Skip to main content

All Questions

-4 votes
1 answer
92 views

Why do my slow burning fuses light off? [closed]

So recently II have been making a few times some slow burning fuses with: 34 g potassium nitrate, 26 g sugar, 60 g of water and some wool yarn. However when I light it up it burn a few seconds and ...
goAT2160's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
296 views

Constraints on pyrotechnic explosives that won't detonate spontaneously at 500 °C when landing on Venus?

The Space Exploration SE question Premature detonation of explosive bolts when landing on hot Venus? explains the need for and widespread use of pyrotechnic fasteners and cable cutters for Mars ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 5,900
1 vote
0 answers
109 views

What is "salpotricon"? [closed]

I read in my old Polish history handbook about the black powder recipe that was taken from some medieval manuscript, if I remember correctly. One of the ingredients was called “salpotricon”, but years ...
Marthaa's user avatar
  • 11
14 votes
2 answers
818 views

Why do most explosives have symmetrical chemical structures?

I was just turning the pages of my chemistry dictionary, when I found the structure of TNT (Trinitrotoluene): ...there after I got interested in its symmetry as an explosive, and started looking for ...
Martin Medro's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
249 views

Pyrotechnic "star" without oxidizer

In the design of a celebratory pyrotechnic (firework), there exists a gunpowder explosive charge at the center of the firework and pyrotechnic "stars" lining the circumference of the explosive. The "...
Hypnos Stratagem's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
982 views

Aluminum powder reaction with air

I've made aluminum powder in a ball mill a few times, but my last batch began to smoke and caught on fire soon after I poured it from the tumbler. Nothing unusual was afoot. It was poured into a paper ...
Jeffrey T Smith's user avatar