Cool new laser tricks at home

[wiscmarine]

Does anybody have any cool trickes that they have done at home? I was outside with my 150mw the other night when it was raining and that was very cool the way the rain hit the beam. Also hit road sings , damn the really reflect the beam EVERYWHERE !!! Iv'e dote the match thing, burned balloons. Sorta limited until my new lens shows up.........

 

[hammer_time]

you want cOOL!

take a funnel, put a ballon on the end of the funnel and pour some cornstarch into the baloon ueing the funnel. you should have some cornstarch in a deflated balloon. now blow it up, but dont inhale because, well it will just suck for you, and tie it up. light a candle, i prefer sticking a match into the wax next to the wick and lighting the match with the laser and set it behind the balloon far enough away where it wont pop the balloon. now pop the balloon, and wait a sec. youll get a big fireball ;D

i guess i shoulda told you to set it up outside and more starch does not make a bigger bang. if the beam passes the candle before it hits the balloon, the explosion will happen faster, since it blows all the starch towards the candle.

another fun thing is lighting matches in soda bottles. get a bottle and shove some matches in it. spray some colone or axe or somthing similar into the bottle and seal her up. light the match from as far away as possible. bang.

remember you still need o2, so once again more spray does not equal bigger boom. and stay far away as possible

well those are my 2 faves, perhaps some others can add some new, non exploding fun to my laser trickbook

 

[wondergimp]

[quote author=hammer_time]
remember you still need o2, so once again more spray does not equal bigger boom. and stay far away as possible
[/quote]
Anyone care to work out the proper stoichometric equation to get biggest BANG? My chemistry skillz are fading quick. :'(

 

[hammer_time]

2 or 3 seconds of spray with an axe can, ill try to get a vid. you should see me lighting it, i put the bottle outside and lase through a sliding glass door, through the bottle to light the match. it comes close to blowing the dang door off the tracks

 

[wiscmarine]

tht sounds pretty damn cool. almost like a potato gun. ill try it

 

[j_a_s_o_n]

How exactly does the cornstarch become flammable? If you just try lighting it in a tray it does nothing. Is there an website that goes further into detail about this?

 

[SenKat]

How exactly does the cornstarch become flammable? If you just try lighting it in a tray it does nothing. Is there an website that goes further into detail about this?

I can help with this one ! Almost ANYTHING is flamable if it is in small enough particles...take some flour, cornstarch, ANYTHING - and throw a handfull at a fire - WHOOSH ! pretty awesome (and scary sometimes) I don't know the EXACT reason why it does it - I used to know - but Navy firefighting training was a few years ago.....hehehehe They even showed us how asbestos can catch on fire in a powder form !

 

[j_a_s_o_n]

So.. how big of a fire? I tried a candle and nothing.. first used a little bit of cornstarch (1/4 teaspoon or less) then quite a bit more (up to a teaspoon), first time candle stayed lit, second time it blew out. No fireball or any effect other than a bunch of cornstarch flying all over the place.

 

[SenKat]

More of a fireball than a big fire - it depends on how fine you got hte powder - try using baby powder - just give a light squeeze over a lighter or somehting like that - whoosh ! BE CAREFUL !

 

[NairB]

Yeh I used to blow up custard powder too as that is a very fine powder. Nice sweet smell afterwards

 

[aliencam]

the coolest is evaporated milk, the powdered kind, not the liquid lol.

it has something to do with the surface area and the o2 mixture with it,

 

[troyboy]

I have a suggestion for your laser... water makes pretty cool tricks. shine it at a pool and make bubbles and stuff... be creative!

 

[SenKat]

Any nuclear pysicists out there ? Shine a laser into heavy water, and post the results !