CJ 421 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Ammonium Nitrate, Anfo
29 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
What fire is and how it works. Forensic techniques used to distinguish between accidental fires and arsons. Difference between an explosion and a fire is the rate of reaction. The rate of reaction is the key. Can move from this to a gaseous state really, really fast! We are not going to talk about nuclear explosions. 2 phases to an explosion: positive wave and negative wave. Once the gas gets out and starts to dissipate, we have a momentary vacuum (which nature doesn"t like) because it pushes all the air out of the way. Then all the air comes back and you have another wave. All this happens before we can process it normally. Thousands of miles an hour and hundred of tons/inch. Ex: gunpowder, anfo (ammonium nitrate and fuel oil) A large shockwave and does a lot of work/has a lot of energy to it. In a sweet spot between fire and a huge explosion.
