Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter).

2025年3月22日 · gunpowder, any of several low-explosive mixtures used as propelling charges in guns and as blasting agents in mining. The first such explosive was black powder, which consists of a mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), sulfur, and charcoal.

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).

2025年3月13日 · Ever since it was developed in 10th-century China, gunpowder has been used for both war and peace. It served as a propellent for firearms, artillery, and rockets on battlefields around the world, which is how we often think of it.

2024年11月1日 · Gunpowder, a discovery that fundamentally altered the course of human history, was invented by Chinese alchemists during the Tang Dynasty, around the 9th century. This invention, initially an accidental byproduct of the quest for immortality, became a cornerstone in the evolution of warfare and subsequently, global power dynamics.

2019年6月6日 · Gunpowder or black powder is of great historical importance in chemistry. Although it can explode, its principal use is as a propellant. Gunpowder was invented by Chinese alchemists in the 9th century. Originally, it was made by mixing elemental sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter (potassium nitrate).

Gunpowder was a simple mixture combined according to empirical recipes developed without benefit of theoretical knowledge of the underlying processes.

2019年7月3日 · The invention of gunpowder by Tang Dynasty Chinese alchemists, around 850 A.D. led to military applications in China and eventually around the world.

2008年4月7日 · Experimenting with life-lengthening elixirs around A.D. 850, Chinese alchemists instead discovered gunpowder. Their explosive invention would become the basis for almost every weapon used in...

2019年2月20日 · Chinese alchemists were the major force behind the early invention of gunpowder. Learn about the early experiments that eventually led to the rocket.