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GUNPOWDER

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 727 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GUNPOWDER , an explosive composed of See also:

saltpetre, See also:charcoal and See also:sulphur. Very few substances have had a greater effect on See also:civilization than gunpowder. Its employment altered the whole See also:art of See also:war, and its See also:influence gradually and indirectly permeated and affected the whole fabric of society. Its See also:direct effect on the arts of See also:peace was but slight, and had but a limited range, which could not be compared to the See also:modern extended employment of high See also:explosives for See also:blasting in See also:mining and See also:engineering See also:work. It is probably quite incorrect to speak of the See also:discovery of gunpowder. From modern researches it seems more likely and more just to think of it as a thing that has See also:developed, passing through many stages—mainly of improvement, but some undoubtedly See also:retrograde. There really is not sufficient solid See also:evidence on which to See also:pin down its invention to one See also:man. As See also:Lieutenant-See also:Colonel H. W. L. Hime (Gunpowder and See also:Ammunition, 1904) says, the invention of gunpowder was impossible until the properties of nearly pure saltpetre had become known. The See also:honour, however, has been associated with two names in particular, Berthold Schwartz, a See also:German See also:monk, and See also:Friar See also:Roger See also:Bacon.

Of the former Oscar Guttmann writes (Monumenta pulveris pyrii, 1904, p. 6): "Berthold Schwartz was generally considered to be the inventor of gunpowder, and only in See also:

England has Roger Bacon's claim been upheld, though there are See also:English writers who have pleaded in favour of Schwartz. Most writers are agreed that Schwartz invented the first See also:fire-arms, and as nothing was known of an inventor of gunpowder, it was perhaps considered justifiable to give Schwartz the See also:credit thereof. There is some See also:ambiguity as to when Schwartz lived. The See also:year 1354 is sometimes mentioned as the date of his invention of See also:powder, and this is also to be inferred from an inscription on the See also:monument to him in See also:Freiburg. But considering there can be no doubt as to the .manufacture in England of gunpowder and See also:cannon in 1344, that we have See also:authentic See also:information of guns in See also:France in 1338 and in See also:Florence in 1326, and that the See also:Oxford MS. De officiis regum of 1325 gives an See also:illustration of a See also:gun, Berthold Schwartz must have lived See also:long before 1354 to have been the inventor of gunpowder or guns." In See also:Germany also there were powder-See also:works at See also:Augsburg in 1340, in See also:Spandau in 1344, and See also:Liegnitz in 1348. Roger Bacon, in his De mirabili potestate artis et naturae (1242), makes the most important communication on the See also:history of gunpowder. Reference is made to an explosive mixture as known before his See also:time and employed for " diversion, producing a See also:noise like See also:thunder and flashes like See also:lightning." In one passage Bacon speaks of saltpetre as a violent explosive, but there is no doubt that he knew it was not a self-explosive substance, but only so when mixed with other substances, as appears from the statement in De secretis operibus artis et naturae, printed at See also:Hamburg in 1618, that " from saltpetre and other ingredients we are able to make a fire that shall See also:burn at any distance we please." A See also:great See also:part of his three chapters, 9, Io, 11, long appeared without meaning until the anagrammatic nature of the sentences was realized. The words of this See also:anagram are (See also:chap. II): " See also:Item ponderis totum 30 sed tamen salis petrae luru vopo vir can utri et sulphuris; et sic facies tonitruum et coruscationem, si scias artificium. Videas tamen utrum loquar aenigmate See also:aut secundum veritatem." Hime, in his See also:chapter on the origin of gunpowder, discusses these chapters at length, and gives, omitting the anagram, the See also:translation: " Let the See also:total See also:weight of the ingredients be 30, however, of saltpetre .

