The Pros and Cons of Pyrotechnics
explanatory Essay
1628 words
Pyrotechnics are applied in many tasks in our world. Some of these are
ejection seats for military aircraft, exploding dye capsules for banks, trail making, propellant for bullets, fire extinguishing, demolition, airbags for cars, mining, mountain carving, and even helping clean up the tragedy of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Pyrotechnics have shaped the earth and country with many uses.
The first explosive ever discovered was by old Asian alchemists, they were mixing certain chemicals for a certain spell to cast on themselves. They took the mixture and placed it on a fire, within seconds it exploded causing them to become burned and their hut to burn down. The alchemists wanted to find out what caused it, so they used different combinations of chemicals they has used before until they found out what caused the explosion. They eventually found out that the two chemicals that caused the explosion were sulfur and saltpeter (potassium nitrate). Little did they know that this would give birth to a huge assortment of uses, such as fighting wars and showing art exploding with beautiful colors in the sky. Their creation was not put into use until some time later, but after time passed they experimented by taking a bamboo reed and putting the substance in the hollowed out reed, then inserted arrows on top of the chemical and applied fire to the chemical. The Asians tried to keep this new invention a secret, but the secret got out and spread like a wildfire. (“!History!”)
By the 13th century a man named Roger Bacon the godfather of explosives, showed interest in this new technology and began experimenting with it until he found an even better formula for this powder. He used the original two chemicals, saltpeter and sulfur, but add...
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...very affectively. They say getting hit with just one rubber ball from a sting ball is equivalent to being hit with a 100 MPH pitch from a major league baseball pitcher (“Sting-Ball”). Another law enforcement device that is mostly used for hostage situations and used mainly by S.W.A.T. is the flash bang. The flash bang causes an extremely bright flash of light and a very loud bang and temporally blinds the person or persons in the area and also causes temporary deafness. These devices are a safe and effective alternative to using lethal force. (“Flash-Bang”)
Pyrotechnics have shaped our country and earth in both good and bad ways, they can be beautiful or even deadly fun or dangerous. They serve many purposes on this earth and should continue to do so and shape our earth and nation, although maybe not always for the best but hopefully the good will outweigh the bad.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the military uses pyrotechnics for many things such as bullets, bombs and rockets.
- Opines that the government is working hard to make chemicals used for illegal pyrotechnics difficult to find and purchase.
- Explains how alfred nobel made nitroglycerine, a highly unstable explosive liquid, and created dynamite or trinitrotoluene.
- Describes how dynamite was used to blast away an area to place the hoover dam and carve out tunnels in the mountain for operators to get in and around the dam.
- Explains how pyrotechnics have shaped the earth and country with many uses.
- Explains that dynamite was used to carve out the faces of america's fore fathers in the mountain of mount rushmore. powdermen cut the explosives to certain lengths based on how much of the rock they wanted to blast off.
- Explains that law enforcement uses pyrotechnics to handle certain situations, such as sting balls, flash bangs, and grenades.
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- How Pyrotechnics and Explosives Have Changed the Worldexplanatory essaySince man’s first experiences with fire we have longed to control it and we wished to will it to do our bidding. For very long we failed mostly, and we still do sometimes, but with the trials and experiments we have done and died doing, we succeed now, mostly. The first formula that is still written down of an “explosive or pyrotechnic composition” are the three examples of gunpowder in the 1044A.D. Chinese military guide Wujing Zongyao which showed a few uses of this powder they had experimented with for near a hundred years. The most used formula from it was approximately 50% KNO3, also known as Saltpeter in those times, and formally called Potassium nitrate today, ~25% S, Sulfur, and ~25% carbonaceous matter (mostly charcoal and compounds mixed with impure sulfur); the other formulas move the percentages for the KNO3 around 10-15%, S 5-10%, and carbonaceous 7-20% to adjust burn rates and usefulness in certain situations. The likely only reason gunpowder was ever invented was the Chinese’s wish to live long, and their many mixtures of elixirs, which was what gunpowder was intended to be used as (more-pyrotechnics.com). “Within 200 years China had several crude weapons, mostly huge iron or alternative metal barrels and maybe a wooden grip but with no aiming attachment. They also had very many types of fireworks using no telling how many formulae for devices ranging in size, color, and purpose. People in Europe hear of this powder and its power, and then slowly find out more“(more-pyrotechnics.com). Then by 300 years they had better arsenals, larger cannons that actually worked well, and better, lighter barrels. The Indians and Islamic nations have made use of this by now, neither surpassing China’s previous ones nor Europe’s futu...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the first formulas of pyrotechnic compositions are the three examples of gunpowder in the 1044a.d. chinese military guide wujing zongyao.
