The article tells about who invented dynamite, about the properties of this substance, its use, why it was abandoned in favor of other explosives.
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As often happens, peaceful inventions find their application in military affairs. A vivid example of this is gunpowder. Originally used as a filling for fireworks and even a medicine, in the Middle Ages it was used in the first guns, and even later - as a means of destroying fortresses and bridges.
That was until the second half of the 19th century. It was then that physicist Alfred Nobel came up with a way to absorb nitroglycerin with other substances. He was the one who invented dynamite. But what is the relationship between it and glycerol nitrate?
The thing is that nitroglycerin was synthesized even earlier, and it was planned to use it as a substitute for gunpowder as an explosive substance, since it was much more powerful and efficient. But he also had a flip side - monstrously strong instability. It could explode from anything - shock, temperature drop, loud sound, sunlight, etc.
When asked who invented dynamite, one often hears in response the story that Nobel happened by chance. The scientist himself rejected a similar fact. He purposefully looked for ways to create stable nitroglycerin compounds, using charcoal, brick dust, clay, etc. as an absorbent (absorbent material). But the best results were shown by kieselguhr - a special rock. After impregnating glycerol with nitrate and drying, the harmless powder turned into a powerful, and most importantly, stable explosive. So with the one who invented dynamite, we figured out this is Alfred Nobel. But why has this substance become so popular?
The properties
Gunpowder, the main explosive in those years, had several drawbacks. One of them is a low burning rate, as a result of which, for example, for a rock explosion, a large quantity was required, and the efficiency was low. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite as a new explosive, much stronger than gunpowder, but safer than nitroglycerin. In fact, they can infiltrate almost all materials, even ordinary earth, and it will acquire the ability to explode, but kieselguhr turned out to be the best.
Later, in an attempt to improve the properties of this new explosive, Nobel created the so-called explosive jelly, or dynamite collodion, which had a gelatinous state. But he did not get much distribution.
In what year did Nobel invent dynamite?
There are several dates, but if we take as a basis the moment of obtaining a patent, then this is 1867.
After the start of production, this explosive was very widespread, and was very fond of mining and construction companies, to a slightly lesser extent - the armies of the whole world.
Miners used dynamite as a substitute for gunpowder. Compared with him, he was much more powerful, easily crushed hard rock strata and took up less space. It looked like small cardboard tubes filled with fuses.
Nobel was also lucky to set up the production of dynamite at a good time. In those years, all developed countries of the world carried out their grandiose construction and mining operations, for example, the properties of the new substance were appreciated during the construction of railways in the United States and later the Panama Canal.
It was not so widely used in the military industry, since although it was more stable than nitroglycerin, it still had a tendency to detonate as a result of careless handling, and was not suitable as a filler for shells. But still a short time was used as such in pneumatic artillery. So now it is known who invented and first used dynamite - Alfred Nobel.
Modernity
Currently, this explosive is completely obsolete. This happened in the early years of the XIX century, when he was replaced by picric acid, and then TNT, which for many years became the main explosive. The latter was even more stable and resistant to accidental detonation. It can even be burned without any fear.
Nevertheless, dynamite played an important role in the process of great construction projects and industrialization, its name has become almost a household name, and anyone will recognize the classic appearance.