this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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It's a fast controlled burn with forces that could cause much destruction but is instead directed into rotational movement. The difference between an engine knocking and not knocking is pretty small, so I'd argue either both cases are explosions or neither are. Explosion isn't a very scientific word anyway
it's a fast controlled burn propagating subsonically. Which is what makes it a burn instead of a detonation.
Not that I trust Google, but I did a search and the first result said "A detonation is an explosion where the flame speed is greater than the speed of sound."
That implies there can also be explosions that are subsonic
I also found this wiki page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion Deflagration is listed as just that. And cars run on Deflagration, so therefore they run on explosions