- Explains that chinese gunpowder is the first written and still standing formula of a true explosive, or pyrotechnic composition.
- Explains that the europeans brought back the scientific method of ancient greco-romans, modified it with ‘alchemy’ first, modernized it, and brought a whole new world view with them.
- Explains that gunpowder and explosives have a fuel, and sulfur limits and changes the burn rate. colorful firework displays use different fuels and slower or faster oxidizers, but not necessarily trying to make it go boom faster.
- Explains the oxidation-reduction reaction and the decomposition reactions.
- Explains that most fuels for modern explosives are large hydrocarbons, synthetic molecules, or metallic. they don't want a powder that is very hygroscopic (attracts water and leads to oxidation) or electromagnetically.
- Explains the effects of excess additives on the burn rate and color of the explosion. composition 3 uses plasticizers to increase clay-likeness in the explosives.
- Explains that the last ingredient to a successful mixture is an oxidizer, which is used for basic military use and pyrotechnics.
- Explains how the chinese discovered a magical powder with the power to change the world. it allowed empires to rise up against foes never believed to be defeatable, exploration of new worlds, and personal protection.
2015 wordsRead More - The early petroleum industry in the USexplanatory essayThe famous "Green Fire" was used in various forms for many centuries once it became known that when a mixture of petroleum and ground quicklime is exposed to moisture spontaneous combustion takes place. The flaming mixture thus produced was thrown by a pump mounted on the prow of a warship and the consequent havoc wrought on the enemy's ships can easily be imagined.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the early petroleum industry in the united states. ancient egyptians used bitumen for embalming, assyrians for building, chinese for heating and lighting, and for centuries fishermen used it to make their boats watertight.
- Explains that the famous 'green fire' was used in various forms for many centuries once it became known that when a mixture of petroleum and ground quicklime is exposed to moisture spontaneous combustion takes place.
- Explains that the ancients knowledge of the properties of petroleum fell into abeyance during the middle ages and up until the 19th century, petroleum was only remembered for its medicinal uses. samuel kier bottled the oil that seeped into his father's brine wells to capitalize on this use.
- Describes how george h. bissell leased 105 acres of farmland near titusville, pennsylvania, paying $5,000 dollars for a 99 year lease. the first oil lease was granted in 1854.
- Describes how bissell commissioned edwin & drake to drill a well for him and struck oil on august 27th, 1859. the first oil well was sunk and the united states exported great quantities of oil.
- Explains that samuel kier's distillation of seep and salt well oil constituted the first commercial refinery in america. james young patented a process in england in 1850.
- Explains that crude oil was refined to improve its use as an illuminant, which led to the frantic drilling of the pioneer oil wells along oil creek in titusville, pennsylvania.
- Explains that the science of well drilling was practiced in 201 bc in china, where brine wells, some over 3,000 feet deep, were drilled.
- Explains the rotary method, whereby the drill and the machinery that drives it are housed in a tall steel latticework tower.
- Explains how a blow-out preventor is fitted into the bore hole to control the flow of oil from the gusher. the drilling rig is then dismantled and used on another site.
- Explains that petroleum is one of the two or three basic materials in chemical manufacturing and processing. the world today is so dependent on oil that this could almost be called the oil age.
- Explains that abraham gesner, who first made a flammable liquid from oil shale in 1846, manufactures kerosene from coal in new york state.
- Describes how the well was drilled on the lemuel stockton farm along little renox creek, cumberland county, kentucky. drilled by col. emerson to a depth of 171 feet, it produced 50,000 barrels of oil.
- Describes how samuel kier, who built a one-barrel still for distillation of seep and salt well oil, constituted the first commercial refinery in america.
