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Re: energy conversion [was "exploding wire"]



Original poster: FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx In a message dated 6/16/06 5:00:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:

>When 2.1 MJoules is converted to nutritional calories, it
>comes out to a mere 500 calories, which means a 1 lb. loaf of bread
>actually has about 3X the latent energy of 1 lb. of explosive, since
>a 1 lb. loaf of bread checks in at around 1500 to 1600 calories!
Don't forget you're comparing apples to oranges - almost all explosives are "oxygenated" fuels. In the case of TNT or NG, the oxygen is there at the molecular level, taking up valuable weight. The oxidizer to "burn" bread comes from the air, and isn't factored into the weight of the bread. Explosives still work in a vacuum, but you can't burn bread without an oxidizer.

>Of course, 1 lb. of bread takes many hours or days to be "burned
>off" by the body where the pound of dynamite releases all of its
>energy within a few milli/seconds. The destructive potential of
>energy release all depends on how rapidly the potential energy
>is released ;^)

I once heard that the energy released during the launch of the old Saturn V rockets was comparable to that released by the atom bombs dropped on Japan. I worked out the numbers, and surprisingly it was true. Of course, Cape Canaveral didn't get "nuked" because the slower release of energy doesn't creat blast effects, and most of it is released throughout the atmosphere on the way up. By the same token, there's enough radioactivity in the average building brick to melt it if it were released all at once, instead of over billions of years.

-Phil LaBudde