Question: What happens when something explodes?

Connor Macrae answered on 21 Jun 2015:

Well as an explosion is a chemical reaction, it depends on the reactants! But usually, an explosion is a rapid reaction with a release of a large amount of energy. So an explosive, such as TNT it is the rapid incineration of the chemicals that make it up that releases a large amount of energy that produces heat and a pressure wave – making the explosion. For stars, when they go supernova, it is the sudden collapse of the core that rebounds as a pressure wave outwards that causes the explosion.