Composition
Water gels usually have many different ingredients. They contain a gelatinizing agent, also known as a thickener, that modifies their consistency, ranging from easily pourable gels to hard solids. Polyvinyl alcohol, guar gum, dextran gums, urea-formaldehyde resins are the typical gelling agents. Guar, specifically, is a gelling agent used for the aqueous portion of the water gel explosives. The primary component of water gels is monomethylamine nitrate. Monomethylamine nitrate is made of methyl methacrylate or MMA, formaldehyde and ammonium nitrate. Water gel explosives are also made of ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate,aluminum,ethylene glycol and TNT. The proportions of these components vary depending on the desired explosiveness of the water gel.
Read more about this topic: Water Gel Explosive
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“Vices enter into the composition of virtues as poisons into the composition of certain medicines. Prudence and common sense mix them together, and make excellent use of them against the misfortunes that attend human life.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Those Dutchmen had hardly any imagination or fantasy, but their good taste and their scientific knowledge of composition were enormous.”
—Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890)
“The proposed Constitution ... is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal constitution; but a composition of both.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)