Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!ogicse!unmvax!nmtsun!pahsnsr From: pahsnsr@nmtsun.nmt.edu (Paul A. Houle) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Re: Luck (Was: Re: Zap, fry, and sizzle) Message-ID: <3991@nmtsun.nmt.edu> Date: 18 Mar 90 21:03:44 GMT References: <1990Mar5.023416.13922@cs.rochester.edu> Reply-To: pahsnsr@nmtsun.nmt.edu (Paul A. Houle) Organization: New Mexico Tech, Socorro NM Lines: 10 Prehaps the most dramatic mini-bomb that I've made out of parts you can buy at radio shack was a light-emitting-diode that I dipped under liquid nitrogen. Under liquid nitrogen, you can operate yellow and green LED's continuously at up to about 9 volts. When you do that, there are several distinct voltage levels where power consumption increases by three orders of magnitude or so and the colors change. Trying it with a red LED the first time, I blew it apart, cracking the case and vaporizing/fragmenting the actual semiconductor inside. The burst sprayed liquid nitrogen over the table which sizzled for quite a while.