I think I’m being stupid or overthinking this, but if for example, you’re burning in a controlled manner, a bottle of propane in a burner producing a slow burning flame, and then you ignite the entire bottle causing it to explode, are these both examples of combustion? Is an explosion just really really rapid combustion? If so, where is the line drawn between these terms and how is the chemistry different? Or have I misunderstood these terms?
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Combustion is a rapid reaction of a substance with oxygen resulting in heat and light. More or less burning.
An explosion is a significant pressure wave of gas expanding rapidly. Pedantically speaking we do not need combustion for there to be an explosion. (ie a highly pressurized container containing even non flammable gas will “explode” if the container is breached – a large balloon if you will)
However, one of the easiest way (we have found) to create an explosion is to rapidly combust an amount of material while providing it with some kind of oxygen source. The combustion must release sufficient heat very quickly that the gas it produces and the nearby surrounding air expands rapidly enough that it causes a large pressure increase thereby resulting in an explosion.
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