# Factual Question about Breaking Bad: Blue Meth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746 "2015-11-05T18:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/21 "2015-11-06T07:22:08Z")
But there could be some 1% or less contaminant that is an unavoidable result of his secret process and coincidentally makes it blue. Or we can fan-wank that, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/22 "2015-11-06T08:27:35Z")
What I read is the chemical that Vince Gilligan had in mind when he wrote the concept of Walter White’s chemistry abilities was actually LSD. Walter White is really [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard). Apparently, synthesizing LSD from obtainable reagents does take a genius level of ability. In the show, Walter is a chemist with a degree from Caltech…although while Caltech is the most elite school in the United States, I thought it specialized in other fields…and as part of I guess Master’s research he created whatever it is that Gray Matter technologies makes their money from. He is a genius. One of the lines of dialogue, “What happens in the summer when the humidity level rises and your product goes cloudy”, is actually a reference to LSD synthesis which is this sensitive to conditions. The problem with LSD is that it’s well known for causing positive, mind expanding hallucinations - there’s talk of using it as an antidepressant or to treat PTSD - and it apparently is less likely to turn you into a methhead with open sores on your face, turning tricks for your next hit. Like most illegal drugs, the harm from LSD to addicts is probably more from the criminal justice system than the drug itself. Anyways, that wasn’t the story. Walter know’s he’s going to die, and he doesn’t give a shit what harm his actions cause to others. So he makes what is thought to be one of the most “evil” of the commonly used illegal drugs (not sure if this is true or not, meth is a prescription drug…) and kills a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/23 "2015-11-06T11:40:49Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I was reading that exact Breaking Bad Wiki page–a website I had never seen before–just this afternoon before even seeing this thread–SerenDipity strikes again! With Synchronicity as it’s very sister! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/24 "2015-11-06T13:31:42Z")
Hydrofluoric acid is a very weak acid in the sense that its pH isn’t particularly low, but that doesn’t mean it’s not nasty. It’s probably the nastiest substance you’ve ever heard of; it’s just nasty for reasons other than its acidity. Most acids are dangerous because of the hydrogen ions (which are what makes them acids to begin with), but with HF, you’ve got danger from the fluoride ions, too. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/25 "2015-11-06T14:17:30Z")
Can it disappear pieces of a mini motorcycle, and guns just like that given the amount of room remaining for the liquid in a barrel? If it can, how quickly? Which relates to can it eat through porcelain (the bathtub) and the floorboards in _any_ amount of time? Because that reminded me of Alien drool, which seems to be what hydrofluoric acid is a popular stand in for, with more “realistic” availability. Also, you said that it is the nastiest chemical people ever heard of. Is there any chemical on God’s green earth with such power that we haven’t heard of? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/26 "2015-11-06T14:37:55Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > So, it shows the writers seemed aware of the true properties of the substance (they did have consultants), but now I wonder what Walt could’ve done to the mercury fulminate to make it much more explosive. Not only that, but establishing Walt had inspired/insightful ways of tweaking stuff for his own proprietary methods. I feel like the show treats chemistry like magic in fantasy and it works for me at that level. You start off with real processes to make meth, but Walt is able to make pure meth because he’s ‘chemic’, and other people can’t just follow his recipe step by step because you have to be ‘chemic’ to do so. Realistically the mercury fulminate isn’t that explosive, but he’s ‘chemic’ so can make it more explosive. Virtually every bit of ‘chemistry magic’ starts from something real, but adds some kind of twist because that’s the way the BB world works. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/27 "2015-11-06T15:58:36Z")
I said that HF is the nastiest stuff _you_ have ever heard of, not that it’s the nastiest _anyone_ has ever heard of. Chemists like Derek Lowe have heard of [far nastier](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/01/09/things_i_wont_work_with_azidoazide_azides_more_or_less) (seriously, 14 nitrogens in one molecule!?). And HF’s nastiness is mostly with respect to what it does to living tissue. It is indeed a poor choice for making metal objects go away. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/28 "2015-11-06T17:50:37Z")
