Nitroglycerin

Chemical structure of nitroglycerin

Nitroglycerin is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating glycerol with white fuming nitric acid under conditions appropriate to the formation of the nitric acid ester.

Uses

Nitroglycerin has been used ever since as an active ingredient in the manufacture of explosives, specifically dynamite, and as such it is employed in the construction, demolition, and mining industries. It has also been used by militaries as an active ingredient and gelatinizer for nitrocellulose in some solid propellants such as cordite and ballistite. It is a major component in double-based smokeless propellants used by reloaders. Combined with nitrocellulose, hundreds of powder combinations are used by rifle, pistol, and shotgun reloaders.

Nitroglycerin has been used for over a century in medicine as a potent vasodilator (dilation of the vascular system) to treat heart conditions. Nitroglycerin is available in sublingual tablets, sprays, ointments, and patches.

Dependencies

• Nitroglycerin
  • Dynamite

See also

• Chemical compounds
• Explosives

References

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Nitroglycerin, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).