Can a propane filled party balloon....?

Question

blow up if shot at?

Answer 1

Possibly yes.  The heat from the impact of the projectile with the balloon could ignite the gas.  I recommend you do not do this.

Answer 2

I would be willing to bet your life that it wouldn't ignite the propane.  First of all, if the balloon is filled with propane, there is no oxygen in the balloon and nothing to support combustion.  

Any oxygen would have to come from the air.  Therefore the propane would have to mix with the air after the bullet had ruptured the balloon, and then achieve the proper ratio of propane to oxygen that is flammable.  

By that time the bullet is long gone, and taken any heat needed to ignite the mixture with it.  Gases have very low heat capacities, and there would be very little heat energy transferred to the propane in the short time that they are in contact.

And now I recall a Mythbusters episode ...

Myth Title: Propane Tank Peril

Myth Description: In Casino Royale, James Bond shoots a propane tank 20 feet away with a 9mm & it explodes, allowing escape.

MythBusters on the bust: Kari Byron, Tori Belleci, Grant Imahara

Hypothesis: The bullet pierces the tank, allowing oxygen into the mix. The spark from the bullet exiting causes an explosion.

Procedure/Experimental Design: With "lots of guns and lots of propane tanks", Kari, Grant, & Tori head to the Alameda Bomb Range. They shoot an empty tank first with a 9mm to see if they could even pierce the tank. It takes a shotgun to piercethe front, but a 30 ot 6 to pierce through both sides.

They could not get a spark... or at least not a spark that created an explosion.

They move on to tracer rounds. With glowing phosphorus on the end, the heat might ignite the propane. However, they still could not get an explosion.

Finally, Grant shoots a gatling gun with incendiary rounds which finally causes an explosion.

Results: They could not get an explosion with any type of "legal" bullets with which they tested.

Conclusion: Bullets just are not designed to cause explosions.

Busted or Not Busted: Busted

http://mythbusters-wiki.discovery.com/pa...