The Science Behind Beirut Explosion In West Asia.

Lebanon, correctly known as the Republic of Lebanon a country in West Asia is recently in the news as a massive explosion rocked the entire city. According to the country officials, the reason is 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that was unsafely stored in a warehouse near a port. Before the Explosion, there were small sparks and blasts like ignited fireworks and suddenly a big explosion banged the city. 

The science behind the Explosion

The central cause of the Explosion was a large stock of ammonium nitrate that was stored in the warehouse in an unsafe manner.

Ammonium Nitrate:

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound including the chemical formula of NH4NO3. It is a white crystalline solid with high solubility in water. It's major use in the field of Agriculture and explosive industry Explosive mixture.

How Ammonium nitrate burns?

Ammonium nitrate succeeds not to burn on its own and it generally acts as a source of oxygen that can accelerate the oxidization of other materials. However, at high enough temperatures, ammonium nitrate can violently decompose on its own. This process creates gases including nitrogen oxides and water vapour. 

As in the case of Beirut, the large amount of these gases. This rapid release of the immense amount of nitrogen oxide and water vapour caused the shock-waves that were seen in some videos of the incident. Ammonium nitrate decomposition can be set off if an explosion occurs where it's stored if there is an intense five nearby.