"High explosives" doesn't just mean "bigger boom"

I didn't even realise that "low explosives" were a thing; let's talk about deflagration, detonation, and how high explosives can actually be safer. • Thanks to Steve from Live Action FX!
Filmed safely: www.tomscott.c...
Camera: Simon Temple templefreelance...
Edited by Michelle Martin: / @onthecrux
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.c...
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com/ / lateralcast
➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: / tomscottplus
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: / techdif

[@TomScottGo]

Steve is extremely qualified as an explosives engineer, but thankfully after what he says here, not as a firefighter.

[@shimon-1447]

That's good to hear.

[@unbeknownstprofile]

HOW IS IT FROM TWO WEEKS AGO

[@redera9560]

2 weeks ago...

[@soochi12yearsago54]

mr time traveler

[@TheSkillMasterHD]

How did you comment 2 weeks ago

[@meltedmuffin]

I feel like this series is going to end with Tom Scott standing underneath parliament saying "now we've covered all of that"

[@the_victorious_1]

The last ride of Mad Cap'n Tom!

[@edwardsadler7515]

Anyone recall the long-lasting graffiti on a motorway bridge? "Where are you, Guy Fawkes, now that we need you?"

[@Pixelarter]

Tom Scott would be a great anti-hero

[@dustysparks]

James Burke meets Tom Scott? Yes, Please.

[@512TheWolf512]

Wait, Tom is irish?

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Go pro stuck the landing

[@DyslexicMitochondria]

Yes it did

[@MaGaO]

If landing on its back is sticking it, yes.

[@mattearenzi8972]

@Dyslexic Mitochodria I was curious about ur username so clicked on ur profile. Your channeI is a hidden gem bro

[@speedlite9164]

I have a feeling this will be the third most liked comment on this video Your videos are awesome btw

[@agestatsega]

Damn

[@NFSHeld]

Can we take a moment to appreciate a GoPro standing literally an arm's length away from 40g of Semtex going off and just doing some nifty backflips? It's incredible how tough they have become.

[@leemarshal3329]

I was thinking that.

[@AllisterCaine]

No. The force is dissipated in all directions. It has to be channelled in one way or the other. So the amount of force the gopro actually has to withstand is not as much as it looks. Film that same scenario underwater and it might end very different.

[@robtomben]

How do you know that's Semtex?

[@Alphonselle]

labeled on the screen corner. semtex.

[@robtomben]

@@Alphonselle Cool

[@roberternest7289]

Fun fact: Semtex and boot sole checking were both invented in the Czechoslovakian Republic, the boot sole checking because someone tried to pass SEMTEX through airport security

[@No.Good.Nickname]

There is also a Drink called Semtex in the czech republic.

[@12packersfan]

Tom has finally figured out how to perfect KZbin: just make videos with explosions

[@DyslexicMitochondria]

😂

[@agestatsega]

Indeed.

[@anupjoseph7368]

May I say: Explode the KZbin algorithm

[@agestatsega]

@@mattearenzi8972 Or Is It?

[@GeorgeMarionerd]

And garlic bread.

[@Backslasherton]

Tom Scott: "You know what's a good socially distanced safe activity to make a video of? Blowing up the English countryside."

[@ZT1ST]

Tom Scott: "I need a thing I can do a video about while safely following Covid-19 protocols of staying at least 6 feet apart from my subject." Tom Scott: "*Googles 'Safe distance from high explosive devices'*"

[@fuzzyboi1721]

Thats the germans favorite activity

[@GameFuMaster]

*_nods in German_*

[@freakyfreak1]

Very Irish of him

[@fariesz6786]

rule of thumb for social distancing: assume that any other person could violently explode

[@TheFirstHarbinger]

EOD tech here. I'm so glad you qualified that. Side note: whilst secondary explosives are generally safer and more powerful, if they do catch fire and become contained it can lead from deflagration to detonation. This is where they burn, but the containment results in that runaway energy propagation where the gas isn't released fast enough. If it burns hard and fast enough, the positive feedback loop builds enough energy to generate a shockwave and it detonates.

[@TheFirstHarbinger]

BTW explosives make me very happy.

[@BlockOrDeleteMeansIOwnYou]

@@TheFirstHarbinger said the EOD tech, predictably.

[@scrappydoo7887]

Beirut?

[@TheFirstHarbinger]

@@scrappydoo7887 Exactly. That was poorly stored, contaminated ammonium nitrate. So safe it's not even really considered an explosive under most circumstances. But with enough heat, containment and a positive feedback loop it can detonate.

[@taiwanluthiers]

@@TheFirstHarbinger Well you also have the genius who thinks breaking up clumped up ammonium nitrate with dynamite is a good idea...

[@rikuurufu5534]

For those who may be wondering, "6,000 to 9,000 m/s" roughly equates to Mach 17 to Mach 26 (at sea level in standard temperature and pressure). To put that in perspective, the "High Hypersonic" speed regime is considered to start at Mach 10, and "Reentry speed" starts at Mach 25.

[@spaceyote7174]

An example of what Tom's talking about at the start: it took me years to realise 'massive' has the word 'mass' in it - having a lot of mass.

