These tiny paper rocks were (still are) a favourite of mine to throw around during Diwali and New Year festivities. The snappy sound sends you into a state of child-like excitement, it stirs up the rebel inside of you as you friskily throw them around EVERYWHERE. These little contraptions are a sure-fire way to start off any festivity with a bang.
There are many snappy titles given to this fun product but in Guyana, it is commonly called ‘Channa Bomb’.
Composition
Bang snaps are essentially sand soaked in a trace amount of explosive silver fulminate (less than 0.1 milligrams), which is then twisted into a cigarette or tissue paper. When tossed or walked on, the friction or pressure causes this minute amount of silver fulminate to detonate, resulting in the satisfying ‘snap’ sound. They are the closest thing you have to carry around tiny little grenades and tapping into the war-hungry side of yourself.
Origins
The origins of bang snaps are unknown, but legend has it that the Chinese accidentally stumbled upon these tiny snapping toys while creating fireworks. It is said that someone combined potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal along with a piece of paper to create the firecracker we know today.
Fun Facts
- Snappers first came into use as toys when Tom Smith invented the Christmas cracker in 1847.
- Snap bangs work in water!
Home-made Pop Rocks/Bang Snaps
Homemade Pop is really simple to prepare. To make silver fulminate, just react silver metal with strong nitric acid. The only difficult component of the procedure is removing the solid silver fulminate from the liquid without accidentally detonating it. Silver fulminate is pressure and shock-sensitive, heat and electricity-sensitive, and water active. The weight of silver fulminate crystals piled on top of one another can cause them to explode.
As a result, when filtering the mixture, you can add cornstarch or flour to provide a cushion for the silver fulminate crystals. Finally, manufacture snaps by wrapping a tiny amount of silver fulminate with a bit of gritty sand in tissue paper.
Another method is to pour a silver nitrate solution in nitric acid under somewhat heated conditions (80-90 °C to force precipitate formation).
Silver fulminate can also be made by reacting silver carbonate with ammonia, bubbling nitrogen gas through a silver nitrate solution in ethanol, or reacting silver nitrate solution with alcohol. When silvering mirrors or Christmas ornaments, the reaction is sometimes accidental.
It isn’t advised that you not try to make these at home by yourself.
New years, Diwali, and Christmas are always banging in Guyana with these channa bombs that are usually thrown around gleefully on the ground and even at each other. The festivities come and go in a snap.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_snaps
https://sciencenotes.org/how-do-pop-its-work/
