Can anyone distinguish the difference between burning and exploding?

Answer 1

Burning is an oxidation reaction that emits heat and light (i.e. a flame).

Explosion is a sudden expansion in which the rate of expansion is usually faster than the speed of sound. This creates a shock wave which gives a loud bang.

Although the two can occur simultaneously, one can occur without the other. For example:

A ruptured fire extinguisher containing carbon dioxide under pressure will explode without burning. A candle wick will burn without exploding.

Answer 2

From a mechanical standpoint, exploding is rapid, uncontrolled, spontanious burning. If you've every heard your car ping, that's the fuel-air mixture exploding across a good portion of the combustion chamber. Normally the spark plug ignites the mixture and the resulting flamefront travels progressively in a controlled manner from the point of ignition until it reaches the outer edges of the combustion chamber. Think of the way the line of fire travels in a forest fire and you get the idea. Sure, in the engine it only takes milliseconds but the idea is the same. When the engine pings, the spark plug may initiate the flame, but the resulting heat increases the pressure and temperature of the remaining fuel-air mixture until the entire volume of unburned mixture ignites spontaniously. The pinging sound is actually the sound of the shock wave created by the sudden explosion. Pinging can melt pistons in a hurry because the shock wave disperses the the tiny layer of gas that normally insulates the 1200 degree fire from the 800 degree melting point pistons. Hope that answers your question without being too technical.

Answer 3

I assume you're talking about burning vs. exploding fuel in an engine. It has to do how fast the gases expand. Burning is slower, while exploding is faster. In the context of a car or airplane engine, they're both made of big metal parts that can only react so quickly. If the gasoline explodes in the cylinder, the resultant gases expand so fast the piston can't move in response. The result is that not much power is transferred to the output shaft and propeller; but that energy has to go somewhere, so it ends up doing damage to the pistons and (I believe especially) the connecting rods.

But when it burns it's expanding slow enough the rest of the engine can keep up, which means all that power is transferred to the prop where you want it.

Answer 4

In chemistry we are taught when something burns it has a flame front. The edge of the flame moves and progresses when something explodes it happens so violently and fast it has no flame front

Answer 5

You can control burning, but you cannot control exploding. Ever tried to put out an explosion?

Answer 6

Wood burns. Bombs explode.

Answer 7

Burning-Combustion is controlled and slow.
exploding-Combustion is uncontrolled and sudden.

Answer 8

look up the two words in a good dictionary like Cambridge

Answer 9

Fires burn, bombs explode... flammable does not always equal explosive

Answer 10

I think most everyone over the age of 10 knows the difference....how old are you??