[@andymcl92]

Yup, in fact massive things don't need to be big. In astronomy, there are things called Weakly Interacting Massive Particles and MAssive Compact Halo Objects. (Yes, WIMPs and MACHOs.) The fact that something can be massive *and* compact would be an oxymoron in lay English. Also, in science, periodically and frequently mean the same thing - with a fixed period or a fixed frequency. But in lay terms, one means rarely and the other means often.

[@OrigamiMarie]

My ex would correct me, noting that a particular thing that I called massive was actually just voluminous (but lightweight).

[@TackyHarmonica]

And my french teacher pointed out that ‘breakfast’ is the breaking of the fast (that you’ve been doing while sleeping) I felt real dumb after hearing that one.

[@mokou8851]

i thought R163a1 was the biggest star, because it was the most massive star, but when i compared it to stephenson-18 which is the biggest star (for now). I was really confused as why the most massive star is small compared to the biggest star.

[@Zaire82]

@@andymcl92 Nah, I've never seen "periodically" being used to mean "rarely" _or_ "often". It just means "with set intervals" to everyone. People who think otherwise aren't laymen, they're just wrong.

[@TheOneWayDown]

It's worth mentioning that modern smokeless gunpowder is a low explosive and that's why barrel lengths matter with firearms, cause as long as there is propellant to burn the bullet will continue to accelerate to a point, and the brass case expands to keep the gasses contained while it burns. That's actually where I learned the difference, interesting stuff

[@RealMrSmit]

Yes and no, barrel length does matter a lot, but usually all of the propellant is burned after 4 to 10 inches of bullet travel(in a rifle), but it still accelerates as long as the pressure from the back is greater than the barrels friction trying to slow down the bullet.

[@petermichaelgreen]

​@testicular Both high and low explosives produce gasses, the key difference is in the speed. High explosives react so fast that the air "can't move out of the way in time" and you get a pressure wave even in open air. Guns use low explosives because they want the explosive to propel the bullet, rather than blowing the gun to bits.

[@andyleighton6969]

Maybe worth pointing out that "modern smokeless gunpowder" is actually cordite, a different low explosive.

[@nathangamble125]

@testicular low explosives deflagrate. high explosives detonate. Both produce gas, but deflagration propagates through the heat of combustion while detonation propagates through a shockwave.

[@JETZcorp]

It's also worth noting that some materials can exhibit both behaviors, depending on the circumstances. A mixture of gasoline and air, given high enough pressure and temperature, can detonate via a shockwave, rather than burning in a flame front like normal. I was going to say this was because gasoline is a big soup of all sorts of chemicals with different properties. This is true! But, gaseous hydrogen is about as pure an element as you can imagine, and even serious experts can have trouble predicting whether hydrogen will go "womp" or "bang".

[@anthony2816]

I remember in the Gulf War the Marines let me absolutely vaporize a metal oil drum with a pound of C-4 (via detonator). They they showed me how you could take a piece of C-4, light it with a match, and use it to heat a cup of water. Mind-blowing.

[@blackwing1362]

I hope the C-4 isn't what was mind blowing

[@metropolis10]

I like how unlike the thousands of "don't try this at home" warnings we see on youtube videos of people doing stupid stuff, you actually hired an expert.

[@ninjafruitchilled]

Just be glad that the people on KZbin doing stupid stuff don't have access to high explosives :).

[@dragonscale46]

@@ninjafruitchilled or low explosives

[@metropolis10]

@@ninjafruitchilled missed opportunity to say `low explosives` here! Sure less powerful but so much easier to screw up!

[@ninjafruitchilled]

@@metropolis10 Haha thing is that they do seem to be able to get their hands on low explosives ;).

[@SotraEngine4]

@@ninjafruitchilled so they got an electric car, electric mower and owns nothing that runs on diesel, gas or anything like that? Got it

[@blackrocket4382]

I love his slow confident walk away from the test zone every time

[@twistedtachyon5877]

If you aren't sure your fuse is long enough, it isn't.

[@mucpougaming6092]

youre actually trained to walk away instead of running because its usually more dangerous to run for a variety of reasons

[@needabettername1559]

Bad guys don't look at explosions

[@RazTheBaz]

For those wondering, the tool that explosives engineer Stephen Miller uses to cut semtex is a Leatherman Pulse.

[@alpheusmadsen8485]

"High explosives won't go off ... unless you want them to." Although this depends on the explosive: nitroglycerine in particular is *notorious* for going off simply by dropping it.

[@jackiemowery5243]

Then there id NI3. You don't even have to drop that sht. It makes dandy fly paper. Flies light on it and it blows their little sses off.

[@Natimaguitar]

@@jackiemowery5243 my dad and his friend used to make it in the 60s, I think they stopped after his friend lost a finger.

[@Pyrokatze]

Then there is NCl3, it's like NI3 but it even explodes when it is wet.

[@jackiemowery5243]

@@Pyrokatze Hmmm . . . How do you make that? NI3 uses ammonia and iodine, ammonia and bleach just produces Cl2 gas. Bubble Cl2 thru ammonia? "Remember, Kids, don't try this at home! We're professionals. "

[@youknowwho7838]

Nitroglycerine isn’t as sensitive as people make it out to be. Yes it will go off if struck by a hammer, but it *can* also not go off when struck by a hammer. It requires a surprising amount of energy to detonate the stuff, to the point where dynamite (Sawdust or some other inert absorbant substance soaked in nitroglycerine) is often detonated using a blasting cap, much like the semtex in this video.

