Great reply, Dan!

I've always wondered, "Why glycerine"; and what specific properties does
glycerine have that makes it the best choice for nitration to this day? I
understand most anything can be nitrated but I often wonder why we still use
glycerine. It was readily availble in the 1860's; but I wonder if some
synthetic is available now that woud be as good, or better, than glycerine
for use in dynamite manufacture.

Bob Swinney
wrote in message
oups.com...

Jim McGill wrote:

Most old time explosives like TNT and Nitroglycerine were found by
chance but these days chemists have a pretty good handle on what is
needed to cause an explosion
Jim

My understanding is that gun cotton was discovered before
nitroglycerine. It was not known if gun cotton was modified cotton or
if the cotton was adsorbing and holding the explosive. Someone
recommended an experiment using glycerine in place of the cotton. The
two being similar, but of course the glycerine has no adsorbing power.

Dan