Sometimes claimed to give you wings, energy drinks can, at the very least, be used to make rockets fly. This is what [Nate Scovill] did in a recent video, where cans of the sugary stuff are processed to give a rocket its proverbial wings.
The basic concept is so-called rocket candy, which uses the fact that sugar is a pretty decent fuel type that — when combined with an oxidizer like potassium nitrate — can be turned into solid rocket fuel. Naturally it’d be easiest to start off with a pure source of sucrose or sorbitol for the sugar, but what if you only have access to cans of sugary soda?
Removing the moisture from the energy drink was the obvious first step, as water and rocket fuel aren’t a great mix. Adding and mixing potassium nitrate to the resulting thick syrup created the fuel-oxidizer mixture, also known as rocket fuel. This did take a detour involving removing the carbonation using a vacuum chamber, as CO2 and fire do not really like each other either.
We previously covered making your own rocket candy, though it’s far from the only rocket fuel that can be made at home using products bought at the local supermarket. Obviously, doing so comes with a whole heap of risks, not least of which is the notion that the difference between a rocket and a bomb is a pretty thin and fuzzy line that you do not want to accidentally cross.
Hearts or turbo pumps—energy drinks are hard on both.
I worked at a grocery warehouse, where every so often a know-nothing jock-punks good for absolutely nothing else would require first responders that might have faced delays going to house fires or other real emergencies.
Dear Jeff, using the words “know-nothing jock-punks good for absolutely nothing” made me think, seriously?!?! You blame the user of energy drinks for using energy drinks (a product that society itself keeps promoting as an “innocent” product). The fact that there is a company that makes a product that keeps this problem alive is dubious at least, the fact that this company earns lots of money with it is questionable when thinking about the consequences, yet we let it happen. And blame the people who can’t oversee the true effects of this “innocent” drink is a bit short sighted I think.
So you worked at Costco (cool story) and had zero sympathy for customers who fell on the floor with heart problems? Not just zero sympathy, it sounds like you actually hated them and rejoiced at their near-death. Also, wth is a ‘jock-punk’? Some 80’s term I missed? Sounds like someone was bullied…
Plenty of nerds were forced to do jock homework.
No sympathy for those who choose to concuss themselves further. I wish COVID had ended sports.
I was going to joke that “clearly J. Samson has never had to work closely with customers”. But damn McFly. You really need to go work out those issues then go live your best life.
Always remember, a certain percentage of people will always be assholes. It’s not the activities they enjoy that cause that. It’s just part of the human condition. And you must learn to deal with the assholes if you want to get by. Also… it’s always good to make an effort not to be one yourself.
what is in this?
PURE FUEL!!!!!
With powerful DC source (like truck battery or inverter arc welder) you can easily split water into hydrogen (fuel) and oxygen (oxidizer) – essentially the same thing they used in V2 rockets. So you could make rockets from pure mineral water. Don’t need energy drinks.
The V2 used ethanol and oxygen. They had issues with fuel going missing and somehow the workers kept getting drunk.
Two problems! One would be bad enough, but what are the chances of both happening?! 😂
Pure water is a effective resistor and the salts you usually find in it get you mostly chlorine. You’d need sulfuric acid to effectively create hydrogen and oxygen. But high-temperature catalizers are more effective anyway.
i would like to see more HAD articles on turning various household items into other items we desire, though i would rather the thing being made was not rocket fuel but instead methamphetamine. once you have enough of that, you can hack anything
Racemic amphetamine would be fine too!
I much prefer the effect where it gives me wings. Safer too.