. . of sulphur; and with such a mixture you will produce a See also:

bright flash and a thundering noise, if you know the See also:trick. You may find (by actual experiment) whether I am See also:writing See also:riddles to you or the See also:plain truth." The anagram reads, according to Hime, " salis petrae r(ecipe) vii part(es), v nov(ellae) corul(i), v et sulphuris (take seven parts of saltpetre, five of See also:young See also:hazel-See also:wood, and five of sulphur). Hime then goes on to show that Bacon was in See also:possession of an explosive which was a considerable advance on See also:mere incendiary compositions. Bacon does not appear to have been aware of the projecting See also:power of gunpowder. He knew that it exploded and that perhaps See also:people might be blown up or frightened by it; more cannot be said. The behaviour of small quantities of any explosive is hardly ever indicative of its behaviour in large quantities and especially when under confinement. Hime is of See also:opinion that Bacon blundered upon gunpowder whilst playing with some incendiary See also:composition, such as those mentioned by See also:Marcus Graecus and others, in which ' These words were emended by some authors to read luru mope can ubre, the letters of which can be arranged to give pulvere See also:car. bonum. he employed his comparatively pure saltpetre instead of crude nitrum. It has been suggested that Bacon derived his knowledge of these fiery mixtures from the MS. See also:Liber ignium, ascribed to Marcus Graecus, in the See also:National Library in See also:Paris (See also:Dutens, Enquiry into Origin of Discoveries attributed to Moderns). Certainly this Marcus Graecus appears to have known of some incendiary composition containing the gunpowder ingredients, but it was not gunpowder. Hime seems to doubt the existence of any such See also:person as Marcus Graecus, as he says: " The Liber ignium was written from first to last in the See also:period of See also:literary forgeries and pseudographs .

. . and we may reasonably conclude that Marcus Graecus is as unreal as the imaginary See also:

Greek See also:original of the See also:tract which bears his name." Albertus See also:Magnus in the De mirabilibus mundi repeats some of the receipts given in Marcus Graecus, and several other writers give receipts for Greek fire, rockets, &c. Dutens gives many passages in his work, above-named, from old authors in support of his view that a composition of the nature of gunpowder was not unknown to the ancients. Hime's elaborate arguments go to show that these compositions could only have been of the incendiary type and not real explosives. His arguments seem to hold See also:good as regards not only the Greeks but also the See also:Arabs, See also:Hindus and See also:Chinese (see also See also:FIREWORKS). There seems no doubt that incendiary compositions, some perhaps containing See also:nitre, mostly, however, simply combustible substances as sulphur, See also:naphtha, resins, &c., were employed and projected both for See also:defence and offence, but they were projected or blown by engines and not by themselves. It is quite inconceivable that a real propelling explosive should have been known in the time of See also:Alexander or much later, and not have immediately taken its proper See also:place. In a chapter discussing this question of explosives amongst the Hindus, Hime says: " It is needless to enlarge the See also:list of quotations: incendiaries pursued much the, same course in Upper See also:India as in See also:Greece and See also:Arabia." No trustworthy evidence of an explosive in India is to be found until the 21st of See also:April 1526, the date of the decisive See also:battle of See also:Panipat, in which See also:Ibrahim, See also:sultan of See also:Delhi, was killed and his See also:army routed by See also:Baber the See also:Mogul, who possessed both great and small fire-arms. As regards also the crusader period (1097–1291), se See also:strange and deadly an See also:agent of destruction as gunpowder could not possibly have been employed in the See also:field without the full know-ledge of both parties, yet no historian, See also:Christian or Moslem, alludes to an explosive of any See also:kind, while all of them carefully See also:record the use of incendiaries. The employment of rockets and " wildfire " incendiary composition seems undoubtedly of very old date in India, but the names given to pieces of See also:artillery under the Mogul conqueror of Hindustan point to a See also:European, or at least to a See also:Turkish origin, and it is quite certain that Europeans were retained in the service of See also:Akbar and See also:Aurangzeb. The composition of See also:present See also:day Chinese gunpowder is almost identical with that employed in See also:Europe, so that in all See also:probability the knowledge of it was obtained from Western See also:sources. In the writings of Bacon there is no mention of guns or the use of powder as a propellant, but merely as an explosive and destructive power. Owing perhaps to this obscurity See also:hanging over the See also:early history of gunpowder, its employment as a propelling agent has been ascribed to the See also:Moors or See also:Saracens.