[@philnightjar1971]

“In fact, you’re actually allowed to have 50 kilos of high explosives in your car.” That’s what my recruiter told me.

[@gordon1545]

Gerry Adams liked this comment.

[@57thorns]

I suspect that is assuming you have all the other permits and licenses for them. And, as was said in the video, you keep your detonators in another car, and that car has to be marked.

[@Rachara]

Welcome to the no fly list. At least you got that car to travel with!

[@ant7936]

I have a feeling 50 kgs would be enough for most purposes.......

[@TheLordHiggs]

IRA will use this as an instructional video 😂

[@mortalspiral]

Reminds me of how I always just thought of pipe cleaners as craft supplies until I saw a bag of them next to a pipe my dad bought. I had just never processed that the name was descriptive of the function.

[@NoriMori1992]

Let's be real though, how often are they actually used to clean pipes?

[@the_victorious_1]

There's two types: 1 the soft craft supply kind you give to kids 2 a hard stiff type that actually cleans pipes

[@mickys8065]

@@the_victorious_1 the soft ones are good for getting flakes of paint out of door hinges (I work back stage for a small theatre company and we paint the hinges alot to match whatever we stick them on, eventually the paint makes it hard for the hinge to function properly, until you run a pipe cleaner down it and pull out a ton of paint)

[@klauspeterpan9862]

My missunderstood pipe cleaner for drain cleaner (I mean water runs trough pipes, doesn't it?) and was a bit confused xD

[@ala5530]

@@NoriMori1992 as a pipe smoker... not as often as they should be, really.

[@gnas1897]

"In fact, you are allowed to have 50kg of high explosives in your car" IRA: How about that Brit's car?

[@RackHasAttacked]

They actual kept it in Irish cars and parked them outside of schools

[@gavinedmondstone316]

Nicely done. Now I am getting into finer points. Not all high explosives are molecular explosive, like TNT or PETN, with the fuel and oxidizer all in one molecule. Some are mixtures such as ANFO (ammonium nitrate-fuel oil) - no chemistry happens when these are mixed. Similarly smokeless powder, usually considered a low explosive, is primarily composed of nitrocellulose which does have a fuel and oxidizer in one molecule. The defining difference is the speed of the reaction. High explosives detonate at a supersonic speed while low explosive deflagrates at a subsonic speed.

[@zerocool2198]

someone who knows a little bit my friend

[@idklol781]

Tom sounds like he’s planning for a Tom Scott movie.

[@TheTechnician27]

And the whole movie is one long take.

[@pitedapollo6175]

@@TheTechnician27 1917 style

[@RyuAkamatsu]

@@TheTechnician27 End Credit scene is just Tom running around shouting "One Take! One Take!"

[@starjake]

I'm ok with this.

[@meetaverma8372]

Mnad capt'n Tom, the movie

[@JEY28]

Tom is slowly getting very interested in explosives. Next week, we'll see Tom exploding computers by overheating them.

[@jholotanbest2688]

Aren't we all interested in explosions? Freud figured that out a long time ago.

[@vividandlucid]

"I am standing outside the Museum of Computer Science, from which I have just been banned"

[@alexplaysminc.-.5922]

@@vividandlucid "See you next week, where I will attempt a heist and blow up the entire museum"

[@Munkenba]

Funnily enough, what looks like Tom's next episode is appearing in the recommended section right beside your comment on my screen. It's titled "That Time I Got In Trouble With The Government".

[@user-jp7tw3sd3x]

GamersNexus are already ahead, by setting computers on fire.

[@JugglerBlend]

R. I. P. Table, thank you for educating thousands of people 😔

[@trif55]

I saw a video years ago that I wish I could find, looking at low vs high explosives and specifically the term Brisance, on that they blow a roughly 1" hole in a 20mm piece of steel plate using a similar high explosive, I wish I could find it! it might even have been on british TV like the BBC or something?

[@helpmaboabb]

I had a similar realisation 2 years ago with Low Treason, and yes, it's a thing. Oddly enough, I worked for many years for the country's major explosives manufacturer.

[@manicdan481]

The biggest takeaway is that GoPros are way stronger than we give them credit for, even Tom and Stephen didn't expect that.

[@absentapple]

I have seen a video from a GoPro being engulfed in molten lava and it survived somehow.

[@Daniel-yy3ty]

just don't shoot arrows at them... they don't like those at all

[@benrex7775]

@@Daniel-yy3ty I didn't know GoPros have knees.

[@Sk1erDev]

Why does the high explosive look so delicious

[@HarnaiDigital]

Because its Is Delicious. You Can Literally Taste It. But Once Only. Which Is Spectacular.

[@RobRidleyLive]

Snap, Crackle and KABOOM!

[@nick3718]

i have other questions

[@idkusername2981]

not gonna get a free like

[@soup6478]

Do you also think play dough looks delicious?

[@Tjita1]

There are also explosives that don't rely on oxidisation, but rather on molecular strain, the molecule just simply doesn't want to be in that shape. Generally these are quite unstable, and will quite happily detonate violently by small energy inputs, such as heat or light impacts.

[@avarni]

0:11 that reminded me to google the etymology of "parapet," a word i look at every time i leave the library, intend to look up, and then forget to by the time i get home. thank you.

