Re: [HOE] Guns&ammo in odd environments

[Matt Crawford <matt@severian.chi.il.us>]

> A couple of people said Saltpeter was the source of oxygen for gunpowder.
> 
> Guys, yes, oxygen is a component of saltpeter, but a separate source of O-2
> (straight oxygen) is required for combustion.  Trust me here.

Trust, but verify.

> In fact, unless I forget my basic chemistry, the major byproducts of the
> combustion of gunpowder are all gases (the point being that the expanding
> gases force the bullet from the shell).  These gases are carbon dioxide
> (CO2), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), and Nitrogen Oxide (NO).  You notice that is
> five parts Oxygen whereas Saltpeter only has three parts oxygen.  The other
> two parts comes from good old fashioned O2 in the atmosphere.  In fact,
> since Saltpeter is only a percentage of the makeup of gunpowder, it provides
> at best a fraction of the oxygen needed for combustion.

ingre-	%by	atom	%by
dient	wt.	 wt.	num
S	10%	 32	 5.9
C	15%	 12     23.7
KNO3	75% =
 K	 29%	 39	14.1
 N	 10%	 14	13.6
 O	 36%	 16	42.7

> This is one of the reasons gunpowder is a powder.  The space in between the
> grains holds the oxygen needed for combustion.  It is this oxygen (a gas)
> that would try to escape in a vacuum.

The density of the gunpowder granules is 2-3 grams per cc.
The density of the air in the spaces is around 0.00114 gm/cc,
and only about 1/5 of that is Oxygen.

Say again where the oxygen is?