Questions tagged [explosives]
Questions discussing explosive nature of chemicals. Also, consider using the safety tag.
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How does ammonium nitrate explode on its own?
I thought ammonium nitrate was an oxidizer that needed to be mixed with fuel to form a high explosive (e.g., ANFO). But apparently there have been accidental explosions involving just the "...
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1answer
51 views
Comparing explosive properties of mercury(II) cyanate and mercury(II) fulminate
I found this question online on Jiskha Homework Help:
Of the compounds mercury(II) cyanate, $\ce{Hg(OCN)2},$ and mercury(II) fulminate, $\ce{Hg(CNO)2},$ one is highly explosive, the other is not. ...
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Measurement of Energy Density
I'd like to ask how researchers measure/calculate the energy density for chemical fuels? Do they just measure the enthalpy change of combustion (△H combustion) in a calorimeter and then divide it by ...
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42 views
How are people able to deduce that this is a custard explosion? [closed]
Watching clips of QI and came across this:
C6H12O6(S) + 6O2(g) → 6CO2(g) + 6H2O(g)
Answer of which is a custard explosion. However how did they know it was custard?
My knowledge of Chemistry is ...
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0answers
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316 stainless steel and high concentration, high temperature Hydrogen Peroxide
I'm looking at doing some experiments with small scale rocketry and I need to find the right materials for this project, where I will be burning through lots of HTC (peroxide above 90% concentration). ...
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1answer
74 views
Are petroleum-based products prone to produce hard residues with black powder?
A common controversy about black powder is lubricant composition. Some people tell this is a bad idea to use any petroleum based products in such lube because it will produce hard, difficult to clean ...
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93 views
What is “salpotricon”? [closed]
I read in my old Polish history handbook about the black powder recipe that was taken from some medieval manuscript, if I remember correctly.
One of the ingredients was called “salpotricon”, but years ...
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1answer
68 views
How to get the strongest reaction out of 1kg of guncotton in a space of 15*15*15 meters without using an additional gas source
It would be burnt outside at about 2 degrees Celsius with about 75 percent air humidity, 1400 meters above sea level. Even though that's not exactly true, I'll treat it like pure guncotton. I'm asking ...
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1answer
96 views
Does the explosion of TNT include oxidation?
This comment below the question Rocket explosion compared to kT of TNT; has one ever knocked something over at a distance? suggests that
...TNT includes it's own oxidizer...
Explosion isn't the ...
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1answer
98 views
What causes oxygen cylinders to explode when in contact with oil (oiled cloth)?
Perhaps I did not put it correctly, but from the welders I know that if you leave the oiled rag on the cylinder valve, it can explode. At least, I saw how greasy oily rags that just lay in the trash ...
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1answer
70 views
Can we tell if a compound is explosive by just looking at its chemical structure?
If I showed you a compound's chemical structure will you be able to tell if it can be used as an explosive or we can only know that by conducting chemical experiments?
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1answer
129 views
Is it possible to create weaker version of guncotton by replacing cotton wool with wood chips or linen cloth?
If the cotton wool was replaced by wood chips or linen (flax) cloth, would the mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids still react with the cellulose in it to produce nitrocellulose?
If it would, would ...
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1answer
487 views
Why is nitroglycerin so unstable?
I know that nitroglycerin is an incredibly powerful explosive due to its three nitro groups, but why is it so unstable?
What in its chemical structure makes it so sensitive to shock and temperature? ...
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1answer
61 views
What am I doing wrong with the fuel and packing I am using for a cannon I made?
Recently I have been using flash powder in a cannon that I made, for a chemistry project, however, it is not causing the rubber ball I put in it to propel out of the tube. First I put in 30g of flash ...
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3answers
353 views
Why do most explosives have symmetrical chemical structures?
I was just turning the pages of my chemistry dictionary, when I found the structure of TNT (Trinitrotoluene):
...there after I got interested in its symmetry as an explosive, and started looking for ...
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Would an explosion of an electrically charged material be more powerful than if it were not charged?
I was recently reading a book titled "Hitler's Suppressed and Still Secret Weapons, Science and Technology". I came across this book because I saw it referenced by someone on another site. The book's ...
