In article ,
says...

On Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:05:53 +0100, Terry Casey
wrote:



Why do flour mills explode?

The same reason that explosions occurred in some cotton mills.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion

I should really have posed the question: Why was smoking forbidden in
flour mills?

However, the experiment would fail if you filled the funnel with cotton
wool ...

.... unless you know of a way to carry out the same experiment for cotton
using materials commonly found in the average household ...

.... I know that 7lb biscuit tins aren't around any more but my timescale
reasonable matched that of the original post ...


Connect a funnel to a (longish) length of tubing.
Block the bottom of the funnel with a loose plug of tissue and pour
flour into the funnel.
Place a lighted candle on the top of a wall or similar, a couple of
inches from the edge.
Hold funnel against wall and place 7lb biscuit tin or similar over both
candle and funnel, so that funnel is held in place btween tin and wall.
Blow sharply down tubing.
The tin may travel some considerable distance, so stand well clear!


EXPLAIN

--

Terry