Film Container CO2 Rocket.

With a little kitchen chemistry and some bathroom brilliance, you can turn an ordinary 35mm film container into an awesome display of thrust.

I had first invented this simple device when I was but twelve years old and had a penchant for things that go boom. While presently taking a film class, this fond memory had percolated to the surface and I decided to revisit my mischievous childhood and my penchant.

BE ADVISED: This may be the teeniest bit unsafe and could result in some kind of harm to yourself, others, or objects, but mostly likely, you'll only make a mess. In any event: by reading this you relinquish all liability on my part in perpetuity for ever and ever!

Step 1: Gather ye stuffbuds while ye may.

It's all pretty basic, in fact, the only thing most people might not have lying around is the film canister. In which case a trip to your local photo hut and a kind smile should be able to net you all the canisters you require.

Materials:

1) Baking Soda (NOT baking powder you fool!!!)
2) Vinegar (I hear they put this in salads sometimes)
3) Toilet Paper (available in most bathrooms around the world)
4) An EMPTY 35mm film canister (I used fujifilm, hover on the pic to see why)

Comments

[meat grinder]

that looks ... wrong. somehow

[-KungPow-]

 u perv... get yur mind out of the gutter.

[meat grinder]

you know you want my sexy body!

[meat grinder]

just shake.

[Delo97]

Dumb it would explode...

[meat grinder]

no its wont... try it

[meat grinder]

sodium hydrogen carbonate. thats what it says on my bag of baking powder

[The Random King]

its not baking powder! Its baking soda or sodium bicarbonate

[meat grinder]

waaaaaahhhhhh waaaahhhhhh that what i hear from you

[redcrate]

You want to be using baking soda. Though most baking powder contains baking soda, the reaction may not be very quick or the amount of baking soda in your baking powder may not be enough to produce the volume of gas necessary to pop the film canister. I haven't tried, let me know if baking powder works? Also what brand you're using as they are formulated differently depending on the brand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_soda

[meat grinder]

it came in a science kit it worked fine i tried putting it in a pipe for a mortar but it wasnt powerful enough

[jari4499]

he is great fantastic
you can shake too

[chimei62]

or you cold use diet coke and mentos

[chimei62]

or you cold use diet coke and mentos

[The Random King]

I changed the method a bit. I filled the inside of the lid with b'king soda and covered it with a tissue.I filled 1/4 of the canister and closed it,tore the tissue away and set to launch.The canister went high and landed on my 3rd floor roof!!! IT WAS SOOOOOOOO POWERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mitch and sean]

Sup, I'm just bout to make it now, I have a film canister and felt like making one but wasn't sure what kind of float I should make, (me being the experimental type have made my own that was ok, but not as amazing as this one) so this one should do it

Thnx bro,

[quesoman]

at school now. on the computer during lunch. ill have to do this when i get home.

[csoldier83]

you should try fitting bb bullets in the top and you might get a reuseable frag grenade

[Jupitane]

lol fill er' up. nice 'ible!

[mattias law]

where can you get film cannisters any more especially if you dont have a film camera

[redcrate]

Pretty much anyplace that develops film (drugstore, general store, photo specialty store) would be willing to give you an empty canister. They probably just trow them away after they develop the film. You could also buy a roll of film too. Don't just trow away the film for the canister though. If you're not going to use it, dissect it and figure out what it's made of and how it's put together first, then throw it away.

[mattias law]

its shocking how much some people throw away. its a shame it also really good if they are throwing away the right things haha

[jchar77]

Does the film canister get absolutely trashed, or can you use it again

[redcrate]

It won't get trashed, you should be able to reuse it many times.

[santy22]

ok! good, but remember: "When something goes wrong, KILL IT WITH FIRE"

[Thelonelysandwitch]

if you fill it with water then put in a piece of dry ice, it sounds like a gunshot.

[redcrate]

I suppose it would. It may be a slower reaction so more pressure is able to build before rupturing the seal. Not to mention the reaction isn't happening at the seal and no tp is needed, both of which will make the seal stronger. You might want to try just the dry ice alone. This will make the slowest and possibly most pressure building (thus loud) pop. Dry ice sublimes pretty slowly in just air and will eventually build a great amount of pressure. The water will hasten the reaction. Be careful though, since the dry ice is very cold it will make the plastic brittle and therefore could cause the container to shatter and throw sharp pieces everywhere. Good suggestion though.

[grimfig]

I made one of these, and set in the middle of our driveway, and flipped as soon as my brother started driving up it, and it shot up right in front of the car. It was pretty cool!!!

[redcrate]

Awesome....

[Bllasae]

I tried this, and it just sort of fizzled.

[redcrate]

The seal probably wasn't very good on the canister or too much toilet paper in one area caused a breach at that point in the seal. Thus no pressure could build up and the result would be a slow fizzle instead of a nice fast gas release once the pressure bursts the seal. Maybe try a different film canister and be sure to use as thin of a sheet toilet paper as possible.

[pjax]

I did the exact same thing for a chemistry project way back in high school. I even did a little stoichiometry to determine the best ratio of vinegar to baking soda. i think i got something like 5 grams of vinegar to 3 grams of soda exactly

[redcrate]

The way I figure it (and I could be completely wrong), is you need 5g of acetic acid per 7 grams of sodium bicarbonate. Vinegar however is a dilute solution (mine is 5% acetic acid). So, in effect, it would require a great deal more vinegar for a complete reaction. It would be interesting to use pure acetic acid though.

[DrCoolSanta]

You won't get pure acetic acid even in a chem lad, I have 17 normal glacial acetic acid, but it might have become more dilute by now.

[lemonie]

5g acetic is 83 mMol. 7g sodium bicarbonate is also 83 mMol. So, as you say, for a stoichiometric reation you'd need these proportions, and at 5% v/v 21ml vinegar to your 7g 'bicarb, w/v would be 20ml. L I've used glacial acetic acid, it stinks (obviously) and would burn too...

[pjax]

i don't remember really. all i remember is that i got nice round numbers :) but you're right. my computations assume glacial acetic acid. would be better to factor in the concentration then convert the mass to volume, since it's easier to measure liquids that way

[Sandisk1duo]

LOL!

"300 grit TP"

and

"you don't want people thinking you have a nasty nose candy habit"

[Iron Dude]

Im planning on makeing a co2 jump pack soon. It will go along with my iron man suit im gonna build.

[ilovetea]

An easier method instead of the paper is to take the cap of a water bottle, fits perfectly, and place it in with baking powder filled inside. Then just shake it.

[Bllasae]

Neat. This sounds really interesting and would probably be easy to make. Nice tutorial!