> On Tue, 20 Feb 2001, Chuck Kuecker wrote:
>
> > I never did understand "ethylene oxide". Seems like a compound without the
> > added oxygen would give a bigger bang for the buck...like propane. What's
> > the advantage of the oxide?
>
> Eugene Leitl wrote: Combustion enthalpy is only part of the ticket, what
> exactly ethylene
> (and propylene) oxide does, I recommend asking google for FAE and oxide.
Thats right. If the thing you are looking for is bang for the buck, the
critical factor is not how *much* energy is released, but rather how
quickly it is released. In explosions, the shock wave is the thing
that counts, not the total amount of heat. The canonical example
{which I dont know for sure is true}among explosives experts:
there is more chemical energy in a twinky than in a hand grenade. spike
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