So what near magic but real liquid can melt metal on contact, besides hotter molten metal? I’ll settle for the porcelain hole. Also, re “Magic Walt:” the “throw a powder on the floor for a poof and be disappeared when the smoke clears” is a basic Merlin trope; you expect to see the pointed Wizard hat. Never thought of it until **Pantastic**. [hijack/new thread candidate] Why don’t nitrogen atoms like each other when carbon is around? [http://www.chtf.stuba.sk/~szolcsanyi/education/files/Chemia%20heterocyklickych%20zlucenin/Prednaska%203/Doplnkove%20studijne%20materialy/Tetra-%20and%20Pentazoles/C2N14%20-%20An%20Energetic%20and%20Highly%20Sensitive%20Binary%20Azidotetrazole.pdf](http://www.chtf.stuba.sk/~szolcsanyi/education/files/Chemia%20heterocyklickych%20zlucenin/Prednaska%203/Doplnkove%20studijne%20materialy/Tetra-%20and%20Pentazoles/C2N14%20-%20An%20Energetic%20and%20Highly%20Sensitive%20Binary%20Azidotetrazole.pdf) [/hijack new thread] ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/29 "2015-11-06T18:22:23Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Can it disappear pieces of a mini motorcycle, and guns just like that given the amount of room remaining for the liquid in a barrel? > > If it can, how quickly? Which relates to can it eat through porcelain (the bathtub) and the floorboards in _any_ amount of time? Mythbusters showed that it didn’t have much effect on steel, linoleum, and wood. Jesse only used a couple of gallons in the bathtub, which didn’t seem like it should even cover the corpse. I don’t know if the amount used in the barrel would ever completely dissolve the solid metal of the bike and guns. > [@](#): > > Also, you said that it is the nastiest chemical people ever heard of. Is there any chemical on God’s green earth with such power that we haven’t heard of? [Dimethyl mercury](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn) is nasty stuff and maybe more insidious, but it’s more of a poison than a solvent. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/30 "2015-11-06T18:27:56Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > So what near magic but real liquid can melt metal on contact, besides hotter molten metal? > I’ll settle for the porcelain hole. > > Also, re “Magic Walt:” the “throw a powder on the floor for a poof and be disappeared when the smoke clears” is a basic Merlin trope; you expect to see the pointed Wizard hat. Never thought of it until **Pantastic**. > > [hijack/new thread candidate] > Why don’t nitrogen atoms like each other when carbon is around? > [http://www.chtf.stuba.sk/~szolcsanyi/education/files/Chemia%20heterocyklickych%20zlucenin/Prednaska%203/Doplnkove%20studijne%20materialy/Tetra-%20and%20Pentazoles/C2N14%20-%20An%20Energetic%20and%20Highly%20Sensitive%20Binary%20Azidotetrazole.pdf](http://www.chtf.stuba.sk/~szolcsanyi/education/files/Chemia%20heterocyklickych%20zlucenin/Prednaska%203/Doplnkove%20studijne%20materialy/Tetra-%20and%20Pentazoles/C2N14%20-%20An%20Energetic%20and%20Highly%20Sensitive%20Binary%20Azidotetrazole.pdf) > [/hijack new thread] I’m no chemist, and certainly no expert in acids, but of the acids most readily available/commonly-heard-of, sulfuric acid would probably do one hell of a number on the human tissue, bones, guns and bathtub. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/31 "2015-11-06T18:56:45Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I’m no chemist, and certainly no expert in acids, but of the acids most readily available/commonly-heard-of, sulfuric acid would probably do one hell of a number on the human tissue, bones, guns and bathtub. Of the common acids, hydrochloric is a bit stronger. Here’s a [table of acids](http://www.bpc.edu/mathscience/chemistry/acids_that_dissolve.html) that dissolve various metals. Some acids are better for specific metals than others. Others are best in combination. For example, aqua regia, a combination of hydrochloric and nitric acid, is noted for its ability to dissolve gold. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/32 "2015-11-06T19:04:02Z")
Well, now we know for next time: alien drool it is. It’s the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/33 "2015-11-06T19:15:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Leo Bloom** : > > [hijack/new thread candidate] > Why don’t nitrogen atoms like each other when carbon is around? It’s not so much that nitrogen atoms don’t like each other. They like each other very much… monogamously. Nitrogen very much wants to be in the form N[sub]2[/sub]. If it’s already in that form, it’s quite stable (a little short of a true noble gas like helium or argon, but only a little). If it’s in any other form, then it will try to get into that form, usually very energetically. When you’ve got a single molecule with a whopping 14 nitrogen atoms, you’ve got the opportunity to form seven of those energetically-favored N[sub]2[/sub]. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/34 "2015-11-06T19:38:57Z")
Jesse sprinkled in blue chili powder when Walt wasn’tlooking. Out of curiosity, what chemical processes could lead to a blue color? I remember from high school chemistry that Copper Sulfate went from grey to a bright blue when you added water. Is there any plausible process that could account for the effect aside from alchemy? Even a process that doesn’t result from what is explained on-screen or doesn’t directly result in purer meth. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746/35 "2015-11-06T19:39:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s not so much that nitrogen atoms don’t like each other. They like each other very much… monogamously. Nitrogen very much wants to be in the form N[sub]2[/sub]. If it’s already in that form, it’s quite stable (a little short of a true noble gas like helium or argon, but only a little). If it’s in any other form, then it will try to get into that form, usually very energetically. When you’ve got a single molecule with a whopping 14 nitrogen atoms, you’ve got the opportunity to form seven of those energetically-favored N[sub]2[/sub]. Also, what do **nitro** glycerin and tri **nitro** toluene and ammonium **nit** rate have in common? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factual-question-about-breaking-bad-blue-meth/736746.md?page=1)