Hacker News Reader

Contrary to the article, I think amonium nitrate is a _high_ explosive. That means it can explode via a supersonic shock or detonation wave. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_explosive_detonation_... says it's detonation velocity is 2.7 km/sec.

View on HN

Actually it is often not even considered an explosive, it is an oxydizer, the type actually used in mining is called ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil) and the oil (mormal diesel fuel) is added on-site:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANFO

and has a much faster speed, around 4,200 m/s and only used in mining because it is extremely cheap and relatively more secure when compared to other (more powerful) explosives.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com