{{Merge|Gunpowder|date=March 2007}}

'''Black powder''' was the original [[gunpowder]] and practically the only known [[propellant]] and [[explosive]] until the middle of the [[19th century]]. It has largely been superseded by more efficient explosives such as [[smokeless powder]]s and [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]]. It is still manufactured today but primarily for use in [[firework]]s, [[model rocket]] engines, and reproductions of [[muzzleloader|muzzleloading]] weapons.

== Description ==

Black powder consists of the granular ingredients [[sulfur]] (S), [[charcoal]] (provides [[carbon]] to the reaction) and [[saltpetre]] (saltpetre, [[potassium nitrate]], KNO₃; provides [[oxygen]] to the reaction).<ref name = earl-2>Earl (1978), Chapter 2: The Development of Gunpowder</ref>

A simple, commonly cited, [[chemical equation]] for the combustion of black powder is:

:2 [[Potassium nitrate|KNO₃]] + [[Sulfur|S]] + 3 [[Carbon|C]] → [[Potassium sulfide|K₂S]] + [[Nitrogen|N₂]] + 3 [[carbon dioxide|CO₂]]

A more accurate, but still simplified, equation is:<ref>[http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/bang.htm#Blac Flash! Bang! Whiz!], University of Denver</ref>

:10 [[Potassium nitrate|KNO₃]] + 3 [[Sulfur|S]] + 8 [[Carbon|C]] → 2 [[potassium carbonate|K₂CO₃]] + 3 [[potassium sulfate|K₂SO₄]] + 6 [[carbon dioxide|CO₂]] + 5 [[nitrogen|N₂]]

The products of burning do not follow any simple equation. One study's results showed it produced (in order of descending quantities): 55.91% solid products: potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, potassium sulfide, sulfur, potassium nitrate, potassium thiocyanate, carbon, ammonium carbonate. 42.98% gaseous products: carbon dioxide, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, methane, 1.11% water.

The optimum proportions for gunpowder are: 74.64% [[Potassium nitrate|saltpetre]], 13.51% charcoal, and 11.85% sulfur (by weight). The current standard for black powder manufactured by [[Pyrotechnics|pyrotechnicians]] today is 75% potassium nitrate, 15% softwood charcoal and 10% sulfur; it appears to have been adopted as far back as 1780.<ref name = earl-2/>

For the most powerful black powder "[[meal powder|meal]]" a [[wood]] charcoal is used. The best wood for the purpose is pacific [[willow]], but others such as [[alder]] or [[buckthorn]] can be used.

The ingredients are mixed as thoroughly as possible. This is achieved using a [[ball mill]] with non-sparking grinding apparatus (e.g., [[bronze]] or [[lead]]), or similar device. Historically, a [[marble]] or [[limestone]] edge runner mill, running on a limestone bed was used in Great Britain; however, by the mid [[19th century]] this had changed to either an iron shod stone wheel or a cast iron wheel running on an iron bed.<ref name = earl-2/> The mix is sometimes dampened with [[alcohol]] or water during grinding to prevent accidental ignition.

Black powder is also corned to change its burn rate. Corning is a process which first compresses the fine black powder meal into blocks with a fixed density (1.7&nbsp;g/cm³). The blocks are then broken up into granules. These granules are then sorted by size to give the various grades of black powder. Standard, USA, grades of black powder run from the coarse Fg grade used in large bore rifles and small cannon though FFg (medium and smallbore rifles), FFFg (pistols), and FFFFg (smallbore, short pistols and priming [[flintlock]]s). To reduce accidental ignition due to an electrostatic discharge, coarse black powder grains are sometimes coated with [[graphite]] dust, preventing charge build-up during handling. Very coarse black powder was used in mining before the development of [[nitroglycerine]] and [[dynamite]].

Black powder is classified as a [[low explosive]], that is, it only [[deflagration|deflagrates]] (burns) rapidly. High explosives instead [[detonation|detonate]] at a rate approximately 10 times faster than the burning of black powder.

