Explosives
Researched by Scott S. 2005-06	RESEARCH REPORT MY INTERVIEW BIBLIOGRAPHY ABOUT THE AUTHOR Why I Chose This Topic Dedication My Family My Interests Products I Created Self-Evaluation Thanks for Helping

Explosives are materials that produce a rapid and enormous volume of gas when heated. There are many different types of explosives which are used in many different ways throughout the world.

Explosives were invented in Asia over one thousand years ago when some alchemists tried to make gold. They thought that they could turn lead into gold but it exploded in their faces.  They tried to keep it a secret but it didn’t last long.  Around 1268, Roger Bacon experimented with saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. He invented gunpowder. One hundred years later Berthold Schwarts took a long tube and covered up one end except for a little hole. He poured in some gunpowder and stuffed in a little pebble. He then touched a flame to it and the pebble shot out of the tube.  Guns had been invented. The Chinese put gunpowder and arrows in a tube and lit the tube on fire. The gunpowder exploded and the arrows shot out of the tube. They had made rockets. Alfred Noble(1833-1896) was a British man who invented dynamite.  He also made nitroglycerin safer by putting in kieselgur, a substance made of small-fossilized sea animals. Before this, nitroglycerine would explode when handled roughly or when near heat.

There are four types of explosives: high explosives, low explosives, blasting agents and primary explosives.  High explosives are used in bombs. There are many types of bombs. A couple of types are hydrogen and atomic. The hydrogen bomb does much more damage than an atomic bomb.  It does light damage at thirty miles, moderate damage at eighteen miles, severe damage at eleven miles and total destruction at nine miles from the target point. The atomic bomb does light damage at three and a half miles, moderate damage at two miles, severe damage at one and one quarter of a mile and total destruction at one mile from the target point.  Low explosives burn up instead of explode.  They are mainly used in guns where they create a major amount of force that can be controlled to propel a bullet down the barrel of a gun. Low explosives are also used in fireworks.  The explosives in fireworks just burn up and there is nothing to catch the force of the gases. Blasting agents are explosives like dynamite. Blasting agents are used for mining and excavating and are very sensitive to heat and electricity. Primary explosives are an explosive called blasting caps, they are also very sensitive to heat. The fuse carries the electricity to the blasting cap that then detonates the bomb.

There are many divisions of explosives. Division 1.1 or class A is very strong and is also known as a high explosive. it has the approximate strength of an atomic bomb. A large mass usually made of enriched uranium or plutonium is pushed onto a compressed mass usually made of chemical explosives. This releases a large amount of energy that blows up the high explosive.
Division 1.2 is between class A and B. it is not as strong as division 1.1 but has the approximate strength of an I.C.B.M (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile). An I.C.B.M works in stages. It travels using fuel that comes from cylinders that burn up. Then when the missile reaches its target a sensor in the nose sparks and detonates the warhead.
Division 1.3 or class B is not as strong as division 1.2. It has the comparable strength of a tank mine. A tank mine works by using a blasting agent that explodes when a tank drives over it. The tank sets off the explosive which drives a spike up into the tank followed by a bomb which explodes inside the tank.
Division 1.4 or class C is not as strong as division 1.3 but will still cause severe injury or death if handled incorrectly. This makes it similar to the strength of a frag grenade. A frag grenade is a little bomb that looks like a small pineapple with a ring on it. When you pull the ring out and let go of the handle it has a three to five second delay until the grenade explodes.
Finally, division 1.5 or class D is the weakest explosive. It has the approximate strength of a firework.  A firework has a fuse that carries the flame to the low explosive which then burns forming gases which create force that follows a pre-designed route.
Ingredients
Explosives are made of many different compounds. For example, dynamite is made up of 75% nitroglycerin and 25% diatomaceous earth. Another example is gunpowder, which is made of 75% saltpeter, 15%charcoal and 10% sulfur. The most lethal example is the Atomic bomb. The ingredients in an atomic bomb are either plutonium or uranium which are split apart through the fission process.

There are many different types of careers that are related to explosives. There are demolition experts who demolish buildings and structures. Demolition experts can demolish a building in a neighborhood without hurting any houses. They put up walls that block the debris that the falling building will create. They also use blasting caps. Blasting caps are used in mining for stone or rock, lumbering and road or rail construction, digging, exploration, tunneling, irrigation, flood control , demolition, and building roads on cliff edges.
Institute Makers of Explosives, also known as I.M.E, make explosives such as bombs and blasting caps, and many other military explosives. Some of the most well known examples are land mines and hand grenades.
The bomb squad is another very interesting career. Their job is to defuse, detect and destroy bombs. Bomb squad are used in wartime, and the bomb squad are used to protect our country from threats. The bomb squad has many tools that can be very helpful for keeping the bomb squad members safe. The bomb squad has long handled mirrors that can look under cars and other vehicles. They also have dogs that can sniff out bombs and other things like drugs. Finally they use remote controlled robots that cost up to $500,000. The bomb squad’s job is saving human lives, to detect and defuse bombs, and to protect the general public.

Explosives need to be transported in special ways. They need to be transported on restricted roads that are for military and government use only and in special trucks that have coolers and heaters to keep the explosives at the perfect temperature.
The trucks also have special boxes that won’t let the explosives roll around. Explosives can also be transported by boats that travel on special ocean routes or in the air on protected airways.
The same principle applies to storage. Explosives need to be stored in a warehouse that is temperature controlled, in a clean environment and in a restricted and protected area. It needs to be handled in this manner for the safety reasons.

Who I Interviewed And What I Learned I interviewed Sergeant Slivinski at the Yakima training center on January 3, 2006. I interviewed him because he had been in the military for five years and was an EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) member at the top ranking when I interviewed him. He told me about the history of explosives, how an explosive works and how they explode.  We also went and looked at the bombs that they had defused (which is also called disarming a bomb). He let me control the robot that they use to get the bomb with in buildings. He said that in the future bombs are going to mostly stay the same and he said that the bombs might get more powerful but he thought that they would stay the same.

Bibliography   Blashfield, Jean F. Sparks of Life Nitrogen. Deacon, Wisconsin: Raintree Steckvaughn Publishers. 1999 Pp. 1-3, 6, 17-23. Green berg, Elliot Keith. Bomb squad officer. Wood Bridge, CT: Black birch press. 1996. Pp. 1-4, 7-24. “History of Explosives” 9/14/2005 http://Librarythinkquest.org/4144/history.htm Institute of makers of Explosives 1120 Nineteenth Street, N.W. Suite 310 Washington, DC 20036-36050 Pp.1-34, 55. Slivinski, Mike, Sergeant. Personal interview: Yakima Training Center January 3, 2006.

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