What Is Smokeless Powder Made of?
The most satisfactory forms of smokeless powder are all made from guncotton or nitrocellulose. This substance, which is made by treating cotton with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, is a chemical compound, not a mixture like gunpowder; and when it is exploded it is all converted into gases, of which the chief ones are carbonic acid gas, nitrogen, and water-vapor. To cause the explosion of guncotton it is not necessary to burn it, but a mere shock or jar will cause it to decompose with explosive violence. Of course, such a violent explosive as this could not be used either in small arms or in cannon, but guncotton can be converted into less explosive forms which are suitable for use in guns, and the majority, of smokeless powders are made in this way. The methods used in producing the smokeless powders are kept secret by the various countries that use them.