[HN Gopher] Life after detonation (2012)
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Life after detonation (2012)
Author : areoform
Score : 47 points
Date : 2023-07-04 22:38 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.sciencemadness.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.sciencemadness.org)
| stevespang wrote:
| Erythritol tetranitrate (ETN) - - cousin of PETN, for which the
| detonation velocity of ETN is just above 8,000 meters per second
| - - while PETN det vel is about 8,300 meters per second plus,
| which is in the top 90% of highest velocity detonation velocities
| available from high explosives.
|
| ETN is about 3 times more sensitive than PETN and is more
| sensitive to friction than the former mentioned compound. The
| decomposition of ETN is oxygen positive: C4H6N4O12 - 4 CO2 + 3
| H2O + N2 + 3/2 O.
|
| Why would any professional mess around with something that is 3x
| more sensitive than PETN ? Easier synthesis perhaps, but life
| changing or ending, if it detonates accidentally
|
| PETN is the preferred explosive in the widely used "det cord",
| likely for a good reason, at 3x less sensitive.
| K0balt wrote:
| You still need an initiator to set off PETN. He was making a
| primary explosive, which is needed to make an initiator or
| blasting cap.
|
| Primary explosives are, as a rule, (and to perform their
| function) easy to set off, typically with heat or minor impact
| alone.
|
| PETN just burns if you set it on fire. ETN detonates, which is
| what you want when you are building an electric initiator.
|
| Making primary explosives is always sketchy business, since a
| spark or minor impact is often enough to set them off.
| sidewndr46 wrote:
| from what I understand this is the mystery of the Alfred P
| Murrah building bombing. There was never any conclusion as to
| how the torpex acting as the primary explosive was obtained.
| moralestapia wrote:
| I would actually expect professionals to come close to these
| kind of things more regularly. Seems like he left his guard
| down a little bit after working for years on these things.
| twelve40 wrote:
| and here we are complaining about bringing down production...
| kazinator wrote:
| > _the cause of the accident turned out to be the Chinese
| knockoff beaker_
|
| That's my takeaway here.
| twelve40 wrote:
| by following the 5 whys analysis technique, it appears that the
| actual root cause of this accident is "trying stupid shit at
| home"... (maybe just buy some firecrackers for the reenactment
| next time? no pressing need to cook them at home Breaking Bad
| style...)
| JohnMakin wrote:
| > What I should have done right then was drop to the floor and
| cover my ears. I'd give my left nut to be able to time travel
| back 2 years and do that.
|
| Or his left hand, as it were.
| twelve40 wrote:
| seems like a bit more, the left hand+eardrums+right thumb are
| mentioned... a pretty intense tradeoff :thinking_face:
| Wojtkie wrote:
| Yeah, losing your thumb on the only hand you have left is
| rough. There are prosthetics, but the thumb is extremely
| important for overall functionality of the hand.
| adhesive_wombat wrote:
| > Instead of being made with Pyrex borosilicate glass, it was
| cheap soda-lime glass that couldn't stand up to heating. I never
| noticed the difference.
|
| American-made[1] "genuine" Pyrex is now also soda-lime, so just
| the name isn't proof enough any more, at least for cookware
| rather than labware.
|
| [1]: and I think some stuff found in the UK, as I have a Pyrex-
| brand jugs and dishes that have got a distinct blue hue when seen
| edge-on.
| aidfobnaiosrnio wrote:
| Remember, kids, the purpose of trademarks is to prevent
| consumer confusion! When a person buys PYREX(r), they know it's
| a name they can trust.
| fmajid wrote:
| No, the lab-grade stuff is still borosilicate, only the
| consumer products were gimped.
| AlbertCory wrote:
| After I just watched the Mythbusters episode where they show some
| experiments that you _can_ do at home.
|
| One of the ones you _can 't_ is mixing water with dry ice. They
| put a rubber "hand" near a soda bottle, which they then fill up
| and cap tightly in the way you shouldn't do.
|
| The damage to the "hand" was really impressive.
| [deleted]
| techbro92 wrote:
| This was almost me after I lit off 3lbs of thermite. It instantly
| reacted and the heat blast burned off 5% of my skin. I got very
| lucky and completely recovered though.
| twelve40 wrote:
| offtopic, but I love such old-school niche forums, there used to
| be so many diverse communities out there... Probably mostly wiped
| out by one and only Reddit by now : (
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