Making TNT

Description:

In this video I discuss and make a small quantity of the notorious compound TNT or trinitrotoluene. PLEASE READ: I do not recommend anyone but trained professionals attempt this process due to several significant hazards associated with the synthesis of this chemical. I intentionally made a very small amount, but with compounds that can potentially undergo rapid decomposition, safety is a very fine line. I find this synthesis to be an excellent educational model (which is the purpose of this video), and considering the full synthesis is already outlined in detail on Wikipedia and Google Patents, felt it reasonable to post this video. That said, heed all warnings presented in this video, and check for the legality of this process by legal statutes in your local area before ever proceeding with anything shown on this channel. Join this channel to get access to perks and support my work: A FEW POST-RELEASE NOTES (I was up late editing and made some mistakes): 1. There is a typo at 2:20. Text on screen says 98% HNO3 when it should be H2SO4. 2. 8.46m in reference to the side length of a block of TNT is for a kiloton, not a ton as I said. 3. Toluene is misspelled at 1:46.. Rookie mistake.. if I had known this video was going to do so well I would have spent more than 2 hours in editing.. 4. As an attempt to help keep this video up, I may remove comments implying or suggesting this be used to make any weapon. That was obviously not the intent of the video, but if the comment section is flooded with people saying things like that, it invites an element I don't particularly want associated with my channel. Try and keep it legal down there.. 5. All the product seen at the end of the video was destroyed, as I have no further use for this chemical and do not recommend anyone keep this around. Not only is it a fire hazard, but even in many places where this is legal to make, there can be separate laws dictating whether it can be stored. CHAPTERS ____________________ 0:00 Intro/Background 2:15 Primary nitration/Mononitrotoluene (MNT) 4:50 Dinitrotoluene (DNT) 6:15 Isolating/Washing Dinitrotoluene 9:30 Final Nitration to Trinitrotoluene (TNT) 11:15 Isolation and Purification of TNT 16:20 Final Yield 16:55 Burn Tests 17:30 Outro/Extra Footage ___________________________________________