Breaking Bad Chemistry Spoofs

In the hit T.V. series breaking bad Walter is a chemistry teacher trying to battle
increasing finical trouble by using his skills as a chemist. So naturally what does he do to
fix the problem? Make crystal meth of course! All while trying to dodge the DEA, beat
cancer, and keep his family together. Now there are multiple scenes where Walter White
uses chemistry to do everything from teaching his class, or disposing a dead body. Yet
how accurate are all of these scenarios to real world chemistry, you would be surprised at
how many of the seasons most critical moments where science fiction.
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Lets start with the whole plot of the
show and its goal, making crystal meth. First
there are two kinds of crystal meth one is the
well-known drug variant and the other is a
chemical weapon. Secondly, making meth can
result in a hazardous environment referred to
as, Red, White, and Blue Process. Each
color represents a by-product of the
production of crystal meth. Red represents
phosphorus, white is ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, and blue is iodine used in
hydroiodic acid. If the process is not stable
and you are carless you can expose yourself to
highly toxic phosphine gas. White phosphorus
with sodium hydroxide produces the gas, usually as a result of overheating red
phosphorus, plus white phosphorus can autoignite and blow up the entire lab.
Now it is not hard to make meth but it is by no means smart either. First and
foremost it is highly illegal, and very hazardous to your health. Secondly, what makes it
so easy to create crystal meth is reducing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, which
coincidently in the most used over-the-counter allergy and cold medicine is so closely
monitored and hard to acquire.
Now everything about meth in Breaking Bad is true except for one detail and that
is crystal meth cannot be blue. Meth is either clear or a faintly yellow but cannot be blue
in pure form; true pure meth is colorless or white in appearance. However, blue meth
does exist in the real world but again it is not pure meth as portrayed in the T.V. series. A
fun little fact is in series they actually used blue rock candy.

Hydrofluoric Acid
I suspect most chemistry teachers don't keep big jugs of hydrofluoric acid in their
labs. Walt apparently kept plenty on hand and brought some hydrofluoric acid to aid in
disposing of a body. He instructed Jesse to use a plastic
bin for dissolving the body, but didn't tell him why. So...
Jesse puts the dead Emilio in a bathtub, adds the acid, and
proceeds to dissolve the body, the tub, the floor
supporting the tub, and the floor below that. Hydrofluoric
acid is corrosive but highly acidic and it has been proven
that hydrofluoric acid will not be able to eat through a
tub, no matter how concentrated.
Hydrofluoric acid attacks the silicon oxide in most
types of glass. It also dissolves many metals (not nickel
or its alloys, gold, platinum, or silver), and most plastics.
However, the plastics Fluorocarbons such as Teflon (TFE
and FEP), chlorosulfonated polyethylene, natural rubber and neoprene all are resistant to
hydrofluoric acid. Hydrofluoric acid is so corrosive because the fluorine ion is highly
reactive. Even so, it is not a strong acid because it does not completely dissociate in
water. Just because it is corrosive does not mean that it is strong enough to completely
dissolve a full-grown human body, a tub, the floor, and the ceiling.
Mercury Fulminate
Walter tries to passes a bag of mercury fulminate off as crystal meth, and this is
one thing you dont want to sniff because it is highly explosive.
Mercury fulminate was first
prepared in the 1800s by Edward
Charles Howard, as an explosive to be
used in favor of flints to ignite black
powder in a firearm. It is pretty easy to
create as the synthesis involves
dissolving mercury in nitric acid an
adding ethanol to the solution.
However, what you end up with is a
grayish-brown powder and not big
chunks of glassy crystals as seen in the
show.
While mercury fulminate is easy
to prepare, it is ill advised to do so,
because this explosive is highly
sensitive. Anything can set it off; shock,
sparks, flame, friction, and heat. Plus, if you dont explode the compound, the fumes
from the synthesis could easily kill you. Lastly, mercury compounds are highly toxic and
after the explosion a product of the reaction is mercury.