Talk:Exploding wire method

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Does this same phenomena occur under vacuum and/or Argon atmosphere?

Has anyone every tried exploding a wire in an atmosphere free from water vapor? I.e. either vacuum or under Argon atmosphere. I'm very intrigued by the description of this as a "source of high-intensity light". 22:25, 17 August 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.58.139.2 (talk)

:I found a 50-year-old study of a side-by-side experiment showing significantly more current/power required to explode a wire under vacuum than under atmosphere. Exploding wires in air and vacuum, Zeitschrift für Physik, B. Stenerhag, S. K. Händel, I. Holmström1, 967, DOI 10.1007/BF01326904. I think this quite interesting that atmosphere appears to facilitate a plasma that excites the explosion at a lower power threshold. Ronnotel (talk) 01:09, 18 August 2018 (UTC)

Lead is contradictory

the lead begins by explaining the thin wire is turned into a conductive plasma. Which makes sense, as plasmas are ionic and hence conductive.

However, the same paragtaph goes on to say in the next sentence or two that the wire is vaporized and the vapor conducts the electricity.

It seems whomever wrote it was conflating vapor/gas with plasma. Without knowing about the topic, it's difficult for me to say which explanation is right.

As I said, logically, plasma makes more sense. But, I don't want to base an edit on just logic or inferences.

I'm also wondering why the electricity even needs to be conducted after the wire has been destroyed. Isn't the point of it to heat the wire enough to detonate the explosive?

Once it's plasma, or vapor or whatever the case may be, the explosive will conceivably detonate. So, why should it matter if the wire still conducts at this point?

The whole section makes little logical sense.

Furthermore, there isn't a single citation to confirm or deny anything that's said in this section. Which doesn't help it's credibility if it's contradictory and illogical as it is.

Persinally, I think a community discussion about rewriting the lead is in order. Then, we can go from there.

VoidHalo (talk) 22:48, 20 September 2024 (UTC)