J. A. See also:

Conde Wistaria de la dominacion de los Arabes en Espana) states that See also:Ismail See also:Ben Firaz, See also:king of See also:Granada, who in 1325 besieged Boza, had among his See also:machines " some that See also:cast globes of fire," but there is not the least evidence that these were guns. The first trustworthy document relative to the use of gun-powder in Europe, a document still in existence, and bearing date See also:February 11, 1326, gives authority to the See also:council of twelve of Florence and others to appoint persons to superintend the manufacture of cannons of See also:brass and See also:iron balls, for the defence of the territory, &c., of the See also:republic. See also:John See also:Barbour, See also:arch-See also:deacon of See also:Aberdeen, writing in 1375, states that cannons (crakys of war) were employed in See also:Edward III.'s invasion of See also:Scotland in 1327. An See also:indenture first published by See also:Sir N. H. See also:Nicolas in his History of the Royal See also:Navy (See also:London, 1846), and again by Lieutenant-Colonel H. Brackenbury (Proc. R.A. Inst., 1865), stated to be 1338, contains references to small cannon as among the stores of the See also:Tower, and also mentions " un See also:petit barrell de gonpoudre le quart' plein." If authentic, this is possibly the first mention of gunpowder as such in England, but some doubts have been thrown upon the date of this MS. From a contemporary document in the National Library in Paris it seems that in the same year (1338) there existed in the marine See also:arsenal at See also:Rouen an iron weapon called pot de See also:feu, for propelling bolts, together with some saltpetre and sulphur to make powder for the same.

Preserved in the Record See also:

Office in London are See also:trust-worthy accounts from the year 1345 of the See also:purchase of ingredients for making powder, and of the See also:shipping of cannon to France. In 1346 Edward III. appears to have ordered all available saltpetre and sulphur to be bought up for him. In the first year of See also:Richard II. (1377) See also:Thomas Norbury was ordered to buy, amongst other munitions, sulphur, saltpetre and charcoal, to be sent to the See also:castle of See also:Brest. In 1414 See also:Henry V. ordered that no gunpowder should be taken out of the See also:kingdom without See also:special See also:licence, and in the same year ordered twenty pipes of See also:willow charcoal and other articles for the use of the guns. The manufacture of gunpowder seems to have been carried on as a See also:crown See also:monopoly about the time of See also:Elizabeth, and regulations respecting gunpowder and nitre were made about 1623 (See also:James I.). Powder-See also:mills were probably in existence at See also:Waltham See also:Abbey about the See also:middle or towards the end of the 16th See also:century. Ingredients and their See also:Action.—Roger Bacon in his anagram gives the first real See also:recipe for gunpowder, viz. (according to Hime, ch. xii.) saltpetre 41.2, charcoal 29.4, sulphur 29.4. Dr John Arderne of See also:Newark, who began to practise about 1350 and was later surgeon to Henry IV., gives a recipe (See also:Sloane See also:MSS. 335, 795), saltpetre 66.6, charcoal 22.2, sulphur 11.1, " which are to be thoroughly mixed on a See also:marble and then sifted through a See also:cloth." This powder is nominally of the same composition as one given in a MS. of Marcus Graecus, but the saltpetre of this See also:formula by Marcus Graecus was undoubtedly answerable for the difference in behaviour of the two compositions. Roger Bacon had not only refined and obtained pure nitre, but had appreciated the importance of thoroughly mixing the components of the powder.

Most if not all the early powder was a " loose " mixture of the three ingredients, and the most important step in connexion with the development of gunpowder was undoubtedly the introduction of wet mixing or " incorporating." Whenever this was done, the improvement in the product must have been immediately evident. In the See also:

damp or wetted See also:state pressure could be applied with See also:comparative safety during the mixing. The loose powder mixture came to be called " See also:serpentine "; after wet mixing it was more or less granulated or corned and was known as " corned "powder. Corned powder seems to have been gradually introduced. It is mentioned in the Fire See also:Book of See also:Conrad von Schongau (in 1429), and was used for See also:hand-guns in England long before 156o. It would seem that corned powder was used for hand-guns or small arms in the 15th century, but cannon were not made strong enough to withstand its See also:explosion for quite another century (Hime). • According to the same writer, in the period 1250-1450, when serpentine only was used, one powder could differ from another in the proportions of the ingredients; in the modern period—say 17oo–1886—the powders in use (in each state)differed only as a See also:general See also:rule in the See also:size of the See also:grain, whilst during the transition period—1450–1700—they generally differed both in composition and size of grain. Corned or grained powder was adopted in France in 1525, and in 1540 the See also:French utilized an observation that large-grained powder was the best for cannon, and restricted the manufacture to three sizes of grain or See also:corn, possibly of the same composition. Early in the 18th century two or three sizes of grain and powder of one composition appear to have become See also:common. The composition of English powder seems to have settled down to 75 nitre, 15 charcoal, and 10 sulphur, somewhere about the middle of the 18th century. The composition of gunpowders used in different countries at different times is illustrated in the following tables: English Powders (Hime). 1 1250.

1350. 156o. 1647. 1670. 1742. 1781. Saltpetre . 41.2 66.6 50.0 66.6 71.4 75•o 75.0 Charcoal . 29'4 22'2 33.3 16.6 14.3 12.5 15.0 Sulphur . 29.4 11.1 16.6 16.6 14.3 12.5 10.01 1 This represents the composition of English powder at present, and no doubt it has remained the same for a longer time than We above date indicates. See also:

Foreign Powders (Hime). France.

See also:

Sweden. Germany. See also:Denmark. France. Sweden. Germany. 1338. 1560. 1595. 1608. 1650. 1697.

1882. Saltpetre . 50 66.6 52.2 68.3 75.6 73 78 Charcoal . ? 16.6 26.1 23.2 13.6 17 19 Sulphur 25 16.6 21.7 8.5 10.8 to 31 1 See also:

Brown or coco-powder for large charges in guns. The charcoal is not burnt See also:black but roasted until brown, and is made from some variety of See also:straw, not wood. When reasonably pure, none of the ingredients of gunpowder absorbs any material quantity of moisture from the See also:atmosphere, and the nitre only is a soluble substance. It seems extremely probable that for a long period the three substances were simply mixed dry, indeed sometimes kept See also:separate and mixed just before being required; the consequence must have been that, with every care as to weighing out, the proportions of any given quantity would alter on See also:carriage. Saltpetre is considerably heavier than sulphur or charcoal, and would tend to separate out towards the bottom of the containing See also:vessel if subjected to jolting or vibration. When pure there can only be one kind of saltpetre or sulphur, because they are chemical individuals, but charcoal is not. Its composition, See also:rate of burning, &c., depend not only on the nature of the woody material from which it is made, but quite as much on the temperature and time of See also:heating employed in the making. The See also:woods from which it is made contain See also:carbon, See also:hydrogen and See also:oxygen, and the two latter are never thoroughly expelled in charcoal-making. If they were, the resulting substance would be of no use for gun-powder.

1-3% of hydrogen and 8-15% of oxygen generally remain in charcoals suitable for gunpowder. A good See also:

deal of the fieriness and violence of explosion of a gunpowder depends on the mode of burning of the charcoal as well as on the wood from which it is made. Properties of Ingredients.—Charcoal is the See also:chief combustible in powder. It must burn freely, leaving as little ash or See also:residue as possible; it must be friable, and grind into a non-gritty powder. The sources from which powder charcoal is made are See also:dogwood (Rhamnus frangula), willow (Salix See also:alba), and See also:alder (Betula alnus). Dogwood is mainly used for small-See also:arm powders. Powders made from dogwood charcoal burn more rapidly than those from willow, &c. The wood after cutting is stripped of bark and allowed to See also:season for two or three years. It is then picked to See also:uniform size and charred in cylindrical iron cases or slips, which can be introduced into slightly larger cylinders set in a See also:furnace. The slips are provided with openings for the See also:escape of gases. The rate of heating as well as the See also:absolute temperature attained have an effect on the product, a slow rate of heating yielding more charcoal, and a high temperature reducing the hydrogen and oxygen in the final product. When heated for seven See also:hours to about 800° C. to 900° C. the remaining hydrogen and oxygen amount to about 2 % and 12 % respectively.

