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{{other uses}}
[[File:Black Powder-1.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|Gunpowder for [[muzzleloader|muzzleloading]] firearms in granulation size]]
[[File:Veterans Weekend, Hull - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[American Civil War]] [[American Civil War reenactment|re-enactors]] [[Volley fire|volley firing]] with black powder]]
[[File:Zündkraut mit Zündkrautspender.jpg|thumb|[[Flash pan]] starter dispenser]]
'''Gunpowder''', also commonly known as '''black powder''' to distinguish it from modern [[smokeless powder]], is the earliest known chemical [[explosive]]. It consists of a mixture of [[sulfur]], [[
Gunpowder is classified as a [[Explosive#Low|low explosive]] because of its relatively slow decomposition rate, low ignition temperature and consequently low [[brisance|brisance (breaking/shattering)]]. Low explosives [[deflagration|deflagrate]] (i.e., burn at subsonic speeds), whereas [[high explosives]] [[detonation|detonate]], producing a supersonic [[shockwave]]. Ignition of gunpowder packed behind a [[projectile]] generates enough pressure to force the shot from the muzzle at high speed, but usually not enough force to rupture the [[gun barrel]]. It thus makes a good propellant but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications with its low-yield explosive power. Nonetheless, it was widely used to fill fused artillery shells (and used in [[mining]] and [[civil engineering]] projects) until the second half of the 19th century, when the first [[high explosive]]s were put into use.
Gunpowder is one of the [[Four Great Inventions]] of
== Effect ==
Gunpowder is a [[Explosive#Low|low explosive]]: it does not [[detonation|detonate]], but rather [[Deflagration|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. In that case, the propellant (and most importantly, gases produced by its burning) must be confined. Since it contains its own oxidizer and additionally burns faster under pressure, its combustion is capable of bursting containers such as a shell, grenade, or improvised "[[pipe bomb]]" or "pressure cooker" casings to form [[fragmentation (weaponry)|shrapnel]].▼
▲Gunpowder is a [[Explosive#Low|low explosive]]: it does not [[detonation|detonate]], but rather [[Deflagration|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. In that case, the propellant (and most importantly, gases produced by its burning) must be confined. Since it contains its own oxidizer and additionally burns faster under pressure, its combustion is capable of bursting containers such as a shell, grenade, or improvised "pipe bomb" or "pressure cooker" casings to form [[fragmentation (weaponry)|shrapnel]].
In quarrying, high explosives are generally preferred for shattering rock. However, because of its low [[brisance]], gunpowder causes fewer fractures and results in more usable stone compared to other explosives, making it useful for blasting [[slate]], which is fragile,<ref name="Pid">{{cite journal |last=Piddock |first=Susan |date=2007 |title=Slate, slate, everywhere slate: The cultural landscapes of the Willunga slate quarries, South Australia |journal=Australasian Historical Archaeology |volume=25 |pages=5–18 |jstor=29544573 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/29544573}}</ref> or monumental stone such as [[granite]] and [[marble]]. Gunpowder is well suited for [[blank round]]s, [[signal flare]]s, [[burst charge]]s, and rescue-line launches. It is also used in fireworks for lifting shells, in rockets as fuel, and in certain [[special effect]]s.
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Combustion converts less than half the mass of gunpowder to gas; most of it turns into particulate matter. Some of it is ejected, wasting propelling power, fouling the air, and generally being a nuisance (giving away a soldier's position, generating fog that hinders vision, etc.). Some of it ends up as a thick layer of [[soot]] inside the barrel, where it also is a nuisance for subsequent shots, and a cause of jamming an automatic weapon. Moreover, this residue is [[hygroscopic]], and with the addition of moisture absorbed from the air forms a [[corrosive substance]]. The soot contains [[potassium oxide]] or [[sodium oxide]] that turns into [[potassium hydroxide]], or [[sodium hydroxide]], which corrodes [[wrought iron]] or [[steel]] gun barrels. Gunpowder arms therefore require thorough and regular cleaning to remove the residue.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.1952.0127|last1=Blackwood|first1=J.D.|last2=Bowden|first2=F.P.|date=January 7, 1952|journal=Royal Society Publishing|title=The initiation, burning and thermal decomposition of gunpowder|volume=213 |issue=1114 |pages=285–310|doi=10.1098/rspa.1952.0127 |bibcode=1952RSPSA.213..285B |s2cid=55581169 |accessdate=June 8, 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026142939/https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.1952.0127|archive-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref>
Gunpowder loads can be used in modern firearms as long as they are not [[Gas-operated reloading|gas-operated]].{{
== History ==
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The first confirmed reference to what can be considered gunpowder in China occurred in the 9th century AD during the [[Tang dynasty]], first in a formula contained in the ''Taishang Shengzu Jindan Mijue'' (太上聖祖金丹秘訣) in 808, and then about 50 years later in a Taoist text known as the ''[[Zhenyuan Miaodao Yaolue|Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe]]'' (真元妙道要略).{{sfn|Lorge|2008|p=32}} The ''Taishang Shengzu Jindan Mijue'' mentions a formula composed of six parts sulfur to six parts saltpeter to one part birthwort herb.{{sfn|Lorge|2008|p=32}} According to the ''Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe'', "Some have heated together sulfur, [[realgar]] and 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."{{sfn|Kelly|2004|p=4}} Based on these Taoist texts, the invention of gunpowder by Chinese alchemists was likely an accidental byproduct from experiments seeking to create the [[elixir of life]].