hypergolic
Apr. 3rd, 2018 07:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordhypergolic (hai-per-GAW-lik, hai-per-GOL-ik) - adj., (Chem.) igniting spontaneously upon contact with an oxidizer.
The most common context is rocket fuel. Hypergolic propellants can often be stored at room temperature and reliably ignite (so they are often used for maneuvering rockets, which have to quickly and repeatedly turn on and off) but they are often toxic before they are combined and, of course, you have to take great care NOT to combine them till you want ignition. One example, not longer used much, is hydrazine + nitric acid. The word was coined in German in the 1930s (and adopted around 1940) from Greek roots hyper-, extreme + erg(on), work (as in erg, the unit of measure) + -ol, a substantive suffix apparently borrowed from alcohol.
---L.
The most common context is rocket fuel. Hypergolic propellants can often be stored at room temperature and reliably ignite (so they are often used for maneuvering rockets, which have to quickly and repeatedly turn on and off) but they are often toxic before they are combined and, of course, you have to take great care NOT to combine them till you want ignition. One example, not longer used much, is hydrazine + nitric acid. The word was coined in German in the 1930s (and adopted around 1940) from Greek roots hyper-, extreme + erg(on), work (as in erg, the unit of measure) + -ol, a substantive suffix apparently borrowed from alcohol.
---L.
