From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: |||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk   
   Subject: Re: necessity is the mother of invention   
      
   On 13/09/2011 02:30, Salmon Egg wrote:   
   > In article   
   > <6aaf2415-d5d0-4809-8545-2dafdab68ec0@g14g2000pre.googlegroups.com>,   
   >   SparkoHeaps  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On Sep 12, 5:31 pm, Frank  wrote:   
   >>> On 9/12/2011 6:45 PM, RichD wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> So I was watching an old Star Trek, Kirk is marooned   
   >>>> in a desert (looks like New Mexico), battling a gnarly   
   >>>> alien.  He jerry rigs a howitzer, then gathers up   
   >>>> minerals, and mixes them to manufacture   
   >>>> gunpowder.  Of course. he flattens the alien on   
   >>>> his first shot, and the galaxy is saved.   
   >>>   
   >>>> Anyhoo, is that plausible, could one make   
   >>>> gunpowder in a survival situation like that?   
   >>>> With no chem lab equipment?   
   >>>   
   >>> Probably.   
   >>> I think you can find sulfur in pure form.   
   >>> Don't know if Chilean salt peter (sodium nitrate) is pure enough to use   
   >>> without recrystallizing, but I suspect it is.   
   >>> Charred, i.e. partially burnt, wood could serve as the charcoal source.   
   >>> Crude mix would not make the best gun powder but it should work.   
   >>   
   >> Mythbusters tried it   
   >>   
   >> http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-gorn-cannon-high-speed.html   
   >   
   > Just what does "tried it" mean. I see the fireworks but that gives me no   
   > cluesas to the planning.   
      
   Native sulphur is no problem apart from finding it and grinding down    
   fine enough. It is probably dangerously acidic without some    
   purification. Wood charcoal is easier and soft to grind.   
      
   Saltpetre would be usable in desert conditions but would probably need    
   recrystallising at least once to purify and then fine grinding. How fine    
   you grind the gunpowder mix determines whether you get a damp squib or a    
   proper fast burn detonation. IMO He would have been better off with a    
   Chinese style rocket that way the pipe serves only to point the missile    
   at the bad guy and doesn't have to survive any overpressure.   
      
   If you could find the ingredients the main thing is grinding them    
   together well enough without making sparks. And lighting the fuse...   
      
   Looks to me like he is doomed anyway - characters wearing red uniforms    
   on classic Star Trek seldom last past the first ad break.   
      
   Regards,   
   Martin Brown   
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