{{sfnm|Chase|2003|1pp=31–32|Andrade|2016|2p=30}} This [[experimental medicine]] origin is reflected in its Chinese name ''huoyao'' ({{zh|c=火药/火藥 |p=huǒ yào}}{{IPA|/xuo yɑʊ/}}), which means "fire medicine".{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=30}} [[Saltpeter]] was known to the Chinese by the mid-1st century AD and was primarily produced in the provinces of [[Sichuan]], [[Shanxi]], and [[Shandong]].{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=103}} There is strong evidence of the use of saltpeter and sulfur in various [[medicine|medicinal]] combinations.{{sfn|Buchanan|2006}} A Chinese alchemical text dated 492 noted saltpeter burnt with a purple flame, providing a practical and reliable means of distinguishing it from other inorganic salts, thus enabling alchemists to evaluate and compare purification techniques; the earliest Latin accounts of saltpeter purification are dated after 1200.{{sfn|Chase|2003|pp=31–32}}
The earliest chemical formula for gunpowder appeared in the 11th century [[Song dynasty]] text, ''[[Wujing Zongyao]]'' (''Complete Essentials from the Military Classics''), written by [[Zeng Gongliang]] between 1040 and 1044.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=31}} The ''Wujing Zongyao'' provides encyclopedia references to a variety of mixtures that included petrochemicals—as well as garlic and honey. A slow match for flame-throwing mechanisms using the siphon principle and for fireworks and rockets is mentioned. The mixture formulas in this book contain at most 50% {{nowrap|saltpeter{{tsp}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}}}not enough to create an explosion, they produce an [[Incendiary device|incendiary]] instead.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=31}} The ''Essentials'' was written by a [[Science and technology of the Song dynasty|Song dynasty]] court bureaucrat and there is little evidence that it had any immediate impact on warfare; there is no mention of its use in the chronicles of the wars against the [[Tangut people|Tanguts]] in the 11th century, and China was otherwise mostly at peace during this century. However, it had already been used for [[fire arrows]] since at least the 10th century. Its first recorded military application dates its use to
By 1083 the Song court was producing hundreds of thousands of fire arrows for their garrisons.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=32}} Bombs and the first proto-guns, known as "fire lances", became prominent during the 12th century and were used by the Song during the [[Jin-Song Wars]]. Fire lances were first recorded to have been used at the [[Siege of De'an]] in 1132 by Song forces against the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]].{{sfn|Lorge|2008|pp=33–34}} In the early 13th century the Jin used iron-casing bombs.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=42}} Projectiles were added to fire lances, and re-usable fire lance barrels were developed, first out of hardened paper, and then metal. By 1257 some fire lances were firing wads of bullets.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}}{{sfn|Partington|1960|p=246}} In the late 13th
=== Middle East ===
{{Main|List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world|Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam}}
According to Iqtidar Alam Khan, it was invading Mongols who introduced gunpowder to the Islamic world.{{sfn|Khan|1996}} The [[Muslim]]s acquired knowledge of gunpowder sometime between 1240 and 1280, by which point the Syrian [[Hasan al-Rammah]] had written recipes, instructions for the purification of saltpeter, and descriptions of gunpowder incendiaries. It is implied by al-Rammah's usage of "terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources" and his references to saltpeter as "Chinese snow" ({{
Hasan al-Rammah included 107 gunpowder recipes in his text ''al-Furusiyyah wa al-Manasib al-Harbiyya'' (''The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices''), 22 of which are for rockets. If one takes the median of 17 of these 22 compositions for rockets (75% nitrates, 9.06% sulfur, and 15.94% charcoal), it is nearly identical to the modern reported ideal recipe of 75% potassium nitrate, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal.<ref name=AhmedY /> The text also mentions fuses, incendiary bombs, naphtha pots, fire lances, and an illustration and description of the earliest [[torpedo]]. The torpedo was called the "egg which moves itself and burns".<ref name = "zaky">{{Cite journal |url=https://gladius.revistas.csic.es/index.php/gladius/article/view/186/188 |last=Zaky |first=A. Rahman |title=Gunpowder and Arab Firearms in Middle Ages |journal=Gladius |volume=VI |date=1967 |pages=45–58 |doi=10.3989/GLADIUS.1967.186}}</ref> Two iron sheets were fastened together and tightened using felt. The flattened pear-shaped vessel was filled with gunpowder, metal filings, "good mixtures", two rods, and a large rocket for propulsion. Judging by the illustration, it was evidently supposed to glide across the water.<ref name = "zaky"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=[[Ahmad Y Hassan]]|title=Chemical Technology in Arabic Military Treatises |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences|volume=500|issue=1|year=1987 |pages=153–66 [160]|doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1987.tb37200.x |bibcode=1987NYASA.500..153A|s2cid=84287076}}</ref>{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=259}} Fire lances were used in battles between the Muslims and Mongols in 1299 and 1303.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=45}}
Al-Hassan claims that in the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] of 1260, the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] used
