What is dynamite? How does it work?

Dynamite is a type of chemical explosive. Discover how explosives from gasoline to dynamite work in this episode of BrainStuff.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Brainstuff from house Stuff Works dot com where
smart happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, what
is dynamite and how does it work? Dynamite is one
example of a chemical explosive, and explosive is anything that,

(00:24):
once ignited, burns extremely rapidly and produces a large amount
of hot gas in the process. The hot gas expands
very quickly and applies pressure. Other explosives that you commonly
hear about our nitroglycerin and TNT, but anything from gasoline
to ammonium nitrate fertilizer to special plastic explosives are in

(00:45):
the same class. Gasoline is what we are probably most
familiar with, so let's start with it. Gasoline is made
up of hydrogen and carbon atoms in chains. If you
ignite a quantity of gasoline, it burns dreamly rapidly. Oxygen
in the air combines with the hydrogen and carbon atoms
to create CO two gas and H two O vapor,

(01:08):
along with a lot of heat. In large quantities, the
hot expanding gas creates an expanding pressure wave that can
blow things apart or in an engine provide useful work.
Most true explosives contain the oxygen they need for burning
inside the chemical This allows burning to occur much more quickly. Nitroglycerin,

(01:30):
for example, contains carbon and hydrogen like gasoline, but also
oxygen and a little nitrogen. The carbon and the hydrogen
combined with that oxygen and the nitrogen is liberated. Dynamite
is simply some sort of absorbent material, like sawdust soaked
in nitroglycerin. The absorbent material makes the nitroglycerin much more stable.

(01:53):
You normally use a blasting cap to detonate dynamite. A
blasting cap creates a small explosion that triggers the larger
explosion in the dynamite itself. Be sure to check out
our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how
staffork staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing
possibilities of tomorrow. The hou stefforks iPhone app has arrived.

(02:17):
Download it today on iTunes.