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Re: Better bottle caps





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> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Better bottle caps
> Date: Sunday, May 28, 2000 12:12 PM
> 
> Original Poster: "Metlicka Marc" <mystuffs-at-orwell-dot-net> 
> 
> yes al. powder has a very high energy potential. in fact it is one of
> the main ingredients in flash powder. i'm not shure i would want to add
> high v and high fre. current to it in the presence of oxygen.

I wouldn't use it as a powder in air, but I'd use it in some carrier, like
varnish.


 1/4 oz
> mixed with the right ingreadient(i will not go into this for fear of
> accidents) is equal to one stick of tnt.

Plainly not true... Most fuels (TNT included) are around 5 MJ/kg energy,
with perhaps a 2:1 variation.  1/4 oz (7 grams) of Al powder would make a
nice flash, but equivalent to 1/2 kilo (450 grams) of TNT?  not a chance. 
(FWIW TNT is 828 kcal/mol heat of combustion, but only 250 kcal/mol for
detonation.. total heat output is around 570 kcal/mol (including the
combustion of the detonation reaction products)... mol wt is 227 g/mol, for
abou 2.5 kcal/gram.. 1 kcal = about 4 kJoule, so figure 10 MJ/kg)

Even if you were to mix the aluminum with Fluorine or Oxygen, you wouldn't
get that much energy out.... BTW, TNT doesn't come in sticks like dynamite
did (when they still made the stuff). Blocks would be more common.

See more on specious energy comparisons (including the old saw about
gasoline and dynamite) at http://home.earthlink-dot-net/~jimlux/energies.htm


> please be careful, iron powder would be a better trial setup.

Iron powder is just as flammable as aluminum powder, as are most finely
divided metals.  In fact it is possible to make pyrophoric iron, which
burns in contact with air.

Fear mongering does us no good.. We have enough problems in tesla coiling
with the real (and perceived) safety problems without adding false problems
to the list.