Expert answer:Physical Science Discussion Question

Solved by verified expert:The research described in this article was funded by the military – does it bother you that one of the most obvious applications for this discovery involves warfare? Does it make a difference to your opinion if it turns out that these explosives are also useful in more peaceful applications (such as mining, for example)?I am providing the article needed to answer the question. The response must be at least 250 words not including heading or etc.
chapter_10___explosives.pdf

Unformatted Attachment Preview

Explosives
A bigger bang
A new hybrid explosive is safer to handle but still powerful
Sep 15th 2012 | from the print edition
MODERN warfare involves plenty of new technology, from pilotless drones to
powerful computer networks and satellite sensors. But the explosives which are used
in battle were invented a long time ago. The two most commonly deployed belong to
a class of organic chemicals called nitramines. One, RDX, is also widely used in
industrial applications like mining and demolishing buildings. Its use as an explosive
began in the 1920s. HMX, a related compound and one of the most powerful
explosives, dates back to the second world war. Both are sometimes used with
trinitrotoluene, a different type of compound more commonly known as TNT. It is
over 100 years old.
A good explosive needs to be extremely powerful but not too sensitive to avoid its
being detonated accidentally, such as by dropping it. These can be conflicting
properties. As Alex Contini of the Centre for Defence Chemistry at Cranfield
University in Britain points out, explosives developed in recent years are either too
sensitive or too expensive for large-scale use.
One such explosive is CL-20. This was developed by the American navy as a rocket
propellant, a substance which involves the sudden release of energy by rapid
oxidisation, in effect a controlled explosion. CL-20 is more powerful than RDX and
HMX, but its higher sensitivity means that it also explodes more easily.
The most common way to desensitise an explosive is by mixing it with a nonexplosive material, such as wax or paper. Although that works, it also reduces the
amount of bang you get. What if the desensitising material is itself an explosive of
lower sensitivity? The problem is that the resulting material is as sensitive as its
most sensitive component.
Adam Matzger of the University of Michigan and his colleagues have discovered a
way around that problem by using a process called co-crystallisation, which is
commonly used by drugmakers to modify the physical properties of a
pharmaceutical. They report in Crystal Growth & Design that by mixing CL-20 in such
a way they have been able to lower its sensitivity but retain most of its explosive
power.
At the heart of the process is the formation of crystals, an ability endowed to some
materials by nature. Crystals are the result of molecules arranging themselves in a
regular pattern extending in all three dimensions. Sometimes two crystalline
materials that do not react with each other can be mixed to form a so-called cocrystal. To do that they are both dissolved in a common solvent, then left alone to
crystallise together. Because the arrangement of molecules within the co-crystal is
very different from the original crystal, it modifies the physical properties of the
material—in this case CL-20’s sensitivity.
Dr Matzger made a co-crystal consisting of two parts of CL-20 and one part HMX.
The hybrid explosive has nearly the same explosive power as CL-20 but the lower
sensitivity of HMX. Because the process of crystallisation can be scaled up relatively
easily, Dr Matzger, whose work was funded by America’s Defence Threat Reduction
Agency, thinks this new explosive could make a bigger bang soon.
…
Purchase answer to see full
attachment

How it works

1. Paste your instructions in the instructions box. You can also attach an instructions file
2. Select the writer category, deadline, education level and review the instructions 
3. Make a payment for the order to be assignment to a writer
4.  Download the paper after the writer uploads it 

Will the writer plagiarize my essay?

You will get a plagiarism-free paper and you can get an originality report upon request.

Is this service safe?

All the personal information is confidential and we have 100% safe payment methods. We also guarantee good grades