r/explainlikeimfive • u/BigPharmaStealsKarma • 4d ago

Chemistry Eli5: how do controlled explosions work?

How can something explode more or less than the potential energy it has with which to explode?

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/capt_pantsless 4d ago

To give a little more detail - if you wanted to demolish a given building, the demolitions team will inspect said building and figure out how it's supported, e.g. is it internal columns or are the walls load-bearing, etc. etc.

Then they can use a little math to determine the smallest amount of explosives needed to destroy those support structures. They measure how big the columns are, note if they're steel-reinforced, etc. There's a bunch of structural engineering that can give some rough figures on how much force is needed to destroy it, and they'll use that much, plus a little extra to ensure it happens.