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3 votes
3 answers
1k views

Could an airborne swarm of small insects explode? [closed]

I know that fine-grained organic matter such as flour or pollen can be quite explosive if ignited. It also seems logical to me that the explosiveness of such an organic powder is determined by many ...
paulina's user avatar
  • 159
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

How explosive is benzene compared to TNT?

Benzene is explosive within the explosive limits of minimum $\pu{1.2 \%}$ and maximum of $\pu{7.8 \%}$ in air. Source: Wikipedia More accurate, benzene itself is not explosive, but the fuel-air mixer ...
Bernard's user avatar
  • 159
4 votes
1 answer
3k 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? ...
Kevin's user avatar
  • 151
13 votes
2 answers
1k views

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 ...
ringo's user avatar
  • 24.1k
2 votes
2 answers
684 views

What happens when an explosion can't lead to volume increase of the thermodynamic system?

What if an explosion is not able to exit the container? Take a pipe bomb for example; assuming that the pipe bomb was hypothetically made out of such a strong material that the explosion is not able ...
Ramires's user avatar
  • 21