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TheRecipeforBlackPowder
Asisgenerallyknowntomanypeople,blackpowderisamixtureofsaltpeter,charcoalandsulfur.To
disappointallofyouwhothink,inthefollowingpaperI'mgoingtogiveawayanoptimumrecipewiththe
bestpossibleperformance,Istatehereonceandforall:Themixtureofthethreeingredientsisoflittle
importance.Itisthemethodofmakingthecharcoalthatcounts,asIwillprovewiththischapter.
Butbacktotheblackpowderrecipe:Youcanchangeitoverawiderange,andhardlynoticeanydifference
betweenperformances.Thatexplainswhymostofthehistoricrecipesdiffersignificantly.Ontheotherhand,
itishardtofindahistoricrecipeonhowtocharthecoal,sincethatusuallywasastatesecret.

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Bytheway,evenamixtureofsaltpeterandcharcoalwithoutsulfurexplodesremarkablywell.However,a
mixtureofsaltpeterandsulfur,withoutcharcoal,doesn'tburnatall.Thelatterfactpuzzledthechemists
throughoutthecenturies,becausesulfuraloneburnsprettywellandsaltpetergenerallyacceleratesallsortsof
fires.(Lookthismovie)
Note:Charcoaldoesnotconsistofpurecarbon(C)asmostauthorspurport.Suchapurecharcoalwould
requireacharringtemperatureofatleast1,500C!Andablackpowdermixedwithitwouldprobablyburn
liketheheadofamatchstick,atbest.
AsI'mexplaininginmycharcoalchapter,theformulaofcharcoalmaybebestdescribedasC7H4O.Withthis
andthefollowingchemicalequationswe'llseewhytherewon'tbeanexplicit,bestmixtureofblackpowder:
Dependingontheportionofcharcoal,itscarbonproducesalternativelycarbondioxideorcarbonmonoxide
oramixofboth.Totheseyou'llhavetoaddthewatervaporplusnitrogen,releasedfromthesaltpeter.Sothe
sumofallthegasesisnearlythesameonallrecipes.Indeed,thefollowingthreedimensionalgraphofthe
performanceofdifferentblackpowderrecipesrevealsaflattopoverwiderangeofrecipes.
Arecipewithoutsulfuryieldsonlylittlelessenergy(Joule/g).Butitsadvantageliesinitslittlesmoke
produced.Itsfogthenconsistsofpotassiumcarbonate(potash).Unfortunatelyitsignitiontemperatureis100
Chigherthanusual.Forcaplockarmsthatisnoproblem,butitisanuisancetoflintandmatchlock
sportsmen.
Hereisthechemicalequationforaregularblackpowdercontainingsulfur:
1)

4KNO3+C7H4O+2S

>

2K2S+4CO2+3CO+2H2O+2N2

andforablackpowderwithoutsulfur:
2)

6KNO3+C7H4O

>

3K2CO3+CO2+6CO+2H2O+2N2

Legend:
KNO3
C7H4O
S

issaltpeter
charcoal
sulfur

K2S

standsforpotassiumsulfide(responsibleforthewhitesmokeof
blackpowder)

K2CO3
CO
CO2
N2

potash
carbonmonoxide
carbondioxide
Nitrogen

Reasonablerecipesformixingblackpowderare
Agoodstandardblackpowder:..100partssaltpeter+18partscoal+16partssulfur
Apowderwithoutsulfur:............100partssaltpeter+24partscoal
Asyoumayhavenoticed,Ialwaysgivepowderrecipesonthebasisof100partssaltpeter!Then,withthe
threeingredients,itleavesonlytwovariableswhichcanbecomparedordrawnongraphseasily.
Forthecreationofthefollowinggraphshowingtheperformanceofblackpowder,Itesteddozensofrecipes
andfiredsomehundredshots.
Theblackpowdersampleswerealwaysmixedfromsaltpeterandsulfursuppliedbythechemicalindustry.
ThecharcoalImadefromthewoodofawillowtree,infactfromitsyoung,debarkedbranchesof
approximately3to4cmdiameter,charredinatincanat400Cuntilnearlysmokefree.

