Russ,
H2 + Cl2 ?
Chlorine and Hydrogen is somewhat similar to Oxygen and Hydrogen. If you don't have a high enough concentration or an intimate enough mixing nothing much will happen. The troubling thing is that while hydrogen and oxygen require a spark or ignition source in order to get going, hydrogen and chlorine do NOT. The Cl-Cl bond is pretty weak and the Chlorine molecules are easily broken apart into free radicals. These radicals rapidly attack the hydrogen molecules and provide enough energy to break apart other chlorine molecules and form more HCl. This leads to a chain reaction commonly known as an explosion. The amount of energy needed to get this reaction going is so small that simple visible light in the blue end of the spectrum is enough to set it off. If a test tube filled with equal parts H2 and Cl2 is stoppered in a dark room, if you shine a blue light onto the tube, it will explode.
Large hydrogen-chlorine explosions reference:
http://www.kcaia.or.kr/upload/info05/download.asp?filename=1&nID=17000
Chan
H2 + Cl2 ?
Chlorine and Hydrogen is somewhat similar to Oxygen and Hydrogen. If you don't have a high enough concentration or an intimate enough mixing nothing much will happen. The troubling thing is that while hydrogen and oxygen require a spark or ignition source in order to get going, hydrogen and chlorine do NOT. The Cl-Cl bond is pretty weak and the Chlorine molecules are easily broken apart into free radicals. These radicals rapidly attack the hydrogen molecules and provide enough energy to break apart other chlorine molecules and form more HCl. This leads to a chain reaction commonly known as an explosion. The amount of energy needed to get this reaction going is so small that simple visible light in the blue end of the spectrum is enough to set it off. If a test tube filled with equal parts H2 and Cl2 is stoppered in a dark room, if you shine a blue light onto the tube, it will explode.
Large hydrogen-chlorine explosions reference:
http://www.kcaia.or.kr/upload/info05/download.asp?filename=1&nID=17000
Chan