Help, I'm pyroaddicted

Question

I love fire and burning things. Recently my good friend took a can of WD 40 and made like a makeshift flamethrower, then he made little hair gel trails and lit them on fire. I can't stop the urge to play with fire. If someone could tell me something really cool to do with fire or to do with chemicals to make minor explosive toys or something? Plz i need 2 scratch the temptation.

Answer 1

I would suggest finding a safer hobby, honestly. As cool as it may be, fire is still a chemical reaction at heart, and unless you're aware of what you're burning and its chemical properties, it's probably a bad idea to take a match to it. You're going to end up hurting yourself or someone else if you continue the 'temptation'.

Answer 2

I like making colored flames.  The easiest (and one of the best) is made with methanol and boric acid.  Get the methanol from gas line antifreeze (found inside most gas stations).  Get the boric acid from a drugstore - it is sold as a pesticide, but it is not very toxic for humans.  Add some of the boric acid to the methanol (the amount does not matter much - if you see a crust of boric acid left behind, add more methanol, and if the flame is not green enough, add more boric acid), place in a container, add a wick (steel wool works), and set on fire.  You should get a beautiful green flame (best viewed at night).

Methanol is sort of toxic (use good ventilation; do not drink it - you will go blind), but other than that, this is a pretty safe experiment.

The reaction when boric acid is added:

B(OH)3 + 3CH3OH <-----> B(OCH3)3 + 3H2O

The trimethyl borate that forms is volatile and flammable.  It evaporates from the liquid along with the remaining methanol, and burns to give a green flame.

As for the other answerer, you have to accept some risk in everything you do.  If he had been asking about cool skateboarding tricks, would you have told him the same?  Many people who end up pursuing careers in the sciences get their start by playing with fire.  You should of course still follow safety precautions (and knowing what is in stuff is always a good idea), but the risk is not so great that these activities should be forbidden.