Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Gunpowder is a low explosive: it does not detonate, but rather deflagrates (burns quickly). This is an advantage in a propellant device, where one does not desire a shock that would shatter the gun and potentially harm the operator; however, it is a drawback when an explosion is desired.
Finnish smokeless powder. Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formulation and the smokeless propellant which replaced it are commonly described as gunpowder.
The Confederate Powderworks was the second largest gunpowder factory in the world at that time, producing 3.5 tons per day. More than 2.75 million pounds of first-quality gunpowder (a majority of the powder used by the Confederacy) were produced before its closure in 1865. [5]
A saltpetre works or nitrary [1] is a place of production of potassium nitrate or saltpetre used primarily for the manufacture of gunpowder. The saltpeter occurs naturally in certain places like the "Caves of Salnitre" ( Collbató ) known since the Neolithic.
Premature detonation is a hazard of attempting to construct any homemade bomb. The materials and methods used with pipe bombs often result in unintentional detonation, usually resulting in serious injury or death to the assembler. In many countries, the manufacture or possession of a pipe bomb is a serious crime, regardless of its intended use.
Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 AD.. Gunpowder is the first explosive to have been developed. Popularly listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, it was invented during the late Tang dynasty (9th century) while the earliest recorded chemical formula for gunpowder dates to the Song dynasty (11th century).
After a chain of experimental failures, Ch'oe considered abandoning the project, but heard about a wealthy Chinese merchant named Li Yuan who had great knowledge of gunpowder. Ch'oe visited Li while he was staying in Goryeo on business, and bribed Li for the gunpowder recipe, in violation of Mongol and Chinese law.
The earliest gunpowder recipe and primitive weaponry date to China's Song dynasty and the oldest extant guns appear in the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. However, historian Tonio Andrade notes that there is a surprising scarcity of reliable evidence of firearms in Iran or Central Asia prior to the late 14th century.