There's an experiment called the "barking dog" in which nitrous oxide and carbon disulfide ignite in a large, long glass tube, resulting in a slow explosion although the glass tube does not break.

 

I first saw this experiment in the old British movie “The Browning Version” (1951), where a chemistry teacher performed it in front of unprotected students. I've also seen it in modern videos on YouTube, again involving spectators without eye/etc protection.

 

Is the apparent dangerous of shattering the glass tube real? Why, or why not? How has this been proven conclusively?

it shouldn't shatter unless

 

A/ the cylinder is damaged

 

B/ you're stupid and try to confine it to the cylinder by putting something on the top of it.

 

the explosion really isn't that powerful, more a gentle push than anything.

I'm also thinking that the volume in the tube is proportional to the square of the diameter, and a wide tube may contain enough volume/energy to shatter the tube walls. From the videos I've seen, the tube diameters don't exceed 3 or 4 inches. Also, a wider tube has less curvature, which seems weaker to me because it approaches a plane.

it's retarded to do any chemistry without safety gear. that said, you need confinement for an explosion to occur and from the video I saw, the ignition did not appear to be intense enough to shatter the cylinder. the demonstrator in the video was also wearing safety goggles and the audience was out of the picture. and just to be clear, wear your goggles people, that is of course unless you don't value the ability to see.

I would've thought the toxic gases would be the most dangerous aspect of this reaction.