Organometallic compounds of highly electropositive elements such as lithium, sodium, and aluminum ignite spontaneously and sometimes explode on contact with air or other oxidizing agents.
A deep-fried egg exploded on contact with a fork as we tucked into a wonderful salad of escarole, dried apricots, crispy shallots and pancetta vinaigrette.
As a lawyer watching a Union cavalry advance come to a standstill when the shells exploded on contact with the horses' hooves noted, "They never moved a peg after hearing the report".
The resultant gray powder behaved differently from anything previously known; it exploded on contact with open flame or a red-hot wire, producing a bright flash, a loud report, dense white smoke, and a sulfurous smell.
See articleDisastrous aviationIn Brazil, a TAM Airbus jet on an internal flight overshot the recently resurfaced runway at São Paulo's commuter airport and exploded on contact with a fuel and cargo warehouse, killing all 186 people on board and several on the ground.
"Upon exploding on contact with an object, each submunition disintegrates into high-velocity fragments to attack people and releases a slug of molten metal to penetrate armoured vehicles," HRW noted.
This bomb exploded on contact, creating a 10 feet hole in the deck, but caused no further damage.
