r/Whatcouldgowrong • u/613Flyer • 2d ago

WCGW Pouring an open bottle of alcohol onto a flame

12.2k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

245 comments sorted by

3.2k

u/Early_Gain9393 2d ago

Bottle rocket

33

u/suedehead23 2d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/sJYjNDLM2AGq0zImiq

12

u/chickenologist 2d ago

The best Bottle Rocket. Great reference. Nice to see it in the wild now and again

14

u/astralchanterelle 2d ago

bottle rockets get their name because bottles are commonly used as launchpads

18

u/SnooCakes6195 2d ago edited 2d ago

Wheelbarrows get their name because they commonly have a wheel on them.

7

u/btoxic 2d ago

Pitchforks get their name from pitching stuff with a fork.

8

u/davewave3283 2d ago

Then explain the shuttlecock

8

u/Send_Snoods_ 2d ago

It’s a cock that shuttles

3

u/ElegantCoach4066 1d ago

Sir you forget yourself. I challenge you to a duel.

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7

u/GrandPriapus 2d ago

Rocket bottle.

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1.6k

u/DapperBoiCole 2d ago

He's so lucky that wasnt much worse

1.4k

u/AdWonderful5920 2d ago

It flew off screen and hit a baby, then a puppy, then an old widow.

458

u/No-Doctor-4396 2d ago

At least she gets to be with her husband now

188

u/TheGreatJaceyGee 2d ago

Worse, she survived and was disfigured

93

u/thezomber 2d ago

What about her granddaughter and her puppy?

88

u/sans-delilah 2d ago

Red paste, I’m afraid.

47

u/KwordShmiff 2d ago

Complementary to the experience or excessive and gauche?!

24

u/sans-delilah 2d ago

Depends on how much you liked the kid and dog, I guess.

12

u/xenobit_pendragon 2d ago

I liked ‘em ok.

16

u/SeriouslySlyGuy 2d ago

Medium rare for me thanks

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5

u/Rigatoniandcheese 2d ago

To shreds you say?

2

u/Neo-Nightswatchmen 2d ago

At least she gets to be with grandpa now

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10

u/mapmakinworldbuildin 2d ago

To shreds you say?

5

u/willcheat 2d ago

Combined together as an abomination against natural creation.

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2

u/DrinkMunch 2d ago

Chuck Palahniuk, is that you?

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11

u/xyloplax 2d ago

To shreds you say

2

u/BlackDeath3 2d ago

And she's bringing along a new baby and puppy

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16

u/Material_Buy_8609 2d ago

The baby, puppy and old widow were out getting dinner, after attending the funeral of a close friend who died from a tragic and unexpected death from a bottle that exploded.

3

u/UndecidedLee 2d ago

The most infuriating part is that the baby was just two days away from retirement!

10

u/Cultural-Company282 2d ago

Oh, thank god. For a second, I thought you said old window! Stained glass can be really hard to replace.

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4

u/DaGucka 2d ago

So no person with impact on the gdp?

4

u/AdWonderful5920 2d ago

And no orphan grinding machine deprived of orphan stock, thank god.

3

u/Crime_Dawg 2d ago

Thank god, I was worried about the impact to gdp

4

u/DaGucka 2d ago

Sure, nothing else matters. The machine god needs to be fed more workers!

3

u/pinniped90 2d ago

Awww, the puppy and baby get to go to the afterlife together, that's so sweet.

2

u/ComprehendReading 2d ago

That puppy was a war criminal.

2

u/WorkingInAColdMind 2d ago

But now the young widow needs comforting for her lost baby, puppy, and mother. Slam dunk.

3

u/razz-boy 2d ago

Well at least no kittens were harmed

5

u/AdWonderful5920 2d ago

It's benihana. Kittens are on the grill.

2

u/QuickSquirrelchaser 2d ago

All on fire!

2

u/ChefPuree 2d ago

Oh my god is the window okay? It's so hard to accurately replace older glass to match.

