The History of Bombs and Explosives

The history of bombs and explosives

In 1865 they found a safe way to nitrocellulose or gun cotton to make. This gun cotton for gunpowder and also formed the basis for a vast range of explosives. Shortly thereafter, the Swedish manufacturer Alfred Nobel discovered that the dangerous and treacherous liquid nitroglycerin could be sucked by a porous material, making up “safe” explosive dynamite. By nitrocelulose and nitroglycerin to make jelly, manufactured British researchers then called the cordite, and grenade shells.

An important feature of cordite, that slowly ignites. A powerful explosive cordite would then destroy the gun. These powerful explosives, high explosives known, we used in grenades, bombs and other projectiles, which maximize explosive power should develop. Explosives, such as bombs and grenades, it usually brings explosion or by a highly sensitive explosive brisant (such as drop mercury in a firing pin, struck by a striker) or through a thin wire that comes on suddenly because a great strong electrical pulse is passed through it hurriedly. In both cases, a violent shock sent through the main charge, which then in turn exploded.

TNT
In the open air, some high explosives burn without exploding. As is to be expected, people in the 20th century, mainly searched for explosives that were safe to use, but also had the strongest possible force. An important basic composition is TNT (trinitrotoluene). The inference of explosives are stable enough to work in a grenade to be blown away, and they explode just by the shock when hitting the target. In the second world war were several of such powerful explosives at high levels.

For most explosives is an inflammatory mechanism is needed. The simplest grenade in the middle with a pipe at its start, a primer. This primer is struck by a firing pin, which losspingt at the time that the grenade is thrown. The primer onsteekt a slow burning fuse that, after 4 to 7 seconds the other end of the tube allows the detonator exploded, the middle of the main charge.

Bombs
The first bombs were dropped by aircraft, were not more than one kind of drums filled with explosives and bullets, after the explosion were hurled around. But soon there arose different bombs. It was a distinction between such general purpose bombs, heavy bombs with steel shells and bombs to pierce armor plates. Also there were the exploding bombs for use against troops in the open field.