In Engines and Firearms
Unintentional detonation when deflagration is desired is a problem in some devices. In internal combustion engines it is called engine knocking and causes loss of power and excessive heating of certain components. In fire arms, it may cause catastrophic and possibly lethal failure.
Read more about this topic: Detonation
Famous quotes containing the word engines:
“America is like one of those old-fashioned six-cylinder truck engines that can be missing two sparkplugs and have a broken flywheel and have a crankshaft that’s 5000 millimeters off fitting properly, and two bad ball-bearings, and still runs. We’re in that kind of situation. We can have substantial parts of the population committing suicide, and still run and look fairly good.”
—Thomas McGuane (b. 1939)