Nitrogen triiodide (NI
3) is a contact explosive that sets off whether it comes in contact with a feather or a bug. As shown in the diagram, the chemical is made up of a cluster of three iodine atoms around one side of a nitrogen atom. The result of such a crowd around one atom causes something called bond strain - the atoms repel each other in a small space. The result of this bond strain is that the molecule is prone to falling apart very, causing the mini explosion you see (
).
Video link: https://biology-forums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=22482
