Discovering Gunpowder
Gunpowder is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate with the sulfur and charcoal acting as a fuel. Because of its burning and the amount of heat and gas volume that it makes, gunpowder has been used world wide as a propoenent in firearms and as pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. Gunpowder was discovered in the 9th century in China by Chinese alchemists. In the 19th century gunpowder was known as "black powder" because it was so used across the world. This discovery led to the invention of fireworks and the earliest gunpowder weapons in China. This technology spread throughout the world including Europe and India and was widely used all over the Arabic world.
How Gunpowder Works
Black powder consists of a fuel (charcoal or sugar) and an oxidizer (saltpeter or nitrate), and sulfur, to allow for a chemical reaction. The carbon from the charcoal and oxygen makes carbon dioxide and energy. Carbon in a fire has to draw oxygen from the air. Potassium nitrate, sulfur, and carbon combine together to form nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases and potassium sulfide. The expanding gases, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, provide the propelling action. Gunpowder usually produces a lot of smoke, which can hurt vision on a battlefield or decrease the visibility of fireworks. Changing the amount of the ingredients affects the rate at which the gunpowder burns and the amount of smoke that is made.
Chinese Gunpowder
Gunpowder was made to be a potion for unlimited life and ended up being a potion for death that is still used today. Ancient Chinese alchemists were trying to find a potion for immortality and they ended up making gunpowder. When the Chinese found out that it exploded they used it for fireworks. After a few hundred years they started using it in war. They first used it at the beginning of a war to try to scare people off before they fought them. The Chinese finally realized that if you explode gunpowder near people they might die so they started using it in war as a kind of explosive.
Components of Gunpowder
When Chinese alchemists invented gunpowder it was a mistake. The alchemists were trying to find a potion for immortality and instead they wound up making an explosion. So the opposite effect came out of the original idea. Gunpowder consists of potassium nitrate, common charcoal, and sulfur. The potassium nitrate first came from decayed animal poop, and later it came from mines in India. The common charcoal is made from wood that has been cooked so all the gases are removed. When these ingredients are mixed they make gunpowder.
A Whole New Warfare
The invention of gunpowder changed into many things. At first gunpowder was just used as fireworks, and it took a while for the Chinese to realize that gunpowder could be used in war. The first big weapon for warfare that was made out of gunpowder was the cannon. The cannon impacted warfare in many ways. It eliminated battering rams and catapults because now you could take out a wall with a few cannon balls. You could take out groups of people with just one shot instead of fifty arrows or more. Another advantage of cannons is that they can be shot from far away and have the same damage. Arrows are limited in their range and are not as accurate. Cannons can shoot from longer distances and are a lot more accurate and make a bigger impact. The second invention that gunpowder took part in was the gun. The gun could pierce a knight’s armor which changed how people fought. The bullet could pierce the armor and kill with one shot. There were no more battle charges on open ground because you wanted to have cover so you didn’t get shot. The gun evolved into a machine gun. This gun did not have to be loaded every shot, it could shoot thirty or forty bullets before reloading. People really wanted cover then, they didn’t go in the open when that machine gun was in use.
Chinese Warfare
Starting from the Tang and the beginning of the Song dynasty, small packages of gunpowder wrapped in paper or bamboo were connected to arrows, which marked the first use of gunpowder in war. These would be lit with a fuse of some kind so that the arrow became a fiery object intended to set targets on fire. During the Song dynasty, smoke bombs, incendiary bombs, gunpowder grenades, andl shrapnel objects such as rocks were used in Chinese warfare. Hemp or cotton would be soaked in oil, ignited, and catapulted outward. Bombs made of iron shells in a circle shape could destroy a city wall. Gunpowder bombs were a mixture of gunpowder and shrapnel such as charcoal and iron scraps. The range of these bombs could be from ten to a hundred yards.
Medieval Warfare
This brought some major changes to medieval life. Men no longer needed to train for years in order to be good at battle. A peasant could be equipped with an arquebus and wreak havoc against the traditional soldiers. At first gunpowder was mostly used to scare the enemy soldiers due to its ineffectiveness and only until later it was widely used as a good way to kill. Cannons began popping up in the west until the 14th century. The bombard was the most effective form of cannon and consisted of a simple tube. It was especially effective against castles which could be successfully assaulted in a matter of weeks or even days.