mercury fulminate

noun

, Chemistry.

a gray, crystalline solid, Hg(CNO) 2 , used chiefly in the manufacture of commercial and military detonators.

First recorded in 1900–05

Mercury fulminate is more often employed in the detonator, and is prepared from mercury, alcohol, and nitric acid.

Chemistry advances, like the isolation of mercury fulminate in 1800, led to the invention of the percussion cap and other primers.

It is a more powerful explosive than mercury fulminate, and has been used instead, in the manufacture of detonators.

April 17, 2024axolotl

[ak-suh-lot-l ]

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