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Old 05-10-2012, 10:22   #13
Studio25
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Re: How close did we come to killing ourselves as kids????

Quote:
Originally Posted by cashman View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Studio25 View Post
You'd probably have been OK. Petrol only burns at the surface, and can't be lit by a cigarette, so the wick-type fuse on a banger wouldn't have had an effect either.

You need something that is hot enough to get the petrol to higher than 246°C - although firework sparks are much hotter than that, they cool too fast when they hit the fuel so it doesn't ignite.
Bet yeh daren't put that to the test?
No chance
But I was sure I'd seen that the way petrol gets ignited in films (cigarettes and bullets) is a load of rubbish- and a quick google brought this up as the first hit:
Petrol lit with a cigarette? Only in the movies | Film | The Guardian
Apparently, firing tracer bullets (which have burning phosphor on them) through fuel tanks won't ignite the petrol either.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Less View Post
I'm glad I didn't prove him wrong, though I somehow suspect had it been fizzing, the fumes in the tank would I imagine, have ignited.

Also, so far as a fag...

I had a friend badly burned when he was foolishly cleaning motorcycle parts in petrol whilst smoking, petrol not ignited by a cigarette? I wouldn't bet on it.
It needs to be a fuel/air mix. Unless you're trying really hard to get a mix, there won't be enough vapour in a full petrol tank or air in an empty tank to allow combustion. If you have a pool of petrol exposed for long enough, you'll get a mix. My dad was once trying to destroy a cherry tree stump, so he piled the branches around it and poured loads of petrol on it. Went back into the house because he'd forgotten the matches, and then started throwing lit matches at the bonfire. They'd gone out by the time they left his hand, so he dipped the end of a branch in petrol and lit it, then put the burning stick into the bonfire. The whole thing exploded with a boom, but only a few of the petrol-soaked branches and the tree stump itself actually lit on fire.
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Last edited by Mick; 07-10-2012 at 05:25. Reason: language
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