Why does dynamite sweat and why does it make it more dangerous when most explosives become more reactive as they dry?
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IIRC, the “sweat” from dynamite is actually nitroglycerin, which is that thing that goes boom when you shake it.
That’s why old dynamite is dangerous, because it’s too unstable to transport without extra precautions.
Because dynamite contains nitroglycerin, which is a sensitive liquid explosive. It’s oily and doesn’t dry, but over time it can migrate out of the substance used to absorb and desensitize it.
Nitroglycerin is a thick liquid that really REALLY wants to violently explode. Like look at it the wrong way and it will explode levels of really keen.
To calm it down and make it safe to transport we mix it with something boring and stable like clay. Then we pack the mix in a tube and those tubes are what we call dynamite, and they are relatively safe to work with.
However over time the liquid nitroglycerin can seep out of the clay and then it goes back to being really keen to explode.
A bonus fact is this clay business was invented by a guy called Alfred Nobel, after whom the Nobel prizes are named.
Dynamite consists of nitroglycerine absorbed in a stabilizer. Dynamite “sweating” is the nitroglycerine separating from the stabilizer. That’s not good, because nitroglycerine is extremely sensitive to pressure.
Sweating is a problem in a lot of explosives, with reactive ingredients leaking out of the mixture and forming crystals (fragile crystals that when broken produce enough kinetic energy to set off an explosion)
The fun thing to do with sweating dynamite is to run your finger down the side collecting some of the ‘dew’ and then flicking it off in the direction of some object or the ground and enjoying the little explosion when it contacts the object or ground. I suppose sometimes the results can be more profound and less enjoyable but shit happens, still worth it.
A good analogy is like how natural peanut butter separates over time. Here, the peanut oil is nitroglycerin, and the compacted mass of peanut particles is the stabilizing clay.
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They don’t sweat water, they sweat concentrated boom juice. Nitroglycerin, which is the explosive ingredient in dynamite, while the other ingredients are mostly there to make it stable.
The process is caused by the dynamite being exposed to water/humidity, but it’s not water that is seeping out.
Well apparently shelf life of a dynamite stick is about 6 months. After that it’s explosive potential rapidly drops.
Thanks womble for that knowledge
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