The earliest surviving documentary evidence for cannons in the Islamic world is from an Arabic manuscript dated to the early 14th century.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Discoveries, Episode 12: Machines of the East|publisher=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]]|year=2007|title-link=Ancient Discoveries}} ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGfw1YW9Js Part 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416165152/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGfw1YW9Js |date=16 April 2012 }} and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R3ZbzhRp_k Part 5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228005716/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R3ZbzhRp_k |date=28 December 2019 }})</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=History of Science and Technology in Islam |last=Hassan |first=Ahmad Y. |author-link=Ahmad Y. al-Hassan |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%202.htm |title=Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treatises in Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries |access-date=8 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120002616/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%202.htm}}</ref> The author's name is uncertain but may have been Shams al-Din Muhammad, who died in 1350.<ref name = "zaky"/> Dating from around
According to Paul E. J. Hammer, the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] certainly used cannons by 1342.<ref name="Hammer2017">{{cite book |last1=Hammer |first1=Paul E. J. |title=Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450–1660 |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1351873765 |page=505 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ugkkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT505}}</ref> According to J. Lavin, cannons were used by [[Moors]] at the siege of [[Algeciras]] in 1343. A metal cannon firing an iron ball was described by Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas al-Qalqashandi between 1365 and 1376.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=44}}
The [[musket]] appeared in the [[Ottoman Empire]] by 1465.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ayalon |first1=David |title=Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom: A Challenge to Medieval Society (1956) |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-27732-0 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmpySZZNJhcC&pg=PT126}}</ref> In 1598, Chinese writer Zhao Shizhen described Turkish muskets as being superior to European muskets.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=444}} The Chinese military book ''[[Wu Pei Chih]]'' (1621) later described Turkish muskets that used a [[rack-and-pinion]] mechanism, which was not known to have been used in European or Chinese firearms at the time.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=446}}
The state-controlled manufacture of gunpowder by the Ottoman Empire through early [[supply chain]]s to obtain nitre, sulfur and high-quality charcoal from oaks in [[Anatolia]] contributed significantly to its expansion between the 15th and 18th century. It was not until later in the 19th century when the syndicalist production of Turkish gunpowder was greatly reduced, which coincided with the decline of its military might.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Nelson |first=Cameron Rubaloff |date=2010 |url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/etd2/id/1276 |title=Manufacture and transportation of gunpowder in the Ottoman Empire: 1400–1800 |type=M.A. |publisher=University of Utah}}</ref>
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[[File:De la pirotechnia 1540 Title Page AQ1 (1).jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|''De la pirotechnia'', 1540]]
The earliest Western accounts of gunpowder
Some sources mention possible gunpowder weapons being deployed by the Mongols against European forces at the [[Battle of Mohi]] in 1241.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RsPrzrsAvoC&pg=PA492 |title=The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community|first=William H. |last=McNeill|year=1992|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=492|isbn=978-0-226-56141-7|access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UnWOmL1a48C&pg=PA28 |title=Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad's Land|first=Michael |last=Kohn|year=2006|publisher=RDR Books|page=28|isbn=978-1-57143-155-4|access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref>{{sfn|Cowley|1993|p=86}} Professor Kenneth Warren Chase credits the Mongols for introducing into Europe gunpowder and its associated weaponry.{{sfn|Chase|2003}} However, there is no clear route of transmission,{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=76}} and while the Mongols are often pointed to as the likeliest vector, Timothy May points out that "there is no concrete evidence that the Mongols used gunpowder weapons on a regular basis outside of China."<ref name="Timothy May">{{citation |url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/12840/reviews/13288/may-khan-gunpowder-and-firearms-warfare-medieval-india |title=May on Khan, 'Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India' |publisher=Humanities and Social Sciences Online |last=May |first=Timothy |date=2006 |access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> May also states, "however [, ...] the Mongols used the gunpowder weapon in their wars against the Jin, the Song and in their invasions of Japan."<ref name="Timothy May"/>
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[[File:Meister der Shâh-Jahân-Nâma-Memoiren 001.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]], hunting deer using a [[matchlock]]]]
The Mughal emperor [[Akbar]] mass-produced matchlocks for the [[Mughal Army]]. Akbar is personally known to have shot a leading [[Rajput]] commander during the [[Siege of Chittorgarh (1567–1568)|Siege of Chittorgarh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTfEDaWMj4o| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/DTfEDaWMj4o| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=Mughal Matchlock|work=YouTube| date=7 July 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] began to use [[bamboo]] rockets (mainly for signalling) and employ [[sapper]]s: special units that undermined heavy stone fortifications to plant gunpowder charges.