Although black powder is not a [[high explosive]], the [[United States Department of Transportation]] classifies it as a "Class A High Explosive" for shipment because it is so easily ignited. Highly destructive explosions at fireworks manufacturing plants are rather common events, especially in Asia. Complete manufactured devices containing black powder are usually classified as "Class C Firework", "Class C Model Rocket Engine", etc. for shipment because they are harder to ignite than the loose powder.

== History ==

{{See|Technology of Song Dynasty}}

A description of saltpetre-aided combustion was written down in the 9th century.<ref>{{cite book | author= Needham, Joseph | title=Science and Civilisation in China | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2004 | id=ISBN 0-521-08732-5 | pages=74}}</ref> The explosion recorded was an accidental by-product of [[Taoist]] [[Alchemy|alchemical]] efforts to develop [[Elixir of life|an elixir of immortality]].<ref>{{cite book | author= Kelly, Jack | title=Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World | publisher=Basic Books | year=2004 | id=ISBN 0-465-03718-6 | pages=3}}</ref> A book dating from c. 850 CE called "Classified Essentials of the Mysterious Tao of the True Origin of Things" warns of one elixir, "''Some have heated together [[sulfur]], [[realgar]] and [[Potassium nitrate|saltpeter]] with honey; smoke and flames result, so that their hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down.''"<ref>Kelly 2004:4</ref>

The impetus for the development of explosive [[weapons]] in [[China]] was increasing encroachment by tribes on its borders.<ref>Kelly 2004:8-10</ref> The ''[[Wujing Zongyao]]'' (武经总要, "Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques") of 1044 CE contains three recipes for explosives that [[Joseph Needham]] considers to be the first "true gunpowder" recipes: two for use in incendiary bombs to be thrown by siege engines (48.5% saltpetre, 25.5% sulfur, 21.5% others; 50% saltpetre, 25% sulfur, 6.5% charcoal and 18.75% others) and one intended as fuel for poison smoke bombs (38.5% saltpetre, 19% sulfur, 6.4% charcoal and 35.85% others).<ref>Kelly 2004:10</ref><ref>Xu 1986:29</ref> One of the recipes describes a 'thorny fire-ball' bomb designed with caltrops to catch and stick to targets and set them alight. It calls for a mixture of sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal and other filler and combustible ingredients to be packaged into a ball that is lit just prior to being launched from a trebuchet. <ref>{{cite book | author= Needham, Joseph | title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology; The Gunpowder Epic | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2004 | id=ISBN 0-521-08732-5 | volume=7 | pages=122}}</ref> Printed editions of this book were made from about 1488, and in 1608 a hand-copied edition was made.<ref>Feng 1991:461</ref> The Chinese began to use these explosives as a form of incendiary projectiles or [[fire arrow]]s in warfare by 904.<ref>Feng 1954:15-16</ref><ref>Zhong 1995:60</ref> Kelly suggests that the Chinese began to use rockets in war in the middle of the 13th century.<ref>Kelly 2004:15</ref> Although rockets certainly do appear by the 14th century, as they were documented in the ''[[Huolongjing]]'' by [[Jiao Yu]]. One early use of saltpetre explosives as a weapon was the fire lance, a handheld flamethrower which could also be loaded with shrapnel; by the late 1200s the Chinese had developed these into the earliest guns.<ref>Kelly 2004:15-17</ref> It should be noted that after a major battle in 1268, accounts which based on ''Yuanshi'', listed the events with the use of firearms to the end of Mongol's conquest, when it was last mentioned on a battle at [[Wuzhou]] in 1277.<ref>Liu 2004:57-58</ref> An explosion was mentioned on 1280 at [[Yangzhou]] caused by the black powder.<ref>Liu 2004:48</ref> After 1279, most guns taken from the major cities were kept by the Mongols. In [[1330s]], a Mongol law prohibited all kinds of weapons in the hands of Chinese. However it was restricted to civilians, who didn't usually carry firearms.<ref>Wang 1991:48</ref> An account of a 1359 battle near Hangzhou records that both the Ming Chinese and Mongol sides were equipped with cannon.<ref>Kelly 2004:17</ref> From archeology, the oldest [[cannon]] in China was excavated in [[Acheng]] in 1970 dated prior to 1290 by Wei Guozhong.<ref>Zhong 1995:193-194</ref> Another discovery was the inscribed metal cannon dated to about 1298 (大德二年). Which is similar to the bronze cannon of 1332 (至顺三年), that also had its date inscription.<ref>Wang 1991:50-58</ref> In 1974, an agglomerated ingredients which contains 60% saltpetre, 20% sulfur, 20% charcoal that dated to about late the 13th century was unearthed in the city of [[Xi'an]].<ref>Liu 2004:47-50.</ref>

