LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Gunpowder: High Explosives
built 179 days ago
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.
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Gunpowder burns producing a subsonic deflagration wave rather than a supersonic detonation wave as do high explosives. This reduces peak pressures in a gun, but makes it less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications.
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Because of its slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance, gunpowder is classified as a low explosive, that is, it produces a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. The gases produced by burning gunpowder generate enough pressure to propel a bullet, but not enough to destroy the barrel of a firearm. This makes gunpowder less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications, applications where high explosives such as TNT are preferred.
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GUNPOWDER, an explosive composed of saltpetre, charcoal and sulphur. Very few substances have had a greater effect on civilization than gunpowder. Its employment altered the whole art of war, and its influence gradually and indirectly permeated and affected the whole fabric of society. Its direct effect on the arts of peace was but slight, and had but a limited range, which could not be compared to the modern extended employment of high explosives for blasting in mining and engineering work.
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