Deflagration vs. Detonation — What's the Difference?

Deflagration (Lat: de + flagrare, "to burn down") is subsonic combustion in which a pre-mixed flame propagates through a mixture of fuel and oxidizer. Deflagrations can only occur in pre-mixed fuels.

Detonation (from Latin detonare 'to thunder down/forth') is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations occur in both conventional solid and liquid explosives, as well as in reactive gases.

To burn or cause to burn with great heat and intense light.

The act of exploding.

The act of deflagrating; an intense fire; a conflagration or explosion. Specifically, combustion that spreads subsonically via thermal conduction.

An explosion.

A burning up; conflagration.

(chemistry) An explosion or sudden report made by the near-instantaneous decomposition or combustion of unstable substances. Specifically, combustion that spreads supersonically via shock compression.

The act or process of deflagrating.

(by extension) Any sudden explosion made by an exothermic process (whether chemical or not) that produces a supersonic shock wave.

Combustion that propagates through a gas or along the surface of an explosive at a rapid rate driven by the transfer of heat

(mechanical engineering) engine knocking, a type of improper combustion in gasoline piston engines.

An explosion or sudden report made by the instantaneous decomposition or combustion of unstable substances; as, the detonation of gun cotton.

A violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction

The act of detonating an explosive