[@ezekielmartin4323]

For anyone else who's curious, according to Oxford, "parapet" comes from the Italian _parapetto,_ meaning "chest-high wall", from the Italian roots _para-_ ("protecting") and _petto_ ("chest").

[@Pepso8P]

The ring of smoke rising from the firecracker is looking gorgeous.

[@Schattengewaechs99]

I think that's a little more than a firecracker.

[@Genius_at_Work]

40g of Powder is some Hell of a Firecracker

[@Jordloopin]

Had to rewind a couple times cause I was so distracted by the smoke ring

[@Nuclear241]

Mini-nukes

[@Phantryx]

Gandalf undercover here xD

[@harish1105]

Tom's recent videos during lockdown have been about pieces of land (and villages) disappearing and now, two on explosives. What are you planning, Tom? Also, are you recruiting?

[@robertstegmann9260]

Don't forget him learning to use a jetpack.

[@ashleybyrd2015]

I also want in on this militia

[@yoooranium9293]

Sark better watch out. The football is just a decoy

[@nickthephoenix8494]

Looks like the AI didn't just give him video ideas...

[@filmishit]

I hope it's London

[@4whomittolz846]

the way that Steve just walks away after lighting the fuse shows how experienced he is. He cut the cord, he knows exactly how long it will take to blow up, so he knows how long he can take to get to safety.

[@Harcix]

0:57 Steve is slowly walking away from the explosion, not even looking at it - like a badass from an action movie.

[@Ziialan]

*Tom is becoming an explosive channel and I'm all here for it.*

[@SassyP17]

Codyslab and him should team up

[@OryxTheMadGod3]

His channel might be _blowing up_

[@sixstringedthing]

Tom from ex&f goes off to work on a PhD in some secret government lab... *A CHALLENGER APPEARS*

[@fariesz6786]

i'm also getting Brainiac vibes

[@haggis53]

tom: that is a high explosive me, an intellectual: forbidden bubblegum

[@Nuovoswiss]

You joke, but certain nitrate high explosives are actually used as medicine (mainly nitroglycerine, but other alkyl nitrates/nitrites will have the same effect). In high dosages they will cause terrible headaches due to over-dilating blood vessles. Though in the case of the C4-type explosives in the video (based on RDX or HMX), they will get metabolized into formaldehyde, which causes cancer and possibly permanent blindness depending on how much you ingest.

[@thebathman0987]

Don't chew too hard

[@spoofy5207]

@@Nuovoswiss that's why it's forbidden

[@franzferdinand2240]

@@thebathman0987 don't wanna make a shockwave

[@lemfandango]

Dude sick maymay

[@Boleniana]

I gotta say, thank you VERY much for all your stuff being subtitled! My HEARING is fine, but my brain processes sensory information a little weirdly, so it can be hard to follow speech if there's literally any other noise happening, or if it's been more than ten seconds so I get distracted even if something is interesting. Thankfully I'm way better at reading text.

[@mickm2486]

Not all explosives are fuel oxidiser reactions though he's describing binary explosives (generally a metal oxidiser reaction) although alot of them these days are actually to do with bond strain, high heat of formation etc in a single chemical (RDX, any of the azides, NTI classic examples) it's not just a really mixed low explosive. It's also catagorized by detonation velocity. The channel explosions and fire explains this really well

[@alanduae7986]

I swear, Steve just looks like the engineer from tf2 went to university, got in shape, and got a degree in explosives.

[@briantorres5363]

The engineer has like 20 phds

[@DoohikLolwut]

What makes me a good demoman?

[@viktoraspenstam9clillhagas145]

@@DoohikLolwut Well if I was a bad one, I woULD’NT BE SITTIN HERE DISCUSSIN IT WITH YA

[@zed7038]

He's also got a nice handlebar.

[@Horny_Fruit_Flies]

I think the engineer already has a degree in explosives

[@dansummers2965]

"One dead GoPro..." "Yup..." Was I the only person hoping that the closing second or so would be of Tom's face looming over the upset GoPro, and exclaiming some variation on "...actually, no!" ?

[@57thorns]

The sound was not recorded on the gopro as they were quite a way away. Notice that the explosive expert had no issues walking away from the low explosive, including the "firecracker" and the burning high explosive, with a lit fuse. The safety distance from the last explosion was much longer.

[@jonathanm9436]

GoPro: "It's just a flesh wound".

[@Marquis-Sade]

@@57thorns But why did we hear him talk then?

[@57thorns]

@@Marquis-Sade The closeup gopro did record sound, but they _also_ had other microphones to record sound, as well as obviously cameras.

[@57thorns]

But it took a while to walk up to the gopro and notice it was still recording, they might not even realise it was still recording while retrieving it.

[@abrr2000]

it's always worth trawling through old tom scott videos to find the ones you've missed.

[@750kv8]

Well, today I learned something again. High explosives really show that in order to create a runaway reaction, you need high pressure, either by containing it, or by its own shockwave. Thank you, Tom!

[@DoctorX17]

I find it fascinating and terrifying that many high explosives look like Play-Doh or clay

[@arthurmoore9488]

Yep, the TSA literally says both of those things can be brought on a plane, but that you will be slowed down. That's why they have the chemical analysis machines to test for bombs.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

the fact u say play doh is triggering, oh americans

[@Scigatt]

That's a deliberate choice, I think. That consistency is much easier to work with than anything else.

