What happens when you combine two materials that cause an explosion? Do you necessarily die? :D

What are the explosive combinations anyways? And why do they explode? :cool:

I am afraid I dont understand completely what you want to know. YOur question is to vauge, could you narrow it down a bit?

If I add A and B it explodes. What's "A" and "B"?

What happens when you combine two materials that cause an explosion? Do you necessarily die? :D

What are the explosive combinations anyways? And why do they explode? :cool:

You don't necessarily die, it depends on the size of the explosion.

They explode because of VERY rapid chemical reactions. A common example is gasoline vapor and air (oxygen) when a spark is introduced. Others don't require a second ingredient, like nitroglycerin and dynamite - all that's required is a sudden, hard physical shock.

In every case, the reaction results in a massive release of gaseous products and THAT'S what the explosion is - the rapidly expanding ball of gas.

Oh, ok. Thanks for the answer :)

Oh, ok. Thanks for the answer :)

You're very welcome.:)

If I add A and B it explodes. What's "A" and "B"?
bourbon and beans.

Well I dont know about A and B but if you add a third one, or C it could get interesting.

for example: gunpowder

charcoal, Sulfer, Sodium Nitrate. All available at your local gardening store. Just dont ask for sodium nitrate or they will look at you weird. Say Nitrate of Soda. I know ots weird. but they looked at me funny when I said an actual chemical name.

The mixing process is relatively easy combine the sulfer and charcoal crushed up intoa powder. Then crush up the Sodium Nitrate carefully. Mix it in with the othe mixture VERY SLOWLY AND VERY CAREFULLY! if you go to fast it will burn and emit sulfur gas which will kill you.

Now it took me a long time to get the ratios of each chemical right on my own, but I havent made it in so long I forgot. Check the internet, or do what I think is more fun, Discover it yourself. Remember the Sodium Nitrate is a big part of how long the powder burns.

Also Gunpowder does not "explode" in a gun the explosion is from all the gas released from the powder in a confined space. Also, watch which way the wind is blowing, as the gas is poisinous. The slag created from the burning if you haev bad ratios is hard to remove if it is imbedded on like asphalt or concrete. so burn the powder on something your not afraid to ruin. Do it outside to prevent toxic gas buildup. Finally, aluminum foil will not resist the temperature made from the gunpowder, it is that hot!

Best of luck,
Positron

I wouldn't do that! :D

But thanks for all the explanation! :)

Uh. Atom+Bomb = Atomic Bomb?

:] I'm proud of my 43 average in Chemistry.

;1372378']Uh. Atom+Bomb = Atomic Bomb?

:] I'm proud of my 43 average in Chemistry.

Yep, figures - since it's actually a matter of physics and has nothing at all to do with chemistry. :D

Yep, figures - since it's actually a matter of physics and has nothing at all to do with chemistry. :D

Haha :] I got owned.

Explosive combinations are instantenous reactions, i.e reactions that occur very fast. They are characterized by a release of huge amounts of confined energy, i.e they are exothermic. The basic principle by which explosions operate is by trapping huge amounts of energy in compound A, and then releasing this energy with a compount B. Nuclear explosions are easier to underdstand, when two atom collide in nuclear fussion, huge amounts of energy is generated, this energy has to go somewhere and it ends up destroying everything around it. Combustion reactions are instantenous reactions of Hydrocarbons and fossils, they usually require oxygen as a catalyst. Basically, in any reaction, the net energy loss of gain is the explosion or emplosion respectively.

Exothermic Reactions Produce Explosions.

I heard of something called "implosion", does this exist?

What happens when you combine two materials that cause an explosion? Do you necessarily die?

What are the explosive combinations anyways? And why do they explode? LOL. This thread caught my eye... I think noxious stinks, pyrotechnics and things exploding should be a major part of every school chemistry curriculum!

Most explosives are either unstable molecules (e.g. nitroglycerine) or mixtures (e.g. gunpowder) that will rapidly decompose i.e. self-destruct into much simpler gas molecules (often carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water) in a chain reaction. The increase in volume from solid to gas can be many thousand times. The sudden appearance (e.g. in 0.001 second) of loads of compressed hot gasses where there was a small volume of solid before creates a shock wave and blast that destroys anything in it's path (I hope that answers your first Q).

