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Portrait identifying Schwarz as the "inventor of artillery" Berthold Schwarz O.F.M. (sometimes spelled Schwartz), also known as Berthold the Black and der Schwartzer, was a legendary German (or in some accounts Danish or Greek) alchemist of the late 14th century, credited with the invention of gunpowder by 15th- through 19th-century European literature.
Gunpowder is a low explosive: it does not detonate, but rather deflagrates (burns quickly). This is an advantage in a propellant device, where one does not desire a shock that would shatter the gun and potentially harm the operator; however, it is a drawback when an explosion is desired.
Black powder (gunpowder) is composed of charcoal (fuel), potassium nitrate (oxidizer), and sulfur (fuel and catalyst). It is one of the oldest pyrotechnic compositions with application to rocketry. In modern times, black powder finds use in low-power model rockets (such as Estes and Quest rockets), [30] [31] as it is cheap and fairly easy to ...
Instead, explosive mixtures that the builder can more readily obtain themselves are used, such as gunpowder, match heads, or chlorate mixtures. These can be easily ignited by friction, static electricity , and sparks generated when packing the material inside the tube or attaching the end caps, causing many injuries or deaths amongst builders.
Early German musket with serpentine lock. A matchlock or firelock [1] is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of flammable cord or twine that is in contact with the gunpowder through a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with their finger.
A saltpetre works or nitrary [1] is a place of production of potassium nitrate or saltpetre used primarily for the manufacture of gunpowder. The saltpeter occurs naturally in certain places like the "Caves of Salnitre" ( Collbató ) known since the Neolithic.
Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 AD.. Gunpowder is the first explosive to have been developed. Popularly listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, it was invented during the late Tang dynasty (9th century) while the earliest recorded chemical formula for gunpowder dates to the Song dynasty (11th century).
Fire arrows were one of the earliest forms of weaponized gunpowder, being used from the 9th century onward. Not to be confused with earlier incendiary arrow projectiles, the fire arrow was a gunpowder weapon which receives its name from the translated Chinese term huǒjiàn (火箭), which literally means fire arrow. In China a 'fire arrow ...