[@muddydave01]

Friend used to play touch footy with balls of C4.

[@SoDamnMetal]

@@girlsdrinkfeck ??? That's literally its name

[@modernkennnern]

It happened literally yesterday. The Norwegian word for apron is "forkle", and I've never realized it stands for "for"(as is pre/in front of something) + "-kle"(Clothing), so "forkle" literally stands for 'in front of your clothing', which makes a lot of sense.

[@thecrazything95]

Same in swedish "Förkläde" För: for, Kläde -> kläder -> clothes

[@sara-n5q]

Same in danish: forklæde (klæde = cloth)

[@ExperimentIV]

@@thecrazything95 which makes me wonder if it’s having ö and ä that makes me notice more quickly. i guess yes in this specific case, but if there was a word in norwegian or swedish that used only the 26 letters of the english alphabet vs. the 29 of swedish/norwegian but didnt have a part of it spelled like a common english word, i don’t think it would trip me up. or maybe im just not fully awake yet.

[@DrDeuteron]

what killed me was the "farse-entower" in Berlin. I'm all you call TVs "far-seeing's". that's whack!?? And my host pointed out that in latin, that is "tele-vision". Schooled.

[@doctormo]

Apron is an example of an stolen N, like apple. A Napron (table cloth) became An Apron as people heard it but didn't see it written down. Same for A Napple becoming An Apple. And if you think about "Napkin", they are cognate. Apron and Napkin are kin.

[@laughterman805]

2:40 burns like a ping-pong ball

[@fredflintstoner596]

Mrs Richards: " I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?

[@thomasmclean9406]

Nice reference

[@fredflintstoner596]

@@thomasmclean9406 ANYONE FOR TRIFLE THE DUCK'S OFF

[@Charldeon]

Too bad there isn't Tom Scott grinning with an explosion in the background on this one.

[@Dani-ln6sp]

2 Explosives videos this close together and that grin, this is gonna make for one hell of video or one hell of a trial

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I suppose it's less exciting the second time.

[@markus9020]

My guy really just walks away from the explosives like a badass

[@Kyrelel]

It is dangerous to run, so you always walk away ... it tells you the same thing on firework packaging :)

[@allstarwoo4]

You don’t want to trip while close to explosive and your fuse should give you enough time to get to safety. Not to say running away is never an option.

[@rasphotography]

Yup - his purposeful explosives engineer walk is my favourite part of this video.

[@tealmer3528]

Cool guys don't look at explosions They blow them up and then walk away

[@deadlineuniverse3189]

Props to the camera for surviving 4 reactions of 2 different kind of explosive masses being demonstrated while being in close proximity.

[@WanukeX]

0:02 - For me I had a moment like that a few months ago, I realized I had been Mishearing "For all intents and purposes" as "For all intensive purposes" for 20 years and somehow missed it.

[@Xsophos]

I love those little brain jolts you can get. I had one when I realised that "soft drinks" - lemonade, coke, etcetc - are called soft in contrast to "hard drinks" - alcohol!

[@innominativecompany4231]

Oh.

[@squeaksquawk4255]

Wait, really? I never realised that!

[@NatureXwars]

I hate that carbonated drinks are classified as such 'cause they are anything but soft on your tongue & mouth...

[@47Mortuus]

Laptop: A computer that can be on TOP of your LAP. Desktop: A computer that can be on TOP of your DESK.

[@epicmanpog7846]

@@47Mortuus Took you that long?

[@tmuller9905]

This should be a series called "wait a minute" or "why does that make sense".

[@andymcl92]

Or just "Huuuuhhh!"

[@qiano17]

+

[@GuyNamedSean]

Or Things You Might Not Know

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Both of those are genuinely thought-out names for a series. If I were a content creator I'd steal your title.

[@Holmesy87]

It's like that story of soldiers burning high explosives to heat water/cook food because they had nothing else and it was almost perfectly safe to use.

[@Niinsa62]

I remember doing national service here in Sweden. We were trained on how to use plastic explosives, including putting the fuse into the primer, and crimping the primer onto the fuse. The NCO told us that you can do the crimping by biting down on the primer. But don't do that. Use these pliers instead. And be sure to keep the primer and the fuse and the pliers out beside your hip, keeping them away from your crotch. And look away, to save your eyes. Just in case you accidentally set off the primer. I still wonder to this day what would have happened to my fingers, if I had messed up. Apparently, the primer is scary dangerous on its own.

[@coltonsupergame]

I had one of those obvious moments: I was in spanish class and I learned that monday is Lunes in spanish, which got me wondering. Why don’t we have a day for the moon in english. My reasoning being we have a sunday why don’t we have a moonday? And then I realized...

[@deice3]

I only now realized the japanese names of those days are direct translations doyoubi is "saturn"-day, nichiyoubi is "sun"-day, getsuyoubi is "moonday". I have been trying to memorize them without without making the connection.

[@fzigunov]

You just blew my mind.

[@joesterling4299]

From Latin, they are Sun's Day, Moon's Day, Mars's Day, Mercury's Day, Jupiter's Day, Venus's Day and Saturn's Day. Both English and Spanish replaced some, though Spanish kept more of them: Lunes for Luna (our moon, as you said), Martes (Tuesday) for Marte (Mars), Miercoles (Wednesday) for Mercurio (Mercury), Jueves (Thursday) for Jupiter, and Viernes for Venus. Not surprising, since Spanish is much closer to Latin than English.

