Hi Mike.
Conditions were ripe for an explosion here.
I think so. More importantly, Mike McKubre thinks so. Most importantly, Mizuno thinks so. Perhaps it would be a good idea to try to compute the explosive power of the stoichiometric gas in the headspace, but I do not think this hypothesis calls for much analysis beyond that.
As for the light at the bottom of the test tube, while I do not want to speculate too much, we should remember that the event occurred in a very short time, probably a fraction of the second, and it is difficult to make accurate observations in such circumstances. Perhaps the light was reflected? I do not know, but anyway, I would not put much stock in my own recollection of such an event. Imagine your ears are still ringing from an explosion, you are bleeding and you have just pulled a glass shard out of your neck that was embedded next to the carotid artery. How likely is it that you will accurately and completely recall a fleeting observation you made a fraction of a second before the explosion?
- Jed
