Flaming Dust by dario padovan

DISCLAIMER: The following Chemical Magic effect involves chemical reactions that are potentially dangerous. Both the author and Trieste Magica decline all liability for any problem originating from the application of what is written in this article. Only trained people should attempt to reproduce this chemical reaction and the resulting reagent can be used only by adult magicians under their own risk. This article is written for educational purposes only. This traslation is offered as a free service to you in order to help you understand your responsabilities as described in the italian version of this article. We cannot be held liable in any way for any traslation error.

Effect:
The Magi puts a lighted cigarette in an ashtrayer, producing a sudden flame.

Materials:
Dimethyl Keton (1 ml)
Hydrocloric acid - concentrated (1 ml)
Hydrogen peroxide 30% (1 ml)
Ice bath
Buchner filter
Filter paper

Preparation:
Mix 1 ml of dimethyl keton with 1 ml of Hydrocloric acid, keeping the becher in ice bath. Add, wly and drop by drop, 1 ml of hydrogen peroxide. A white precipitate will develop. Filter to the chner,
wash with distilled water and let it dry. The white precipitate is a cyclic trimer of dymethil keton and is highly flammable: adding heat with a burning body will break trimer's bonds, releasing dymethil
keton that will catch fire, burning with a bluish flame.

This is an explosive reaction, but is quite harmless. The dust can be also hold in the hand without danger of burns.

The chemical reaction is summarized by the following formula:

Warnings:
Never store big amounts of dust. Always start with little amounts of powder, increasing slowly the dosage. The precipitate should be perfectly dry, because even small traces of water interferes with the ignition. To obtain a better drying, a vacuum dryer od a drying tile can be used. In order for the reaction to be fast, the hydrogen peroxide should be fresh and higly concentrated.