how do you make gun powder?

Answer 1

Gunpowder (also called black powder) had no single inventor, but was gradually developed over time with varying formulas. The most perfected formula is 2 parts by weight sulfur, 3 parts by weight charcoal, and 15 parts by weight saltpeter (potassium nitrate, which could be either mined or obtained from organic sources like composting -- or dung piles!)

The powders are finely ground and then mixed together. Sometimes there are additional treatments such as wetting and then drying (to more intimately mix the saltpeter crystals for even burning).

How does it work?

"Nitrates have the property to release oxygen when heated, and the oxygen is essential to fast burning of carbon and sulfur, therefore resulting in an explosion-like chemical reaction when gunpowder is ignited: carbon burning consumes oxygen and produces heat, which produces even more oxygen etc. The presence of nitrates is crucial to gunpowder composition because the oxygen released by the heat makes burning of carbon and sulfur so much faster that it results in an explosive action, although mild enough not to destroy the barrels of the firearms . The action of gunpowder therefore can be simplistically described as "very fast burning" and is quite mild as opposed to that of brisant explosives, which react so fast that a shock wave is produced which acts more like a hammer-strike than a pressure build-up."

Answer 2

Mix powdered charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. Sodium nitrate doesn't do so well. It's not a secret. Eleuthere Irenee du Pont de Nemours came to the new U.S. about 1800. He and Thomas Jefferson were friends. He started a powder mill on the Brandywine river in Wilmington, Delaware. There was a saying in the early U.S. that if you were heading out to the frontier, you needed DuPont and galena. Galena is a lead ore.

Answer 3

Don't do it. You'll injure youself and others. Wait until you're older and be equipped, both physically and emotionally, to deal with gunpowder safely. At your age, you are simply not qualifed to handle gunpower. The proof? The fact that you posted the question.

Now, please go do your homework.

Answer 4

cow crap

Answer 5

idk, BUY it