The time of charring is as a rule from 5 to 7 hours. The slips are then removed from the furnace and placed in a larger iron vessel, where they are kept comparatively See also:

air-tight until quite See also:cold. The charcoal is then sorted, and stored for some time before grinding. The charcoal is ground, and the powder sifted on a rotating See also:reel or See also:cylinder of See also:fine mesh See also:copper-See also:wire See also:gauze. The sifted powder is again stored for some time before use in closed iron vessels. Sicilian sulphur is most generally employed for gunpowder, and for See also:complete See also:purification is first distilled and then melted and cast into moulds. It is afterwards ground into a fine powder and sifted as in the See also:case of the charcoal. See also:Potassium nitrate is eminently suitable as an oxygen-provider, not being deliquescent. Nitrates are continually being produced in See also:surface soils, &c., by the oxidation of nitrogenous substances. Nitric and nitrous acids are also produced by electric discharges through the atmosphere, and these are found eventually as nitrates in soils, &c. Nitre is soluble in See also:water, and much more so in hot than in cold. Crude nitre, obtained from soils or other sources, is purified by recrystallization.

The crude material is dissolved almost to saturation in boiling water: on filtering and then cooling this liquor to about 30° C. almost pure nitre crystallizes out, most of the usual impurities still remaining in See also:

solution. By rapidly cooling and agitating the nitre solution crystals are obtained of sufficient fineness for the manufacture of powder without special grinding. Nitre contains nearly 48 % of oxygen by weight, five-sixths of which is available for See also:combustion purposes. Nearly all the gases of the powder explosion are derived from the nitre. The specific gravity of nitre is 2.2: 200 grams will therefore occupy about See also:loo cubic centimetres See also:volume. This quantity on its decomposition by See also:heat alone yields 28 grams or '22,400 C.C. of See also:nitrogen, and 8o grams or 56,000 c.c. of oxygen as gases, and 94 grams of potassium See also:oxide, a fusible solid which vaporizes at a very high temperature. See also:Incorporation.—The materials are weighed out separately, mixed by passing through a See also:sieve, and then uniformly moistened with a certain quantity of water, whilst on the See also:bed of the incorporating See also:mill. This consists of two heavy iron wheels mounted so as to run in a circular bed. The incorporation requires about four hours. 725 The See also:mechanical action of rollers on the powder See also:paste is a See also:double one: not only crushing but mixing by pushing forwards and twisting See also:side-ways. The pasty See also:mass is deflected so that it repeatedly comes under first one See also:roller and then the next by scrapers, set at an See also:angle to the bed, which follow each See also:wheel. Although the See also:charge is wet it is possible for it to be fired either by the heat developed by the roller See also:friction, by See also:sparks from foreign matters, as bits of See also:stone, &c., or possibly by heat generated by oxidation of the materials.

The mills are provided with a drenching apparatus so arranged that in case of oae mill firing it and its neighbours will be drowned by water from a cistern or tank immediately above the mill. The product from the incorporation is termed " mill-cake." After this incorporation in the damp state the ingredients never completely separate on drying, however much shaken, because each particle of nitre is surrounded by a thin layer of water containing nitre in solution in which the particles of charcoal and sulphur are entangled and retained. After due incorporation, powders are pressed to a certain extent whilst still moist. The See also:

density to which a powder is pressed is an important See also:matter in regard to the rate of burning. The effect of high density is to slow down the initial rate of burning. Less dense powders burn more rapidly from the first and tend to put a great See also:strain on the gun. Fouling is usually less with denser powders; and, as would be expected, such powders See also:bear transport better and give less dust than See also:light powders. Up to a certain pressure, hardness, density, and size of grain of a powder have an effect on the rate of burning and therefore on pressure. See also:Glazing or polishing powder grains, also exerts a slight retarding action on burning and enables the powders to resist atmospheric moisture better. Excess of moisture in gunpowder has a marked effect in reducing the explosiveness. All powders are liable to absorb moisture, the quality and kind of charcoal being the See also:main See also:determinant in this respect ; hard burnt black charcoal is least absorbent. The material employed in brown powders absorbs moisture somewhat readily.

