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Homemade Smoke Bomb

Potassium nitrate and sugar can be mixed to create a homemade smoke bomb. The ingredients should be mixed in a 2:3 ratio of potassium nitrate to sugar and melted until the consistency is like peanut butter. When ignited, this mixture will produce a thick cloud of smoke for several minutes. Variations include using powdered instead of granulated sugar or adding paraffin wax to the mixture. Smoke bombs produce smoke through the burning and evaporation of organic dyes in the mixture.

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928 views2 pages

Homemade Smoke Bomb

Potassium nitrate and sugar can be mixed to create a homemade smoke bomb. The ingredients should be mixed in a 2:3 ratio of potassium nitrate to sugar and melted until the consistency is like peanut butter. When ignited, this mixture will produce a thick cloud of smoke for several minutes. Variations include using powdered instead of granulated sugar or adding paraffin wax to the mixture. Smoke bombs produce smoke through the burning and evaporation of organic dyes in the mixture.

Uploaded by

alejandro
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Homemade Smoke Bomb (half beer can)

Use 3 parts Potassium Nitrate and 2 parts Sugar, mix on low flame in pan and wait until it melts down to
peanut butter. Ratio 2:3
A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce smoke upon ignition. While there are smoke-
generating devices that are dropped from airplanes, the term "smoke bomb" is used to describe the
three types of devices:
A smoke ball is a hollow, cherry-sized sphere of brightly colored clay filled with a smoke-generating
composition that produces a forceful jet of colored smoke for 10 to 15 seconds.
A smoke candle (also called a smoke generator or smoke canister) is a cylindrical cardboard tube with a
fuse, usually 1½ inches (37 mm) in diameter and several inches long and resembling a giant firecracker.
Such a device creates a thick cloud of smoke for up to several minutes. Uses include providing smoke for
smoke testing and creating a smoke-screen for paintball and airsoft games.
A smoke canister (or smoke grenade) is a metal can that releases smoke when a pin is pulled. Used for
signalling by military personnel.
Colored smoke devices use a formula that consists of an oxidizer (typically potassium chlorate, KClO3), a
fuel (generally sugar), a moderant (such as sodium bicarbonate) to keep the reaction from getting too
hot, and a powdered organic dye. The burning of this mixture evaporates the dye and forces it out of the
device, where it condenses in the atmosphere to form a "smoke" of finely dispersed particles.
A simple smoke powder can be made by gently mixing saltpeter (potassium nitrate, KNO3) and sugar in roughly
a ratio of 60% saltpeter to 40% sugar; add more sugar for a slower burn and more KNO3 for a faster burn. The
more finely ground the saltpeter and sucrose, the better the smoke bomb. The mixture can be used as a loose
powder or consolidated by adding enough water to make a thick paste, making a small lump of about a
tablespoon in size, and letting it dry overnight. This is much safer than heating such a mixture, which has
resulted in too many cases of accidental ignition. "Smoke Bomb gone awry", New York Times.
This formula has a variant in which the ingredients are left in powder form and the granulated sugar is
replaced with powdered sugar.
More success could potentially be enjoyed when one adds another flammable substance to the mixture

without "cooking" it. The best choice for this is melted paraffin. [1]

Devices or cartridges containing only the dye are used with an external heat source in a smoke machine.

In the military, smoke bombs are a means for creating smoke-screens.

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