4 ms·
It is not. Nitroglycerin doesn't have the capacity to detonate (necessary for triggering the main charge). Detonators (the acceleration charge you mention) are
by chemeril 4y ago
It is not. Nitroglycerin doesn't have the capacity to detonate (necessary for triggering the main charge). Detonators (the acceleration charge you mention) are usually an explosive train starting with a sensitive primary like lead azide moving up to a secondary or pseudosecondary output charge like PETN.
- lazide 4y agoOh man lol. Nitroglycerin most certainly has the power to initiate even a insensitive explosive like RDX, PETN, etc. It's detonation velocity is ~ 7700m/s. It's just very unstable which is why it isn't used raw. A jostle or turning the stopper on the bottle it's in can set it off. The less pure it is, the more dangerous it is. It's detonation velocity is twice as high as lead azide for instance. Nitrocellulose can also be detonated with a properly brisant primary charge, which nitroglycerin is quite capable of being. Typically Nitrocellulose (aka gun cotton, and the primary ingredient in most smokeless powders) won't detonate on it's own, but it's a very different beast from nitroglycerin. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_explosive_detonation_velocities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_explosive_detonation_...]
- chemeril 4y agoGP's comment was referencing nitrocellulose, which is what I was attempting to address but fatfingered to 'nitroglycerin'. Forgive the typo.
- giantg2 4y agoThe diagram shows a detonator and an acceleration charge. That's why I was wondering what the acceleration charge was.