Yay to Gwynn and Chemist! Anode and cathode refer to what the electrode is doing, not their polarity- removing and donating electrons to the inside of the device, respectively. Mercury fulminate is relatively stable, perhaps Admin had it confused with silver fulminate, which is much more shock and scratch sensitive.

They actually DIDN’T get anode and cathode mixed up. The anode is not positive in a discharging battery, only in a recharging one.

Top Walter White moments

6. Dissolved body in hydrofluoric acid
5. Made raison poison out of castor beans
4. Used water and shaved match striker strips to make deadly phosphine gas
3. Made battery out of galvanized coins,nuts & brake pads & potassium hydroxide
2. Wiped hard drive inside evidence room using a 252V electromagnet inside car
1. Used fulminated mercury (looks like meth, got through security) as explosive

I can confirm, having watched the episode in question an hour ago, that they mixed it up on the show. Walt definitely describes the cathode as the positive side of his cell, which is wrong. So, from A to F in one fell swoop! Let’s hope nobody has followed those instructions and received a nasty shock!

I believe it was mixed up on the episode of the show. I’ll have to rewatch it to see if the error was on our end. If so, we will correct it. Thanks!

You have anode (positive) and cathode (negative) mixed up in your description above.

He definitely got the flow mixed up when he sad the current flows from positive to negative, however he could be using the common convention employed when drawing circuit diagrams. Since Benjamin Franklin initially guessed incorrectly we have been stuck with it and practically it doesn’t really matter so I won’t fault him for it.

I took HS chemistry a while ago, but I remember a little bit. But I don’t understand why methylamine cannot be synthesized from methanol and ammonia. Can you explain it please?

Steve K and Chemist — You’ve both caught some pretty excellent flaws in the chemistry stories on Breaking Bad.

What particularly bugged me was exactly what Chemist points out, that Walt likely would not have been able to even handle the fulminated mercury to begin with, let alone that the violence of the explosion was exactly exaggerated.

Steve K — It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen the episode where they built the battery. I’d have to rewatch to see if he did indeed reverse the order of the electron flow.

Mercury fulminate is not as sensitive as described here. Yes sparks, and flames will set it off. Scooping it with a knife or pouring it would more than likely not set it off. A hammer would set it off. If it were so unstable, it would never have found a use it the explosives industry. Unlike like nitrogen triiodide, which has no use and is so unstable you can’t move it. Also, one wouldn’t ever attempt to crystallize mercury fulminate as internal strains in the crystal will make it much more sensitive and impossible to handle.