- Explains that kier's refining enterprise at pittsburgh was not the first petroleum refinery venture. james young patented a process in england in 1850 that carried out fractional distillation of petroleum.
- Explains that the first well ever drilled for the purpose of recovering underground oil was successfully accomplished by "colonel" e.l. drake at titusville, pennsylvania.
- Explains that the drake oil well showed that vast quantities of underground oil could be obtained by utilization of salt-well drilling techniques.
1792 wordsRead More - The History of Military Demolitionscomparative essay...ces and Explosively Formed Penetrators. The use of these explosives has created all new hazards for the Coalition Forces conducting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. When explosives are used as an offensive weapon they can be effective and very demoralizing. Speaking from personal experience it can cause the individual soldier to question what they are doing and therefore weaken the effectiveness of the military. From a defensive standpoint there are a multitude of uses to include falling trees to create an abatis, and cratering charges used to make a road impassable and slow the enemy down.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that explosives have been used as an offensive and defensive weapon since the discovery of gunpowder by the chinese. demining war-torn countries is being undertaken to make them safer.
- Explains that the civil war is considered the bloodiest war in the history of the united states of america with 618,000 deaths and numerous injuries.
- Explains how the union army loaded 320 25-pound black powder kegs into the mine and sandbags were used to control the explosion and weaken the confederate defenses to aid in the end of the siege.
- Concludes that if these actions were not taken, the union army would have been severely hampered to continue fighting the war.
- Describes corrigan, jim, the 48th pennsylvania in the battle of the crater, mcfarland & company, inc.
845 wordsRead More - Chemical Warfare Historyexplanatory essayChemical warfare has been used as early as B.C. and A.D. Mostly used as smoke screens, incendiary devices, and some that may have been disguised as sleeping agents. “During the sieges of Plataea and Delium, the Spartan army used arsenic smoke. The pitch and sulfur were ignited and the consequence was a fire greater than anyone had ever yet seen produced by human agency’, the Greek historian wrote” (Coleman, 2005). The Romans used toxic smoke against the Charakitanes in Spain. The Charakitanes were defeated in two da...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that chemical warfare is the most terrifying and debilitating way to gain the advantage on your enemy or adversary.
- Explains that chemical warfare has been used as early as b.c. and a.d. as smoke screens, incendiary devices, and sleeping agents.
- Narrates how the weather played a role in the use of chemical weapons.
- Describes chemical warfare research facilities with the ability to make tons of poisonous gas a month.
- Explains how the germans used chlorine gas against the french army during world war i. they threw cylinders of chlorine into the trenches causing the troops to experience difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath.
- Explains that many factors come into play and handling of them could result in injury or death. by the end of world war i 124,000 tons of chemical agents had been used.
- Explains that with another war everyone knew there would be the possibility for the use of chemical warfare.
- Explains that napalm was introduced during world war ii and was used on the soldiers in entrenched positions.
- Opines that the history of chemical warfare has changed the world's fears of chemical attacks in the future.
743 wordsRead More - The Use of Chemical Agents in World War Iopinionated essayLooking back at how the chemical weaponry expanded starting in the beginning of World War 1, it all began with Tear gas which was used by the French in August of 1914. Those techniques have been used in ancient times. Moving forward eight months in to the war the Germans have been giving great study in to the development of chemical weapons due to the first usage from the French and witnessed its great effectiveness and were the first to use it in a large scale.
In this essay, the author
- Explains how the need for a chemical company proved to be the key to combating gas warfare.
- Compares the use of chemical weapons in the first world war and the development of mustard gas.
- Explains that the new filling will serve two purposes: conserve tnt and act as a chemical weapon.
- Opines that america did not ignore the fact that gas warfare proved inhumane but will not stand unprepared, the threat was real for the nation’s civilians.
- Cites the cdc's facts about sulfur mustard (2013, may 2).
898 wordsRead More - APA paperopinionated essayHilmas, C., Smart, J., & Hill, B. (n.d.). Chapter 2 HISTORY OF CHEMICAL WARFARE. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from www.hsdl.org: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=19099
In this essay, the author
- Explains the history of the chemical corps, usasoc/delta force, and a chemical soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
- Explains that the chemical corps came to fruition during world war i, at the behest of general john pershing because of the germans use of chemical agents.
