Serpentine powder

Serpentine powder

Serpentine powder is an early type of gunpowder made of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur.

These three ingredients listed above, formed a flammable powder which was used in firearms. In order to make this gunpowder, an appropriate amount of each ingredient was needed. A mixture made up of 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulfur made what we refer to today as black powder. Black powder was used in many firearms as it was very effective. If the black powder was blended dry, it was called serpentine powder. A while ago, the saltpeter, or potassium nitrate was very impure. Scientists thought that they could increase the effectiveness of the serpentine powder by refining it, but the gun barrels were too weak to safely handle that extra energyFact|date=March 2007. Nowadays, the serpentine powder is only 57% as powerful as pure modern black powder.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • serpentine powder — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Serpentine (disambiguation) — The word serpentine may refer to:* Serpentine shape, an object or design shaped like the letter S or like a snake * The S shaped riding figure used when training horses. * Serpentine group, a common mineral group * Serpentine belt, a type of… …   Wikipedia

  • Mica powder — Mica Mi ca, n. [L. mica crumb, grain, particle; cf. F. mica.] (Min.) The name of a group of minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic. They differ widely in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • military technology — Introduction       range of weapons, equipment, structures, and vehicles used specifically for the purpose of fighting. It includes the knowledge required to construct such technology, to employ it in combat, and to repair and replenish it.… …   Universalium

  • Cartridge (firearms) — From left: .50 BMG, .300 Win Mag, .308 Winchester, 7.62×39mm, 5.56×45mm NATO, .22LR. A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm …   Wikipedia

  • Gunpowder — For other meanings, see gunpowder (disambiguation). Black powder for muzzleloading rifles and pistols in FFFG granulation size. Coin (diameter 24 mm) for comparison. Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the… …   Wikipedia

  • Matchlock — Early German musket with serpentine lock The matchlock was the first mechanism, or lock invented to facilitate the firing of a hand held firearm. This design removed the need to lower by hand a lit match into the weapon s flash pan and made it… …   Wikipedia

  • Talc — magnesium silicate redirects here. For the synthetic form, see synthetic magnesium silicate. Talc Three pieces of Talc. General Category Silicate mineral …   Wikipedia

  • matchlock — /mach lok /, n. 1. an old form of gunlock in which the priming was ignited by a slow match. 2. a hand gun, usually a musket, with such a lock. [1630 40; MATCH1 + LOCK1] * * * Device for igniting gunpowder, invented in the 15th century. The first… …   Universalium

  • Potrero Point — San Francisco is the location of the earliest and most important industrial facilities in the Western United States on the eastern extension of San Francisco s Potrero Hill, a natural land mass extending into San Francisco Bay south of Mission… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”