gunpowder

=the gunpowder= toc

**Gunpowder** is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks, to for shot and gunpowder for military purposes were made by skilled military tradesmen, later called //firemakers//, and were also required to craft fireworks for celebrations of victory or peace

=history = One theory of how gunpowder came to Europe is that it made its way along the Silk Road through the Middle East; another is that it was brought to Europe during the Mongol invasion in the first half of the 13th century, or during the subsequent diplomatic and military contacts. 

= gumpowder´s development =

Around the late 14th century European powdermakers began adding liquid to the constituents of gunpowder which reduced dust, and with it the risk of explosion during manufacture. The powdermakers would then shape the resulting paste of moistened gunpowder, known as mill cake, into "corns" or granules to allow it to dry. Not only did "corned" powder keep better, because of its reduced surface area, but gunners also found that it was more powerful and easier to load into guns. The main advantage of corning is that the flame lights all the granules when the gunpowder is lit, spreading between them before significant gas expansion has occurred. Without corning much of the powder, away from the initial flame, would be blown out of the barrel before it burnt. The size of the granules varied for different types of gun. Prior to corning, gunpowder would gradually demix into its constitutive components and was too unreliable for effective use in <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">guns. The same granulation process is used nowadays in the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">each tablet contains the same proportion of active ingredient. Before long, powdermakers standardized <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">the process by forcing mill cake through sieves instead of corning powder by hand. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"> =<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">gumpowder weapons = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The 15th through 17th century saw widespread development in gunpowder technology, mainly in <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|Europe] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. Advances in <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|metallurgy] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> led to portable weapons and the development of hand-held <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|firearms] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">such as <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|muskets] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. Cannon technology in Europe gradually outpaced that of China and these <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">technological improvements were then transferred back to China through <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; textunderline: none;">[|Jesuit] [|missionaries] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> who <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">were put in charge of cannon manufacture by the late Ming and early quing emperors.Shot and gunpowder <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">for military purposes were made by skilled military tradesmen, who were later called //firemakers//, who <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">were also required to make fireworks for celebrations of victory or peace.

= black gumpowder = = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Until the invention of explosives large rocks could only be broken up by hard labour, or by heating <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">with large fires followed by rapid quenching. Black powder was used in civil engineering and mining <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">as early as the 15th century.