"Mom will be back soon. Honey, you have to listen to your aunt and *** at home and be a good baby. Don't be too naughty when your mother is not here."
Bai Haitang played with her daughter for a while.
Then she came to the dispensing room of the dyeing shop to make preparations for going to Shuilian Mountain.
Shuilian Mountain was infested with tigers and wild beasts. Bai Haitang knew that he did not have the strength of Wu Song, nor the skills to fly over walls and walls in martial arts novels, nor would a hero happen to save the beauty. He could only rely on his knowledge of chemistry to protect himself.
Something that is easy to carry, has lethality, and can at least drive away wild beasts. The first thing Bai Haitang thinks of is a gun. His major is chemistry, and he can at most make simple bullets. As for gun barrels, this is a major in the mechanical field.
Thinking of this, Bai Haitang decided to make suggested gunpowder.
The main ingredients of gunpowder are potassium sulfate, sulfur, and charcoal. The optimal ratio should be 74.64% potassium nitrate, 11.85% sulfur, and 13.51% charcoal based on weight, which is what people often call "monosulfide, dinitrate, and charcoal."
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The percentage cannot be accurately measured here, but the approximate ratio is 1:2:3.
Some sulfur has been taken out from the mine, which is enough. The charcoal needs to be calcined by oneself, but this time it cannot be calcined at will like the last time when making carbon pens. The carbon core burned out is relatively soft and is not suitable for use in explosives.
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The carbon used in explosives must be hard, not easy to break, black, smooth, and even make a metallic sound when they collide with each other. This is the top grade.
The main component of saltpeter is potassium nitrate, which is a colorless, transparent prismatic crystal that can be pounded into powder.
Although the mine is a treasure trove, there is no potassium nitrate.
What Bai Haitang thought of was that earth saltpeter could be used instead. Earthen saltpeter is usually found at the base of walls or under the corners of houses, and looks similar to salt.
The dyeing house was a newly built house, so there was no such thing. She remembered seeing it when the old house was being renovated, so Bai Haitang started looking for it under the shady eaves behind her own house and Lamei's house.
Inadvertently, I found a lot of them. I wrapped them up and brought them to the dyeing workshop.
In order to confirm that these are not potassium salts but saltpeter, Bai Begonia must do a small experiment. Of course, you can't use your tongue to taste if it is salty. This thing is not a joke when it comes to your mouth, unless you don't want to talk in this life.
Tao Hongjing of the Southern and Northern Dynasties said in the "Collected Commentary on the Book of Grass and Woods": "Burn it with fire, purple and green smoke will rise, and the clouds are saltpeter." This is similar to the modern method of identifying potassium salts by flame reaction.
Fire.
Bai Haitang lit a fire in the stove. When the fire was strong, he sprinkled some saltpeter. After a while, purple smoke gradually rose from the stove. This was the best proof that it was not salt, but saltpeter.
Put out the fire and collect the saltpeter. There is no need to grind it into powder, it is ready-made.
Sulfur is also readily available, just pound it into pieces. It requires the least amount, and one piece is enough to make a lot of things.
The most used material is charcoal, and it also takes the most effort.
When the dyehouse was being built, Bai Haitang specifically asked Ertong and Lamei to build three small earthen kilns for calcining quicklime and the like.
To make charcoal suitable for making gunpowder, it must be calcined in a closed earthen kiln.
Bai Haitang carefully selected the wood suitable for burning charcoal from the chopped firewood, and then evenly chopped the wood into about fifteen centimeters according to the size of the earthen kiln.
Firewood is piled flatly like steamed buns in the kiln.