Many early mixtures of Chinese gunpowder contained toxic substances such as [[mercury (element)|mercury]] and [[arsenic]] compounds.

In the 1270s, the Mongols conquered China and, with it, the technology of gunpowder.<ref>Liu 2004:46-47</ref> The use of cannon and rockets became a feature of East Asian warfare thereafter. The low, thick city walls of [[Beijing]] (started in 1406), for example, were specifically designed to withstand a gunpowder artillery attack<ref>Wang 1991: 103-115</ref>, and the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368-1644) moved the capital from [[Nanjing]] to [[Beijing]] in 1421, because the hills around Nanjing were good locations for invaders to place artillery.

Saltpetre combustion spread to the [[Arabs]] in the 13th century.<ref>Kelly 2004:22 ' Around 1240 the Arabs acquired knowledge of saltpeter ("Chinese snow") from the East, perhaps through India. They knew of gunpowder soon afterward. They also learned about fireworks ("Chinese flowers") and rockets ("Chinese arrows").'</ref><ref name = urbanski> Urbanski (1967). Chapter III: ''Blackpowder''</ref> The Turks destroyed the walls of [[Constantinople]] in 1453 with 13 enormous cannons up to a bore of 90&nbsp;cm firing a 320&nbsp;kg projectile a distance of over 1.6&nbsp;[[kilometre|km]].{{Facts|date=February 2007}}

The first written recipe for gunpowder in Europe is a recipe for pure black powder, set down by [[Roger Bacon]] in 1242 and later mentioned by him in 1252, 1257 and 1267 (Gartz2007{{page number}}). This is the earliest extant written recipe for pure black powder, without any additional ingredients, from anywhere in the world.

The 15th through 17th century saw widespread development in gunpowder technology mainly in [[Europe]]. Advances in [[metallurgy]] led to portable weapons and the development of hand-held [[firearms]] such as [[musket]]s. Cannon technology in Europe gradually outpaced that of China and these technological improvements transferred back to China through [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[missionaries]] who were put in charge of cannon manufacture by the late Ming and early [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] emperors. The latter half of the [[19th Century]] saw the invention of [[nitroglycerin]], [[nitrocellulose]] and [[smokeless powder]]s, which soon replaced black powder in many applications.

=== Civil use ===

Until the invention of explosives, large rocks could only be broken up by hard labour, or heating with large fires followed by rapid quenching. Black powder was used in civil engineering and mining as early as the [[15th century]].<ref name = urbanski> Urbanski (1967). Chapter III: ''Blackpowder''</ref> The earliest surviving record for the use of gunpowder in mines comes from Hungary in 1627.<ref name = urbanski/> It was introduced to Britain in 1638 by German miners, after which records are numerous.<ref name = earl-2/> Until the invention of the [[safety fuse]] by [[William Bickford]] in 1831, the practice was extremely dangerous.<ref name = earl-1>Earl, (1978). Chapter 1: Introduction</ref><ref name =brown-6/> Another reason for danger was the dense fumes given off and the risk of igniting flammable gas when used in coal mines.

