Chemistry playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_hX5wLdhf_KyuOalV6rwHjo810Zaa6xq more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/ Making dynamite at E. I du Pont de Nemours. "Reel 1 shows the manufacture of dynamite and its principle ingredient, nitroglycerin. Powdered and gelatin dynamite are mixed and packaged for use. Reel 2, dynamite is tested in laboratories and packed for shipment. Shows many scenes of dynamite being used in coal mining; iron mining; railroad construction (including the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado); and clearing tree stumps, ice, building, and obstructions in Hell Gate Channel, New York City." Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied. This film was silent. I have added music, Beethoven's Piano Sonata #11 in B flat Opus 22, from the Classical Piano MIDI page by Bernd Krueger http://www.piano-midi.de/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth... or another absorbent substance... Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued. Dynamite was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Krümmel (Geesthacht, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany), and patented in 1867. Its name is derived from Greek roots that literally mean "connected with power." Dynamite is usually sold in the form of sticks about 8 in (20 cm) long and about 1.25 in (3.2 cm) in diameter, with a weight of about 0.5 lb (0.23 kg). Other sizes also exist. The maximum shelf life of nitroglycerin-based dynamite is recommended as one year from the date of manufacture under good storage conditions. Dynamite is a high explosive, which means it detonates rather than deflagrates. While trinitrotoluene is used as the standard for gauging explosive power, dynamite has more than a 60% greater energy density than TNT. Another form of dynamite consists of nitroglycerin dissolved in nitrocellulose and a small amount of ketone. This form of dynamite is similar to cordite, and is much safer than the simple mix of nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth... Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder. Nobel obtained patents for his invention: in England on 7 May 1867 and in Sweden on 19 October 1867. He originally sold dynamite as "Nobel's Blasting Powder"... Classic dynamite consists of three parts nitroglycerin, one part diatomaceous earth and a small admixture of sodium carbonate. This mixture is formed into short sticks and wrapped in paper. Nitroglycerin by itself is a very strong explosive, and in its pure form it is extremely shock-sensitive. (That is, physical shock can cause it to explode.), degrading over time to even more unstable forms. This makes it highly dangerous to transport or use in its pure form. Absorbed into diatomaceous earth or more commonly sawdust, nitroglycerin is less shock-sensitive. Over time, the dynamite will "weep" or "sweat" its nitroglycerin, which can then pool in the bottom of the box or storage area. (For that reason, explosive manuals recommend the repeated turning over boxes of dynamite in storage.) Crystals will form on the outside of the sticks causing them to be even more shock, friction or temperature sensitive. This creates a very dangerous situation. While the actual possibility of explosion without a blasting cap is minimal, old dynamite is still dangerous... Dynamite was manufactured by the E. I du Pont de Nemours Company until the mid-1970s. Other American dynamite makers of that time period included the Hercules Corporation, Atlas, Trojan-US Powder, Austin, and several other smaller firms. Dynamite has been mostly phased out in favor of water gel explosives, which are cheaper to manufacture, and in many ways are safer to handle... It is a common misconception that trinitrotoluene (TNT) and dynamite are the same thing, or that dynamite contains TNT. Though both substances are high explosives, there is little similarity between them. Dynamite is an absorbent mixture soaked in nitroglycerin then compacted into a cylindrical shape and wrapped in paper. TNT is a specific chemical compound called 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene. (Military dynamite is a dynamite substitute, also formulated without nitroglycerin, containing 75% RDX, 15% TNT, 5% SAE 10 motor oil, and 5% cornstarch to be the equivalent of dynamite composed of 60% nitroglycerin, but much safer to store and handle.

• published: 19 Nov 2016
• views: 3933