DYNAMITE

blasting explosive, patented in 1867 by the Swedish physicist Alfred Nobel. Dynamite is based on nitroglycerin but is much safer to handle than nitroglycerin alone. By mixing the nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, a porous siliceous earth, in proportions that left an essentially dry and granular material, Nobel produced a solid that was resistant to shock but readily detonable by heat or percussion. Later, wood pulp was substituted as the absorbent, and sodium nitrate was added as an oxidizing agent to increase the strength of the explosive. Nobel also invented gelatinous dynamite, a mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. Ammonium nitrate was later substituted for part of the nitroglycerin to give a safer and less expensive explosive called extra dynamite. See also explosive.