The 'doped' cloth used a nitrate dope to seal it. Highly flammable. The
hydrogen didn't explode because it could only burn where it met sufficient
oxygen at the periphery of the bubble of hydrogen. Pure hydrogen like most
all other flammable gasses must combine with oxygen to burn or explode.
If you imagine the Hindenburg as a giant bubble of pure hydrogen, you can
imagine that the flame would work its way inward as the outside surface of
the bubble meets air and supports ignition. It would speed up quickly as
turbulence speeded up the mixing of the now skinless bubble with the air
around it. If the gas filling the Hindenburg had been hydrogen mixed with
sufficient air(oxygen), the blast would have been horrendous.
> True enough. But I watched a documentary on the Hindenburg a while back
and at least some of the latest research places the blame for starting the
fire on the paint. I can't remember what exactly was in it, but they said it
was like painting it with TNT. They tested a piece of similar fabric with
the same paint on it and POOF! There were several other factors they
considered from the film footage that seems to indicate that the hydrogen
didn't go up first - the visible flames from the very beginning (hydrogen
burns clear) and the way it kind of settled to the ground rather than BAM!
THUD!
>
> And having singed all the hair off one arm at one time due to some
carelessness with gasoline fumes and my sister in law barely escaping major
damage to herself and her house in a similar but separate incident, I don't
know that hydrogen would be much worse! ;-)
>
> Eddie
> 1971 Midget "Bebop"
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