McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Bomb-building questions for YA sci-fi-ish work...

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arianne:
I'd better start by saying that I'm not planning to actually make or use or do anything remotely bomb related with the information gathered here (nowadays, the question, "do you know how to make a bomb" can trigger some strange and extreme reactions... :o, so I thought I'd better make that clear from the start....)

Anyways, I've got a scene in my YA work that requires some description of the making of a bomb. The main character is a high school student, so the main ingredients of said bomb would have to be household items and stuff he might be able to borrow (aka steal) from his high school chem lab. The bomb made is meant to make a loud noise rather than cause real damage (it's going to be used as a distraction tool more than anything else).

It's got to be something that can be remotely triggered as well, for various plot reasons. I seem to remember from watching cop shows that now it's possible to trigger a bomb with something like a cell phone? Or is that a misconception?

Does anyone know something of this craft? I don't need a recipe, just some keywords that would help the description.

Thanks!  :)

FishStampede:
If it's not meant to be TOO destructive, a simple "bomb" can be crafted from a sealed 2-liter soda bottle with vinegar and antacid tablets (or any number of similar "liquid + solid that does stuff when put in the liquid"). Creating a time-release or remote trigger shouldn't be too difficult, and the explosion will be little more than an extremely loud bang and a funny smell.

If you need something a little more destructive, you could always take the Burn Notice route of "...and some other stuff," or Mythbusters "add *donkey noise* to *rooster crow*"

If you absolutely must be more specific, you really should make sure that what you describe isn't imitable. Otherwise, targeting a YA audience with bomb-making instructions is likely to get you in hot water.

LizW65:
Maybe you could try looking into some movie/TV special effects sites? They do a lot of stuff with non-destructive bangs and flashes.

Galvatron:
He could steal some big arse fire crackers, they go boom, simple enough, not uncommon regardless of rather they are allowed in a given area.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
One of the nicer things about writing space opera is that I can handwave about antimatter a lot rather than having to google the sorts of subjects that might arouse suspicion in officers of the law.

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