Powder kept in a very damp atmosphere, and especially in a changeable one, spoils rapidly, the saltpetre coming to the surface in solution and then crystallizing out. The pieces also break up owing to the formation of large crystals of nitre in the mass. After the pressing of the incorporated powder into a " See also:

press-cake," it is broken up or granulated by suitable machines, and the resulting grains separated and sorted by sifting through See also:sieves of determined sizes of mesh. Some dust is formed in this operation, which is sifted away and again worked up under the rollers (for sizes of grains see fig. 1). These grains, cubes, &c., are then either polished by rotating in drums alone or with See also:graphite, which adheres to and coats the surfaces of the grains. This See also:process is generally followed with powders intended for small-arms or moderately small See also:ordnance. Shaped Powders.—Prisms or prismatic powder are made by breaking up the press-cake into a moderately fine state, whilst still moist, and pressing a certain quantity in a See also:mould. The moulds generally employed consist of a thick See also:plate of See also:bronze in which are a number of hexagonal perforations. Accurately fitting plungers are so applied to these that one can enter at the See also:top and the other at the bottom. The See also:lower plunger being withdrawn to the bottom of the plate the hexagonal hole is charged with the powder and the two plungers set in See also:motion, thus compressing the powder between them. After the desired pressure has been applied the top plunger is withdrawn, and the lower one pushed upward to eject the See also:prism of powder.

The axial perforations in prism powders are made by small bronze rods which pass through the lower plunger and See also:

fit into corresponding holes in the upper one. If these prisms are made by a steadily applied pressure a density throughout of about 1.78 may be obtained. Further to regulate the rate of burning so that it shall be slow at first and more rapid as the powder is consumed, another See also:form of See also:machine was devised, the See also:cam press, in which the pressure is applied very rapidly to the powder. It receives in fact one See also:blow, which compresses the powder to the same dimensions, but the density of the See also:outer layers of substance of the prism is much greater than in the interior. The leading See also:idea in connexion with all shaped powder grains, and with the very large sizes, was to regulate the rate of burning so as to avoid extreme pressure when first ignited and to keep up the pressure in the gun as more space was provided in the chamber or See also:tube by the See also:movement of the shot towards the muzzle. In the perforated prismatic powder the ignition is intended to proceed through the perforations; since in a charge the faces of the prisms fit See also:pretty closely together, it was thought that this arrangement would prevent unburnt cores or pieces of powder from being blown out. These larger grain powders necessitated a lengthened See also:bore to take See also:advantage of the slower See also:production of gases and complete combustion of the powder. General T. J. Rodman first suggested and employed the perforated cake See also:cartridge in 1860, the cake having nearly the See also:diameter of the bore and a thickness of 1 to 2 in. 726 with perforations See also:running parallel with the gun See also:axis. The burning would then start from the comparatively small surfaces of the perforations, which would become larger as the powder burnt away.

Experiments bore out this theory perfectly. It was found that small prisms were more convenient to make than large disks, and as the prisms practically fit together into a disk the same result was obtained. This effect of mechanical density on rate of burning is good only up to a certain pressure, above which the gases are driven through the densest form of granular material. After granulating or pressing into shapes, all powders must be dried. This is done by heating in specially ventilated rooms heated by See also:

steam pipes. As a rule this drying is followed by the See also:finishing or polishing process. Powders are finally blended, i.e. products from different batches or " makes " are mixed so that identical See also:proof results are obtained. Sizes and Shapes of Powders.—In fig.', a to k show the relative sizes and shapes of grain as formerly employed for military purposes, except that the three largest powders, e-f-g and h are figured See also:half-size to See also:save space; whereas the See also:remainder indicate the actual dimensions of the grains. a is for small-arms, all the others are for cannon of various sizes. c el%r V See also:lib 446 f e, power. For military purposes the " muzzle " velocity produced by a.powder is ascertained by a See also:chronograph which See also:measures the exact time the See also:bullet or other projectile takes to See also:traverse a known distance between two wire screens. By means of " crusher gauges " the exact pressure per square See also:inch upon certain points in the interior of the bore can be found. In the chemical examination of gunpowder the points to be ascertained are, in addition to moisture, freedom from chlorides or sulphates, and correct proportion of nitre and sulphur to charcoal.

