Questions tagged [chemistry-in-fiction]
Chemistry-in-fiction covers all chemistry that can be seen in TV series, films and can be read in books, etc. which does not necessarily need to be based on proper scientific backgrounds.
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Can aniline be made with the method described in Dr Stone?
In Dr Stone, the main character makes aniline by rinsing coal tar with HCl, then mixing in ethyl acetate. See the image below. Is a method like this possible? What is occurring here?
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Producing soap from sodium carbonate and oil
Can we get soap by mixing $\ce{Na2CO3}$ from seaweeds with oil?
I am not good at chemistry and saw this in the anime Dr. Stone. I just want to know if it is true or not.
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Acid-Base Reaction in MacGyver Episode "Countdown"
This question is about the old MacGyver show, Season 1, Episode 14, "Countdown." Could someone please explain how/why MacGyver neutralizes the acid in the bomb? He claims it is an electrolyte switch, ...
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Would burning of around 200 kg of animal fat in a tunnel cause an explosion? [closed]
As shown in the movie Ironclad, they burnt a group of fat pigs together, under a tunnel, beneath the fort base and it resulted in a massive explosion.
From chemistry's perspective, and considering ...
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What chemical regularly transported by road in the UK would cause serious injury/loss of life if it escaped in a road accident? [closed]
I'm writing a story where a serious multi-vehicle pileup happens in the winter during foggy weather. I need the fallout from this to include the escape of a substance that will cause significant ...
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Does oxyhydrogen require the presence of water to ignite?
I recently read a short story (fiction) where a major plot element was based on the expectation that a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen will not ignite unless some amount of water is present to get the ...
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Other than ultracold lithium gas, are any ferromagnetic or magnetic gasses known or hypothesized?
I'm dealing with an interactive work of fiction right now, and one proposal is to combine two types of puzzles with a magnetic gas. I know that fermionic $\ce{^6Li}$, when cooled below $\pu{1 K}$, has ...
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Calculating volume of gases in different conditions
Doctor Who has a secret laboratory on Venus where atmospheric pressure is $92$ times that of Earth and room temperature is $\pu{735 K}$. There, Doctor Who mixes $\pu{4.00 g}$ of $\ce{CaCO3}$ with $\pu{...
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How could I produce/rig this flame-colour lottery?
Not sure if this is the wrong SE for this, happy to move it if not...
In the Netflix TV series Sabrina, there is a scene where people take part in an appropriately-gothic-and-ominous lottery, which ...
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Extracting sulphur from hot springs with medieval technology?
For the sake of a dungeons and dragons game. Could sulphur be deposited on/extracted from hot springs water through evaporation or other proess?
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Why is gunpowder urinated on in Blood Meridian?
An interesting section of Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy has the gang of "Indian fighters" surrounded and out of powder, so one of them manages to make it from scratch, making charcoal from ...
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Would it be possible to destroy gold?
I'm a writer. I have a scenario in which a sizable amount of gold needs to be rendered unusable, preferably completely destroyed. I know an acid like aqua regia is able to dissolve gold, but would ...
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Results of mixing HSbF6 and O2F2
I'm an amateur writer and one of the topics I deal with is what happens when a slightly-mad scientist and engineer is given an opportunity to work with full-on “magic.” So there are situations where ...
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What is the Italian ‘Acido Psammico’ (Psammic acid?)
I am reading an Italian detective novel — Lo stato delle anime by Giorgio Todde — in which someone is poisoned with ‘acido psammico’.
Marini trova nello stomaco della vittima un ostia con all’...
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Diamonds into protective barrier
Theoretically, is it possible to make a large, transparent piece of armor or a shield from a diamond?
Say, a piece of the said armor with a size $7^\prime \times 7^\prime \times 6^{\prime\prime}$?
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