Gunpowder refers to range of mixtures of charcoal (carbon), sulfur,
and potassium or sodium nitrate. The products of reaction are complex,
but contain the obvious products of CO2, CO, SO2, N2, nitrogen oxides,
and probably other compounds as well. Unlike, say nitrocellulose, the
reaction products of gunpowder are ill-defined. In fact only about 50%
of the products are gaseous. In contrast to explosives that produce a
supersonic shock wave, gunpowder is "just" a rapid combustion, that is
the expansion of the gases is sub-sonic.
The predominent gases are ::: nitrogen, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide
and potassium carbonate |
