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Doug White

"Mach1" wrote in
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"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote in message
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Dave__67 fired this volley in
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I've lit mixtures of H2 and O2 from electrolysis, and the reaction
did not seem nearly as energetic as acetylene and oxygen.

Acetylene has a free gas molecular weight of about 26. Hydrogen, 2.
Oxygen, 32.

67.2L of gas at 2(H2)+1(O2) ratio weighs 34 grams (3 mole volume)
67.2L of gas at 2(C2H2)+10(O2) ratio weighs 93 grams (3 mole volume)

Sooo... The trash bag full of acetylene/O2 has almost 3 times the
mass of the H2/O2 mixture.

Consider what the relative explosive force of three sticks of
dynamite would be vs. one.

LLoyd

It's not the mass of the gas doing the damage but the energy of the
reaction and the speed with which the reaction occurs.

In particular, there is a triple bond in acetylene that stores a LOT of
energy. When that let's go, you get a lot more bang for your buck than
just connecting a couple hydrogen atoms to an oxygen.

Doug White