Dynamite is usually sold as cardboard cylinders with a length of about 200 mm (8 inches) and a diameter of about 32 mm (1 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches) weighing about 190 grams (1 ⁄ 2 thin pounds). [6] A rod of dynamite produced in this way contains about 1 MJ (megajoule) of energy. [7] There are also other sizes that are evaluated either by serving (quarter stick or half stick) or by weight. Around the same time Nobel perfected dynamite, British scientists used a molecule called amyl nitrite to treat angina pectoris, a throbbing chest pain associated with insufficient blood and oxygen flow to the heart. Dynamite is simply a type of absorbent material (such as sawdust) soaked in nitroglycerin. The absorbent material makes nitroglycerin much more stable. Usually, you use an explosive cap to ignite the dynamite – an explosive plug creates a small explosion that triggers the largest explosion in the dynamite itself. Nobel also invented gelatinous dynamite, a mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. The ammonium nitrate was then replaced with some of the nitroglycerin to obtain a safer and cheaper explosive called extra dynamite. See also explosive. It is evaluated either by “weight resistance” (the amount of ammonium nitrate in the medium) or by “cartridge force” (potential explosive force generated by a quantity of explosives of a given density and grain size produced relative to the explosive force generated by a density and grain size equivalent to those of a standard blasting agent). For example, 65% high explosive supplemental dynamite has a weight strength of 65% ammonium nitrate and 35% “dope” (the absorbent medium mixed with stabilizers and additives).

Its “cartridge strength” would be its weight in pounds multiplied by its strength relative to an equal amount of ANFO (the basic civilian standard) or TNT (the basic military standard). For example, 65% ammonium donamite with a cartridge strength of 20% would mean that the stick corresponds to an equivalent weight strength of 20% ANFO. Nobel`s great invention – dynamite – was a way to stabilize nitroglycerin to make it more convenient for blasting rocks or digging tunnels in mines. His aha moment came during a stay in Germany: the Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in an undated photo. Nobel was prescribed for heart disease. [+] Nitroglycerin, the compound he developed with dynamite that built his fortune, but he refused the drug. (AP photo) Other explosives are often mentioned or confused with dynamite: if you thought TNT was the name of the chemical in dynamite and dynamite was the compound explosive, you were only half right. Dynamite is, in fact, an explosive in which several components are assembled. But TNT (or 2,4,6,-trinitrotoluene to use its chemical name) is not one such component. Instead, the explosive active in dynamite is a chemical called nitroglycerin.

You`ve probably heard people say “TNT” and “dynamite” in a conversation as if they were the same thing. But in fact, although TNT and dynamite are both explosives, they are different things. For several decades, beginning in the 1940s, the world`s largest producer of dynamite was the Union of South Africa. There, the De Beers company founded a factory in Somerset West in 1902. The explosives plant was then operated by aECI (African Explosives and Chemical Industries). Demand for the product came mainly from the country`s huge gold mines, which were concentrated in the Witwatersrand. The Somerset West plant was commissioned in 1903 and by 1907 was already producing 340,000 boxes, each weighing 23 kilograms (50 lbs) per year. A competing plant in Modderfontein produced an additional 200,000 cases per year.

[9] Alfred Nobel worked hard to improve nitroglycerin as an explosive that could be used in blasting and mining. He made one of his most important discoveries when he discovered that by mixing nitroglycerin, an oily liquid, with diatomaceous earth, the mixture could be converted into paste. This material could be kneaded and formed into rods suitable for insertion into boreholes. He called his paste dynamite and developed an explosive plug that could be used to detonate dynamite under controlled conditions. Nitroglycerin and TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) are two different chemicals. Nitroglycerin only (left). [+] is in dynamite. The maximum shelf life of nitroglycerin-based dynamite is recommended as one year from the date of manufacture under good storage conditions. [6] Unlike nitroglycerin, TNT is very difficult to blow up. In fact, it took nearly 30 years after its discovery for a chemist to notice the explosive properties of TNT! In short, don`t say “TNT” if you mean “dynamite.” Nobel originally sold dynamite under the name “Nobel`s Blasting Powder”, but decided to change the name to dynamite, from the ancient Greek word dýnamis (δύναμις), which means “power”. [4] [5] In the United States, in 1885, chemist Russell S.

Penniman invented “ammonium doynamite,” a form of explosive that used ammonium nitrate as a substitute for the more expensive nitroglycerin. Ammonium nitrate contains only 85% of the chemical energy of nitroglycerin. Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel made his fortune because he invented dynamite. When he died, he left most of that fortune to set the prices that bear his name. In honor of Nobel Prize week, here are three things you may not know about this infamous explosive. Today, dynamite is mainly used in the mining, quarrying, construction and demolition industries. Dynamite is still the product of choice for trench applications and is sometimes used as a low-cost explosive booster for ANFO fillers. Over time, regardless of the sorbent used, dynamite nitroglycerin sticks will “cry” or “sweat,” which can then accumulate in the bottom of the box or in the storage area.

For this reason, explosives manuals recommend the regular overturning of dynamite boxes in the warehouse. Crystals form on the outside of the sticks, making them even more sensitive to shock, friction and temperature. While the risk of explosion is minimal without the use of an explosive cap for fresh dynamite, old dynamite is dangerous. Modern packaging avoids this by placing dynamite in sealed plastic bags and using wax-coated cardboard. Nobel received patents for his inventions in England on May 7, 1867 and in Sweden on October 19, 1867. [2] After its introduction, dynamite was quickly widely used as a safe alternative to black powder and nitroglycerin. Nobel strictly controlled patents, and unlicensed duplication companies were quickly shut down. A few American businessmen have circumvented the patent by using absorbents other than diatomaceous earth such as resin. [3] In reality, TNT and dynamite, apart from the fact that both are highly explosive explosives, have very little in common: TNT, or trinitrotoluene, is a second-generation pourable explosive adopted by the military. The German Wehrmacht adopted it in 1902 as a filler for artillery shells, about 40 years after the invention of dynamite, a first-generation desensitized explosive intended primarily for civilian earthworks. DTT has never been popular or widespread in civilian earthworks, as it is significantly more expensive and lighter than dynamite,[12] and is slower to mix and package in cylindrical drilling; Dynamite, for its part, has never been popular in war, as it can quickly degenerate in harsh conditions and ignite either by fire or by a tenacious bullet. The main advantage of TNT is its remarkable insensitivity and stability: it is waterproof and unable to explode without the extreme shock and heat of a jet cap (or sympathetic detonation); This makes it possible to melt it even at 81°C (178°F), pour it into high-explosive grenades, and solidify it again without further danger or change in TNT properties.

[13] As a result, more than 90% of the TNT produced in America has always been destined for the military market, with most filler grenades, hand grenades, and air bombs and the rest packed in brown “bricks” (not red cylinders) for use by combat engineers as demolition loads. Dynamite, explosive, patented in 1867 by the Swedish physicist Alfred Nobel. Dynamite is nitroglycerin-based, but is much safer to handle than nitroglycerin alone. By mixing nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, a porous soil containing silica, in proportions that left a material that was essentially dry and grainy, Nobel created a shock-resistant solid that was easily detonated by heat or percussion. Later, the paste was replaced as an absorbent and sodium nitrate was added as an oxidizing agent to increase the strength of the explosive.