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Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formulation and the smokeless propellant which replaced it are commonly described as gunpowder. The combustion products of smokeless powder are mainly gaseous, compared to around 55% solid products (mostly potassium carbonate , potassium sulfate , and potassium sulfide ) for black ...
Ambiguous language can make it difficult to distinguish gunpowder weapons from similar technologies that do not rely on gunpowder. A commonly cited example is a report of the Battle of Mohi in Eastern Europe that mentions a "long lance" sending forth "evil-smelling vapors and smoke", which has been variously interpreted by different historians ...
A black powder substitute is a replacement for black powder (gunpowder), primarily used in muzzleloading firearms. Substitutes may have slightly different properties from gunpowder such as: reduced sensitivity as an explosive, increased efficiency as a propellant powder, different density, and/or reduced ignition efficiency.
This is a timeline of the history of gunpowder and related topics such as weapons, warfare, and industrial applications. The timeline covers the history of gunpowder from the first hints of its origin as a Taoist alchemical product in China until its replacement by smokeless powder in the late 19th century (from 1884 to the present day).
A working example of the drawing above. This is a restored edge-runner mill at Eleutherian Mills . A powder mill was a mill where gunpowder is made [ 1 ] from sulfur , saltpeter and charcoal .
For example, two French battleships, the Iéna and the Liberté, blew up in Toulon harbour, in 1907 and 1911, respectively, with heavy loss of life. By the late 1890s, safer smokeless powders had been developed, including improved and stabilized versions of "Poudre B" (e.g. Poudres BN3F and BPF1), and ballistite and cordite from the late 1880s.
Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance [not verified in body]. These produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives [not verified in body].
Although all firearm propellants are generally called powder, [1] the term gunpowder originally described mixtures of charcoal and sulfur with potassium nitrate as an oxidizing agent. [ 2 ] : 133, 137 By the 20th century these early propellants were largely replaced by smokeless powder of nitrocellulose or similarly nitrated organic compounds .