Navigation
Day
6
Season Six Research Files
Episode Nine
2:00pm - 3:00pm
C-4, or composition 4, is form of plastic bonded explosive (PBX). A PBX combines explosive chemicals with a plastic binder material. The binder coats the explosive to protect it and make it malleable.
The stabilizers in the binder require an extreme shock to start the chemical reaction that causes an explosion. Lighting the C-4 with a match will only make it burn slowly, like a piece of wood, and shooting it with a rifle won’t trigger the reaction either. It needs something as strong as a detonator or blasting cap to ignite it.
< back