The Mughal Emperor [[Shah Jahan]] is known to have introduced much more advanced matchlocks, their designs were a combination of Ottoman and Mughal designs. Shah Jahan also countered the [[British Empire|British]] and other [[Europeans]] in his province of [[Gujarāt]], which supplied Europe saltpeter for use in gunpowder warfare during the 17th century.<ref name=IndiaBritannica>"India." Encyclopædia Britannica 2008 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.</ref> [[Bengal]] and [[Malwa|Mālwa]] participated in saltpeter production.<ref name=IndiaBritannica /> The Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English used [[Chhapra]] as a center of saltpeter refining.<ref name=IndiaBritannica />
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=== Southeast Asia ===
[[File:Madrid_canons_indiens.png|thumb|
Cannons were introduced to Majapahit when [[Kublai Khan|Kublai Khan's]] Chinese army under the leadership of Ike Mese [[Mongol invasion of Java|sought to invade Java]] in 1293. [[History of Yuan]] mentioned that the Mongol used cannons (Chinese: [[Hu dun pao|炮—''Pào'']]) against Daha forces.<ref name="Schlegel">Schlegel, Gustaaf (1902). "On the Invention and Use of Fire-Arms and Gunpowder in China, Prior to the Arrival of European". ''T'oung Pao''. 3: 1–11.</ref>{{Rp|1–2}}<ref>Lombard, Denys (1990). ''Le carrefour javanais. Essai d'histoire globale (The Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History) Vol. 2''. Paris: Editions de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Page 178.</ref><ref name="Reid-1993">Reid, Anthony (1993). ''Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680. Volume Two: Expansion and Crisis''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.</ref>{{Rp|220}} Cannons were used by the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] in 1352 during its invasion of the [[Khmer Empire]].{{sfn|Purton|2010|p=201}} Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the [[Khmer Empire]].{{sfn|Purton|2010|p=201}} By the end of the century firearms were also used by the [[Trần dynasty]].{{sfn|Tran|2006|p=75}}
Even though the knowledge of making gunpowder-based
When the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] came to the archipelago, they referred to the breech-loading swivel gun as ''berço'', while the [[Spaniards]] call it ''verso''.<ref name="Wade-2012">{{Cite book|last=Wade|first=Geoff|title=Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|year=2012|location=Singapore|isbn=978-981-4311-96-0}}</ref>{{Rp|151}} By the early 16th century, the Javanese already locally producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as "sacred cannon" or "holy cannon". These cannons varied between 180- and 260-pounders, weighing anywhere between 3 and 8 tons, length of them between 3 and 6 m.<ref>''Modern Asian Studies''. Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Asian Studies in Honour of Professor Charles Boxer (1988), pp. 607–628 (22 pages).</ref>
Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation.<ref name="Raffles-2010">{{cite book |last1=Raffles |first1=Thomas Stamford |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjavavol0000raff/page/180/mode/2up?q=powder |title=A History of Java Volume 1 |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-19-580347-1 |edition=[Repr.]. |location=Cambridge |orig-date=1817}}</ref>{{Rp|
=== Historiography ===
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[[File:Hexagonal Gunpowder.png|thumb|upright|Hexagonal gunpowder for large artillery]]
Modern corning first compresses the fine black powder meal into blocks with a fixed density (1.7 g/cm<sup>3</sup>).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Tenney L. Davis|title=The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives|date=1943|page=139|
By the late 19th century manufacturing focused on standard grades of black powder from Fg used in large bore rifles and shotguns, through FFg (medium and small-bore arms such as muskets and fusils), FFFg (small-bore rifles and pistols), and FFFFg (extreme small bore, short pistols and most commonly for priming [[flintlock]]s).<ref name="James2011" /> A coarser grade for use in military artillery [[blank (cartridge)|blanks]] was designated A-1. These grades were sorted on a system of screens with oversize retained on a mesh of 6 wires per inch, A-1 retained on 10 wires per inch, Fg retained on 14, FFg on 24, FFFg on 46, and FFFFg on 60. Fines designated FFFFFg were usually reprocessed to minimize explosive dust hazards.<ref>Sharpe, Philip B. (1953) ''Complete Guide to Handloading'' Funk & Wagnalls p. 137</ref> In the [[United Kingdom]], the main service gunpowders were classified RFG (rifle grained fine) with diameter of one or two millimeters and RLG (rifle grained large) for grain diameters between two and six millimeters.<ref name="brown" /> Gunpowder grains can alternatively be categorized by mesh size: the BSS [[Mesh (scale)|sieve mesh size]], being the smallest mesh size, which retains no grains. Recognized grain sizes are Gunpowder G 7, G 20, G 40, and G 90.