2

u/wolffangz11 2d ago

ya but it looked cool as fuck

2

u/-Allot- 2d ago

Yes but that baby was going to be hurler 2.0 and the puppy his evil sidekick. The old widow was a time traveler from their evil regime trying to foils this plan to stop it all from happening

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3

u/Callidonaut 2d ago

Indeed, the flashback and overpressure could have caused the entire bottle to just explode like a bomb.

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1.0k

u/themuleskinner 2d ago

Whoosh

287

u/NervousHovercraft 2d ago

I'm sorry honey... I promise next time it will last longer!

50

u/TheLoathsomeAssEater 2d ago

And all the science, I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man
A rocket man

25

u/tk3301 2d ago

After ignition that bottle was only visible for about 2 frames. Reminds me of that manhole cover that was blown into space and was only visible on a single frame lol

11

u/bretttwarwick 2d ago

The math on that manhole cover has been done and it would have been liquid long before exiting the atmosphere. So it was more likely vaporized into the atmosphere than launched into space. The person that did the initial calculation was only looking for speed and escape velocity. Once friction and heat from the blast were used in the calculation the iron manhole was determined to not survive the trip.

2

u/Garlicfarter 2d ago

You have piqued my interest. Do tell?

8

u/Iamnotabothonestly 2d ago

Long story short. They detonated a nuclear bomb underground and launched a manhole cover into space.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/fastest-manmade-object/

7

u/thederevolutions 2d ago

How survivable is this straight to the head?

8

u/NoPossibility4178 2d ago

It'd be very painful.

8

u/ours 2d ago

For you.

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2

u/_Aj_ 2d ago

Muscular Beaver WHOOOOOSH

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394

u/CMF42 2d ago

That's awesome. Obvious why it'd happen but I have never once seen it actually do so before.

229

u/pichael289 2d ago

The liquid part isn't what's burning it's the fumes. Whatever that is (alcohol I'm guessing) he has just the right amount left in the bottle and the agitation and most importantly the heat increased the vapors to the perfect explosive level.

Certain flammable liquor, like the most nasty shit ever 151, have spark arrestors so this doesn't happen.

35

u/CntrlAltDad 2d ago

Saving your last sentence in my memory bank of random stuff to bring up at random times. Thank you.

17

u/AllsWellThatsNB 2d ago

You might be interested in UEL and LEL then.

It's the particular range of concentratioms a gas will explode at, defined by the Upper Explosive Limit and Lower Explosive Limit. There's also a UFL and LFL that define the flammable range.

3

u/spaceraverdk 2d ago

H2S gas..

That's a real bitch to work with.

13

u/AutVincere72 2d ago

Thr nozzle was like a rocket motor. Dr. Robert Goddard would be proud.

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7

u/AvroAvery 2d ago

you aint drinking till youre drinking something that needs a flashback arrestor

4

u/FloopersRetreat 2d ago

I think the vapour ignited whilst it was slightly upright and over the flame, then when he tilted it down the liquid covered the egress aperture, causing the trapped gas to expand inside and push the liquid out, causing the increased propulsion

3

u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman 2d ago

I've done tamer versions of this with 151 & everclear, so maybe not

(Just causing the fumes in a newly empty bottle to ignite while in a firepit, nothing more)

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201

u/verrucktfuchs 2d ago

I used to build rockets and this looks to me to be a 1 in a million sort of event. What I think we're seeing here is just the right fuel-air ratio in the inside of the bottle that it allows combustion inside the bottle. Any other fuel to air ration and this wouldn't happen.

34

u/TheTallGuy0 2d ago

Bottle probably kept near the cooktop too, heating the whole thing up 

6

u/Aggleclack 2d ago

Was thinking the same thing. I wonder what would’ve happened if he hadn’t been heating the fuel already

18

u/Exxists 2d ago

The LEL - lower explosive limit of ethanol is 3%, UEL, upper explosive limit is 19%. That’s considered a very wide range. (UEL of gasoline is only 8%.)

