Talk:Semtex

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Military history: Technology C‑class

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Explosives

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Explosives, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Explosives on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ExplosivesWikipedia:WikiProject ExplosivesTemplate:WikiProject ExplosivesExplosives articles
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Semantics Problem?[edit]

As little as 250g can down an airliner (12 to 16 oz or 340 to 450 g), as in the case of Pan Am Flight 103). as little as 250 (or 340-450) is contradictory information.

Export to Lybia[edit]

An expression about 700 tonnes of Semtex were exported to Libya seems to be inaccurate because according to the [http://www.explosia.cz/en/?show=omyly official sites only 690 tons were ever made for export. It is clear that only a part of the export went to Lybia. Miraceti 09:59, 25 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Semtin Glassworks[edit]

I found nothing about this company. What is a source of information First made by the Semtin Glassworks?

Quantity[edit]

"As little as 250g can down an airliner (12 to 16 oz or 340 to 450 g)" Is it 250g or between 340 and 450g? Anyone have a source?--24.16.148.75 02:08, 27 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm guessing it would be the former, depending on where the explosion was triggered on the plane.

Infamous in Britain?[edit]

I don't think the sentence: "the term Semtex is relatively unknown outside of Britain and its use caused considerable confusion" is very accurate. It seems to contradict the points made in the body of the article which imply that it was the notoriety of the substance which caused the decline in it's use. I agree that many British know the word but Semtex hasn't much to do with Britain and it is especially well known in the Czech Republic and most of Eastern Europe and (as the cited page acknowledges) is also the name of an energy drink there. Perhaps this should be changed to "unknown outside of Europe" or probably more accurately "unknown in Australia" as the Australian citation suggests.

Almost equally unknown, I assure you, in the United States. I wish I could find a source to cite to positively support that. A few Google searches later, I've only seen articles that assume knowledge that Semtex is an explosive from UK sources, but that's not conclusive and far from exhaustive. How M 22:44, 27 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Unknown in the U.S.? How exactly. Have you never talked to anyone who plays any number of video games that include semtex? 137.229.183.144 (talk) 02:44, 8 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comparison[edit]

Can we get a comparison to the blast strength of C-4 and Dynamite? Dread Lord CyberSkull ✎☠ 03:03, 22 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

American/British spelling inconsistencies[edit]

This page has variations of the word ton in 4 places. 2 use the British spelling convention and 2 use the American. WP:ENGVAR and the last paragraph of the introduction to WP:STYLE are relevant but don't provide a clear answer here. The page has almost 200 edits and MediaWiki doesn't yet provide a blame feature so determining the first style used is non-trivial and the page does not already have a clear and consistent use of style. I would have just been bold and made the decision myself but the language at the WP:STYLE introduction's last paragraph is strong and I have no experience with resolving this type of inconsistency. Any advice (or WP:BOLD editors) are welcome. Jeremyb 06:32, 27 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is a matter of substance, not style: in the US a ton is 907kg, in the UK, a ton is 1016kg, and everywhere in the world a tonne is 1000kg. I believe of these three units, only the tonne is widely used in the Czech Republic, and therefore it's the most appriate for measuring Semtex production and exports. --Townmouse 18:41, 1 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Missing data: explosive energy per kilogram[edit]

Does anyone know the explosive energy in megajoules per kilogram or in TNT equivalents? Neither article to the components of Semtex contains such info although it is one of the most important characteristics of explosives (in some cases even more important than the detonation velocity). Or is there a simple rule of the thumb to calculate the explosive energy from density and detonation velocity?--SiriusB 11:00, 26 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can find all (well, most/all relevant) explosive characteristics of Semtex 1A, Semtex 1H and Semtex 10 on the manufacturers website: click the "Description of Products". Explosion heat: SEMTEX® 1A = 4,980 kJ/kg (4.98 MJ/kg), SEMTEX® 1H = 4.982 MJ/kg, SEMTEX® 10 = 5.03 MJ/kg.--84.163.106.136 (talk) 14:55, 4 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Data from the Explosia website[edit]

Data on Semtex can be found on the manufacturer website. I won't add it to the article myself, I have no experience with explosives articles. [1] [2] —Preceding unsigned comment added by MarvinCZ (talk • contribs) 15:22, 20 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it's striking how a bunch of legends is compressed into the article on Semtex, yet not a single one gets the idea to look on the manufacturers homepage, where real facts about the issue are plentiful.--84.163.106.136 (talk) 14:45, 4 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Dye[edit]

What's it for? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.147.126.239 (talk) 07:37, 29 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's simply for dying the variants of this explosive in different shades of red.--84.163.106.136 (talk) 14:47, 4 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Formulation[edit]

I wonder if we should note that Explosia does not reveal the details of its formulations; the two examples given seem to have originated, I believe, in forensic examinations of terrorist bombings. Gerald L. Hurst (a highly respected explosives chemist and fire & explosive forensic expert; among other things, inventor of astrolite, Kinepak, and the developer of trichloroethylene solvent for correction fluid) has publicly expressed strong skepticism that these lists are the real formulation. However, the only reference I have is a usenet posting: [3]. -- Securiger (talk) 08:54, 28 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

When? What?[edit]

"Various sources state that production started in 1964 or 1966. Explosia's brief historical document states it was 1964,[5] but most other credible sources state it was in 1966. Most of these also state that development was started at the same time, in response to a request from Vietnam for a counterpart to the US's introduction of C-4."

What does this mean? Surely Semtex was the counterpart to C4, so how could they develop it at the same time as they produced it? 91.108.143.25 (talk) 01:06, 1 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

According to various sources it was inveted in the 50s by Alex Kresock. And again according to various sources it was invented in the 60s by Stanislav Brebera. In the article about Brebera, it says it was invented by him. And then in the Semtex article it says it was invented by Kresock. What to believe? El Ucca (talk) 18:34, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Semtex vs TNT , Nitroglycerine and others ?[edit]

If the same amount (by weight) is used, which detornates stongest (with highest speed or most energy) ? F.i. Semtex , TNT or "pure" Nitroglycerine ? (I assume that Semtex do detornate , exploasion faster than speed of sound) 83.249.168.32 (talk) 02:18, 2 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]