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.
78
questions
103
votes
7
answers
331k
views
Is it actually possible to dispose of a body with hydrofluoric acid?
In the TV show "Breaking Bad", Walter White frequently gets rid of people who get in his way by submerging them in a plastic container full of hydrofluoric acid. This, at least in the TV show, ...
user1579
69
votes
4
answers
28k
views
How does Walter White make pure crystal meth using a non-stereospecific reaction?
In the highly-rated TV series, Breaking Bad, Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher recently diagnosed with cancer, takes to making the illicit drug, crystal meth (methamphetamine), by two main ...
- 37k
37
votes
1
answer
811
views
Single-molecule magnet with electrically-controlled permeability: How does the Titan Shield from Deus Ex work?
In a recent installment of Deus Ex game series there is an augmentation called "Titan Shield" (it has nothing to do with $\ce{Ti}$ element):
A neodymium skin underlay matrix built of nano-...
- 38.4k
35
votes
9
answers
13k
views
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 ...
35
votes
2
answers
136k
views
Chemistry behind Gale's coffee maker in Breaking Bad
Is there a scientific basis for the coffee making equipment which Gale Boetticher describes in Breaking Bad?
He talks about maintaining the right conditions for bringing out the coffee flavor without ...
- 719
34
votes
2
answers
211k
views
How do I extract cyanide from apple seeds?
I'm working on a crime story about cyanide poisoning from apple seeds. I just would like to have an idea of what processes and extraction techniques might be involved in getting cyanide from the seeds....
- 569
32
votes
9
answers
10k
views
Realistic chemical spill accident in high school chemistry class
In a story I'm writing, a teenager spills chemicals on herself in a high school chemistry class, causing her to be put under the safety shower. The spill destroys her clothes and causes minor burns. I ...
- 337
23
votes
2
answers
58k
views
HI/P reduction mechanism
I recently answered a question about Breaking Bad's initial methamphetamine production method (i.e. the reduction of (pseudo)ephedrine). The reaction is as follows:
(Source)
It is infamously known ...
- 6,233
19
votes
3
answers
20k
views
Why are acids usually depicted in fiction as green?
In cartoons, etc., acid is generally shown as vividly green, as in this scene from the Simpsons:
We even have the colour "acid green".
But when I used to use acids in chemistry class, they weren't ...
- 911
16
votes
4
answers
24k
views
How could I cause metal to rust rapidly?
I'm writing a novel set in the mid-nineteenth century. One of my characters needs to cause an iron padlock to rust rapidly, ideally within a matter of hours.
The lock doesn't need to rust away ...
- 571
16
votes
1
answer
157k
views
Can you make napalm out of gasoline and orange juice concentrate?
According to the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk:
The three ways to make napalm: One, you can mix equal parts of
gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate. Two, you can mix equal
parts ...
- 2,518
15
votes
5
answers
24k
views
Can flames be colored black?
Most of us here would know that flames can be colored by adding an appropriate salt to the 'fuel' or by simply introducing it into a flame. Boron and Barium salts give the flame a green tinge, ...
- 18.8k
15
votes
3
answers
18k
views
What does it mean for meth or any other compound to be 'pure'?
In Breaking Bad, Walter White can cook $99.1\%$ pure meth. In general what does it mean for a substance to be pure? In this case, what exactly does it mean for meth to be pure? Does higher purity mean ...
- 291
11
votes
2
answers
25k
views
Is palladium really that poisonous?
In Iron man 2, the protagonist Tony Stark was anxious about his blood toxicity due to palladium core that was keeping him alive was slowly poisoning his blood. It is written here that:
The ...
- 26.3k
10
votes
3
answers
388
views
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’...
- 309