Products of Fired Powder and Changes taking place on Explosion.—With a mixture of the complexity of gunpowder it is quite impossible to say beforehand what will be the relative amounts of products. The desired products are nitrogen and carbon dioxide as gases, and potassium sulphate and carbonate as solids. But the ingredients of the mixture are not in any See also:

simple chemical proportion. Burning in contact with air under one atmosphere pressure, and burning in a closed or partially closed vessel under a considerable number of atmospheres pressure, may produce quite different results. The temperature of a reaction always rises with increased pressure. Although the main See also:function of the nitre is to give up oxygen and nitrogen, of the charcoal to produce carbon dioxide and most of the heat, and of the sulphur by vaporizing to accelerate the rate of burning, it is quite impossible to represent the actions taking place on explosion by any simple or single chemical See also:equation. Roughly speaking, the gases from black powder burnt in a closed vessel have a volume at o° C. and 76o mm. pressure of about 28o times that of the original powder. The temperature produced under one atmosphere is above 2000° C., and under greater pressures considerably higher. Experiments have been made by See also:Benjamin See also:Robins (1743), See also:Charles See also:Hutton (1778), See also:Count See also:Rumford (1797), See also:Gay-Lussac (1823), R. See also:Bunsen and L. Schiskoff (1857), T. J.

Rodman (1861), C. See also:

Karolyi (1863), and later many researches by Sir See also:Andrew See also:Noble and Sir F. A. See also:Abel, and by H. Debus and others, all with the idea of getting at the precise mechanism of the explosion. Debus (See also:Ann., 1882, vols. 212, 213; 1891, vol. 265) discussed at great length the results of researches by Bunsen, Karolyi, Noble and Abel, and others on the combustion of powder in closed vessels in such manner that all the products could be collected and examined and the pressures registered. A Waltham Abbey powder, according to an experiment by Noble and Abel, gave when fired in a closed vessel the following quantities of products calculated from one See also:gram of powder: Fractions of Fractions of a a gram. See also:molecule or See also:atom. Potassium carbonate .2615 00189 molecule Potassium sulphate •1268 .00072 thiosulphate 1666 •00087 sulphide •0252 •00017 „ Sulphur . . . 0012 •00004 atom Carbon dioxide •2678 00608 molecule Carbon monoxide •0339 '00121 Nitrogen •1071 .00765 atom Hydrogen 0008 •0008 Hydrogen sulphide •oo80 •00023 molecule Potassium thiocyanate •0004 Nitre 0005 Ammonium carbonate •0002 a, f, If Proof of Powder.—In addition to chemical examination powder is passed through certain mechanical tests: I.

For See also:

colour, glaze, texture and freedom from dust. 2. For proper incorporation. 3. For shape, size and proportion of the grains.—The first is judged by See also:eye, and grains of the size required are obtained by the use of sieves of different sizes. 4. Density.—The density is generally obtained in some form of See also:mercury densimeter, the powder being weighed in air and then under mercury. In some forms of the See also:instrument the air can be pumped out so that the weighing takes place in vacua. 5. Moisture and absorption of moisture.—The moisture and hygroscopic test consists in weighing a See also:sample, drying at loo° C.. for a certain time, weighing again, &c., until See also:constant. The dried weighed sample can then be exposed to an artificial atmosphere of known moisture and temperature, and. the gain in weight per See also:hour similarly ascertained by periodic weighings. 6.

