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-4 votes
1 answer
45 views

Does gunpowder (black powder) melt when heated?

I was just watching a video about yellow powder (similar formula to black powder, but with potassium carbonate instead of charcoal), and I was wondering: Does regular black powder melt (and ...
Tzalumen's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
310 views

Why does Red Phosphorus react so violently with an oxidizer like Potassium Chlorate?

In Armstrong's Mixture, mixing those two chemicals results in a friction sensitive explosive which produces a loud bang. According to wikipedia, it is made by adding a strong oxidizer to red ...
jamieoliverswag's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
852 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 ...
KO the typo's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
299 views

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? ...
soumya's user avatar
  • 133
8 votes
3 answers
975 views

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 ...
SF.'s user avatar
  • 631
3 votes
1 answer
295 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 ...
Hélène's user avatar
  • 131
5 votes
2 answers
10k views

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 ...
tschoppi's user avatar
  • 10.9k
6 votes
0 answers
159 views

Methylation of perchlorate

I am exploring (non-experimentally!) the methylation of a perchlorate precursor, either the acid or pre-existing salts, to produce the alkali methyl perchlorate. The methylating agent would be methane ...
Dave's user avatar
  • 83
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

What really happens atomically in an explosion?

Let's say a room is filled with butane, I then throw a cigarette into the room. What happens to the atoms/molecules of the butane when they are in contact with the heat from the cigarette?
wtoh's user avatar
  • 267