🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec22.214616.27043@fcom.cc.utah.edu>, bbarkey@lark.utah.edu (Brian Barkey) writes:
>>You haven't been listening have you?
>>It doesn't matter what form the flywheel takes after disintegration.
>>It could even turn into a gas or sub-atomic particles.  What causes the
>>BOOM is all of that kinetic energy being turned into heat.
>>
>	And gasoline isn't explosive? 
No, pure gasoline is *NOT* explosive.  Hell, pure gasoline isn't even
flammable.  You see, you've got to mix it with air.  I don't recall the
proportions for actual gasoline, but if we were talking about iso-octane
(C8H18), we'd want to burn that to produce 4CO2 + 9H2O, which means we'd need
8.5 times as much oxygen, (42.5 times as much air) as gasoline vapor, by
volume, or 2.38 times as much oxygen (10.7 times as much) air as gasoline, by
weight.  Now, getting this particular mixture by chance, and having the air and
gasoline thoroughly mixed, is no simple task (that's why fuel/air bombs aren't
all that common as weapons:  they're REAL finicky).

>	I may be mistaken but any power source capable of propelling
>	a ton or more at speeds greater than 50 mph for hundreds of 
>	miles must have a significant amount of energy in it. 

Though the gasoline contains lots of energy, it's damned near impossible to
extract all that energy in under a second out-of-doors.  So we're comparing the
failure of a flywheel (which would, for flywheels spinning at the speeds in
question, take less than a second) with burning the gasoline over a period of
many minutes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.