Is The Fulminated Mercury Scene From Breaking Bad Scientifically Accurate?

While it is true that a crystal of mercury fulminate would explode when slammed to the floor, the crystal depicted in the show Breaking Bad did not accurately represent the appearance of mercury fulminate. Commercial-grade mercury crystals are usually grey to light brown in color due to the presence of colloidal mercury. Only an extra-pure crystal, synthesized in a professional laboratory setup, would look like the one in the show, not something that was prepared in the back of an RV.

So, yes, they did tweak the chemistry slightly, but the dramatic visual outcome makes this slight fib completely worth it.