🚀 go-pugleaf

>I urge you not to try this experiment at home. Blackpowder is a primary
>explosive rather than a flamable solid. It can explode *unconfined*
>when ignited in amounts of 1 pound or more. That explosion will be more
>intense than that of a similar amount of dynamite, which will also 
>explode unconfined. To dispose of blackpowder safely by burning, you
>must spread it thinly along the ground in trains and ignite only one
>end, allowing it to burn *slowly* with the heat rapidly conducted away
>by the large mass of air to which it is exposed.

You are totally wrong!  Black powder is NOT a primary explosive.  It will
NOT "detonate" if burned in the open.  It will not "detonate" if it is placed
in a conceal container such as a bullet casing and ignited.  All BP does is
deflagrate and produce a large quantity of gasses.  Do you understand the
difference between detonation and deflagration?  The only way to possiblly
get black powder to detonate is with a very powderfull detonation to start
the process.  It is extremly difficult and blasting caps will not do it.  You
may be thinking of nitrocellulose or "gun powder" it can be made to detonate,
but again that is extremely difficult.  A substance is said to detonate if
the rate of probagation of the burning front through the substance is faster
the the speed of sound.  A substance is said to deflagrate when it burn
slower than the speed of sound and does not produce a large shock wave which
is the result of detonation.

There is no way you can compare black powder and TNT.  TNT is a primary
explosive, but you still need some sort of a shock wave to initiate it.  
Placing a match to TNT itself will not detontate it, aloughth I would not
do that!

Black powder is not a primary explosive!

-- 

             Daniel Joseph Rubin     rubin@cis.ohio-state.edu 
     
                       GO BENGALS!      GO BUCKS!