Fuels, Explosives and Propellants: What's the difference?

The concept of fuel is part of our living since the discovery of fire, and in modern life it is more important than ever, allowing planes to fly, cars to drive, and powering all sorts of machinery. Yet very often the way they work is ignored.

Take the following questions for example: “What makes a fuel better than others? Is Jet fuel more powerful than regular car fuel? Can the fuel in a tank explode, and if so, why don’t we use them in place of explosives? What’s the difference between a fuel and an explosive? And what about propellants, are they the same as explosives, or fuels?”

Even if you ask these to a lot of people, very likely you won’t get a conclusive answer to any of them. Yet, there is a very elegant and simple explanation that can not only make you able to answer all of those questions, but also understand the true essence of fuels, explosives and propellants.

No matter if you’re interested in engines, rockets, firearms or explosives, this guide still relates to you, since the underlying phenomena are the same. Whatever your knowledge background is, what you’re about to learn is a perfectly fitting piece of the puzzle that you didn’t know existed. So let’s get started!

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The ElementalMaker kindly provided some footage I used for this video. Check his channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ElementCollector1001

Видео Fuels, Explosives and Propellants: What's the difference? канала Backyard Ballistics