Kaboom: The History of Nitroglycerin

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Ka-boom The History of Nitroglycerin

• Joe Green
• Jane White
• Jason Orange

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What is Nitroglycerin?

• Very unstable explosive liquid
• Pale yellow color
• Sweet taste
• Heavy, oily substance
• Used in production of dynamite
• Medical treatment for heart conditions

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Chemical Properties of Nitroglycerin

• Formula CH2(ONO2)-CH(ONO2)- CH(ONO2)
• Density 1.13 at 15C
• Melting Point 13.2C
• Molecular Weight 227.0872

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Other Info.

• Can explode at any time
• Can explode for any reason
• Store in place away from
• Anything living
• Anything valuable

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Developers of Nitroglycerin

• Invented by Ascanio Sobrero in 1846.
• abandoned development because he thought it too
  unstable

• Stabilized through the addition of silica to the
  liquid by Alfred Nobel in the 1860s.
• Used in the making of dynamite

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Ascanio Sobrero

• Regretted inventing nitroglycerin after the havoc
  it reaped
• Was upset when Nobel began profiting from his
  abandoned invention

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Alfred Nobel

• Blasted rocks with his father
• Built a small factory in 1864 to manufacture
  nitroglycerin
• Within 1 year, the plant exploded killing five
  men, including his brother
• Built several more factories after the accident
• Developed dynamite
• Nitroglycerin paste
• Blasting caps

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Impact on Chemistry

• Laid the ground work for modern explosives
• First nitrated explosive
• Predecessor to ammonium nitrate based dynamite

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Dynamite

• Paste
• Nitroglycerin mixed with fine sand
• Blasting Caps
• Wood plug filled with black powder and topped
  with a fuse
• Paste is formed into rods and a blasting cap and
  fuse are pushed into it

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Impact on World Outside of Chemistry

• Propellant
• Rockets and missiles
• Vasodilator
• Used to treat heart conditions

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Vasodilators

• Angina pectoris chest pain from heart problems
• Nitroglycerin vasodilator
• Helps heart problems by expanding blood vessels
  so that the heart pumps blood more efficiently

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Vasodilators

• Sold under the names Nitrospan and Nitrostat
• First used to treat angina pectoris in 1879
• Granted FDA approved in 1938
• Dosage
• Capsule 2.5 13 mg
• Patches containing 2 ointment
• Sublingual tablets less than ½ a mg

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Questions

• What was one of the main ingredients in the
  original dynamite?
• Who stabilized and commercialized nitroglycerin?
• What use does nitroglycerin have in the medical
  field?
• (a) speeds up recovery from broken bones
• (b) treatment for heart problems
• (c) treatment for asthma
• (d) all of the above

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Bibliography

• The heart An online exploration,
  http//www.fi.edu/biosci/healthy/healthy.html
  (accessed April 13, 2004)
• Nitroglycerin Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia,
  http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitroglycerin
  (accessed April 10 2004)
• Nitroglycerin Not Foolproof In Diagnosing Heart
  Disease http//www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2001
  /NOVEMBER/011113A.htm (accessed April 10, 2004),
• Nitroglycerin Heart http//www.medicinenet.com
  /nitroglycerin/article.htm (accessed April 10,
  2004)
• Nitroglycerin Antianginal http//www.fpnoteboo
  k.com/CV197.htm (accessed April 10, 2004)
• Chemical Properties http//web.caryacademy.org/che
  mistry (accessed April 10, 2004)
• Alfred Nobel from Encyclopedia Britannica
  Online http//search.eb.com/ebi/article?eu298152
  querynitroglycerinct (accessed April 10, 2004)

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Bibliography cont.

• Alfred Nobels Life and Work for
  Grade-schoolers from Nobel e Museum
• http//www.nobel.se/nobel/alfred-nobel/biographic
  al/life-work/gradeschool.html (accessed April 10,
  2004)
• Alfred Bernhard Nobel from Encyclopedia
  Britannica Online http//search.eb.com/eb/article?
  eu57414 (accessed April 10, 2004)
• Nitroglycerine and Dynamite from Nobel e -
  Museum http//www.nobel.se/nobel/alfred-nobel/biog
  raphical/life-work/nitrodyn.html (accessed April
  10, 2004)
• Nitroglycerin from Encyclopedia Britannica
  Online http//search.eb.com/eb/print?eu57357
  (accessed April 10, 2004)
• Ascanio Sobrero from Nobel e Museum
  http//www.nobel.se/nobel/alfred-nobel/biographica
  l/life-work/sobrero.html (accessed April 10,
  2004)