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The exact percentages of ingredients varied greatly through the medieval period as the recipes were developed by trial and error, and needed to be updated for changing military technology.{{sfn|Ritchie|Riegner|Seals|Rogers|2021}}
Gunpowder does not burn as a single reaction, so the byproducts are not easily predicted. One study<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.17402/205 |last1=Filipek |first1=W |last2=Broda |first2=K |year=2017 |title=Experimental verification of the concept of the use of controlled pyrotechnic reaction as a source of energy as a part of the transport system from the seabed |journal=Scientific Journals of the Maritime University of Szczecin|volume=121 |issue=49 |doi-broken-date=
Gunpowder made with less-expensive and more plentiful sodium nitrate instead of potassium nitrate (in appropriate proportions) works just as well. However, it is more [[hygroscopic]] than powders made from potassium nitrate. [[Muzzleloader]]s have been known to fire after hanging on a wall for decades in a loaded state, provided they remained dry. By contrast, gunpowder made with sodium nitrate must be kept sealed to remain stable.{{original research inline|date=October 2021}}
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* British sailors used gunpowder to create [[tattoo]]s when ink wasn't available, by pricking the skin and rubbing the powder into the wound in a method known as traumatic tattooing.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rediker|first1=Marcus|title=Between the devil and the deep blue sea: merchant seamen, pirates, and the Anglo-American maritime world, 1700–1750|page=12|date=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-37983-0|edition=1st pbk.|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/colonial-american-history/between-devil-and-deep-blue-sea-merchant-seamen-pirates-and-anglo-american-maritime-world-17001750}}</ref>
* [[Christiaan Huygens]] experimented with gunpowder in 1673 in an early attempt to build an [[gunpowder engine]], but [[Gunpowder engine#Huygens' engine|he did not succeed]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Galloway |author-link=Robert Galloway |first=Robert Lindsay |title=The Steam Engine and Its Inventors: A Historical Sketch |date=1881 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=20–25 |url=https://archive.org/details/steamengineandi00gallgoog/page/n46/mode/2up |access-date=24 November 2022}}</ref> Modern attempts to recreate his invention were similarly unsuccessful.<ref name="mythbusters63">{{cite AV media |last = Beyond Television Productions |date= 18 October 2006 |title= Mythbusters: Air Cylinder of Death |type= Television production |volume= Ep 63}}</ref>
* Near London in 1853, Captain Shrapnel demonstrated a [[mineral processing]] use of black powder in a method for crushing gold-bearing ores by firing them from a cannon into an iron chamber,{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} and "much satisfaction was expressed by all present". He hoped it would be useful on the [[Gold rush|goldfields]] of [[California]] and [[Australia]]. Nothing came of the invention, as continuously
* Starting in 1967, Los Angeles-based artist [[Ed Ruscha]] began using gunpowder as an artistic medium for a series of works on paper.
Gunpowder had originally been produced for medicinal purposes. It was eaten, in hopes of curing digestive ailments; inhaled, for respiratory disorders; and, as mentioned, rubbed onto skin level disorders like rashes or burns.
== See also ==
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==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group=Footnote}}
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
== References ==
Line 347 ⟶ 344:
[[Category:Firearm propellants]]
[[Category:Pyrotechnic compositions]]
[[Category:Rocket
[[Category:Solid fuels]]
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