- Explains how the army felt that having the chemical corps present was necessary, especially with rising tensions in the middle east.
- Explains that usasoc/delta force is basically the same concept as the british special operations unit sas. by taking those particular types of soldier’s it greatly increases their odds of success for their mission.
- Describes how sfc zaun was assigned to headquarters and headquarters company (hhc), usasoc, at fort bragg, n.c.
- Opines that sfc zaun was a true asset to the chemical corps and the units for which he served.
- Concludes that the topic of this paper was sfc zaun, but it was important to give a brief discussion of the chemical corps and its importance to the army and usasoc.
- Cites griswold, t., & giangreco, d. (1992). delta america's elite counterterrorism force.
- Cites the u.s. army chemical school's history of the chemical corps (essay).
846 wordsRead More - History of Chemistry: Chemical Weaponsexplanatory essayChemical weapons originated in early World War I. They were simple grenades or mortars filled with common chemicals. These specialized grenades were popularized by the Germans and then were seen used by even the Allied Forces. They were popularized by their area of effect and useful in the trench warfare.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that chemical weapons are deadly, in-humane, not safe, and overkill. they are considered wmds and have been on the rise since the early 1900s.
- Explains that chemical weapons originated in early world war i. they were simple grenades or mortars filled with common chemicals.
- Explains that there are several different types of chemical weapons and they all have different effects on their victims.
- Explains that vesicant, or blister agents, left its victims covered in water blisters that were painful beyond belief. the chemicals increased the skin's sensitivity to light, making it burn severely.
- Explains that nerve agents stop the flow of ach, which is responsible for muscle contraction. when effected it leaves you with no control of your body, leading to a slow painful death.
- Explains that blood agents are fast-acting, cyanide or arsenic-type positions. they work quickly and go into your bloodstream. short-term exposures can cause dizziness and nausea, while long term exposure causes brain damage and muscle paralysis.
- Explains that choking agents cause the victim to choke and lose the ability to breathe. the most common chemical is phosgene, or ccl2o.
- Explains that chemical agents were used around the wwi era by both the allied and central powers and were outlawed via different world laws.
- Explains that the geneva protocol prohibits the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices. it was written into place in geneva, switzerland on june 17th 1925.
- Explains that the biological weapons convention was developed by the british and was functionable in march of 75 in fear of the lethal weapons regaining popularity.
- Opines that society was a better place before chemical weapons. war had more honor involved, and was filled with more patriotism and honor.
- Explains that the advancement of weapons turning chemically evolved was reliant on science. the factories and mass production business off the early 20th century made the scale of chemical weapons what they were.
- Opines that chemical weapons have affected modern society in both good and bad ways.
- Opines that chemical weapons will have a bad impact on society's future, even though we have outlawed them, and they'll be even stronger due to advancements in technology.
- Argues that advancement in chemistry and technology should be controlled and that not all of chemistry's history is good history.
798 wordsRead More - Canada and Chemical Weaponsanalytical essayChemical weapons have been used in many occasions in war, including Ancient Times, The Middle Ages, World War I, and World War II and so on throughout time. Many kinds of chemical weapons have been used but modern chemical weapons started on April 22, 1915, with the Germans use of Chlorine gas on the Allie troops in WWI. In this incident 6,000 cylinders of the gas were released by 2 battalions along a 6 kilometer of the front, and the wind dispersed the clouds of gas killing 5,000 soldiers and putting 1,500 more out of the war. This caused great panic because nothing like this had happened before and wasn't expected by the allies. Previous to this event in the Middle Ages they used such things as arsenic and more natural things as chemicals which were as powerful as the chlorine gas ended up being in WWI. Chemical weapons were used many times after the Germans used chlorine gas in WWI, chlorine, phosgene, benzyl bromide, hydrogen cyanide, and then mustard gas in 1917. Mustard gas became the worst and most popular chemical weapon used when it came out because of how harmful it was to the enemies; in addition it was figured that 1,300,000 soldiers were killed by the chemical weapons by the end of WWI. This essay stated that: "If the first World War had continued for yet another year it would indeed have been called the first Chemical War" (A Short History of Chemical Weapons) In WWII the use of chemical weapons decreased a lot and was only used in the Far East.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that chemical weapons date back to the peloponnesian war of 428-424 bc when they were used against the spartans.
