Gunpowder for muzzleloading firearms in granulation sizeAmerican Civil War re-enactors volley firing with black powderFlash 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, carbon (in the form of charcoal), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer.[1][2] Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, building pipelines, tunnels,[3] and roads.
Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance (breaking/shattering). Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn at subsonic speeds), whereas high explosives 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 explosives were put into use.
Gunpowder is one of the Four Great Inventions of China.[4] Originally developed by Taoists for medicinal purposes, it was first used for warfare around AD 904.[5] Its use in weapons has declined due to smokeless powder replacing it, and it is no longer used for industrial purposes due to its relative inefficiency compared to newer alternatives such as dynamite and ammonium nitrate/fuel oil.[6]
^Agrawal 2010, p. 69.
^Cressy 2013.
^James, Susan (15 April 2020). "A history of tunneling and underground construction and the factors driving current and future demand". Graduate Programs. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
^Buchanan (2006), p. 42
^Andrade 2016, p. 31.
^Rossotti, Hazel (2002). Fire: Servant, Scourge, and Enigma. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 132–37. ISBN 978-0-486-42261-9.
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of...
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide...
Gunpowder Milkshake is a 2021 action thriller film directed by Navot Papushado, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ehud Lavski. The film stars Karen Gillan...
Gunpowder is the first explosive to have been developed. Popularly listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, it was invented during the late...
The gunpowder empires, or Islamic gunpowder empires, is a collective term coined by Marshall G. S. Hodgson and William H. McNeill at the University of...
Gunpowder tea (Chinese: 珠茶; pinyin: zhū chá; lit. 'pearl tea'; pronounced [ʈʂú ʈʂʰǎ]) is a form of tea in which each leaf has been individually rolled...
Pinhead Gunpowder is an American punk rock band that formed in East Bay, California, in 1991. The band currently consists of Aaron Cometbus (drums, lyrics)...
A gunpowder mill is a mill where gunpowder is made. Gunpowder Mills may refer to: Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills in Ireland Faversham Royal Gunpowder...
freshwater rivers, Gunpowder Falls (often referred to locally as "Big Gunpowder Falls") and Little Gunpowder Falls. The Big Gunpowder, 56.7 miles (91.2 km)...
member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father died when Fawkes...
A gunpowder engine, also known as an explosion engine or Huygens' engine, is a type of internal combustion engine using gunpowder as its fuel. The concept...
testing liquor's alcohol content was the "gunpowder method". Gunpowder was soaked in a spirit, and if the gunpowder could still burn, the spirit was rated...
projectile." Gunpowder and firearm historian Kenneth Chase defines "firearms" and "guns" in his Firearms: A Global History to 1700 as "gunpowder weapons that...
A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was...
the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath...
medieval warfare. It is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive, including...
some form of manufactured weapon or armour. Since the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, "artillery" has largely meant cannon, and in contemporary...
history of gunpowder and related topics such as weapons, warfare, and industrial applications. The timeline covers the history of gunpowder from the first...
Gunpowder Empire is a 2003 alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the first part of the Crosstime Traffic series. In the novel, Jeremy and...
The Cork gunpowder explosion was a large explosion that took place in Cork, Ireland, on 3 November 1810. Twenty-two people were killed and over forty...
better withstand the explosive pressure of gunpowder. From there it branched off into several different gunpowder weapons known as "eruptors" in the late...
Gunpowder weapons in the Song dynasty included fire arrows, gunpowder lit flamethrowers, soft shell bombs, hard shell iron bombs, fire lances, and possibly...
The Gunpowder Incident (or Gunpowder Affair) was a conflict early in the American Revolutionary War between Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of the Colony...
Global Information
