r/science • u/Skoltech_ • 1d ago

Materials Science Scientists found many new molecules, some with over 75% of TNT's explosive power

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2468606925000292
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u/StacyChadBecky 1d ago

I’m not sure I follow. Is it that hard to find things less explosive than TNT? 75% of means less powerful. It’s just a weird way of saying “scientists found many new molecules less explosive than TNT”

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u/KiwasiGames 1d ago

TNTs main value proposition isn’t even that it’s explosive. It’s that it will sit there not exploding until you want it to explode.

Most advances in conventional explosives have all been directed at this point. Make something that is stable under normal handling conditions and only explodes when you are ready for it.

Makes sense when you thing about it. Most of an average explosives life cycle is spent not exploding.

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u/chadwicke619 1d ago

What does this have to do with the comment to which you replied, and by extension, the title of the post?

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u/KiwasiGames 1d ago

Comment says “it’s weird that they are getting excited about something less explosive than TNT”

My comment says “it’s particularly weird because TNT isn’t even all that explosive”.

We know plenty of things more explosive than TNT. Which makes the choice of TNT as a baseline odd.

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u/Jacob_Ambrose 1d ago

TNT is a pretty common choice for reference of how much energy an explosion releases. Nukes come to mind, or large explosions like the Beirut or Halifax explosion

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u/Sacagawenis 5h ago

How many TNTs is 1 nuke?

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u/Jacob_Ambrose 3h ago

A few thousand tons up to 50 million if we're talking detonated nukes

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u/chadwicke619 1d ago

The original comment is about the choice of wording - why do we care about something that is specifically between 75% and 100% of TNT effectiveness. It’s an odd phrasing that really has nothing to do with TNT. Your comment is about the main value proposition of TNT, which is stability. Not only that, but saying that using TNT as a baseline is odd, or that it’s not very explosive, also makes no sense. It’s extremely common to describe the power of an explosive in terms of equivalent TNT.