The first time gunpowder was used on a large scale in civil engineering was in the construction of the [[Canal du Midi]] in Southern [[France]].<ref name = brown-6>Brown (1998), Chapter 6: ''Mining and Civil Engineering''</ref> It was completed in 1681 and linked the [[Mediterranean]] sea with the [[Bay of Biscay]] with 240&nbsp;km of [[canal]] and 100 locks. Another noteworthy consumer of blackpowder was the [[Erie canal]] in [[New York]], which was 585&nbsp;km long and took eight years to complete, starting in 1817.<ref name =brown-6/>

Black powder was also extensively used in [[railway]] construction. At first railways followed the contours of the land, or crossed low ground by means of [[bridge]]s and [[viaduct]]s; but later railways made extensive use of cuttings and [[tunnel]]s. One 800-metre stretch of the 3.3&nbsp;km [[Box Tunnel]] on the [[Great Western Railway]] line between [[London]] and [[Bristol]] consumed a [[tonne]] of gunpowder per week for over two years.<ref name = brown-6/> The 12.9&nbsp;km long [[Mont Cenis Tunnel]] was completed in 13 years starting in 1857, but even with black powder progress was only 25&nbsp;cm a day until the invention of [[pneumatic drill]]s sped up the work.

== References ==

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== Further reading ==

* Guns and Rifles of the World by Howard Blackmore ISBN 0-670-35780-4

* Brown, G.I., (1998). ''The Big Bang: A history of Explosives''. Thrupp: Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7509-2361-X.

* Cocroft, Wayne D., (2000). ''Dangerous Energy: The archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture''. Swindon: English Heritage. ISBN 1-85074-718-0.

* Davis, Tenney L. (1943). ''The Chemistry of Powder & Explosives''. (Republished) ISBN 0-913022-00-4.

* Earl, Brian (1978). ''Cornish Explosives''. Cornwall: The Trevithick Society. ISBN 0-904040-13-5.

* From Greek fire to dynamite.A cultural history of the explosives by Jochen Gartz.E.S.Mittler &Sohn. Hamburg year 2007,ISBN 978-3-8132-0867-2.

* Xu Huilin (1986). ''A History of Chinese Black Powder and Firearms''. Shanghai: Kexuepuji Press. CN / TQ56-092.

*Feng Jiasheng (1954). ''The Invention of Gunpowder and Its Spread to The West''. Shanghai: Shanghai People's Press. TQ56-09/1.

* Zhong Shaoyi (1995). ''Research on the History of Ancient Chinese Black Powder and Firearms''. Beijing: Chinese Social Siences Press. ISBN 7-5004-1800-0

* Liu Xu (2004). ''History of Ancient Chinese Firearms and Black Powder''. Zhengzhou: Elephant Press. ISBN 7-5347-3028-7.

* Wang Zhaocun (1991). ''A History of Chinese Firearms''. Beijing: Military Science Press. ISBN 7-80021-304-8.

* Feng Wu, et al (1992). ''Selection of Ancient Chinese Military Masterpieces''. Bejing: Jingguan Jiaoyu Press. ISBN 7-81027-097-4.

* [[J. R. Partington|Partington, James Riddick]], 1960. ''A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder''. Cambridge: Heffer & Sons. (Republished: 1998, The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5954-9).

* Urbanski, Tadeusz (1967). ''Chemistry and Technology of Explosives''. Volume III. Warszawa: Polish Scientific Publishers and Pergamon Press.

* Firearms : a global history to 1700 / by Chase, Kenneth Warren. ISBN 0-521-82274-2

== See also ==

*[[Black powder substitute]]

*[[Elizabethton, Tennessee#American Revolution|Elizabethton, Tennessee]]

*[[Gonne]]

*[[Green mix]]

*[[Gunpowder warfare]]

*[[Jiao Yu]]

*[[Meal powder]]

*[[Smokeless powder]]

*[[Jiao Yu]]

== External links ==

* {{cite web |url=http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/history.html |title=Ulrich Bretscher's Gunpowder}}

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