should be prepared at once, as even the weight of the crystals can cause them to self-detonate. Another way to make silver fulminate is to react silver carbonate with ammonia in solution. 4 Ag2CO3 + 4 NH3 → 4 AgCNO + 6 H2O + 4 Ag + O2 Silver fulminate also forms when nitrogen oxide gas is passed through a solution of silver nitrate in ethanol. Silver fulminate can be prepared unintentionally, when an acidic solution of silver nitrate comes in contact with alcohol. This is a hazard in some formulations of chemically silvering mirrors. Novelty explosive Silver fulminate, often in combination with potassium chlorate, is used in trick noise-makers known as "throw-downs", "crackers", "snappers", "whippersnappers", "pop-its", or "bang snaps", a popular type of novelty firework. They contain approximately 200 milligrams of fine gravel coated with a minute quantity (approximately 80 micrograms) of silver fulminate. When thrown against a hard surface, the impact is sufficient to detonate the tiny quantity of explosive, creating a small salute from the supersonic detonation. Snaps are designed to be incapable of producing damage (even when detonated against skin) due to the buffering effect provided by the much greater mass of the gravel medium. It is also the chemical found in Christmas crackers having first been used for that purpose by Tom Smith in 1860. The chemical is painted on one of two narrow strips of card, with abrasive on the second. When the cracker is pulled, the abrasive detonates the silver fulminate. A fulminate mixture with 1020% potassium chlorate is cheaper and more brisant than the fulminate alone. Silver fulminate and "fulminating silver" Silver fulminate is often confused with silver nitride, silver azide, or fulminating silver. "Fulminating silver", though always referring to an explosive silver-containing substance, is an ambiguous term. While it may be a synonym of silver fulminate, it may also refer to the nitride or azide, the decomposition product of Tollen's reagent, or an alchemical mixture, which does not contain the fulminate anion. See also Primary explosive Justus von Liebig Friedrich Woehler Silver cyanate Isomerism Fulminate Fulminic acid Potassium fulminate Mercury(II) fulminate References Further reading Silver compounds Fulminates