Just for fun: the reason why not to fill fire extinguishers with nitrous oxide instead of carbon dioxide.

We ignited a small amount (few cm3) of toluene on a piece of aluminium foil and blew nitrous oxide on it. The results were great, as seen on the picture.

Since the nitrous oxide acts as an oxidizer (it is used in rockets also) it helps the toluene to burn really-really fast.

9:30 pm • 3 October 2014 • 150 notes • View comments