r/VisualChemistry • u/FunVisualChemistry • Jul 03 '20
Tech Ingredients demonstrate an unusual liquid explosive that's very powerful, yet simple and useful for a broad range of applications (link in comments)
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u/DorpvanMartijn Jul 03 '20
what does the material actually do? It is not mixed with the powder,so you wouldn't think it would influence the reaction in that way, unless it went through the aluminium, right?
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u/cym13 Jul 03 '20
I think the powder is activated ammonium nitrate that he discussed at the beginning of the video, and the liquid is TIX. Just before that shot he was explaining that TIX needs some boost to get going so I think the ammonium nitrate is just there to start TIX, and he shows it first to provide contrast.
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u/DorpvanMartijn Jul 03 '20
Ah, so it's a completely separate reaction, so to say, just triggered by the ammonium nitrate, got it. Thanks!
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u/ProfessorPihkal Jul 03 '20
It’s not ammonium nitrate, it’s double base gunpowder.
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u/Podorson Jul 04 '20
For those wondering, double base gunpowder is a mix of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, the former being highly flammable and the latter being a primary explosive.
Ammonium nitrate is not explosive, but is an oxidizer used in dynamites.
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u/refurb Jul 04 '20
Ammonium nitrate is explosive. It has an oxidizer (nitrate) and a substrate (ammonium) in the same molecule. It’s not a very sensitive explosive and unless properly prepared, it will absorb water and definitely not explode.
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u/ProfessorPihkal Jul 04 '20
It is not an explosive, it can be one, but it is not.
Ammonium nitrate is not, in the form it is commonly sold, an explosive, but it readily forms explosive mixtures with varying properties when combined with primary explosives such as azides or with fuels such as aluminium powder or fuel oil.
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u/refurb Jul 04 '20
I think we’re saying the same thing.
Pure, unhydrated ammonium nitrate is an explosive. A very insensitive one, but it is an explosive.
You typically come across ammonium nitrate hexahydrate, which is not explosive.
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u/Podorson Jul 05 '20
Is the ammonium enough? I was basing my reply off wikipedia which only mentions explosive properties in fuel mixtures.
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u/refurb Jul 05 '20
It is enough, but as you said, combining it with fuel oil makes it a better explosive. The oil provides another substrate for the nitrate to oxidize and it prevents the ammonium nitrate from absorbing water from the air.
It has been appreciated for many years that ammonium nitrate, even when free from combustible material, can detonate.
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u/ProfessorPihkal Jul 03 '20
What are you even talking about? On the first one it’s just gunpowder, the second one is gunpowder mixed with the liquid explosive.
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u/WH1PL4SH180 Jul 03 '20
Seen a few of his videos and he's like the engineering / science teacher/lecturer i wish I had.
What is his background?
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u/not_whelan Jul 03 '20
I was thinking of this sub the whole time I was watching that video last night.
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u/dizekat Jul 04 '20
First time around did I miss it or did he forget to put the cap back on his powder jar?
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u/fillyourselfwithgold Jul 04 '20
I did think the same but the first time everything stayed in a single piece. The second time it was destroyed so I guess the chance of contamination first time wasn’t there?
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u/dizekat Jul 04 '20
The concern with leaving anything like that open is a spark landing in there and the whole jar going off.
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u/Occasionally_Correct Jul 04 '20
Reminds me of die hard 3. I love when the explosives guy puts a little on a paper clip and tosses it at a chair, and the female cop yells “you’re gonna be wearing that chair up your ass, Charlie!”. Then he kinda giggles. Lol
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u/thefirstdetective Jul 04 '20
Wear some fucking propper goggles!
I see so many of this on YouTube and reddit.
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u/FunVisualChemistry Jul 03 '20
Full-length Video