From: Spike Jones (spike66@attglobal.net)
Date: Wed Feb 21 2001 - 21:10:12 MST
> >{which I dont know for sure is true}among explosives experts:
> >there is more chemical energy in a twinky than in a hand grenade. spike
>
> [Chuck Kuecker] wondered about ethylene oxide since the 1960's when I saw it
> ...
> As a high school chemistry student then, I could not understand how you
> could "oxidize" something without completely burning it. I guess that says
> something about public schools (and teenage laziness...) Chuck Kuecker
Chuck you surely have at some time heard of what kills proles who
run a detroit in their garage, eh? It isnt suffocation from lack of oxygen,
{for the engine would quit before they would} its carbon monoxide
poisoning. The production of carbon monoxide in an engine is an
example of something burning but not completely.
In shock wave mechanics {in which Im not claiming to be a guru}
the magic is in instantaneously converting the liquid or solid into
a gas. Consider this molecule: CH2NO3CHNO3CH2NO3,
carries a lotta oxygen, carries nitrogen with it, so that if this
liquid instantly converts to nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water,
{which happens in the absence of any gas} you get the shock
waves associated with the kerBOOM. The fact that nitroglycerine
is carrying its own oxygen is the key to its violent behavior. spike
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