Lighting Some Leaves On Fire.
by Noerdy
WHAT THE FUCK NAPALM SHIT IS THIS
Hey kids, let’s learn about organic decay!
You see, when organic matter such leaves breaks down, it produces a whole variety of primary and secondary products. Some of those products are innocuous, but quite a number of them are very volatile. And as we all know, volatility is what would make a pile of leaves burst aflame like that.
In the case of leaves and wood, when it decays, two of the biggest primary components are formed as water is separated – gaseous oxygen, and gaseous hydrogen. There’s a number of catalyst processes that cause it to occur (heating is amongst the biggest), which can be harnessed to our advantage —or as demonstrated here— disadvantage.
Hydrogen has an energy density of close to 4 times that of jet fuel (Jet A, 141.86MJ/kg vs. 42.8MJ/kg), and as such, is incredibly volatile. Add a spark and some oxygen, and well…
I wonder if this was ever used as an ancient war tactic?
Added to the tactical lexicon of my planned fantasy epic.
science side of tumblr and historical literature side of tumblr working in perfect harmony
“aw, haha, look at the enemy soldiers, playing in the autumn leaves! and watch the rake it up around us, the suckers.”
Three weeks later, FOOM
