What is the chemical reaction with the most pressure released

[AgentF2S]

ok i think i may have phrased it wrong but can anyone tell me or ague about what is the chem reaction that releases the most pressure?

[Strange]

I guess you mean, "that results in the greatest change of volume" (so that if it were in a confined space it would cause the greatest increase in pressure).

I don't know the answer. I'm not a chemist but I wouldn't be surprised if it is a compound with several nitrogen atoms. They tend to be somewhat unstable. For example: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2011/11/11/things_i_wont_work_with_hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (worth reading for the phrase "limb to chemist ratio")

[swansont]

For starters, a mole of an ideal gas at STP takes up 22.4L, so any reaction that takes liquids and/or solids and gives you a gas will start you off. One that created more gas than what the reactants comprise (e.g. large molecules that give off multiple molecules of H2, H2, CO2, N2 etc. is going have a large pressure if constrained to some volume) It would also depend on excess energy released, because that would increase the temperature, which would give a greater pressure.

[MigL]

Azides, solids containing a lot of Nitrogen, seem to fit the bill.
Their most common use is automotive air-bags.

[Ghideon]

3 hours ago, AgentF2S said:

what is the chem reaction that releases the most pressure?

I do not know the answer but do you mean"slow" reactions? Example: there are Calium Oxide* based compounds that can be mixed with water and then used to split rocks. The amount of pressure, when the mixture is contained in the drilled hole in the rock, is large. A typical such reaction is not explosive and AFAIK the change in volume is limited. Note, the above is an example to understand the question better, I do not know if the resulting pressure from any such reactions can compete with the example given by @Strange. 

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

 

[Strange]

The "things I won't work with" category on that blog is worth a read: it includes compounds that are stupidly explosive and unstable ("compounds that are just trembling with the desire to explode"), incredibly toxic compounds and things that smell really, really (no, really) bad. He has hilarious descriptions of how bad these things are.

Teaser:

Quote

In a comment to my post on putting out fires last week, one commenter mentioned the utility of the good old sand bucket, and wondered if there was anything that would go on to set the sand on fire. Thanks to a note from reader Robert L., I can report that there is indeed such a reagent: ...

 

1 hour ago, Ghideon said:

I do not know the answer but do you mean"slow" reactions? Example: there are Calium Oxide* based compounds that can be mixed with water and then used to split rocks.

And even plain old ice will do that.

[John Cuthber]

This may be of interest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauzl_lead_block_test

 

[studiot]

4 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

This may be of interest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauzl_lead_block_test

 

Interesting, thanks, +1

[MigL]

Azide is used to catalyze an Organophosphine  reaction.
It is added as a powder through an N2 purged hopper to an intermediate, or solvent, carrier liquid.
It is quite sticky, and one time someone had the bright idea to clean it off surfaces with steam.
A little Azide was left stuck on the inner surface of an 8 Inch, stainless steel ball valve.
When it decomposed at about 90 deg, it created enough pressure to rip the ball out of the valve housing, send it flying, and deform the 8 in SS ball into a football shape ( American football, for you Brits )

Tchnically not an explosive ( has other uses ) but still quite dangerous.

Edited August 19, 2020 by MigL

[joigus]

My first hurried answer would go in the direction of #(moles of gaseous products)-#(moles of gaseous reactants) being as big as possible.

But I also realize as I read you all that the exothermic character must be an important factor too, which would make a lot of sense.

I also gather from what more knowledgeable people than me are saying that for some reason reactions involving Nitrogen are better at it.

[John Cuthber]

On 8/19/2020 at 8:02 PM, MigL said:

Azide is used to catalyze an Organophosphine  reaction.
It is added as a powder through an N2 purged hopper to an intermediate, or solvent, carrier liquid.
It is quite sticky, and one time someone had the bright idea to clean it off surfaces with steam.
A little Azide was left stuck on the inner surface of an 8 Inch, stainless steel ball valve.
When it decomposed at about 90 deg, it created enough pressure to rip the ball out of the valve housing, send it flying, and deform the 8 in SS ball into a football shape ( American football, for you Brits )

Tchnically not an explosive ( has other uses ) but still quite dangerous.

