RE: [HOE] Guns&ammo in odd environments

[Theo McGuckin <tsm@jlab.org>]

> Actually, rockets specifically carry oxygen in the form of huge tanks of O-2
> into space, so they can work.  You cannot have combustion without oxygen
> (O-2).
> 
> The problem with bullets is if they do have enough oxygen within the shell
> to complete combustion, what do you think will happen when you expose them
> to space?
> 
> Right.  The pressure within the shell will try to equalize with the pressure
> outside the shell.  In the wussy version, the oxygen simply leaks from the
> shells rendering them inoperable.  In the COOL version, all of the shells
> explode upon contact with space.

But the oxygen isn't in a free (gaseous) state. It is stored in solid
state as part of the saltpeter (KNO3). So it can't leak out (just like the
oxygen in water is stored in a liquid state: water) When the gunpowder is
"burned" the oxygen is liberated into it's gaseous state. But I would
think that it happens so fast (as fast as it takes for a bullet to get
fired, which on macro-scale is instantaneous) that the oxygen doesn't have
time to go "pfft!" into the vacuum of space before it's burned up in the
firing.

Theo McGuckin - SysAdmin, JLab, Safety Warden (Bldg. 85)


	...whose thoughts and ideas are purely his own and in no way
	reflect Jefferson Lab, its staff or ideals. Unless of course
	there's any money to be made from those ideas, in which case the
	lab says "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"