High-School Science Experiment Charges Dropped

Drano bottle bomb explosion — A group of teens detonates a drano-and-aluminum "bottle bomb" on YouTube. The mixture produces hydrogen gas, which expands until it pops the soda bottle

(Image credit: BlackIce700)

A Florida student arrested for conducting a mildly explosive science experiment on school grounds will not face felony charges.

In a move that outraged the Internet, police arrested 16-year-old Kiera Wilmot in April after she mixed toilet cleaner with aluminum foil in an 8-ounce water bottle one morning before school. The combination creates hydrogen gas, which caused the bottle to pop in a small explosion. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged, but Wilmot was suspended and arrested on felony charges for discharging a destructive device and possessing a weapon on school grounds.

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Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.