'Exploding gum' kills chemistry student

had to throw this one in,

Source

A Ukrainian student has been killed by exploding chewing gum, according to reports.

Imagine that !!

"When his relatives entered the room they saw that the lower part of the young man's face had been blown off."

What else would cause this other than citric acid ?

The chemistry student from the Kiev Polytechnic Institute reportedly had a bizarre habit of dipping his gum into citric acid before chewing it.

Any ideas ??


Just checked out this gag shop, and nowhere does it say its this powerful


chew...BANG!!!


[edit on 9/12/2009 by scubagravy]

That prank gum doesn't explode.

A cap goes off when you pull a stick of gun from the packet.

This is something much different.

It sounds like an explosion went off in the kid's mouth.

his family are spies and he ate the wrong gum...


thats really an awful tho..

Originally posted by scubagravy
What else would cause this other than citric acid ?

How about the unidentified explosive?

Packets of the acid as well as a unidentified explosive material were found on his desk — raising speculation he accidentally dipped the confectionary into the wrong substance.

One more winner for the Darwin award...
Pity he died from an ' strange fetish?'.
I know I like to chew gum when I'm eating frozen fruit juice ( it makes it harder) but dipping it in 'acid'? what a nutter

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

Originally posted by scubagravy
What else would cause this other than citric acid ?

How about the unidentified explosive?

Packets of the acid as well as a unidentified explosive material were found on his desk — raising speculation he accidentally dipped the confectionary into the wrong substance.

www.youtube.com...
www.bombshock.com...

Back in the old BBS days I read the old Jolley Roger Cookbook and went and made a similar recipe of touch explosive. Granted, the explosives you see and read about along this line are low yield, but even a lower yield substance such as gasoline cen cause metal tanks to explode.

wiki wiki wiki..... ''Citric acid is one of the chemicals required for the synthesis of HMTD, a highly heat-, friction-, and shock-sensitive explosive similar to acetone peroxide. For this reason, purchases of large quantities of citric acid may rouse suspicion of potential terrorist activity.''

The kid was making explosive. He messed up. The end.

Nitro comes to mind.

From the manufacture of Tri-Nitro-Toluene.

One drop does the body goooooood.

Originally posted by DataWraith
but dipping it in 'acid'? what a nutter

Citric acid is the stuff that gives citrus fruits their zing, you know like the way a lemon makes the corners of your eyes and lips go into a mini spasm! (I love that!) You can get it in a powder form for various reasons, it's harmless ah the lower PH levels. - And it shouldn't be explosive! - it's in all sorts of food, probably the gum its self had some in already.

I really want to know what the other mystery powder is now - maybe they wont tell us cos it's a common thing that just happens to explode on contact with saliva... Oh the practical jokes! like like industrial strength pop rocks

edit: this fella defo deserves a Darwin award

[edit on 9/12/2009 by Now_Then]

Originally posted by Happyfeet
Granted, the explosives you see and read about along this line are low yield, but even a lower yield substance such as gasoline cen cause metal tanks to explode.

Well you know the old rule - let a firecracker off on the palm of you hand and you will be fine... Let a firecracker off in a closed fist and you will shatter all the bones in your hand - stands to reason that translates exactly to an explosion in a closed mouth.

Originally posted by Cabaret Voltaire
wiki wiki wiki..... ''Citric acid is one of the chemicals required for the synthesis of HMTD, a highly heat-, friction-, and shock-sensitive explosive similar to acetone peroxide. For this reason, purchases of large quantities of citric acid may rouse suspicion of potential terrorist activity.''

The kid was making explosive. He messed up. The end.

HMTD in no way resembles gum though. I have made a few batches and its just a white powder. and would taste awful. It made great M80s and was easy to make.

The main chemical for it was cheap and could be bought at sporting goods stores the other two chemical came from any drug store.

It was no where near as dangerous to make as TATP

large quantities of citric acid may rouse suspicion of potential terrorist activity.

Not likely citric acid is used in food as a preservative, many soft drinks and artificial fruit drinks and is often sold by the truck load.
www.dudadiesel.com...

Buying Hexamine(hexamethylenetetramine) one of the other chemical used in HMTD would raise red flags though as its also used to make RDX explosive and C4.
en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by DataWraith
One more winner for the Darwin award...
Pity he died from an ' strange fetish?'.
I know I like to chew gum when I'm eating frozen fruit juice ( it makes it harder) but dipping it in 'acid'? what a nutter

Well, they said he liked to dip his gum in citric acid. Citric acid (at least the citric acid available for consumer use) isn't dangerous.

It is the stuff on the outside of "sour patch" candy that makes it sour. In fact, there are candies that are sold that come with a packet of citric acid for dipping. That's probably where this kid got the idea of dipping his gum.

It's also the stuff that gives some flavors of Doritos Tortilla chips that "tangy" flavor. Citric acid is added to a lot of foods, and plain citric acid can be bought in many grocery stores.

It wasn't the citric acid that killed the kid, but probably the "unidentified explosive" that did it.


[edit on 12/9/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

Originally posted by ANNED

HMTD in no way resembles gum though. I have made a few batches and its just a white powder. and would taste awful. It made great M80s and was easy to make.

The kid dipped his gum into it. The end.

ORrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, the media is trying to manipulate the public's perception of terrorist activity. Is you own child making bombs?!!

How about some sinister cellular psychopath introduced the kid to this candy dipping phenomenon and then swapped the dip with the explosive? So the kid didn't actually make the explosive and he has no idea what happened.

I think somebody else gave this kid an exploding pack of dipping stuff. The article mentions the habit of dipping gum in some stuff that was ''normal'' actually, and they set you up to think the kid is in his room doing this, and then they also mention some other explosive stuff on the desk. It could be that the kid had a couple packs of the real dip and one laced pack of explosive dip.

Is this what the ''white powder'' scares are about? You know ones about the mail to the politician that causes everybody to freak out and clear the building. Are the authorities covering it up with anthrax stories?

reply to post by Cabaret Voltaire


I just read what I wrote up there, and that last part, I don't know about that anymore. Do politicians routinely dip their candy in citric acid sour packs? Probably not. So anthrax would be more effective.

But the other stuff I wrote is still valid. I think the kid was a victim of some dark sinister plot.