The vapor pressure of ethanol at room temperature is low enough even everclear won’t exceed 19% and be “too rich.” So that’s all to say any liquor over 100 proof could be prone to doing this. The strongest ones probably most prone.

What prevents it from happening all the time is actually the bottle not being empty. The flame has to travel through a flammable vapor/air path into the bottle. If the bottle is mostly full the liquid seal stops the backward propagation. When the bottle is almost empty and you get that air pathway above the liquid is when it can happen.

4

u/TheJeeronian 12h ago

The vapor pressure of ethanol is low enough that below 11.2 °C or 52°f it is below its LEL, though most drinks are kept above this temperature.

I think you're wrong about the real reason it's rare, though. Even alcohol vapor mixes well above room temperature will not explode like this. They can make for a flash and a "fwoomp" noise, but they won't generate much thrust.

The bottle orientation, I'd wager, is key here. It traps the relatively slow conflagration, such that only after the liquid is expelled can the gas escape. This thousandfold increase in propellant mass, plus the extra combustion time that comes from having to force liquid out before the gas could escape, led to the exceptional thrust we see here.

Creating a situation where the flame front can climb up into the bottle, but then becomes sealed inside by liquid, would be very hard to do intentionally.

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4

u/Backrow6 2d ago

I've seen a lot of sambuca flamethrower videos over the years though.

2

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 2d ago

Also it's a bottle that doesn't have any features that could help prevent this. So bad luck, wrong tools, catastrophic failure lol

128

u/Madetoprint 2d ago

Beni-uh-uh

16

u/Enigma_RR 2d ago

"Buh-buh-benny and the jets, ooo they're so weird but so wonderful-"

38

u/EconomyHoney700 2d ago

Should have been like tadahhh and just gone with it

31

u/nashass76 2d ago

That’s a new one for me… definitely better than the played out choo-choo….

6

u/InternationalCap2176 2d ago

Yeah I've never seen that before either

3

u/PaMudpuddle 2d ago

No kidding. Benihana has really upped their game.

15

u/ninenulls 2d ago

That's a cool trick, bro. Good hibachi show

10

u/Firestorm0x0 2d ago

Worked as planned.

10

u/trucorsair 2d ago

Now for more next trick, I will make my job disappear

8

u/LadTy 2d ago

ok this is actually the kind of entertainment I'd go see

5

u/GrandmaJR 2d ago

Pass the boom boom juice!

5

u/Far_Balance_3117 2d ago

Any person in here with the know about how he accidently invented a bottle rocket?

I just expected a lot of flames to be spread.

5

u/sharpbulb 2d ago

The bottle of alcohol got warm from sitting on the flat-top for too long. The head space was full of alcohol vapor instead of regular air. The flame climbed into the bottle and expanded rapidly.

3

u/hyperdream 2d ago

He pours some out, tips the bottle back, lights it and then puts the spout of the bottle back into the flame and then tips the bottle back to pour.

If he'd started pouring before he put the tip back in the flame he'd have been fine, but he exposed vapor laden empty part of the bottle to flame which set it off.

Lastly, he goes to pour the bottle again and that puts the burning vapor in the top (bottom) of the bottle putting the liquid between that and the opening. The expanding gas pushes the liquid out, contributing to the thrust, shooting the bottle like a rocket.

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5

u/Distahs 2d ago

I want to see the wall on the outside of the restaurant.

4

u/WelcomeToTheClubPal 2d ago

the guy sitting there needed to catch that in his mouth... you all clearly haven't been to a hibachi before /s

3

u/NSCButNotThatNSC 2d ago

How big was the hole in the wall that thing hit? Yikes.

3

u/Wallynine 2d ago

anyone who got burnt gets 10% off your bill and no built in 20% service fee…

3

u/cptspeirs 2d ago

I've done this making vodka sauce pasta. Twice because I'm a dumbass.

