Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Chemistry => Topic started by: taregg on 12/12/2012 17:50:46

Title: what type of explosive reaction that are less than low explosive ?
Post by: taregg on 12/12/2012 17:50:46

exsample 1.high explosive like TNT
                 2.low explosive like smokeless powder
                 3.( ! )   explosive  like gasoline or desel

Title: Re: what type of explosive reaction that are less than low explosive ?
Post by: Bored chemist on 12/12/2012 19:32:40

You seem to have got those the wrong way round. TNT is a high explosive.
Gasoline doesn't (ordinarily) explode.Mixtures of gasoline vapour with air will deflagrate when ignited.
In some cases that deflagration may become a detonation.
It's complicated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflagration_to_detonation_transition

Title: Re: what type of explosive reaction that are less than low explosive ?
Post by: taregg on 24/12/2012 18:47:01

 is it mean fuel gases is.... slow deflagration
and gun powder is ........ fast deflaration..

Title: Re: what type of explosive reaction that are less than low explosive ?
Post by: johnab1 on 12/01/2013 10:19:50

An explosive is a high explosive if it reaches a supersonic velocity when energy is released. This is detonation.
Low explosives do not detonate, they burn or deflagrate. Energy is released at a subsonic velocity.
TNT is a high explosive, while gunpowder is a low explosive. In order for gunpowder to explode, it must be in a container. This is known as a mechanical explosion.

Title: Re: what type of explosive reaction that are less than low explosive ?
Post by: Lmnre on 14/01/2013 07:04:00

This question seems related to the term rate of detonation (http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/rate+of+detonation).

Perhaps fuses provide the best visual examples of this rate. Firecracker fuses burn very slowly; whereas some industrial fuses have burn rates of several thousand yards/meters per second.

Knocking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_knocking) in car engines provides a common example of transitioning from deflagration to detonation.