On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 09:26:37 +1300, Bruce Simpson
wrote:


To give you an idea of the difference (in terms of shock, vibration
and noise) -- in a deflagration, the flame travels at just a few
meters per second, in a detonation the flame front effectively travels
at several times the speed of sound.


Basicly it's the difference between low-order explosives like black
powder, and high order explosives like RDX...