I have heard that an explosion can best be summed up as energy trying to stabilize itself. Is this true?
915265
That's A way of looking at it, but it's not technically accurate.  \n\nAn explosion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion ) is really two things, a rapid increase in volume and energy, followed by dispersion of the overpressure, heat, and ejecta.\n\nNote that turning on a gas burner can be consided to be an explosion, although it's more detailed description is a deflagration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflagration ), while the more common connotation is a detonation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detonation ), wherein the pressure waves are supersonic.\n\nThe second part is the dispersion, which can be modeled with Fick's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fick%27s_law ).
89665
Anti-matter colliding with matter is the most powerful mass to energy reaction.  The problem is that we have not yet managed to produce anti-matter in large enough amounts to make it available and "stable" enough to be used safely.
861306
To release the energy contained in fuels, you generally have to apply energy, or "ignite" the fuel. For a log of wood, for example, you would put a fire underneath it of paper or smaller wood. For a gasoline engine, you would use a spark plug and compression to start the release of the fuel's energy. In an atomic (hydrogen) bomb, the Manhattan project detonated many conventional explosives in a sphere around the nuclear fuel to super-compress and heat the Hydrogen, which then blew up.\n\nIn all the above reactions, heat energy contained in the chemical bonds of the fuel was released by the application of "starter" energy either in the form of heat or compression (or both).
488316
It is the transfer of energy through a medium, in your question, water is the medium through which the energy is absorbed and dissipated. The mass in motion crosses the barrier of a gas (air) and is transferred into a Liquid (water). The two states of matter of three possible (solid, Liquid & gas) collide and the energy is read in a sine. It is no different in understanding a sine wave pictuered on a scope when we study electricity. The water shows one half of the wave, the other is in the air and that you can not see. Energy moves faster via the gas. If you watch a detenation of explosives such as in the minning of ores, the shock wave can be seen racing along the gound from the epic. The sublevel absorbs the energy and fractures the Earth. The above ground energy rattles your head. Since the energy is transfered equally in all directions is the "why " for the circle. If you really want to put some thought into this...it explains why Galixies and Solar systems are flat disks in space.
544947
It contains energy, the ability to do work. The energy is released in the form of force doing work by moving. You could make a stick of dynamite "contain force" by compressing it, but that's not really safe!
1076167
Because it might explode
229013
If you heated a tank of compressed helium, the pressure might be enough to cause the tank to burst. The tank would become a missile (Newton's 3 law) and slam into whatever was opposite the breach.
1115151
Suppose you are collecting Uranium 238, because you want to build a better bomb.  If you were stupid enough to pile it in one place, eventually you would have enough to start a self-sustaining reaction and it would melt down.\n\nThe amount required to maintain a self-sustaining reaction is called "critical mass".\n\nFission is when you split heavy atoms, uranium or plutonium, to make lighter atoms.\n\nFusion is when you combine very light atoms, deuterium I believe, to make something heaver, like helium.  It takes a lot of evergy to get a fusion reaction going.
680487
Although I love Einstein, E-mc2 is only a THEORY.  I think you need to look back to the creationism THEORIES of the Big Bang, Quantum theory, Universal theory, String theory.  Engery is neither created or destroyed.  We get engery to use because of lost energy in other reactions.  Combustion has a lot of energy in the form of heat and light. etc....
190711
Well my friend, two theories come into play here.\n1) Things in motion tend to stay in motion.\n2) Energy cannot be created or destroyed\nTherefore, one or both of the objects (depending of the structure and integrity of the objects) will suffer severe or absolute damage as the transfer of kenetic energy to solid matter occurs. (Depending on the speed and velocity)Whether you think so or not, one obect will move or one object will stop.
957877
Meteors can vaporize and break apart, thus "explode".  That is probably what you saw.
778997
It can collapse if the walls get wet then slump down or if the supports fail.  I think explosions occur when there is gas found.
832688
i would say an explosion is the RAPID release of a gas or gasses having a greater volume than the initial components.\n\nfor example a couple drops of gasoline and a few cubic inches of air produce many times the volume if hot gas.\n\nNow the question, is this an explosion? It supposed to be a slow burning. A diesel engine, on the other hand DETONATES the fuel air mixture.\n\nBut to answer your question more directly, the FORCE of an explosion is a result of the pressure of the gasses expanding to equalixe with atmospheric pressure.\n\nThe speed of an explosion is called BRISANCE. Military explosives are charactorized by very high brisance, or shock. Working explosives, like prill or dynamite release their energy more slowly, giving more pushing force in a hard-rock mine, for example.\n\nSo an explosion may be charactorized as the SUDDEN release of high pressure gas. My most common explosive experience: making POPCORN.
694161
Whoa, let's sort out this question, you're actually talking about several different things.  First of all, yes, the entire electromagnetic spectrum involves the electromotive force.  But electrons themselves are not examples of the electromagnetic spectrum, even though in quantum theory they are represented by waves.  Certain particles, such as neutrinos, which are now suspected to have mass, do in fact pass through our bodies "harmlessly", because 1) they are uncharged, and 2) their mode of interaction with matter through the electroweak force makes it extremely rare that they would actually "collide" with anything.  Now, exploding bombs that produce shock waves that damages our bodies, again, are not examples of the electromotive force in action, but ordinary air being compressed and moving along like sound waves.  The speed, in fact, is the speed of sound.  What makes an explosion destructive is the degree of overpressure, or pressure differential, across the shock wave.  And destruction to bodies by this overpressure occurs so rapidly, it's not really a matter of friction, but more by net mechanical force.  Now, it's possible to damage or kill people using electromagnetic waves, which is the theory behind high energy focused microwaves, or even lasers, but this time it's a matter of absorption of energy, rather than a mechanical interaction as with shock waves from ordinary explosions.
6409
Yes, bombard it with neutrons and it will release energy...\n\nWill it be efficient.. NO. but you can do so.
929210
You are exactly right. The energy given to the system when you hit them together was enough energy to break the bonds of the oxide layers on top. The thermal energy of the reaction elevated the electron energy states for a small amount of time, causing them to fall back down to their ground state and giving off some photons...hence the spark.
592273
Probably a similar thing to that which happens when you reach the sound barrier.  I'm sure the light particles/energy build up and will create an explosion.