page_title: Gunpowder
hierarchical_section_title: Gunpowder
caption_attribution_description: A pile of Pyrodex black powder substitute in FFG size grains.
context_page_description: Gunpowder is a mix of chemical substances. It is used primarily in firearms, burns very quickly, and creates gases. Those gases use up more space than the gunpowder they come from, so they push outward. If the gunpowder is in a small space, the gases will push on the walls of the space, building up pressure. In a gun, the pressure pushes against a bullet, causing it to fly out at high speeds. If the pressure became too high, it could destroy the gun barrel.
  Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese. The first references of black powder, the original form of gunpowder, date to the 9th century. According to legend, Chinese alchemists were looking for a formula to create the elixir of life, or the mythical potion that causes whoever drinks it to become immortal, when they accidentally created gunpowder. Because the powder was highly flammable, or burned very easily, they decided to call it "fire medicine". The Chinese soon weaponized the substance, or made weapons out of it. In later centuries they made many weapons using gunpowder, including rockets, bombs, flamethrowers, and land mines, before making cannons and guns.
context_section_description: Gunpowder (or gun powder) is a mix of chemical substances (75%  saltpeter, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur). It is used primarily in firearms, burns very quickly, and creates gases. Those gases use up more space than the gunpowder they come from, so they push outward. If the gunpowder is in a small space, the gases will push on the walls of the space, building up pressure. In a gun, the pressure pushes against a bullet, causing it to fly out at high speeds. If the pressure became too high, it could destroy the gun barrel.
  Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese. The first references of black powder, the original form of gunpowder, date to the 9th century. According to legend, Chinese alchemists were looking for a formula to create the elixir of life, or the mythical potion that causes whoever drinks it to become immortal, when they accidentally created gunpowder. Because the powder was highly flammable, or burned very easily, they decided to call it "fire medicine" (Simplified Chinese: 火药 / Traditional Chinese: 火藥). The Chinese soon weaponized the substance, or made weapons out of it. In later centuries they made many weapons using gunpowder, including rockets, bombs, flamethrowers, and land mines, before making cannons and guns. The oldest weapon that uses gunpowder dates back to a bronze handheld cannon made in northeastern China in 1288. The first mention in Europe was in the 13th century when Roger Bacon described the formula of black powder. Gunpowder was extremely valuable to the Chinese civilization. There were so valuable that sometimes it was traded for gold.
caption: Modern gunpowder (Pyrodex FFG)
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX K100D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "K100D       Ver 1.02", "Image DateTime": "2007:12:27 13:53:20", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "598", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/180", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:12:27 13:53:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:12:27 13:53:20", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3008", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "52236", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "150", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "1"}