C-4 Explosions

You read it in the news almost everyday. Bomb blasts occur very frequently in recent times especially in Central Asia. I'm sure you've heard of an explosive "C-4" playing a part in these explosives.

Firstly, explosives are substances which burn quickly producing a lot of heat and light. Most explosives have a detonator which produces shock waves to induce the combustion of the material to emit high amounts of pressure causing heat and light.

Talking specifically about what C-4 is, the 'C' stands for 'Composition'. The C-4 is mainly composed of cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine, popularly known as RDX which makes up 91% of the explosive. RDX is mainly available in the powdered form.

Large amounts of energy is required to set of the explosive. Lighting it with a match stick would take more time than you would imagine to set it of. Even using a gun to trigger it of would not do much. Use of a detonator or a blasting cap is compulsory.

The detonator transfers the shock from the control to the explosive to set it of. The explosion is caused by the expansion of gases mostly nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The gases expand at the rate of a whooping 26,400 feet per second (approximately).

Unfortunately, ever since the discovery of C-4, it's been continuing to make the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years.