- Explains that chemical weapons have been used in many occasions in war, including ancient times, the middle ages, world war i, and so on.
- Analyzes how tim cook starts his article with the germans use of chlorine gas and how chemical weapon use escalated from that point.
- Analyzes how artillery bombardments and deadly machine-gun bullets had already reduced warfare to mass murder, but gas was viewed as somehow villainous, more despicable. soldiers at least had a chance to stay alive by using their wits and good field craft.
- Explains how soldiers suffered from gas attacks and how they got worse as the war went on with new and more harmful chemical weapons being introduced.
733 wordsRead More - Chemical Warfare in WWIexplanatory essayThe French were the first to start experimenting on chemical agents in 1912. They first used it on their people as riot control to capture criminals that who had robbed a bank. They used 26 millimeter grenades filled with chemical agents into the center of the group criminals they were attempting to apprehend. It was not said if it was effective but continued to look into using it for other means. However, the Germans at this time had not been interested in producing any kinds of chemical weapons.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that chemical warfare in wwi was beginning of inventing new ways to produce more casualties to the enemy’s force and reduce the probability of losing soldiers from their own line of defense or offense.
- Explains that the french were the first to start experimenting on chemical agents in 1912. they used it on their people as riot control to capture criminals that had robbed a bank.
- Explains that the war began with the allies and central powers in europe on 28 july 1914.
- Explains that no one in europe wanted this war to last because they felt that the economies of the european nations would not be able to survive a war of this scale.
- Explains that the french were still using the 26 millimeter grenades in 1914 but were having little to no effect because they were using it in an open area.
- Describes how the germans fired over 18,000 15cm howitzer rounds filled with xylyl bromide (tear gas) at the russians at bolimov, russia, but the temperature was too cold, it did not cause vaporization when it exploded and had no effect on their enemy soldiers.
- Describes the use of chlorine gas at the battle of ypres by the german army against the british and french forces.
- Narrates how a counter attack using 5,500 cylinders containing 150 tons of chlorine on 24 september 1915, near loos, belgium, was launched by the british.
- Explains that both sides were building battalions and brigades that were trained at firing chemical weapons. the tactical doctrine changed on the way they employed chemical warfare.
- Explains that the germans continued to experiment on the different types of chemicals that would last longer in the air and cause more damage to the enemy troops.
- Explains that chlorine gas warfare was the gateway to producing other chemicals weapons used to this day on the battlefield throughout the world.
- Cites clark, d. k., & west, c. j. (1921). chemical warfare in world war i: the american experience, 1917-1918.
894 wordsRead More - bioremediation of explosive contaminated soilexplanatory essay“It has been estimated that there are thousands of explosives-contaminated sites within the United States, and even a greater number in Europe and the Soviet Union.”(2) TNT (2,4,6- trinitrotoluene) is one of the most popular explosives used by military forces, and due to improper handling and disposal techniques TNT and its derivatives, have polluted environments to levels that threaten the health of humans, livestock, wildlife and, entire ecosystems. TNT is known to have many health effects on animals as well as humans. As stated by The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, “Workers involved in the production of high explosives experienced many harmful health effects as a result of exposure to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene at their jobs. These effects included disorders of the blood, such as anemia, and abnormal liver function.” (1)
In this essay, the author
- Explains that bioremediation is a new, efficient, environmentally friendly, and low-cost technology that uses microorganisms to clean up soil contaminated with heavy metals and organic contaminants.
- Explains that bioremediation works by taking complex organic compounds such as tnt, which are made up of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen.
- Explains that windrow composting is an attractive bioremediation technique due to its relatively low processing costs and high effectiveness at treating explosive contaminated soil.
- Describes the application techniques of bioslurry as sites requiring greater process control, more complete degradation, or where the cost of importing compost amendments is prohibitive.
- Explains that bioremediation is a valuable tool in the treatment of contaminated soil.
- Describes the environmental protection agency's 1997 fact sheet on innovative uses of compost.
- Explains that tnt and its derivatives have polluted environments to levels that threaten the health of humans, livestock, wildlife and, entire ecosystems.
787 wordsRead More