Explosives usually consist of a fuel with an oxygen carrier, so it is often like a very rapid burning. In positron's gunpowder recipe sodium nitrate is the oxygen carrier and the carbon and sulphur are the fuels (they burn with oxygen). In TNT (trinitrotoluene) the 'tri' (3) 'nitro' bits contain the oxygen atoms (6)while 'toluene' is the fuel. I hope that answers your 2nd Q. Ask your chemistry teacher for more, but don't do any homework practicals! :booo:

I heard of something called "implosion", does this exist?
An implosion is when all the pieces fly inwards (before they fly outwards) because of a sudden reduction in pressure. If you break a light bulb (don't do it!) the glass flies in towards the centre (before it flies back out again at you :eek: ) because of the vacuum in the bulb.

Does "implosion bomb" exist? I mean is there any compact device that implode so strongly to be dangerous to life within, say, 10 meters?

Does "implosion bomb" exist? I mean is there any compact device that implode so strongly to be dangerous to life within, say, 10 meters? The problem is nothing is known to be small and dense enough to be able to accomulate so much energy so quickly. The only thing close to that is a black hole, which is a super massive body. Then you will have to evauate the efficiency of the body, a household vacuum sucks in a lot of dirt but its usually one of the household items that takes a lot of electricity. Most implosions are not instantenous by nature, which is why they require so much energy. When you have an implosion, you have an entity carrying a huge amount of unstable or stable energy in itself, which is the reverse of all things. Just a thought.

Does "implosion bomb" exist? I mean is there any compact device that implode so strongly to be dangerous to life within, say, 10 meters? As Chatha says - there's no vacuum strong enough to make a very useful or powerful implosion.

What might be called a pseudo implosion however was used in the first atomic bomb (Trinity), where a spherical shaped (O) explosive charge on the outside of the bomb was detonated to compact the several sub-critical pieces of uranium together into a super-critical mass and keep them together long enough for the nuclear reaction to take place.

I believe people have also tried to make diamonds this way too - the pressure and temperature can be high enough to change graphite into (very tiny) diamonds. $$$s!

Does "implosion bomb" exist? I mean is there any compact device that implode so strongly to be dangerous to life within, say, 10 meters?

I would imagine that the kinetic energy of the reaction would be limited by the fact that matter travels first inwards to some point of maximum density before essentially reflecting outwards again. That's just wasted energy.

The most effective way to kill someone is to use an old-fashioned explosion, ie no wasted energy.

Anyway it's all about relative pressure. If a bomb goes off outside your car and the car's internal volume decreases, it could be said to have "imploded" as the pressure outside is significantly greater than the pressure inside. That would increase the pressure inside and may crush you.

:shrug:

Pressure waves are a dangerous component of large explosions. Basically everything in a certain radius is disintigrated because it's fundamental structure cannot withstand the high pressure.

Does "implosion bomb" exist? I mean is there any compact device that implode so strongly to be dangerous to life within, say, 10 meters?
I'm quit certain that a strong enough implosion would fuse any hydrogen in it's center to form a secondairy explosion

All explosions, to a certain extent have an implosion component. Nukes and thermobaric weapons particularly so. But the implosion follows the explosion or detonation - there's a massive outward rush of air away from the epicentre and that's followed some time later by the air coming back into the low-pressure volume that was the centre. But there won't be anything left to get killed by the implosion by that time. :D

All explosions, to a certain extent have an implosion component. Nukes and thermobaric weapons particularly so. But the implosion follows the explosion or detonation - there's a massive outward rush of air away from the epicentre and that's followed some time later by the air coming back into the low-pressure volume that was the centre. But there won't be anything left to get killed by the implosion by that time. :D

that makes a lot of sense, fluids move to an area of low pressure before an area of high pressure, so yes that would be right.:)

But can we actually see the implosion? I think not, because air moves faster than anything I know of, except light and sound of course, so we wouldn't see the implosion unless it was so powerful that the air rushing back caused the shrapnel from whatever was detonated to fly back as well.

