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Hello everyone :)

Nothing better to introduce the subject than a good old "Bip Beep and Coyotte"

You will have understood the nitroglycerin is at the party. In this post we will study 6 supporting chemistry films!

Movies studied

• Atlantis the Lost Empire
• Once upon a time the revolution
• An excerpt from the Lost series
• The legend of Zorro (and "nitroglycerin" from the animated series Lucky Luke)

What is nitroglycerin

It is in 1846 that Sobrero discovers nitroglycerin and, just before dying in an explosion, the latter will specify in his notebook laboratory: "NB : avoid shocks !!!".

No more seriously, nitroglycerin is synthesized by the reaction between glycerin and nitric acid. It is an oily liquid, colorless and explosive. This molecule is very unstable, so chemists will die trying to synthesize it, and its transport is a rather risky undertaking. Among the famous examples were the explosion of the Nobel factory in Heleneborg, Sweden, where the youngest brother of Alfred Nobel died.

Nitroglycerin Formation Reaction:

Link to a BBC video: Nitroglycerin explosion filmed in slow motion

In this video you will notice the precautions of synthesis in order to avoid any heating during the reaction :

• Dropwise addition of the acid in the glycerin
• Control of the temperature in the balloon
• Temperature stabilization between each addition
• Work under the hood behind the window which remains lowered during the additions

Indeed the reaction is very exothermic: this means that it releases a lot of heat, which is problematic since for the synthesized product a rise in temperature causes an explosion.

You will notice however the presence of an agitation by means of a magnetic bar ... this will be discussed later ;)

Atlantis Empire lost: can we drink nitroglycerin?

"Do not tell me you've drunk that! That's not good ! That's nitroglycerin !" : Small quote from my favorite character of the film : Enzo, the respo explosions of the expedition. But what is Enzo saying just ? Can you drink nitroglycerin ? Let's study this Disney Chemistry to support it !

The excerpt is at 0:55

Nitroglycerin was discovered at a time when some chemists still tasted their products, it is clear that at present this practice is over. So in 1846 Sobrero actually deposited a drop of a diluted solution of nitroglycerin on his tongue. The latter almost immediately felt a violent headache persisting for several hours.

And as the chemists are completely crazy and two others re-experimented a few years later: AG Fields in 1858 and William Murrel around 1879. The first describes: a feeling of fullness, nausea that occurs after half an hour of " Sensation of general weakness, almost a syncopal condition ". Murrel, meanwhile, goutta a 1% solution of nitroglycerin just before consulting as a doctor, the latter was very complicated for him.

However, if these two chemists have tasted nitroglycerin it is not by just madness, the latter is indeed able to cure a very painful disease: angina pectoris or angina. Angina is a disease caused by a lack of oxygen supply to the heart, the disease causes the narrowing of the coronary arteries and therefore the blood flow. Murrel discovers that the nitroglycerin causes a dilation of the arteries and thus allows to put an end to the crises that suffer the patients. The drug is still marketed today but under a surely more sales name: trinitrin (composed of glycerol trinitrate other name nitroglycerin).

Trinitrin ( approximately 18 mg of nitroglycerin)

posomed.fr

To conclude, one can actually drink nitroglycerin, or rather a diluted solution of nitroglycerin.However, depending on the concentration of the solution, the effects will vary from angina to intense cranial pain, or even pure nitroglycerin to death (deadly by ingestion).

Some questions you may be taught may be: even nitroglycerin diluted can explode? Why does not it explode in the body?

These questions will be dealt with in the second part of this post using the remaining 5 films on nitroglycerin explosions :).

Link below very soon!

References

• [1] When medicine wins, Pr P. Berche and Pr JJ. Brother
• wikipedia

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