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1answer
491 views
What chemical explosives detonate when exposed to alpha particles or nuclear fission products?
Wikipedia's article on nitrogen triiodide $\ce{NI3}$ claims that
Nitrogen triiodide is also notable for being the only known chemical explosive that detonates when exposed to alpha particles and ...
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1answer
96 views
Was nitroglycerin invented as an explosive?
Although I have researched this as carefully as the web allows, it is not clear to me if the inventor was planning to make an explosive and if so, why he thought the process he undertook would yield ...
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709 views
Why is gunpowder urinated on in Blood Meridian?
An interesting section of Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy has the gang of "Indian fighters" surrounded and out of powder, so one of them manages to make it from scratch, making charcoal from ...
3
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1answer
69 views
Odorless smoke from 1812 Overture cannon fire
I went to an outdoor performance of the 1812 Overture last night. At the finale, a sequence of 'cannon fire' occurred.
In past years the smoke has had the expected sulfur odor but this year the dense ...
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0answers
185 views
Why was rhenium used as an igniter in flash bulbs?
It looks like it typically had a current passed though it to ignite zirconium threads.
What properties of rhenium made it the best metal to use for this?
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2answers
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Are all highly shock sensitive chemicals highly temperature sensitive too?
I found that some highly shock sensitive explosives like lead azide, mercury fulminate have a relatively high auto-ignition temperature. I want to know if it's a general property or not and why so? ...
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why Nitrocellulose does not explode [closed]
my question is simple why Nitrocellulose does not explode since it contains Nitrogen and oxygen in the structure of the cotton why it does burn ?
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0answers
97 views
What explosive compound would be the most likely first explosive developed by a race? [closed]
Elaboration on title: What would most likely be the first explosive compound that some individual would create if they were just mixing together random things they had available? I'm not talking about ...
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31 views
Cold Gas Inflation
What and how is cold gas inflation used as replacement for traditional gas ingredients in airbag deployment? Can we make our own version of cold gas inflation?
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1answer
301 views
What did actually happen when Staudinger tried to synthesise diamond?
It is a famous reaction that used to be a teaching lab experiment, but is now banned in Germany, because it is too dangerous. To quote-translate quite liberally from the German www.seilnacht.com:
...
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1answer
151 views
Can cis and trans isomers have widely different flash points?
Sigma seems to have two products listed for sale as "Cinnamic Aldehyde". One compound clearly seems the trans isomer but the other one seems like an unspecified mixture. (They even have two different ...
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2answers
109 views
Pyrotechnic “star” without oxidizer
In the design of a celebratory pyrotechnic (firework), there exists a gunpowder explosive charge at the center of the firework and pyrotechnic "stars" lining the circumference of the explosive. The "...
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2answers
4k views
Why doesn't liquid propane in a closed coke bottle burst?
I was watching this YouTube video in which the original experiment was to make a small rocket out of liquid propane and Coke. When that failed, the person doing the experiment decided to try pouring ...
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1answer
6k views
What causes KNO3 to decompose into KNO2 and Oxygen in gunpowder?
I've been studying fireworks and from what I understand:
$\ce{KNO3}$ decomposes to form $\ce{KNO2}$ and $\ce{O2}$ gas, and this free oxygen reacts with carbon to react with carbon and sulfur to form ...
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0answers
395 views
Aluminum powder reaction with air
I have made aluminum powder in a ball mill a few times, but my last batch began to smoke and caught fire soon after I poured it from the tumbler. Nothing unusual was afoot. It was poured into a paper ...
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3answers
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Preventing build-up of Diethyl Ether Peroxides
I've never stored Diethyl Ether before but am thinking of producing minor amounts myself and storing said Ether inside of glass/PTFE bottles.
I am aware of possible pressure build-up due to vapors ...
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2answers
443 views
Serious introduction to the chemistry of explosives recommendation
I'm looking for a serious introduction to the chemistry (and perhaps to a lesser extend the physics) of explosives. Presupposition of basic university courses in Organic Chemistry and Thermodynamics ...
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1answer
3k views
Can a table salt + vinegar mixture be explosive?
I remember having read in a book, Ask Me Anything (Dorling Kindersley), that a combination of copious amounts of table salt and vinegar is explosive.