So I think the force of the vacuum(low-pressure area) would have to be greater than the force of the detonation to have the shrapnel fly back, that just makes sense.


and on a completely side and off topic note/question...How do I get rid of the thing that says "Registered User(--- posts)" and put something that I want in there? i.e. Positron's "Agony: Not all pain is gain", right next to his avatar.

Positron, You said in sciforums.com that gunpowder will not explode if it is not in a confined space. What is the scientific reason gunpowder will not explode when it is not compressed? Inside fireworks these chemicals are compact together tightly to make them go off.

Chatha, You said in sciforums.com that gunpowder will not explode if it is not in a confined space. What is the scientific reason gunpowder will not explode when it is not compressed? Inside fireworks these chemicals are compact together tightly.

Hi to all who are reading this. What is the scientific reason gunpowder will not explode when it is not compressed? Inside fireworks these chemicals are compact together tightly for them to detonate. I appreciate anyone's knowledge on this topic. I have a feeling this could be a phenomenon.

Sterling

Sterlbo1@hotmail.com

Well, first you have to realize that gunpowder does not explode. It burns. However, it releases a large amount of sulfur dioxide.(a gas) When you contain the Gunpowder, and burn it, all the gas must go somewhere, so it builds up pressure and blows up its container, giving the effect that Gunpowder "explodes"
It is just like putting to much air in a balloon. It blows up. So if you just breathing, nothing happens, but if you put your mouth on a balloon, it explodes. that doesn't mean your breath is explosive.

Explosive chemical reaction occur because one or more chemicals are in a situations were they will undergo a reaction that is self catalyzing without enough regulating mechanism. Lets say you shake nitroglycerine, a enough molecules in the nitroglycerine decay releasing heat and higher products which causes the surround nitroglycerine molecules to decay and thus cause more nitroglycerine molecules to decay, the chain reaction continues experientially until the blast from the sudden release of heat has blown up all the nitroglycerin in your hand... and has taken your hand with it.

But can we actually see the implosion? I think not, because air moves faster than anything I know of, except light and sound of course, so we wouldn't see the implosion unless it was so powerful that the air rushing back caused the shrapnel from whatever was detonated to fly back as well.
You can see it pretty clearly starting around 2:10 in this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BgBNHwR_FQQ

As the blast sphere reaches its maximum diameter it has long since stopped receiving energy from the device that created it. The wall of hot, high pressure gas constitutes a bubbles with a partial vacuum at its center (visible in the cloud chamber effect of the Crossroads Baker test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvjmsU48TSc) of 1946, where the invisible blast wave can be seen as froth on the water as it moves ahead of the vacuum). That gas collapses inward again. When it does, it relinquishes the potential energy it absorbed during its expansion. When it finally meets at the center again, the debris swept up by the collapsing sphere is lofted into the air by its heat in a large columnar draft. The outer wall of the column cools fastest and thus slows its ascent more quickly than the center, peeling away in vortices. This layering effect is the basis of how the characteristic mushroom cloud is formed.

Note that mushroom clouds can occur after any explosion, from an M80 to Castle Bravo. The ones created by nuclear weapons are much larger, so their phenomena is more dramatic and easier to observe.

Edit: nitroglycerine and other high order explosives do not burn in the conventional sense, they detonate. Detonation is supersonic combustion that is initiated mostly by pressure-induced heat rather than heat that propagates through the explosive material via conduction. The velocity of a detonation wave is many orders of magnitude higher than the velocity of deflagration (subsonic burn) in a low order explosive like gunpowder. This leads to a more dramatic pressure gradient which is why high explosives have so much more yield per unit of weight.

No one can still explain the scientific reason why gunpowder will not burn when it is not in a confined space. If any of you were experts I would of had a answer by now.

No one can still explain the scientific reason why gunpowder will not burn when it is not in a confined space. If any of you were experts I would of had a answer by now.

it burns in an unconfined space as well, /thread.

No one can still explain the scientific reason why gunpowder will not burn when it is not in a confined space. If any of you were experts I would of had a answer by now.
Haha, I dare you to fill your palm with Pyrodex and stab it with a match.

Haha, I dare you to fill your palm with Pyrodex and stab it with a match.

