Description
Potassium nitrate is the oxidizing component of black powder. Before the large-scale industrial fixation of nitrogen through the Haber process, major sources of potassium nitrate were the deposits crystallizing from cave walls and the draining of decomposing organic material. Dung-heaps were a particularly common source: ammonia from the decomposition of urea and other nitrogenous materials would undergo bacterial oxidation to produce nitrate.
Applications
Potassium nitrate is also used as a fertilizer, in amateur rocket propellant, and in several fireworks such as smoke bombs, in which a mixture with sugar produces a smoke cloud of 600 times their own volume. The ratio for smoke bombs using sucrose (powdered sugar) and potassium nitrate is 40(C12H22O11):60(KNO3). It can be used as is, or carefully melted together using a hot plate.
It has also been used in the manufacture of ice cream and can be found in some toothpastes for sensitive teeth.] Recently, the use of potassium nitrate in toothpastes for treating sensitive teeth has increased dramatically, despite the fact that it has not been conclusively shown to help dental hypersensitivity.
Potassium nitrate is also one of the three parts of black powder, along with powdered charcoal (substantially carbon) and sulfur.[citation needed] It acts as an oxidizer, oxidizing the carbon and sulfur to their respective oxides.
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