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Burst barrel of a muzzle loader pistol replica, which was loaded with nitrocellulose powder instead of black powder and could not withstand the higher pressures of the modern propellant The development of smokeless powders, such as cordite , in the late 19th century created the need for a spark-sensitive priming charge , such as gunpowder.
Contrary to urban legend, an M-80 that contains 3,000 mg of powder is not equivalent to a quarter-stick of dynamite. Dynamite generally contains a stable nitroglycerin-based high explosive, whereas M-80s or any other kind of firecracker contain a low explosive powder, like flash powder or black powder. [10]
On 9 March 1911, the village of Pleasant Prairie and neighbouring town of Bristol, 4 miles (6.4 km) away, were levelled by the explosion of five magazines holding 300 tons of dynamite, 105,000 kegs of black blasting powder, and five rail wagons filled with dynamite housed at a 190-acre (77-hectare) DuPont blasting powder plant. A crater 100 ft ...
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. [1] It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It ...
Black powder produces gas at a predictable rate unaffected by pressure, while the gas production rate of smokeless powder increases with increasing pressure. [6] The possibility of runaway pressures caused smokeless powder to destroy many firearms designed for black powder and required much more precise measurement of propellant charges.
For instance, an early 20th-century blasting manual compared the effects of black powder to that of a wedge, and dynamite to that of a hammer. [1] The most commonly used explosives in mining today are ANFO based blends due to lower cost than dynamite.
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 powder keg was the primary method for storing and transporting large quantities of black powder until the 1870s and the adoption of the modern cased cartridge. The barrels had to be handled with care, since a spark or other source of heat could cause the contents to deflagrate. In practical use, powder kegs were small casks to limit damage ...