Don't say that, He might do it and then sue you!

No one can still explain the scientific reason why gunpowder will not burn when it is not in a confined space. If any of you were experts I would of had a answer by now.

Perhaps because that's a totally incorrect statement/question????? Of course it will burn unconfined!!!

It will just sit there and burn away very quickly once it's been ignited and produce a fairly rapid fire and lot of smoke in the process. Sorry, but that's about THE silliest question I've ever seen here.

No one can still explain the scientific reason why gunpowder will not burn when it is not in a confined space. If any of you were experts I would of had a answer by now.

I presume you mean explode instead of burn.

Because in 'low' explosives like gunpowder (old fashion black powder for example) the flame front travels subsonically. Combustion gasses vent away into the surroundings so no pressure builds up at the flame front. No shock wave. Confinement allows pressure and temp to rise and the burn accelerates. Bang.

High explosives either burn supersonically or can be induced to do so with a relatively small pressure/temp increase. Start a shock wave/supersonic flame front and it will maintain itself untill all the fuel is gone. Loud bang.

ElectricFetus & Read-Only. If gunpower burns in a unconfined space as well, why would gunpowder not burn when a cannon fuse is touching the gunpowder when it was lite? If heat & fire were contacting the gunpowder why would it not burn? This is a mystery I'm trying to solve. I believe Kevinalm has answered these questions. Its a superb explaination on why this would happen.

ElectricFetus & Read-Only. If gunpower burns in a unconfined space as well, why would gunpowder not burn when a cannon fuse is touching the gunpowder when it was lite? If heat & fire were contacting the gunpowder why would it not burn? This is a mystery I'm trying to solve. I believe Kevinalm has answered these questions. Its a superb explaination on why this would happen.

Well, well. Evidently you didn't even understand what Kevin said (he was correct) but you attempt to claim you did. Your continued "mystery" reveals that you didn't grasp ANY of the explanations given.

I'll make ONE more attempt. It most certainly DOES burn - confined or unconfined! It's very simple chemical reactions that any 16-year old should understand if they've been to school.

What Kevin was trying to tell you is that it DOES burn - but much more slowly than compounds that are classified as high explosives. Pour some on a table, touch a match to it and watch it burn - everytime!!!!!!!!

Are you quite certain that you even know the difference between "burn" and "explode?" Rusting/corroding, burning and exploding are all the same chemical reaction - oxidation. The only difference between them (generally speaking) is the speed.

You take a common light bulb, fill it up with gasoline, screw it back into the socket from whence it came, and the next time someone steps into the room to flip the switch shining light on their new issue of Penthouse, they will find they've walked into an explosion and flames will engulf the room.

You take a common light bulb, fill it up with gasoline, screw it back into the socket from whence it came, and the next time someone steps into the room to flip the switch shining light on their new issue of Penthouse, they will find they've walked into an explosion and flames will engulf the room.

Now that's just great!!!!:bugeye: You've just told some stupid kid of 14 how to set his house on fire!

But, thankfully, he probably won't be able to figure out how to do it without breaking the glass in the first place.

You take a common light bulb, fill it up with gasoline, screw it back into the socket from whence it came, and the next time someone steps into the room to flip the switch shining light on their new issue of Penthouse, they will find they've walked into an explosion and flames will engulf the room.

maybe, if there is enough air in the bulb, but gasoline does not burn without oxygen, gunpowder on the other hand burns without air.

No one can still explain the scientific reason why gunpowder will not burn when it is not in a confined space. If any of you were experts I would of had a answer by now.

You damn well better bet I did, you asked me earlier, i answered with this statement:

"Well, first you have to realize that gunpowder does not explode. It burns. However, it releases a large amount of sulfur dioxide.(a gas) When you contain the Gunpowder, and burn it, all the gas must go somewhere, so it builds up pressure and blows up its container, giving the effect that Gunpowder "explodes" It is just like putting to much air in a balloon. It blows up. So if you just breathing, nothing happens, but if you put your mouth on a balloon, it explodes. that doesn't mean your breath is explosive."

If that doesn't answer your question, I don't know what will.

I mean, if I was asking that question right about now, it would be answered.