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2 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

Amusement factor aside, dynamite is supposed to be very stable. Impacts aren't normally enough to set it off. I wonder if the mule's shoe struck sparks or something.

Dynamite can "sweat" Nitro, so maybe ...TNT is super stable, and replaced dynamite for the reason.

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8 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

Amusement factor aside, dynamite is supposed to be very stable. Impacts aren't normally enough to set it off. I wonder if the mule's shoe struck sparks or something.

 

Dynamite, specifically, is an explosive composed of nitroglycerin absorbed in diatomaceous earth. It's actually well known for being unstable and subject to shock detonation. According to Wikipedia, "Dynamite is moderately sensitive to shock. Shock resistance tests are usually carried out with a drop-hammer: about 100 mg of explosive is placed on an anvil, upon which a weight of between 0.5 and 10 kilograms (1.1 and 22.0 lb) is dropped from different heights until detonation is achieved.[8] With a hammer of 2 kg, mercury fulminate detonates with a drop distance of 1 to 2 cm, nitroglycerin with 4 to 5 cm, dynamite with 15 to 30 cm, and ammoniacal explosives with 40 to 50 cm."

 

This is a huge improvement over raw nitroglycerin, and is enough to make dynamite "safe enough" for peacetime use, especially with the lower workplace safety standards of the past.

 

If you think that dynamite is very stable and shock-INsensitive, you're probably thinking of TNT, which popular culture commonly confuses with dynamite since they're both high explosives available in stick form. TNT is so stable that . . . well, here, let me quote Wikipedia again: "TNT was first prepared in 1863 by German chemist Julius Wilbrand and originally used as a yellow dye. Its potential as an explosive was not recognized for three decades, mainly because it was too difficult to detonate and because it was less powerful than alternatives. Its explosive properties were first discovered by another German chemist, Carl Häussermann, in 1891. TNT can be safely poured when liquid into shell cases, and is so insensitive that it was exempted from the UK's Explosives Act 1875 and was not considered an explosive for the purposes of manufacture and storage."

 

TNT and dynamite are considered synonyms by Looney Tunes, but they're different substances with different characteristics. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

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On 6/25/2020 at 11:16 PM, Zeropoint said:

TNT and dynamite are considered synonyms by Looney Tunes, but they're different substances with different characteristics. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

 

Are you calling us looney-tunes?! :bmk:

 

:winkgrin: Thank you for the clarification.

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