Which explosive type is associated with rapid detonation?

• A. Low explosives
• B. Silenced explosives
• C. High explosives
• D. Propellant charges

Answer: (C)

Rapid detonation is a property of high explosives. These materials are designed to release energy through a detonation—a supersonic reaction that creates a powerful shock wave and causes immediate, violent breakup of the material and surrounding structure. The reaction front moves faster than sound in the material, which is why high explosives can produce such destructive, instantaneous effects.

Low explosives, by contrast, burn or deflagrate at subsonic speeds. They release energy by a slow-burning flame front that generates gas pressure, but without the shock wave associated with detonation. Propellant charges are used to produce expanding gas to propel a projectile and are not meant to detonate. The term related to silenced devices isn’t a standard classification for detonation speed, so it doesn’t describe the rapid detonation property.

So, the category that aligns with rapid detonation is high explosives.