Now this was a really long while back, and I can'...
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2answers
585 views
Why is there such a violent reaction when NaCl is formed?
In school I saw how $\ce{NaCl}$ was formed and I noticed that there was a violent reaction. Can someone tell me why there is such a violent reaction? The $\ce{NaCl}$ was formed by reacting sodium ...
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1answer
127 views
What is the compound I made from KNO3 and table sugar which subsequently exploded when I exposed it to a flame?
I mixed 75% $\ce{KNO3}$ and 25% $\ce{C12H22O11}$ (by volume) in boiling water to make slow burn fuses. Some of the product became a thick brown paste.
After drying, a hard cake of an approximate 1 ...
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1answer
67 views
Would a loaded cartridge ignite/explode when hit from the side or front by a bullet?
This question https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/193472/93888 explains what would happen after a cartridge is ignited: the bullet gets propelled by the gases in one direction and the cartridge (with ...
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3answers
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Constructing a grenade (for a novel I'm writing.)
Ok, before any eyebrows get raised, this is for a novel that I'm writing and inspired by this answer from worldbuilding and this reference answer. I just want to make sure the device I'm trying to use ...
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How is combustion speed regulated in solid propellants?
My question on Space.SE didn't yield anything I didn't know already: the secondary regulation mechanism – grain (cross-section shape) of the propellant, changing the area of open surface of the ...
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Why exactly does molten NaCl explode, when it is poured into water?
Why does molten $\ce{NaCl}$ explode, when it is poured into water?
$\ce{NaCl}$ has a high melting point, $1074\ \mathrm{K}$ ($801~\mathrm{^\circ C}$). $\ce{NaCl}$ has a molar mass of $58.44\ \mathrm{g/...
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1answer
208 views
Why there is an Upper Explosive concentration Limit?
If we have a mixture of combustible gas (let's say it's methane) and air, what is the physical explanation for having a upper concentration limit?
I found this document:
Lower and upper explosive ...
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1answer
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Ammonia Reaction with O2
I asked a similar question earlier that lead me to ask this question.
NH3 and O2 react in the following way $$\ce{4NH3 + 3O2 -> 2N2 + 6H2O}$$ From my understanding Ammonia will explode(react ...
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2answers
853 views
Can dry ice explode?
Can dry ice be used as a explosive chemical? I am intrigued by this chemical dry ice and seen various experiments with it, and seems to have potential to be a explosive.
So can dry ice explode?
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2answers
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What's the composition of gun smoke and is it dangerous?
Background
I've been conducting an informal (i.e. mental) risk assessment of visiting gun ranges. There are a couple of obvious sources of hazard:
Injury by bullet
Hearing loss
Hot casings flying ...
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1answer
129 views
What chemicals used everyday will cause an explosive reaction if exposed into outer space? [closed]
What chemicals used everyday will cause an explosive reaction if exposed into outer space?
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1answer
924 views
Is Tollen's test safe?
Tollen's test is an important test to distinguish between aldehyde and ketone.
$$\ce{2 [Ag(NH3)2]+ + RCHO + H2O → 2 Ag(s) + 4 NH3 + RCO2H + 2 H+}$$
But is this reaction safe? Is there any threat in ...
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1answer
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Does sodium cyanide react with water, and can it cause an explosion?
According to some conspiracy theory, the explosion that happened last year in Tianjin (China) wasn't caused by sodium cyanide. Can sodium cyanide react with water, and can it cause an explosion if you ...
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1answer
467 views
Reaction of Hydrogen and Dinitrogen Tetroxide?
What might be the possible products of a reaction between hydrogen and dinitrogen tetroxide ($\ce{N2O4}$)? They are fuel and oxidizer respectively in rockets.
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At which temperature does carbon monoxide explode? [duplicate]
I had doubt whether carbon monoxide explodes or not. I checked out this resource and found out that carbon monoxide explodes when heated. But they didn't mention the temperature at which it explodes. ...
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2answers
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Are non-exothermic explosions possible?
Explosives like picric acid and trinitrotoluene are unstable due to the close packing of so many $\ce{-NO2}$ groups onto a benzene ring. These highly strained bonds require only a relatively small ...