[@wahoo2384]

@@vashsunglasses Really? I thought Friday was from the German "Freitag" which is literally "Free Day". Learn Something new every day I guess

[@chazzer7564]

lmao

[@MrLittlelawyer]

I had this particular realization when I was 15 and I watched a British documentary on explosives, and it changed my life/world. It began me on a journey to become a chemical engineer after it got me super interested in chemistry.

[@Liggliluff]

Do you say tshemistry or kemistry?

[@diegodekruif3772]

@@Liggliluff you pronounce chemistry as kemistry

[@22tfortnitevevo]

@@diegodekruif3772 i pronounce it as zchtemistry

[@rumvanillaacid]

Thank you. Your video helped me trying to explain to someone that bomb damage is not always only the fire caused by the explosion but the force of the explosion itself cause the damage.

[@ls2786]

R.I.P. GoPro, You did your job really well.

[@DexOfOne]

The smoke ring from that explosion (1:47) was so cool!

[@kasane1337]

Others practice doing smoke rings for months, the explosive just does it with no effort.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

Props to the camera for tracking it!

[@ZephytheDragon]

Been watching one guy named Tom do energetics chemistry, and now I see the other Tom learning about the results of energetics.

[@liamwayne6703]

'round here, we refer to them as Explosives and Propellants. For instance, understanding that gunpowder is a propellant is crucial to understanding how a bullet is propelled down a barrel, and thus why the fastest burning powders aren't necessarily the best for every barrel length.

[@Chinnybon]

I never knew I needed to see a guy cut an explosive with a knife before, but here we are.

[@Morbpious]

My immediate thought is, forbidden butter

[@felixc543]

I believe there's more of that in his recent movie explosion(?) video

[@frog7362]

Plastic explosives

[@bevanfindlay]

I've done training in this stuff (I'm a fire investigator), and plastic explosive is just like plasticine - to the point that I think our class sample actually *was* just plasticine, because, well... 🙂

[@artyb27]

Same here. I guess I never realised just how plastic-y plastic explosive is.

[@Haseri8]

Yes, that is actually what I imagine an explosives expert to looks and sounds like. How does Tom keep finding the platonic ideals of experts?

[@MaeLSTRoM1997]

he managed to get out of the cave

[@noodlesoup2586]

copied

[@brokentombot]

@@noodlesoup2586 pasted too

[@lasagna2303]

​@wooshifgay462 „What makes me a good demoman?“

[@handlesarecringe957]

I suggest you look up Explosions & Fire on KZbin. He's the exact stereotype of an explosives enthusiast.

[@Kaiimei]

1:38 is a great demonstration of how a bullet works. The gunpowder within the bullet gets ignited, it burns, and all the pressure only has one way to go, the path of least resistance, which means pushing the bullet down the barrel of the gun.

[@felixthecat265]

Ehh no! I think what you mean is that it is a demonstration of how a gun works. The bullet is the projectile and contains no explosive. The explosive propellent is usually contained in a cartridge, which often has a primer to set the whole train off. The pressure in the gun is applied to all the internal surfaces, however the pressure on the base of the bullet will cause it to accelerate up the barrel... ?

[@Kaiimei]

@@felixthecat265 Alright, no need to be pedantic.

[@felixthecat265]

@@Kaiimei In the explosives world, it pays to be pedantic I find...!

[@notlikely4468]

The difference (per my Army "basic demo" course) is that low explosives (like fireworks) don't "detonate" they "conflagrate" very quickly But the rate of burn remains below the speed of sound (1200Km/hr) A high explosive pressure wave exceeds the speed of sound...and some can nearly reach the speed of electrical/radio transmitting (300,000 km/sec with some energy lost to resistance in the material) then decelerates exponentially in air The ultimate high explosive (nuclear) pressure wave achieves the speed of light (briefly)

[@capsey_]

- Oh no! That track is on fire! - Don't worry, it's just a high explosives - Oh, ok then. Btw what do you think about weather today?

[@nitehawk86]

A friend's dad told me they used to heat their rations with C4 in Vietnam.

[@Misha-dr9rh]

@@nitehawk86 I thought they came with heaters.

[@ExplosivesLaboratory]

@@nitehawk86 Well actually Hexamine fuel tablets were used. However, Fun Fact, you nitrate Hexamine to get RDX, the main explosive ingredient in C4, alongside PETN. So I guess he’s telling you the truth but exaggerating a little bit… Unless they really were using real C4 to heat their rations. In which case, cool, but personality, we would save C4 for blowing stuff up instead of cooking, since it’s a nitrosamine, it’s quite toxic and loves to damage to DNA. Not very fun…

[@rizzo_grt]

3:58 RIP GoPro. Thank you for your service.

[@0LoneTech]

Judging by the tumbling video footage, it actually handled that just fine. It took a tumble. That's not to say they always will; the shockwave could dislodge something.

[@rizzo_grt]

@@0LoneTech got ya. Still, that shot with the camera flying is funny and it's even better that Tom didn't have to buy a new one haha

[@BigPanda096]

Tom Scott's vlogs are more informative than some educational programs. Dude is a legend. I would watch him sit in a high class english styled study, and drink tea to classic music. Nothing else. Just that.

