What's in a Party Popper

by Stan1y in Outside > Launchers

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What's in a Party Popper

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it's almost that time of year again. You pull the string there's a crack a lot of streamers and you leave it to someone else to sweep them & the discarded plastic casing up. Has it ever crossed your mind how they work or because you obey that safety instruction you've never found out?

Warning! !

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This instructable may contravene anti terrorism legislation in some countries. used as intended party poppers are probably safe. ANY adjustments to charge or load could make them lethal.

Contents

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what you have is basically a low power shot gun cartridge with a soft load. at the base is a compression activated explosive charge. above that an expansion chamber the a disc of thin card wadding then the load pf coiled paper streamers sealed with another disc of cardboard wadding.

The Charge

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An innocuous 2mm diameter paper cylinder and 40mm of thin string. definite risk of injury do not try this at home! gripping the cylinder with two pairs of pliers and bending it at 90° doesn't cause detonation. compressing it to about half its thickness in the jaws of a pair of pliers does. gentle sustained pressure is enough it doesn't need to be sudden. careful dissection reveals the actual explosive content to be a little purple staining on the folded over string my best guess is it is the same chemicals as used in cracker snaps a in normal use the detonation is caused by friction.. The paper containment is reluctant to burn and igniting the string un contained hardly caused a flare.