Tonite (explosive)
Tonite is an explosive[1][dead link] sometimes used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It consists of a mixture of equal weights of barium nitrate and guncotton.[2] The explosive was patented in 1874[3] by Messrs Samuel Joseph Mackie, Camille Faure and George French.[4] Its name was taken from the Latin verb tonat = "it thunders", and is pronounced "toe-nite", not "tonight".
The high gas pressures generated by the detonation of tonite resulted in it being used as a bursting charge in some hand grenades used early in World War I.[citation needed]
Nitrocellulose is an oxygen-negative low explosive, so its decomposition is incomplete combustion:
Because nitrocellulose was used in mining, carbon monoxide could build up and pose a danger to miners. To remedy that problem, nitrates (potassium nitrate, barium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, etc.) were added into the nitrocellulose to achieve a better oxygen balance.
References
[edit]- ^ New Scientist. Reed Business Information. 12 April 1973. pp. 112–. ISSN 0262-4079.
- ^ Gardner, William; Cooke, Edward I.; Richard W.I. Cooke (23 July 2019). Handbook of Chemical Synonyms and Trade Names. CRC Press. pp. 1442–. ISBN 978-1-351-08978-4.
- ^ Trotter, Robert (1938). The history of Nobel's Explosives Company Limited and Nobel Industries Limited, 1871-1926. Imperial Chemical Industries Limited.
- ^ "Improvement in explosive compounds". Google Patents. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
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