What are some of the theories about why the Hindenburg disaster happen?
What are some of the theories about why the Hindenburg disaster happen?
The theory that gained the most popularity and became the most widely accepted involved the hydrogen on the Hindenburg. Hydrogen is a highly flammable gas, and most people believed that something caused the hydrogen to spark, thus causing the explosion and fire.
What chemical reaction caused the Hindenburg disaster?
Almost 80 years of research and scientific tests support the same conclusion reached by the original German and American accident investigations in 1937: It seems clear that the Hindenburg disaster was caused by an electrostatic discharge (i.e., a spark) that ignited leaking hydrogen.
Did the Hindenburg explode because of hydrogen?
Many hydrogen fuel advocates falsely claim that hydrogen was not responsible for the Hindenburg disaster. In fact, the Hindenburg was just one of dozens of hydrogen airships destroyed by fire as a result of their highly flammable lifting gas. “The Hindenburg’s outer cover was highly flammable“
What happened with energy during the Hindenburg explosion?
(Reuters) – The explosion that destroyed the Hindenburg was caused by static electricity and a buildup of hydrogen after the dirigible flew through a thunderstorm, according to a team of experts, the Daily Mail reported. The 245-metre (800-foot) Hindenburg, only slightly smaller than the Titanic, followed in 1936.
Why was the Hindenburg filled with hydrogen?
The airship was designed to be filled with helium gas but because of U.S. export restriction on helium, it was filled with hydrogen. Hydrogen is extremely flammable, and the official cause of the fire was due to a “discharge of atmospheric electricity” near a gas leak on the ship’s surface, according to History.com.
Why did the Hindenburg use hydrogen?
Where was the hydrogen stored in the Hindenburg?
One involved a set of inner hydrogen gas cells to be installed at center of 14 of the ship’s 16 helium cells. The flammable hydrogen would be protected inside the larger cell containing inert helium, and when it was necessary to valve lifting gas, hydrogen, rather than helium, could be released.
Did the Hindenburg use hydrogen or helium?
U.S. law prevented the Hindenburg from using helium instead of hydrogen, which is flammable. After the crash of the hydrogen-filled R101, in which most of the crew died in the subsequent fire rather than the impact itself, Hindenburg designer Hugo Eckener sought to use helium, a non-flammable lifting gas.
How much hydrogen was in the Hindenburg?
To most people, though, the Hindenburg’s destruction seems simple enough: the ship was filled with more than seven million cubic feet of hydrogen, it carried a heavy load of diesel fuel, and some kind of ignition converted all that into an inferno.
How much hydrogen did the Hindenburg hold?
Despite being filled with 7 million cubic feet of highly combustible hydrogen gas, the Hindenburg featured a smoking room.
Who said Oh the humanity?
reporter Herb Morrison
When radio reporter Herb Morrison saw the airship Hindenberg burst into flames in 1937, he blurted “Oh, the humanity!” meaning something like “what terrible human suffering!” Writers who use this phrase today—usually jokingly—are referring back to this famous incident.
What was the cause of the Hindenburg disaster?
Myths about the Hindenburg Crash. Many hydrogen fuel advocates falsely claim that hydrogen was not responsible for the Hindenburg disaster. In fact, the Hindenburg was just one of dozens of hydrogen airships destroyed by fire as a result of their highly flammable lifting gas.
Was the Hindenburg really a hydrogen airship?
In fact, the Hindenburg was just one of dozens of hydrogen airships destroyed by fire as a result of their highly flammable lifting gas. This page explores and debunks some of the more common myths about the Hindenburg disaster spread by hydrogen fuel advocates, including:
Did the Hindenburg fire contain hydrogen or cellulose nitrate?
[See, The Hindenburg Fire: Hydrogen or Incendiary Paint?, A. J. Dessler, D. E. Overs, and W. H. Appleby, “Dessler/Overs/Appleby,” pdf available here .)] Some discussions of the Hindenburg incorrectly claim that the dope contained cellulose nitrate, rather than cellulose acetate.
Was the Hindenburg really shot from the sky?
Most people dismissed these accusations as nonsense, and the formal investigation never substantiated the theory that the Hindenburg was shot from the sky. The theory that gained the most popularity and became the most widely accepted involved the hydrogen on the Hindenburg.
