Why Gunpowder Goes “Boom”…
Your gun can’t work without it. It’s that little bit of black powder that makes the gun go “bang”. Most people don’t care about it and that’s fine. But if you’re anything like me, you might have wondered how it actually works.
I should warn you, there’s a lot of science coming up. If that kind of stuff makes you start screaming, you might want to click over to another article.
Ok, so many years ago someone discovered that if you mix Carbon (C), Sulfur (S) and Saltpetre (KNO3), and then exposed it to fire, fun things happened. It burns violently and makes a lot of smoke in the process. I know what you’re wondering: why do three items that barely smolder when they’re on fire suddenly become explosive when you mix them? Let’s start with carbon. This is really just charcoal. What does charcoal do? That’s right, kids! It burns! Basically, the carbon is there to act as fuel. Then, we add in some sulfur. The sulfur acts as fuel as well but it also has one extra trick up its sleeve: it makes the final mixture burn at a much lower temperature. This makes the whole thing easier to ignite via a fuse, flint or primer. Finally, we have saltpetre. This is what makes the mixture go, “Boom!” Saltpetre provides the oxygen to the gun powder.
Chemistry refresher: the size of a fire is limited by the amount of oxygen that can get to it. The more oxygen you have, the more fire you’ll get. When saltpetre breaks down, it splits into potassium nitrate and oxygen. Lots of oxygen.
So we mix those three items together and here’s what happens: an ignition source is provided and the carbon starts to burn. The heat starts to split up the saltpetre and a lot of oxygen is dumped onto the fire. The result is that boom we all know and love.
There were a couple of problems with the original gunpowder though. First off, it was pretty corrosive. After a long time of use, the insides of the guns looked like the face of the average 16 year old. The other problem what that they generated a lot of smoke. So much smoke that, after only a couple of volleys, the battlegrounds of the time wound up with zero visibility. The soldiers couldn’t hear their commanders over the sound of battle and they couldn’t see their commanders’ hand signals because of the smoke.
Time to welcome “smokeless powder” to the …mix… (get it? mix?). The name of this stuff is just filled with misnomers. First off, it’s not so much “smokeless” as it is “less smoke”. There’s still a small amount but it’s nowhere near what it was originally. Secondly, it’s not so much a powder as it is a bunch of small compressed pellets. There you go, a couple of fun facts with which to impress your friends.
Anyway, in order to make the powder a bit less, um…bad, they had to make it a lot more complicated. Now there’s a propellant which has replaced the saltpetre of yesteryear. Then there’s a deterrent to slow the reaction down the rate of burn. The deterrent is used along with a stabilizer in order to precisely control the reaction. Then there’s a de-coppering additive to remove and prevent the buildup of copper residue from your bullet’s jacketing inside the barrel. Next, add a pinch of a chemical to reduce the muzzle flash. Then, throw in some stuff to reduce the wear of your barrel lining so that it doesn’t have the corrosive effects of the original gunpowder. Finally, throw in some binders so that the pellets will hold their shape and some other stuff to keep the pellets from sticking together.
There you have it, smokeless powder. This stuff is what we know today as gunpowder. Believe it or not, it burns slower and less violently than the original gunpowder mixture. “Hey, Noob!”, you might ask, “how come the bullets work so much better if the powder isn’t as strong as it used to be?”.
Well, observant reader, it’s because of the efficiency of the ignition. It’s the same reason a 6 cylinder, 3.8 Litre Porshe 911 is able to go toe to toe with a V8, 4.5 Litre Ferrari Italia. The Porshe is running its V6 as efficiently as it can run. Same with the smokeless powder. By burning it more efficiently, there isn’t as much need for the big boom of the original mixture.
And there you have it. I hope this helps to remove some of the alchemical mystery behind the propellant if your guns. Stay tuned to GunNoob as we continue to examine each part of a gun and explain how they work.
Image used under Creative Commons License from chad_k.
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