3

u/Active_Assistance923 2d ago

A lady in Russia suffered horrible burns to the face because of a similar issue. Instead of the bottle flying off, the flaming liquid shot out in her face like a flamethrower.

2

u/amityadav85 2d ago

holy shi1!! do it again :D

2

u/mtnviewguy 2d ago

First day on the job?

2

u/chucktheninja 2d ago

Damn, these guys are really upping their act.

2

u/gottkonig 2d ago

Oh, so that's how a jet engine nozzle works! -this guy probably.

2

u/koolaidismything 2d ago

That means that wine was all types of nasty and overly hot and full of alcohol fumes.. gross.

2

u/van_cool 2d ago

And this was the moment when Chinese space program began

2

u/InuchiyoTheWolf 2d ago

China lake when you shoot it, just thunk

2

u/HankHillMyHero 2d ago

Everything reminds me of her.

2

u/insert_emoji 2d ago

okay i wanna do this now. looks pretty safe to pull it off at home.

2

u/Yos13 1d ago

Awww Hibachi man made an RPG.

1

u/BitComfortable15 2d ago

Where did it fly? And why is the OP name "flyer"?

1

u/New-Dragonfly-661 2d ago

He makes a little rocket ship 🤣

You hear it break against the wall 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/DaimonHans 2d ago

Now I want to try that at home.

1

u/rumorofskin 2d ago

Benihana might be a no-go for him, but the future is bright at JPL.

1

u/literaIly 2d ago

I'm sitting outside of benihana rn lmao

1

u/WhiteSandSadness 2d ago

I wanna see where the bottle went 🤯

1

u/radio_four 2d ago

That was fucking awesome.  Bet they'll do that again at the employee holiday party

1

u/Ok-Journalist7612 2d ago

FIRREEDDDD!!!

1

u/OpportunityReal2767 2d ago

Is this the same principle as flame jetting except the loosely held bottle flew backwards instead of a flamethrower fireball forwards? It feels related.

1

u/KevinKCG 2d ago

Accidentally invented a rocket powered molotov cocktail..

1

u/ktka 2d ago

Is this the latest Spacex launch I heard on the news?

1

u/MightyActionGaim 2d ago

You pay for the experience and well you’ve got one hell of an experience right here I would say

1

u/sik_dik 2d ago

How do you pour a closed bottle of alcohol?

1

u/KilgoreT59 2d ago

New guy, huh.

1

u/Vahuo89 2d ago

"Cooking isn't rocket science!"

And yet...

1

u/This-Sort7116 2d ago

This is why your circus cook should not leave the bottle on the hot plate

1

u/ItsJustAnOpinion_Man 2d ago

Well, you can't pour a closed bottle.

1

u/mehlaterlater 2d ago

The guy in the next station was low on the alcohol, this is just how they pass it to each other

1

u/BigBagoSith_sp 2d ago

I see your Volcano and I raise you Rocket!

1

u/Work_Account_No1 2d ago

Nothing went wrong here - the bottle is supposed to surprise attack the table next to you. It's an old Japarean tradition.

1

u/Old-Professional-533 2d ago

If you want to do it relatively safely, I think you need to put your bottle bottoms up so that there's no mix of alcohol and air.

Instead he put it horizontally and the bottle went boom

1

u/CaffeinPhreaker 2d ago

Beni haSHIT

1

u/BiggusD1 2d ago

That's how rocketry was discovered.

1

u/cameronzero 2d ago

Imagine you're just enjoying your meal when all of sudden the chef gets absolutely housed by a bottle going machfuck across the dinning area...

and the egg is still spinning on the grill...

1

u/Eric_the_Barbarian 2d ago

And the, ladies and gentlemen, is how a pulse jet works.

1

u/Grouchy-Station-4058 2d ago

Flew better than Elons junk

1

u/mtbox1987 2d ago

Whose head was taken off the menu??

