560 
DE. H. DEBUS ON THE CHEMICAL THEORY OF GUNPOWDER. 
The possibility of dissociation requires the additional equation 
K 2 C0 3 +KjSo+Oj= 2KjSO t +C0 2 . (VII.) 
The final results of the reactions represented by equations (III.), (IV.), (V.), (VI.), 
and (VII.) can be expressed by one equation. 
For this purpose let x, y, and % be positive numbers, and a denote how many 
molecules of carbonic oxide are formed by the combustion of a quantity of powder 
containing x molecules of saltpetre, y atoms of carbon, and z atoms of sulphur. The 
general equation representing the qualitative and quantitative relations between the 
constituents of a mixture of saltpetre, carbon, and sulphur on the one hand, and the 
products of complete combustion on the other, will then be : 
aKN0 8 +yG+sS= *[4aj+ 8y-16*-4a](K 2 C0 3 ) 
“birspO^— 16y+42-f- 8aj(K 2 S0 4 ) 
+its [ — 1 0a? + 8y-f- 12s—4a] (K 2 S 2 ) 
+- 2 i[—■ 4^ —J— 2 0 ?y —{— I 62 J— 24 a] (C0 2 ) 
d--g.xN 2 
+aCO 
(VIII.) 
As far as the application of this equation is concerned, the following remarks are, 
perhaps, not unnecessary. 
The charcoal of gunpowder contains, besides carbon, also oxygen and hydrogen, ash 
and moisture. The oxygen ofthe charcoal is, as has already been proved before (p. 544), 
eliminated with some of the hydrogen as water. The rest of the hydrogen of the 
charcoal with nitrogen, carbon, and sulphur respectively, forms by-products, the total 
weight of which, as a rule, does not exceed 2 per cent, of the powder burnt. 
The products of combustion, with the exception of those prepared by Noble and 
Abel, contain always some unburnt carbon and sulphur, and frequently undecomposed 
saltpetre. 
Hence we have: 
a. Chief products: K 2 C0 3 , K 2 S0 4 , K 2 S 2 , C0 2 , CO, and N 2 . 
b. By-products: H 2 , H 2 S, CH 4 , NH 3 , H 2 0, and KCNS. 
c. Constituents of powder, not burnt: KN0 3 , C, and S. 
Equation (VIII.) enables us to calculate, from that portion of the powder which 
produces the chief products (mentioned under a), the quantities of these products 
formed during complete combustion. 
