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Start a Fire with a drop of Water

When a drop of water touches a small pile of this mixture, it instantly bursts into a blue-green flame, accompanied by a large cloud of smoke. 
This is an old formula we used to make when we were kids back in the early 1970s.
If I recall, we made several small heaps and tried to hit each one with a squirt gun. 
We used to call it "Negative-X" because of an X,Y,Z diagram we made of the 3 chemicals used in the mixture. We recorded the performance of the different chemical combinations in the formula and logged the values on our chart, It started working when one of the chemical values was negative on the 'X' scale - hence 'Negative X'. No doubt it's known by other names by now.
It's a great attention grabbing classroom chemical demonstration.



Ammonium Nitrate 

14.0 grams

Ammonium Chloride

1.5 grams

Zinc Dust

34.5 grams



Grind the Ammonium Nitrate and the Ammonium Chloride together in a mortar & pestle until they are a fine powder. Now pay close attention.... once the remaining chemical, Zinc Dust, is added, this composition will become extremely water sensitive. In fact, if it's humid outside or your chemicals have a high moisture content, the mixture may ignite at any time.
It is suggested that
before you add the required amount of Zinc Dust, you move your experiment outdoors just in case accidental ignition occurs. As always, gloves and eye protection are absolutely called for.

Once again - Note that as soon as all the components are mixed, it will become extremely water sensitive and may spontaneously ignite without warning!

Even a tiny amount of water will ignite the mixture. You must use this composition immediately
after it is made -
DO NOT STORE IT - for any length of time, and do not mix it with other chemicals.
It's recommended to only mix this formula & conduct this experiment outside.

Take about a teaspoon full of the mixture and make a small pile of it on the ground. Make sure the ground is dry and that there are no flammable materials nearby (dry grass, paper, etc.).
Press a little indentation into the top of the pile and add a drop of water.
 In a second or so it will bubble, hiss and smoke, and instantly burst into a blue-green flame.


It will eventually absorb enough water from the air to ignite on its own.
Use ALL that you make each time.
NEVER make large quantities at one time.

A single drop of water is placed on top of the mixture...

In about 3 seconds it begins to bubble & smoke...

POOF! it suddenly erupts into a blue-green fireball with sparks.

The remains after the reaction.

     DO NOT make this mixture on a rainy or humid day.
It can spontaneously ignite at any time. 

Here's the chemical reaction that takes place:

1. Cl- (from NH4CL) acts as a catalyst on the decomposition of NH4NO3:


NH4NO3-----------------> N2O(g) + 2 (H2O)(aq)

2. Water in the reaction causes the decomposition of more NH4NO3, which is an autocatalytic effect.

3. The reaction melts the NH4NO3 and allows the oxidation of the zinc. The overall reaction is:

Zn (s) + NH4NO3 (s)------> N2 (g) + ZnO (s) + 2 (H2O) (g)