Why do some things explode instead of simply burn?
In: Chemistry
Its about how quickly they can react with oxygen
Wood slowly burns because only the outside of the wood is exposed to the oxygen in the air, there is no free oxygen to allow the middle of the wood to burn until the outer layer has burned away
Now if you powderize that wood and fluff that dust up in the air then it can explode, because now all of the wood is exposed to oxygen at the same time so one spark can light a piece of dust which lights its neighbors which light their neighbors and the whole thing goes up in a big [dust explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion)
Generally things we make that we want to explode include their own oxydizer (source of oxygen). They contain a compound that will break down and give off oxygen that can be reacted with when exposed to heat providing oxygen to the inside of the fuel so that all of it can combust very quickly causing a detonation rather than a deflagration.
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