Nitrogen triiodide
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In chemistry, nitrogen triiodide, also called nitrogen iodide or contact explosive, is a highly explosive compound of nitrogen and iodine, NI₃. It explodes with a gunpowder-like snap when touched by even a feather, releasing a volatile cloud of iodine vapour. This occurs via the reaction

2NI₃ (s) -> N₂ (g) + 3I₂ (s)

Nitrogen triiodide should be handled with extreme caution, as the dry compound is known to explode spontaneously. An ammonia complex of NI₃ can be synthesized by reacting iodine with ammonia, NH₃, by soaking iodine crystals in a solution of ammonia. The aqueous solution is safer to handle than the dry compound.

External Links

• See the explosion (requires the Quicktime plugin)
• Nitrogen Tri-Iodide - explains why the compound is explosive

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_triiodide.
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