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1. How does the energy released by jet fuel or gasoline compare to TNT, and why is TNT used instead of other sources with more energy?

One ton of jet fuel or gasoline, when burned in the air, releases the energy of 15 tons of TNT. Gasoline has more energy than TNT. Even chocolate chip cookies have more energy than TNT. TNT is used not because of its high energy content, but because it can release its energy very rapidly. In a millionth of a second, the energy of TNT is detonated as a chemical reaction.

2. How have gasoline and oil been used in the past?

The huge amount of energy in gasoline and its other forms like oil and jet fuel have made it an ideal substance for weapons. It has probably been used since the Byzantine Greeks and is probably the secret of "Greek fire" (21). In the 1930s, gasoline was the key component of the Molotov cocktails used in Spain in the 1930s. In World Wars I and II flamethrowers threw burning gasoline. Napalm, based on gasoline, was used during the Vietnam war. In Afghanistan, the United States used "fuel-air" explosives--gasoline mixed with air and detonated from a parachute.

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