• Err(()).unwrap()@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    What, pray tell, do you think is in gunpowder? It’s not magic dust that goes bang. It’s a pre-mixed, pre-compressed mixture of fuel and oxidiser. When used in a gun, whether it’s a muzzle-loader or a cartridge, the confined combustion of the mixture generates thermal energy and expanding gases that impart kinetic energy on a moving component (the piston or a projectile). The only difference is that the combustion event in an ICE is subsonic (deflagration) while the combustion in a gun is supersonic (detonation).

    • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      The only difference is that the combustion event in an ICE is subsonic (deflagration) while the combustion in a gun is supersonic (detonation).

      So what you’re saying is there’s a fundamental difference between the two?

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      @Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works is correct.

      I should’ve done my homework before going all “well akshullay 🤓” on them (sorry!).

      The only similarities between the two is that they both are chemical reactions that produce a rapid release of energy. But past that, they are much different in how they get to that point.