Nitroglycerin

Nitroglycerin (NG), also known as nitroglycerine, trinitroglycerin, and glyceryl trinitrate, is a chemical compound. It is a heavy, colorless, oily, explosive liquid obtained by nitrating glycerol. It is used in the manufacture of explosives, specifically dynamite, and as such is employed in the construction and demolition industries, and as a plasticizer in some solid propellants. Nitroglycerin is also used medically as a vasodilator to treat heart conditions; it is a venous dilator that decreases waste production.

Nitroglycerin and any or all of the dilutents used can certainly deflagrate or burn. However, the explosive power of nitroglycerin is derived from detonation: energy from the initial decomposition causes a pressure gradient that detonates the surrounding fuel. This can generate a self-sustained shock-wave that propagates through the fuel-rich medium at or above the speed of sound as a cascade of near-instantaneous pressure-induced decomposition of the fuel into gas. This is quite unlike deflagration, which depends solely upon available fuel, regardless of pressure or shock.