Fig.1:
Theperformanceofdifferent
powderrecipes

Themuzzleenergywasdeterminedbythemeasurementofthebulletvelocity,onemeteraheadofthemuzzle
ofathreebandEnfieldrifle,cal.58(14.7mm)andapatchedroundballof17.3glead.Thevelocitywas
measuredbyacommerciallyavailablechronograph.Witheachrecipetherewerethreeshotsfiredandfrom
thesethemedianwastaken.Theloadwasexactly2.00gblackpowder.
Thenthemuzzleenergywascalculatedas:
3)

Energy(Joule)=Massoftheball(kg)velocity2(m/s)2

asgivenontheyaxisofthediagram

Historicalblackpowderrecipes
ThefirstwrittenrecipecomesfromRogerBacon,aBritishmonkandprofessorofphilosophyatthe
universityofParis,inhis"OpusTertiary"(12641268),.Therehewrote"Asiswidelyknown....."andthen
hegivestherecipe.Note,hedidn'tclaimtheinventionforhimselfand,therefore,heisdefinitelynotthe
inventor.Hisrecipeis:
Sedtamen7PartesSalpetrae,5PartesCoruliet5PartesSulphurisetsicfaciestonitrumet
coruscationem,sicsciasartificium.
Translated:Take7partsofsaltpeter,5partsofhazelnut(charcoal)and5partssulfurandthatmakesthunder
andflashifyouknowtheart.
Andlateroninhistext,hedescribeswhatbadboysweredoingwithitatnight:terrifiyingtheirinnocent
neighborhood.Theyrolledpapertoatube,aboutthesizeofathumb,filleditwithpowder,closedbothends
withapieceofironwireandthensetitonfire".Hedidn'trevealexactlyhowthechargewasignited.Bya
fuse?
Onthebasisof100partsofsaltpeter,Baconsrecipeis:100pSaltpeter,71pcoal,71psulfur.
Whentested,Baconspowderburnedveryslowly.Itesteditonahandgonne(notahandgun).Itdidn'teven
propeltheballoutofthebarrel.Allthepressureescapedthroughthetouchhole.SoIassumed,Baconasan
EnglishmanmeasuredhispartsbyvolumeandnotbyweightaswecontinentalEuropeansareusedtodo.
Eventoday,allEnglishgivetheircookingrecipesincupsandspoonsandnotbyweight.
DidBaconactuallymeanpartsbyvolume(?),sohisrecipewouldbebyweight:
100pSaltpeter+27pCoal+45pSulfur

Fig2:AndhereiswhatIshotwith
Baconsrecipebyvolume:
3shotsbenchrest,at25meterswith
amuzzleloaderpistolofcal.38.

Herearesomeotherlocalrecipes,usedhistorically:

MarcusGraecus(ca.1250)
CantonofZurich(1775)
SwissArmy(1849)

Saltpeter
parts
100
100
100

Charcoal
parts
33
16.7
17.3

Sulfur
parts
12
16.7
16.0

ModernSwissblackpowder

100

20.0

13.3

AccordingtoFig.1,themuzzleenergiesofthelatterthreerecipescoverthetopofthebluecapofthe
diagramandhencecan'tbeimproved.Thatproves,theoptimummixtureofblackpowderhasbeenfoundnot
laterthanmid18thcentury.ButalsotherecipeofMarcusGraecus(exactdateuncertain)showsagood
performance.
TheroleofSulfurinblackpowder
ContemplatingthediagraminFig.1,youmightaskyourself,whyonearthdidourancestorstakethetrouble
toaddsulfuratall?ThatideafirstoccuredtotheSwissartilleryin1875,when"smokelessblackpowder"
wastested.Firingsalvosoutofafortificationsoonmadetheenemyinvisible,duetotheheavysmokeofthe
heftyloadsofcannons.Sincethosetestsweredoneontheeveofthe"whitepowder"era,thefindingssoon
becameobsolete.
Asulfurfreeblackpowderyieldsonlylittlesmoke.Whenitisusedinarifle,youseeonlyafaintfog.When
firedbyapercussionrifle,theignitionposesnoproblems.Frombyflintlock,youwillgetlotsofmisfires.
SoItestedtheignitiontemperatureof(homemade)blackpowdersbyincreasingthetemperatureina
laboratoryoveninincrementsof10Candfoundthepurposeofsulfurintheblackpowdermixture:
IgnitionTemperatures:
S'peter
100p
100p

Char
coal
13p
27p

Sulfur

IgnitionTemp.

12p
0p

300C
440C

p=parts
Soitappearsthesolepurposeofsulfurinablackpowdermixtureisthereductionoftheignitiontemperature!
Note:Agoodprimingpowderhasallwaysahighsulfurconcentration.