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I came here to say that fluorine is even scarier in some ways. Sure enough he's covered it: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_sa.... I really wish he was my chem professor back in school.

Speaking of Oxygen though, I once attended a lecture/Q&A by the Myth Busters. It was pretty cool, and during the Q&A portion someone asked "Is there a myth you started, and then backed out?". They said that they won't do anything with liquid oxygen. They had a few myths about it, did some research, and realized that it can set pavement on fire. They then decided not to proceed.



That's nasty, but my favorite florene compound is still the apply named FOOF also known as "Satan's kimchi".

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_won...

"And yes, what happens next is just what you think happens: you run a mixture of oxygen and fluorine through a 700-degree-heating block. "Oh, no you don't," is the common reaction of most chemists to that proposal"

"When 0.2 (mL) of liquid 02F2 was added to 0.5 (mL) of liquid CH4 at 90°K., a violent explosion occurred."

I mean how can't you love a substance that will violently detonate things at -180C.




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