this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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Science Memes

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[โ€“] IrritableOcelot 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My favorite overheard undergrad story:

I was walking past the lecture hall right after an organic chemistry midterm, and there was a cluster of 4-5 students talking about the exam. One asked about question 8b, and another one said "you're not supposed to mix nitric acid and ethanol, that makes TNT, right?" I had to stifle a chuckle as I walked by.

So close, and yet so far! Nitrated acetone is explosive, and TNT (trinitrotoluene) is also made with nitric acid, but toluene is a much more complex molecule than acetone. If those undergrads could figure out how to turn acetone into TNT efficiently, they'd get a Nobel!

[โ€“] ornery_chemist@mander.xyz 4 points 1 week ago

If those undergrads could figure out how to turn acetone into TNT...

Amateurs. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone_peroxide