Do you mean a rugby ball?
It depends on the azide some aren't explosive, others are.
ANd sometimes people accidentally convert the first group into the second.

1 hour ago, joigus said:

My first hurried answer would go in the direction of #(moles of gaseous products)-#(moles of gaseous reactants) being as big as possible.

But I also realize as I read you all that the exothermic character must be an important factor too, which would make a lot of sense.

I also gather from what more knowledgeable people than me are saying that for some reason reactions involving Nitrogen are better at it.

Nitrogen is good, mainly because the NN bond in N2 is strong.

Making nitrogen gas generally releases a lot of energy and a gas.
Those are both good for high pressure generation.

[studiot]

Well i'd like to quibble here.

First of all the OP did not specify or even mention an explosion or explosive

Secondly the OP specified pressure release, not pressure generation.

Pressure release might be release from a high pressure bottle or other confinement  - eg oxy - acetylene.

I did look up the world record for containment pressure, it is quite suprising and several times the pressure at the centre of the Earth.

Equally if the OP must have pressure generation then deep  geochemical reactions probably fit the bill, such as the formation of diamond.

Edited August 20, 2020 by studiot

[John Cuthber]

The OP starts with "ok i think i may have phrased it wrong " and that's  a good honest statement to make.

But it does make discussions about exactly what he meant, a bit tricky.
It's true that he didn't say anything about explosives.
But If I ask "what's the heaviest mammal?" I'm going to get answers that relate to whales.

47 minutes ago, studiot said:

world record for containment pressure

There's some clever stuff with diamond anvil presses that get to about 10 million bar.

But that's not really chemical.

I think explosions get to nearly a tenth of that .
There are some chemical reactions that take place in the range between those two. Metallic oxygen forms at about a megabar.
So the decomposition of metallic oxygen would generate about a megabar.

Does that count?

[MigL]

The OP said chemical reaction, but nonetheless I found this interesting, and so I thought I'd share it.

A typical thermonuclear bomb uses a fission reaction to generate ( radiation carries momentum and impinges force on 'surfaces' ) pressure high enough to initiate fusion of the Lithium Deuteride fuel.
In the classic Teller-Ulam configuration two stages of U238 are used for compression.
The Ivy Mike test bomb of 1952, produced a combined ( two stage ) x-ray/gamma ray pressure of approx. 73 million bar ( atmospheres)
In modern configurations, such as the W-80 cruise missile warhead, a spherical fissile compression is used.
The radiation pressure generated on the fusible fuel, in the W-80 modern warhead, is approx. 1400 million bar ( atmospheres ).

Explains how the sun's thermonuclear reactions can resist the immense gravity of the sun, and keep it from collapsing.

Edited August 20, 2020 by MigL

[Ghideon]

On 8/19/2020 at 4:06 PM, Strange said:

And even plain old ice will do that.

True!  Although in my limited knowledge of chemistry I did not think of that as a chemical reaction.

6 hours ago, MigL said:

Explains how the sun's thermonuclear reactions can resist the immense gravity of the sun, and keep it from collapsing.

Interesting. And in the context of OP question: What is the highest pressure "released" during a supernova explosion? Does that count as a "chemical reaction"?

 

I imagine that pressure during creation of a black hole is pretty high*. But I don't think that counts as "pressure released" or chemical reaction. 

 

*) I haven't looked for a source 

[Strange]

3 hours ago, Ghideon said:

Although in my limited knowledge of chemistry I did not think of that as a chemical reaction.

True

3 hours ago, Ghideon said:

Interesting. And in the context of OP question: What is the highest pressure "released" during a supernova explosion? Does that count as a "chemical reaction"?

Nuclear chemistry? 

[Edmond Nzivugira]

On Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 10:41 AM, AgentF2S said:

ok i think i may have phrased it wrong but can anyone tell me or ague about what is the chem reaction that releases the most pressure?

Hey! I think you can check well in factors that affect chemical equilibrium.. or what we call La chatelier's principle Any gaseous reaction may result in increase/decrease of pressure based on the conditions....Eg: N2+H2----»NH3 in gaseous state. When you increase pressure the more ammonia will be given(Pressure reduction on the forward side) When you reduce pressure, the few ammonia will be given(Pressure increase on the forward side)