Leave these fields empty (spam trap):
Name
You can leave this blank to post anonymously, or you can create a Tripcode by using the format Name#Password
Comment
[i]Italic Text[/i]
[b]Bold Text[/b]
[spoiler]Spoiler Text[/spoiler]
>Highlight/Quote Text
[pre]Preformatted & Monospace Text[/pre]
[super]Superset Text[/super]
[sub]Subset Text[/sub]
1. Numbered lists become ordered lists
* Bulleted lists become unordered lists
File

Sandwich

Explosive potential of elemental potassium vs smokeless powder?

Reply
Hide
- Fri, 08 Jan 2021 23:42:52 EST tcCvNWQn No.79986
File: 1610167372205.jpg -(6321B / 6.17KB, 225x225) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Explosive potential of elemental potassium vs smokeless powder?
I watched a YouTube video of a guy that extracted the potassium from a shitload of bananas, resulting in a big chunk (30 grams maybe?) of potassium that he then threw into a lake. POW! SIZZZZZZZLE POW! This got me to wondering how potassium stacks up against modern smokeless powder. Also, shout out to YouTube channel Explosions&Fire, which is a dif YouTube channel but seriously awesome and you should go watch it.

So, can potassium replace gunpowder?
>>
Oliver Settingsadge - Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:55:23 EST ISfiqZPW No.79987 Reply
i would suggest taking an introductory chemistry course before you finish high school
>>
Graham Clannerforth - Tue, 12 Jan 2021 08:51:59 EST vf3lY6IG No.79988 Reply
>>79987
Introductory chemistry will, at best, teach him to identify an exothermic reaction. He'll need to wait until he gets to P.Chem before they start talking about yields and reaction energy.
>>
Jarvis Toothood - Sun, 24 Jan 2021 09:14:32 EST je44jKGZ No.79990 Reply
1611497672687.jpg -(4418671B / 4.21MB, 5312x2988) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.
>>79986
>how potassium stacks up against modern smokeless powder
It doesn't. If it was practical, the military would be using it already.
t. I hand load my own ammo.
>>
Noob - Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:18:51 EST wovb0olt No.79991 Reply
>>79988
Chemistry noob here, how can I self-teach chemistry? I basically know nothing and didn't take chemistry in high school. What resources do you suggest, what kind of learning path I should follow etc.?
>>
Alice Haggledale - Fri, 05 Feb 2021 01:25:11 EST vf3lY6IG No.79992 Reply
>>79991
Grab any Intro to Chemistry book to learn how to read the periodic table, the basics of chemical bonding, and stoichiometry. Then hit up a book on Organic Chemistry to learn a bunch of inane vocabulary but also chemical structures and reaction mechanisms. Then check out a book on Physical Chemistry to learn the rest. Quantitative Chemistry can be skipped if you're not too interested in actually working in a lab or quality-controlling anything. Inorganic Chemistry can be skipped if you're not trying to manufacture silicon wafers or make emeralds in your garage.
You really only need Chemistry 101 and Organic Chemistry 1 to understand the gist of things.
Khan Academy looks like it has a good mix of the basics, as well as the fundamentals of the other mentioned subjects: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry

Just start from the top. The Acid/Base/Titration/Buff sections are Quantitative Chemistry; the Thermodynamics and Kinetics sections are Physical Chemistry, and the Redox and Alkane sections are Organic Chemistry. I can't vouch for this program, though, because I haven't looked any farther than this table of contents. At the least, it can serve as a guide and list of concepts to search up and study independently.
>>
Eugene Clurringson - Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:34:12 EST bJkRintO No.79995 Reply
>>79991
Recommending "Chemistry the Central Science" if you want a book
grab a pdf off of libgen.is
>>
Edwin Bannernick - Sun, 11 Apr 2021 13:19:08 EST yRn5sLX5 No.80018 Reply
>>79986
No. not only is it not nearly as energetic, but firearms work more on gas expansion than concussive force from ignition/detonation. gunpowder (black powder and modern nitrocellulose and other smokeless powders) work by producing a shitload of gas themselves and building big pressures that way rather than displacing air in exploding.

of course, modern rifles are mostly gas operated and most will fire once but not self-load if fed black powder, and especially so with anything that just explodes rather than producing gas.

furhermore, supersonic muzzle velocities are only possible because the gasses propelling the bullet down the bore have a higher speed of sound in that medium in air. this is why supersonic air rifles are uncommon and usually horribly inaccurate, and why people don't cram tannerite or fuckin C4 into a case rather than nitrocellulose. even exotic caseless ammo is more like firework stars or the stuff found in road flares than being a chunk of high explosive.
>>
Bombastus !uYErosQbLM!!Mybq1UbK - Sat, 13 Nov 2021 21:14:38 EST vPbGdL3X No.80093 Reply
>>80018
Good answer.
Anything that explodes instead of defrags can really destroy the vessel. This is common in a lot of makeshift guns in rural Asia and Africa that poachers use where they grind up priming compounds to substitute gunpowder. Don't do this.
>>
C-Higgy !lfsExjBfzE - Sat, 13 Nov 2021 21:17:11 EST 0+4q2B79 No.80094 Reply
>>80093
lol yeah that sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Report Post
Reason
Note
Please be descriptive with report notes,
this helps staff resolve issues quicker.