Gunpowder

Gunpowder is a propellant used in firearms, fireworks, and rockets. It is a mechanical mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter (potassium nitrate).

Gunpowder is a low explosive - it burns rapidly without outside air, and in a confined space, will build up enough pressure to cause an explosion. However, it does not detonate in the manner of a high explosive.

History

Gunpowder was first developed in China, no later than the eleventh century A.D., and possibly earlier. (Early texts are not clear if the mixture described is true gunpowder or not.) It was introduced into Europe in the thirteenth century, through unknown routes. The earliest known description of a true gunpowder formula is in a letter from Francis Bacon to Pope Clement IV in 1267 A.D. By 1275, Albertus Magnus described a formula of four parts saltpeter to one part charcoal and one part sulfur; the chemically ideal proportions are closer to 75% saltpeter, 11.5% sulfur, and 13.5% charcoal.

Uses

Gunpowder was used as a propellant for rockets, and to propel shot in cannons and guns. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, Chinese gunpowder technology spread to the whole of Southeast Asia via both the overland and maritime routes, long before the arrival of European firearms. The impact of Chinese firearms on northern mainland Southeast Asia in terms of warfare and territorial expansion was profound

Black powder has gradually been superseded in common use by other propellants which provide higher energy density, lack of smoke, or other desirable properties. In the mid-19th century chemists realized that black-powder smoke wasted fuel, reducing muzzle velocity, while a smokeless powder converted all its fuel, allowing for increased velocity of projectiles. Increased velocity was necessary for rapid-fire shells and in battle against ironclad vessels. In 1884, Frenchman Paul Vieille invented smokeless gunpowder.

Naval warfare

Few technological developments in the history of warfare have been as portentous as the appearance around the turn of the 16th century of effective heavy gunpowder ordnance on shipboard, which began a new era in sea warfare. Employed on Mediterranean war galleys and Portuguese caravels, the weapons marked the solution of a series of daunting technological problems discussed in this article, beginning with the appearance of gunpowder in Europe about 1300. Unlike developments on land, change was at first gradual, but shortly after 1400 the pace of development sharply accelerated to culminate in what may legitimately be termed a revolution in firepower at sea.

Bibliography

• Guilmartin, John F., Jr. "The Earliest Shipboard Gunpowder Ordnanace: an Analysis of its Technical Parameters and Tactical Capabilities." Journal of Military History 2007 71(3): 649-669. Issn: 0899-3718 Fulltext: Ebsco, focus on 14-16th century naval uses
• Kelly, Jack. Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World. (2004). 288 pp. excerpt and text search
• McNeil, William. "The Gunpowder Revolution." MHQ: the Quarterly Journal of Military History 1990 3(1): 8-17. Issn: 1040-5992
• McNeil, William. The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Forces and Society since 1000 AD (1982), has a great deal on gunpowder's role