1

u/Fiercekiller 2d ago

Seems like the kind of mistake you only make once

1

u/Lorddoctorjava 2d ago

Omg...that's horrible.....do it again...

1

u/RunningPirate 2d ago

Flame jetting

1

u/XDOOM_ManX 2d ago

“The missile knows where it is at all times”

1

u/Glum-Geologist8929 2d ago

That was amazing! What kind of alcohol was a that?

1

u/East-Ad7254 2d ago

Person at the next table: “ I think I’ll have the DUCK!!!!”

1

u/e37d93eeb23335dc 2d ago

That was a lot more explosive than I was expecting. 

1

u/Darthbane8488 2d ago

Pulse jet.

1

u/trashcantrash939 2d ago

Ooo if someone was in the path of that bottle, it would be a hell of a hospital visit but then one hell of a paycheck.

1

u/smellsliketigerbalm 2d ago

Best teppanyaki trick I've seen yet!

1

u/wannabecat2000 2d ago

Bro reinvented the rocket

1

u/nmarano1030 2d ago

Cool trick. Do it again.

1

u/ChesterUbanks 2d ago

Meanwhile at the next table

1

u/PineConeOPinyons 2d ago

So come on in— it's my treat.

1

u/SingularityII 2d ago

Long ago in college I did workstudy in a research lab on campus. We were goofing around with 90% ethanol and decided to put a bit (tsp or so) in an empty 5 gallon plastic Sparkletts bottle, shake it up a bit, and light it.

No destruction, just a very satisfying *WHOOMP* and a bit of blue flame.

Since that was so awesome, we tried it again. The second time, we only got a tiny *pop*. So we tried again with more alcohol, and got almost nothing.

We scratched our heads for a bit, and finally realized after the first flame, most of the oxygen in the bottle got burned up, so no more explosions. We verified the theory by blowing a bunch of fresh air into the bottle with a compressor. This brought back the nice explosion.

It's probably lucky we didn't have any pure oxygen on hand.

1

u/newked 2d ago

Szechuan space program

1

u/Oathbreaker94 2d ago

„This is Really Rocket League!”

1

u/This-Instruction-812 2d ago

never saw it comin

1

u/Matej1683 2d ago

Cooking is rocket science.

1

u/Ttoddh 2d ago

And on that farm he had some BS, A i A I OH. .... That's not how rocket propulsion works.

1

u/Either_Relief4699 2d ago

INCOMING!!!!

1

u/ClassyIvory 2d ago

That could've turned into a serious accident really quickly.

1

u/TheLesserWeeviI 2d ago

I appreciate the showmanship.

1

u/bojangles_dangles 2d ago

Someone got their meal comped

1

u/LiberalSuperG 2d ago

New skill unlocked 

1

u/TacticalTeacher1776 2d ago

Cha ching if that hot someone

1

u/Appropriate_Ice_4145 2d ago

And thus began his career in rocket science.

1

u/Gleadall80 2d ago

It's the sound of the smash a whole second later that really cinches it for me

1

u/DooDooBrownz 2d ago

look, hibachi chefs need new material after 60 years of onion volcanoes. maybe smaller bottle next time, i can see this being a thing

1

u/ArnieismyDMname 2d ago

If you watch it on loop it looks like he just keeps trying.

1

u/fo8oo 2d ago

tomorrow on western news: Chinese spy stealing spacex secret rocket tech

1

u/megaapfel 1d ago

He was so surprised...

1

u/Aggravating_Main_710 1d ago

OMG. That bottle was OUTTA there!
That was too damn funny.
The video stoped too soon. I wanted to see the impact area of the bottle.

1

u/shiggins114 1d ago

Nothing....except for that...

-that guy

1

u/Distortion011 1d ago

Is that part of the show? would be my response lol

1

u/Moroboshi251 1d ago

I just love the laws of thermodynamics

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u/Erroneous_Bonk 1d ago

Hibachi Space Program

1

u/Deniable_Cloud_232 23h ago

Welcome to Physics.