[@hetgenie]

Thanks for the explanation. I thought the difference between high and low explosives was that low explosives ignite below the speed of sound and high explosives do that faster than the speed of sound. Thanks for clearing this up.

[@simon2493]

Because that's true they are talking about primary and secondary explosives it's surprising that so called expert would mangle two separate categories

[@MisterNohbdy]

I just explained this distinction to a few people last week in response to their misuse of the term "high explosive". Unfortunately, my explanation was vastly inferior because it didn't go boom. Time to send some links and fix that.

[@22tfortnitevevo]

oh my god it's anonymous from 4chan i see you literally everywhere

[@whirlwind872]

@@22tfortnitevevo be careful, 4chan is an elite hacker.

[@22tfortnitevevo]

@@whirlwind872 oh no i've already been epicly pwned

[@MisterNohbdy]

@@whirlwind872 On the bright side, because he's 400 pounds and currently stuck in his mother's basement, he's probably not coming for you any time soon.

[@failgun]

It's worth noting that what Tom says at the end about high explosive being inert applies only to modern high explosives like semtex that are specifically engineered to be so. There are plenty of compounds that are high explosive and are also unstable and extremely dangerous to store and handle - a relevant historical example being nitroglycerin (a precursor to TNT) that before the invention of the relatively safer TNT was used as an explosive by itself, and caused numerous injuries and deaths due to how hazardous it is.

[@jackmclane1826]

Nitroglycerin is not a precursor for TNT. It is an ingredient in Dynamite. TNT is a completely different explosive.

[@lawsonmoskal7363]

@@jackmclane1826 Nitroglycerin was used in tunnel boring and mining operations in like the 1700’s many years before tnt was invented (i think OP means precursor to tnt in the sense it was a mining explosive used before tnt was invented)

[@vaiyt]

Nitroglycerin is scarily unsafe. You can make it explode by throwing something at it, or shaking it too hard. I wouldn't recommend yelling at it either.

[@fallen_saint6939]

Or Cordite. Ask the Royal Navy how cordite powder bags on thinly armored battlecruisers went.

[@Kirt44]

@@jackmclane1826 true

[@lamenwatch1877]

I thought I clicked on "why movie explosions don't look like real explosions". But I was not disappointed.

[@Phoenix-zu6on]

another thing about explosive that i didnt know is that plastic explosives are not explosives that are based on oil or have anything to do with plastic. they are plastic in the original meaning: malliable, formable.

[@franzherfert3686]

plastic explosives are normal explosive in a polymer binding agent which is plastic

[@BrianShelfPartTwo]

I very recently realised "shepherd" comes from "sheep herd". Why has it taken me decades to add one letter and make this connection?

[@omegagamma]

now consider that shepherd, as a noun, likely had an -er at the end that has been lost to time. im not a linguist or anything but knowing how messed up all forms of english have been over time, i would not at all be surprised if that fact was true. which to be clear, i have no idea if it is or not.

[@Zichqec]

A few years ago I realized that fireplace is literally a place for fire, and it really messed me up for a few hours.

[@mambodog5322]

And how horizontal is called that way because it's the way the horizon goes

[@rareroe305]

And how Skroob (as in President Skroob from Spaceballs) is almost Brooks (as in Mel Brooks) backwards.

[@thoperSought]

@@omegagamma your comment made me curious, so I looked it up. "shepherd" is a straight descendant of the Old English "sceaphierde", which is indeed "sceap" = sheep, + "hierde" = herder. -er existed in OE, but apparently "hierde" already meant a person, and so didn't need it. I'm guessing (guessing mind you) that this is because the _verb_ "herd" didn't appear until the mid 13th c., as a verbification of the noun, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European. I *assume* it replaced a verb, but my source doesn't say what verb, and I don't have time to dig farther, now. btw, the "sc" in "sceap" referred to the same sound as "sh", now.

[@Geeksmithing]

As the GoPro laughs: "Is THAT all you got?!!?"

[@witerabid]

just like it did when Tom unleashed the power of a few hundred suns on it in that solar lab... :P

[@JWhiteley]

A Go-Pro once stopped a round from a Mosin-Nagant. Saved a journalist.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

The sequel to this video will be "GoPro's Revenge"

[@Icanlogonnow]

I love how the best part of the video was covered up by other videos that I'm not gonna watch. -Extreme sarcasm-

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

Tom Scott: Spoiling my fun at pointing out to people unknowingly talking about [low] explosives "detonating"... "Well actually..." (You'll have to imagine the nasally voice) "... You mean 'deflagration' since that is a 'low explosive'..."

[@OfficalHomicidalPoet]

This is a really good topic example of "things we thought we already knew"

[@laerin7931]

Sounds like a new series that would fit right up this channel.

[@ferrischemistry7879]

This guy's explanation was terrible and incorrect.

[@radio2955]

@@ferrischemistry7879 explain it yourself then genius

[@nuclearwarhead9338]

@@ferrischemistry7879 why quiet now?

[@paolob.5667]

Tom Scott finally converted to the cult of making things explode for fun.

[@mrtomatohead7202]

Coming to everyone from southern Kentucky here. Our version of high explosives is called Tannerite. It's made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder. Totally safe, unless you shoot it with a gun (which does the same job as the detonator). Can be made at home very easily.

