Anyone who thinks science is boring is either lying or just
hasn’t done their research. Not only can science explain the world in a way that no other philosophy can, it can also reveal some truly
insane things that seem not to fit in our otherwise mundane experience of reality. Case in point: Chlorine Trifluoride (CTF), a substance so far outside
the realm of crazy that even Nazis through in the “putting it to any practical use” towel.
As we all know, one of the coolest things about understanding
science is that it allows you to blow stuff up – a fact that the MythBusters put to
profitable use for 15 glorious seasons. Usually when governments, scientists or
geeks in their backyards with a penchant for pushing the limits of safety want
to energetically reduce something to a billion pieces, they use things like
TNT, C4, or atomic bombs. Though extremely effective, these materials lack the
chaotic flare of CTF.
If you pour CTF onto wood, it will catch fire. If you try to
put the fire out with water, the water will catch fire. If you try to smother
the flame with sand, gravel or mud they will also ignite. Try to store CTF in a
glass beaker for use in your lab and you will behold the delightfully rare site
of burning glass followed by the combustion of your lab bench, the concrete
floor beneath it and anyone who happens to be standing on the floor below you.
Breath in the fumes from the fire and you will die. Jostle it slightly and it
will explode. CTF is the most badass stuff on the planet.
The facts of CTF are cool enough but its history is the
stuff of movies. Created
by Nazi scientists during the second world war, the plan was to use CTF as
a low cost, hyper-efficient fuel for rockets. Hitler and his cronies wanted to
ramp up production to 90 tonnes per month but after making only 30 tonnes total
and experiencing first-hand how impossible the stuff is to deal with they
decided to tap the brakes. When Nazis are intimidated by something, you
generally want to keep your distance.
The reason CTF is so ridiculous is because of its chemical
structure. Comprised of a single Chlorine atom attached to three Fluorine
atoms, it is inherently unstable. It has been called “the most vigorous
fluorinating agent known to humanity,” meaning that when it comes into contact
with other molecules it rips them apart to replace their hydrogen atoms with
fluorine. In the process it gives off heat and light, otherwise known as a
fluorine fire.
CTF is also a better oxidizing agent than pure oxygen. That
means is steals electrons from other atoms, making combustion possible. CTF
does this so effectively that there isn’t much that it can’t set on fire
including asbestos (generally considered totally flame resistant) and things
that have already been burned (eg. ashes).
The only way to store CTF is in a container made of steel,
iron, nickel or copper that has been treated with fluorine on the inside. Because there is no hydrogen in the inner lining, only fluorine, the fluorine
atoms in CTF have nothing to replace. If you plan to stockpile the stuff,
however, you had better pray to whatever deity you believe in (Flying Spaghetti
Monsters included) that the inside of the container doesn’t become scratched or
compromised in any way… Otherwise, kablamo.
In
the 1950’s almost a tonne of CTF was spilled in a warehouse and according
to witnesses it “burned straight through a foot of concrete and three feet of
gravel while simultaneously releasing a deadly cloud of gas containing a
cocktail of chlorine trifluoride, hydrogen fluoride, chlorine and hydrogen
chloride that corroded every surface it came into contact with.”
