Muzzleflashes unrealistic?

[Skoshi Tiger]

Originally Posted by swiss

Contact with air?
How do you wanna do that - create an anaerobe climate inside the cartridge? If so, where do take the oxygen needed for the combustion from?

There is a reason gunpowder has the shape of lil' balls(or cylinders): More space for O2 in between.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

All propellants (from Black powder to nitrocellulose) contain their fuel and oxider as chemical compounds within the powder. They require no external oxygen.

I am not a Chemist but a heres a discussion of the reaction for black powder,

"Black powder consists of the granular ingredients sulfur (S), charcoal (provides carbon to the reaction) and saltpetre (saltpetre, potassium nitrate, KNO3; provides oxygen to the reaction).

A simple, commonly cited, chemical equation for the combustion of black powder is:

2 KNO3 + S + 3C → K2S + N2 + 3CO2
A more accurate, but still simplified[1], equation is

10 KNO3 + 3S + 8C → 2K2CO3 + 3K2SO4 + 6 CO2 + 5N2
"
[online http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...0134837AAZTiVM ]

The shape of various propellants is designed to ensure consistent ignition and transference of the flame front as the powder ignites.

Cheers
[edit] I've been trying to find the equation for the combustion of nitrocellulose but I can't find one. Only how to make it! (go figure)

For those who care Cordite is nitrocellulose that has been disolved in nitroglycerine with a bit of petrolium jelly for lubrication.

Fortunately for when the excreta hits the A.M.D. my 1957 copy of 'Fortunes in Formulas' (25s/9d) has industrial procedure for the manufacture of Both. Oh! They were better days!