What most do not understand - Gasoline [
as a liquid - regarding
its own chemical compound - even if great heat were to be applied inside the liquid mass] does not [itself as a liquid] explode nor burn. With fume-ignition point temperature reached and ample %age of airborne gasoline fumes present...
gasoline fumes do violently burn... which can explode a gasoline tank wide open and then the released gasoline liquid's "fumes" burn and are continued to be fed by additional fumes coming from the evaporating liquid gasoline!
Rule of thumb: Better to transport a full gas can than a 1/2 full can. Reason... less fumes to escape or explode should for any reason a situation arise where ignition temperature were to be reached in the gas can's fumes; by a spark or anything else.
Can gasoline catch on fire?
Remember the vapors, not the liquid, ignite. That means a lit cigarette doesn't have to be near the gasoline for it to catch fumes on fire. ... A fire or explosion can result from gasoline fumes coming in contact with one of many ignition sources.
Flammable and combustible liquids themselves do not burn. It is the mixture of their vapors and air that burns. Gasoline, with a flashpoint of -40°C (-40°F), is a flammable liquid. Even at temperatures as low as -40°C (-40°F), it gives off enough vapor to form a burnable mixture in air. At higher temperatures gasoline fumes become more pronounced as an airbourn percentage and therefore ever more dangerously explosive .