Dynamite

From Free net encyclopedia

Dynamite! Magazine was a children's magazine published from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Image:Dynamite.jpgDynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin using diatomaceous earth (Kieselguhr) as an adsorbent. It was invented by Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in 1866 and patented in 1867. It is usually sold in the form of a stick roughly eight inches (20 cm) long and one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter but other sizes also exist. Dynamite is considered a "high explosive", which means it detonates instead of deflagrating.

1 Uses
2 Composition
3 History
4 See also
5 Patent

[edit]

Uses

The chief uses of dynamite used to be in construction, mining and demolition. However, newer explosives and techniques have replaced dynamite in many applications. Dynamite is still used, mainly as bottom charge or in underwater blasting.

Dynamite has been used in armed conflicts.

Criminals interested in safe-cracking have deliberately extracted nitroglycerin from dynamite by boiling the sticks and 'skimming' the nitroglycerin as it is forced out.

[edit]

Composition

Dynamite contains three parts nitroglycerin, one part diatomaceous earth and a small admixture of sodium carbonate. This mixture is formed into short sticks and wrapped in paper.

Nitroglycerin by itself is a very strong explosive and in its pure form it is shock-sensitive (i.e., physical shock can cause it to explode), degrading over time to even more unstable forms. This makes it highly dangerous to transport or use in its pure form. Absorbed into diatomaceous earth, nitroglycerin is less shock-sensitive.

[edit]

History

Dynamite was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder. Nobel patented his discovery in October 1867.

He originally sold dynamite as "Nobel's Safety Blasting Powder". After its introduction, dynamite rapidly gained popularity as a safe alternative to gunpowder and nitroglycerin. Nobel tightly controlled the patent and unlicensed duplicators were quickly shut down. However, a few United States businessmen got around the patent by using a slightly different formula. Despite this, dynamite brought Nobel a great fortune, which he used to found the Nobel Prize.

For several decades from the 1940's the biggest producer of dynamite in the world was the Republic of South Africa, where De Beers established a factory in 1902 at Somerset West. The explosives factory was later operated by AE&CI (African Explosives and Chemical Industries). The demand for the product came mainly from the country's vast gold mines, centred on the Witwatersrand. The factory at Somerset West was in operation in 1903 and by 1907 was already producing 340 000 cases (50lb) annually. In addition, a rival factory at Modderfontein was producing another 200 000 cases a year.[1]

One of the drawbacks of dynamite was that it was dangerous to manufacture. There were two massive explosions at the Somerset West plant in the 1960s. Some workers died but loss of life was limited by the modular design of the factory and earth works and plantations of trees that directed the blasts upwards. After 1985 production of dynamite at the factory was phased out.[2]

The word dynamite comes from the Greek word δυναμις (dunamis), meaning power, and the Greek suffix -ιτης (-itēs).

[edit]