life is to store them in airtight
   containers.  To use them, simply throw them against any surface or place
   them where they will be stepped on or crushed.

PICRIC ACID

     Picric acid, also known as Tri-Nitro-Phenol, or T.N.P., is a military
explosive that is most often used as a booster charge to set off another less
sensitive explosive, such as T.N.T.  It another explosive that is fairly
simple to make, assuming that one can acquire the concentrated sulfuric and
nitric acids.  Its procedure for manufacture is given in many college
chemistry lab manuals, and is easy to follow.  The main problem with picric
acid is its tendency to form dangerously sensitive and unstable picrate salts,
such as potassium picrate.  For this reason, it is usually made into a safer
form, such as ammonium picrate, also called explosive D.  A social deviant
would probably use a formula similar to the one presented here to make picric
acid.

     MATERIALS                         EQUIPMENT
     ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ                         ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
     phenol (9.5 g)                    500 ml flask

     concentrated                      adjustable heat source
     sulfuric acid  (12.5 ml)
                                       1000 ml beaker
     concentrated nitric               or other container
     acid (38 ml)                      suitable for boiling in

     distilled water                   filter paper
                                       and funnel

                                       glass stirring rod


1) Place 9.5 grams of phenol into the 500 ml flask, and carefully add 12.5 ml
   of concentrated sulfuric acid and stir the mixture.

2) Put 400 ml of tap water into the 1000 ml beaker or boiling container and
   bring the water to a gentle boil.

3) After warming the 500 ml flask under hot tap water, place it in the boiling
   water, and continue to stir the mixture of phenol and acid for about thirty
   minutes.  After thirty minutes, take the flask out, and allow it to cool
   for about five minutes.

4) Pour out the boiling water used above, and after allowing the container to
   cool, use it to create an ice bath, similar to the one used in section
   3.13, steps 3-4.  Place the 500 ml flask with the mixed acid an phenol in
   the ice bath.  Add 38 ml of concentrated nitric acid in small amounts,
   stirring the mixture constantly.  A vigorous but "harmless" reaction should
   occur.  When the mixture stops reacting vigorously, take the flask out of
   the ice bath.

5) Warm the ice bath container, if it is glass, and then begin boiling more
   tap water.  Place the flask containing the mixture in the boiling water,
   and heat it in the boiling water for 1.5 to 2 hours.

6) Add 100 ml of cold distilled water to the solution, and chill it in an ice
   bath until it is cold.

7) Filter out the yellowish-white picric acid crystals by pouring the solution
   through the filter paper in the funnel.  Collect the liquid and dispose of
   it in a safe place, since it is corrosive.

8) Wash out the 500 ml flask with distilled water, and put the contents of the
   filter paper in the flask.  Add 300 ml of water, and shake vigorously.

9) Re-filter the crystals, and allow them to dry.

10) Store the crystals in a safe place in a glass container, since they will
    react with metal containers to produce picrates that could explode
    spontaneously.