Should the teacher who shot a pupil be reinstated?

Stephen - what a great experiment! Any idiot can break a brick with an H-bomb, but the real test is to see how little explosive is needed to break the brick.

It would probably need to be done outside (although most people my age have had a Chemistry lab blown up at some time during their schooldays). I'd think not a lot, but a lot less if it was contained in a sealed tube. They could try breaking bricks with other materials. Old Lithium batteries go with quite a bang, I believe. My brother's friends knew how to make nitroglycerine from glycerine, concentrated nitric and concentrated sulphuric, and once blew up the Chemistry lab. Also positioning the explosive correctly on the brick, or exploiting a weakness such as a scratch might reduce considerably the amount needed to break the brick.

There was an episode of Grand Designs, where someone used explosive to saw up a log. Much quicker and less hard work.

I also remember when Jeremy Clarkson had a chat show, and one spot on this was his "cookery slot" when he'd blow something up. Who can forget him once microwaving Wales.