[@justinmemer1463]

1:02 I love how the dude just casually walks away from the explosive.

[@Sylocat]

"I didn't even realise that "low explosives" were a thing;" Glad I'm not the only one.

[@allybally0021]

They are but the term is rarely used in practice. Their usual name is their most common function: propellants.

[@spot1401]

up next: low education

[@allybally0021]

@@spot1401 That is already a thing........all lefty influenced education to be honest.

[@spot1401]

@@allybally0021 ah yes, I totally forgot the classic education of Trump and the all accessible for all education of Eaton.

[@jovanweismiller7114]

We used to use C-4 (similar to the Semtex in your video) as fireplace lighter. Wet wood was no problem, because the intense heat from the burning C-4 would dry it enough to catch fire.

[@yourmum69_420]

metal

[@danmatthiesen9160]

@@yourmum69_420 no, actually, metal burns very poorly

[@andrewch4066]

@@danmatthiesen9160 Unless it's metal wool/powder

[@mastershooter64]

@@danmatthiesen9160 Unless it's Magnesium

[@TheGreatCalsby]

Ths video is also an unsponsored, yet deserved advertisement for GoPro

[@NaveedShahzadKhan]

I was absolutely stunned by the idea after seeing a visual demonstration of it. It's fascinating to think about and I had never heard of it before.

[@SievertSchreiber]

Hey Tom, please give a compliment to that guy explaining the explosions! He’s the MVP of these episodes!

[@erikkennedy]

That's 'Stephen Miller, Chartered Explosives Engineer' to you. 💥

[@SievertSchreiber]

@@erikkennedy for if it wasn’t mentioned in the video I thank u for giving that info, thanks!

[@euansmith3699]

"Chartered Explosive Engineer"; that's something great to have on a business card. Wow, that deflagration produced a really nice smoke-ring. Also, that was a great shot from the Go-Pro.

[@nemomoriarty4303]

Tom: Asks if I've ever felt my brain shift Me, still processing the video title: Uhuh

[@anch95]

1:39 Tom: "The gas that it releases expands and builds up pressure and then.." My headphones: "Battery low"

[@inactiveytchannel]

I expected Toms motionless smile when explosive detonated I am disappointed

[@OnboardG1]

Most people in lockdown: I played some DnD online and put on ten kilos. Tom Scott: I made friends with an explosives expert...

[@curseds0ldier]

If you can't beat the enemys, you must hinder them from playing

[@Limrasson]

I did both, sans the ten kilos. Actually studying explosives rn.

[@JustJanitor]

This was so incredibly informational and easy to understand. That guy is good.

[@unfinishedsenten]

Cool to see this in such controlled environments, with the exact same weight in each example and the differences in effect and explanations of why by a professional.

[@MWPdx]

2:34 I am definitely not allowed to have 50 kilos of high explosives in my car.

[@calumhemphill]

This channel is turning into a revival of Braniac: Science Abuse and I’m all for it

[@fariesz6786]

yup, i got the same vibes

[@johnn1199]

Except that unlike that show, this channel doesn't fabricate data

[@calumhemphill]

@John N yep haha

[@ActualCharky]

But... will it fizz, or will it bang?

[@CatacombD]

@@johnn1199 I was so disappointed when I learned that brainiac outright lies for entertainment purposes.

[@mikoajnagy8695]

Tom scott is the guy that answers all the random questions you asked to your dad back in the day

[@Draconicrose]

GoPro should pay you for the free advertising you just gave them, that is one durable camera!

[@scottmcintyre2809]

Kind of weird to think that stuff like the Texas City disaster, or Beirut last year were technically caused by "low explosives".

[@DrDeuteron]

2,500 m/s detonation velocity. (Ammonium nitrate)....not too low, but not 9,000.

[@or2kr]

No, ammonium nitrate is like the Semtex shown in this video, a high explosive, it won't detonate when ignited, but it rather needs very specific circumstances like shockwaves (comment below me has a more accurate answer)

[@LiveActionFX]

Ammonium nitrate is one of those cases that bridges the gap between low and high explosives, it can burn to detonation if contaminated - slow burn to rapid burn to deflagration to detonation.

[@randyjohnson3654]

@@DrDeuteron well Kinnepec which is nitromethane and ammonium nitrate has a detonation velocity of about 6,700 m/s very close to tnt

[@Genius_at_Work]

Dunno about the English Terms, but it is in the Category between Deflagration and Detonation, called Explosion in German. I'd bet it's the same in English though. No Idea whether High Explosive or Low Explosive though. From my Basic Firefighting and Dangerous Cargo Training, I still can remember the Examples of a Deflagration blowing out your WIndows and maybe damaging the Roof, an Explosion definitely blowing the Roof and maybe damaging the Walls and a Etonation destroying the Walls, although that would make the Beirut Disaster an absolute Detonation.

[@fatoprofugus6491]

This is actually a fantastic ad for GoPro cameras.

[@Tyrian3k]

Well, whether it takes a lot to make a high explosive go off depends vastly on which one we're talking about. Nitroglycerin is a high explosive after all and I think everyone knows how little it takes to make that go boom without wanting it to.

[@mega_byt3]

Literally a death cam at the end. Marvelous

[@arnabbiswasalsodeep]

And now, scott manley's detonation vs deflagration taught terminology comes into use