Firing proof.—The nature of this depends upon the purpose for which the powder is intended. For sporting powders it consists in the " See also:

pattern " given by the shot upon a See also:target at a given distance, or, if fired with a bullet, upon the " figure of merit," or mean radial deviation of a certain number of rounds; also upon the penetrative From this, and other results, Debus concluded that Waltham Abbey powder could be represented by the formula 16KNO3+21.18C +6.63S and that on combustion in a closed vessel the end results could be fairly expressed (rounding off fractions) by 16KNO3+ 21C+5S =5KZCO3+K2SO4+2K2S2+13CO2+3C0+8N,. Some of the sulphur is lost, part combining with the See also:metal of the apparatus and part with hydrogen in the charcoal. The military powders of most nations can be represented by the formula 16KNO3 +21.2C+6.6S, proportions which are reasonably near to a theoretical mixture, that is one giving most complete combustion, greatest See also:gas volume and temperature. The combustion of powder consists of two processes: (i.) oxidation, during which potassium carbonate and sulphate, carbon dioxide and nitrogen are mainly formed, and (ii.) a reduction process in which See also:free carbon acts on the potassium sulphate and free sulphur on the potassium carbonate, producing potassium sulphide and carbon monoxide respectively. Most powders contain more carbon and sulphur than necessary, hence the second See also:stage. In this second stage heat is lost. The potassium sulphide is also the most objectionable constituent as regards fouling. The See also:energy of a powder is given, according to See also:Berthelot, by multiplying the gas volume by the heat (in calories) produced during burning; Debus shows that a powder composed of 16KNO3 to 8C and 8S would have the least, and one of composition 16KNO3+ 24C+16S the greatest, when completely burnt. The greatest capability with the lowest proportion of carbon and sulphur to nitre would be obtained from the mixture=16KNO3+22C-{-8S. Smokeless and even noiseless powders seem to have been sought for during the whole gunpowder period. In 1756 one was experimented with in France, but was abandoned owing to difficulties in manufacture.

Modern smokeless powders are certainly less noisy than the black powders, mainly because of the See also:

absence of metallic salts which although they may be gaseous whilst in the gun are certainly ejected as solids or become solids at the moment of contact with air. Brown Powders.—About the middle of the 19th century guns and projectiles were made much larger and heavier than previously, and it was soon found that the See also:ordinary black powders of the most dense form burnt much too rapidly, straining or bursting the pieces. Powders were introduced containing about 3 % sulphur and 17-19 % of a special form of charcoal made from slightly charred straw, or similar material. This " brown charcoal " contains a considerable amount of the hydrogen and oxygen of the original plant substance. The mechanical processes of manufacture of these brown powders is the same as for black. They, however, differ from black by burning very slowly, even under considerable pressure. This comparative slowness is caused by (I) the presence of a small amount of water even when air-dry; (2) the fact that the brown charcoal is practically very slightly altered cellulosic material, which before it can burn completely must undergo a little further See also:resolution or charring at the expense of some heat from the portion of charge first ignited; and (3) the lower content of sulphur. An increase of a few per cent in the sulphur of black powder accelerates its rate of burning, and it may become almost a blasting powder. A decrease in sulphur has the See also:reverse effect. It is really the sulphur vapour that in the early period of combustion spreads the See also:flame through the charge. Many other powders have been made or proposed in which nitrates or See also:chlorates of the alkalis or of See also:barium, &c., are the oxygen providers and substances as See also:sugar, See also:starch, and many other organic compounds as the combustible elements. Some of these compositions have found employment for blasting or even as sporting powders, but in most cases their objectionable properties of fouling, See also:smoke and mode of exploding have prevented their use for military purposes.

The See also:

adoption by the French See also:government of the comparatively smokeless nitrocellulose explosive of See also:Paul Vieille in 1887 practically put an end to the old forms of gunpowders. The first smokeless powder was made in 1865 by Colonel E. See also:Schultze (Ding. Pol. Jour. 174, p. 323; 175, p. 453) by nitrating wood See also:meal and adding potassium and barium nitrates. It is somewhat similar in composition to the E. C. sporting powder. F. Uchatius. in See also:Austria, proposed a smoke-less powder made from nitrated starch, but it was not adopted owing to its hygroscopic nature and also its tendency to detonate.

End of Article: GUNPOWDER

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