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why do people think Nitrous burns?



I probably should have read and replied yesterday before all the beer...;)  Oh
well.  What I was actually referring to was the Aluminum Nitrate they painted
the skin on the Hindenburg with, not the Hydrogen in the bags.  Latest
research is that's what lit off from a static spark and why the flames were
orange and smokey (Hydrogen burns clear and without smoke).  Aluminum Nitrate
is a common ingredient in a variety of explosive things, and has been used in
the past as rocket fuel with an oxidizer.  If you check, you'll find that
Nitrogen combined with lots of different things gives you a very agressive
flame.  Another very impressive example is Ammonium Nitrate, an industrial
grade explosive.  Nitrate basically means something combined with Nitrogen (I
can't remember the exact chemical requirements for a Nitrate versus Nitrites,
etc, since high school chemistry was a very long time ago).
     I can't comment on N2 burning, but I do know that Nitrogen after it's been
reacted with a wide variety of things it can and does burn.  
     Having said all that, I agree the larger danger is from the exploding
bottle.

Cheers,
Colin


On 05-Feb-2002 T Berk wrote:
> cwass99@rogers.com wrote:
>> 
>>      OK, I was planning to stay out of this, but then again, I like shooting
>>      off
>> my mouth ;)  First, the N in NOS (Nitrous Oxide) is for Nitrogen, which
>> burns
>> quite effectively in the presence of oxygen. 
> 
> This is true, GIVEN ENOUGH HEAT. Nitrogen will combine (or even burn)
> with O2 and a lot of things.
> 
>> Don't take my word for
>> it, go watch a film of the Hindenburg. 
> 
> =8D
> 
> H not = N, _Hydrogen_ has been replaced with Helium in most lifting
> bodies as it takes a LOT more ergs to burn Helium. As in; consider it
> won't.
> 
> <snip>
>> Cheers,
>> Colin
>> 
> 
> Damn near Anything will burn, given enough input of energy. Can we
> achieve that on the surface of the Earth? Not really. Can we kill
> ourselves with a NOS bottle? well...
> 
> I don't know enough about combined gasses (without some research and
> pondering, must I?) to expound on the flammable qualities of NOS but I'd
> say the flammability is eclipsed by the decompressive expressiveness. 
> 
> You can tell I'm watching Fraiser right now, cant you.
> 
> TBerk
> 
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E-Mail: cwass99@rogers.com
Date: 05-Feb-2002
Time: 18:36:33

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