Table of Contents
- 1 How many times is nitroglycerin more powerful than gunpowder?
- 2 How many Chinese railroad workers died in explosions and rockslides?
- 3 What were some of the supplies needed to build the railroad?
- 4 Are nitroglycerin pills explosive?
- 5 How many Chinese workers died building the transcontinental railroad?
- 6 What happens if you drop nitroglycerin?
How many times is nitroglycerin more powerful than gunpowder?
At the SRS, nitroglycerin (C3H5O9N3) is a highly unstable liquid that explodes 25 times faster and with 3 times the energy of gunpowder. In 1867, Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833–1896) found that clay soaked with nitroglycerin was much more stable and less sensitive to shock than pure nitroglycerin.
How many Chinese railroad workers died in explosions and rockslides?
1500 Chinese workers
Detonation creates temperatures of nearly 5000 degrees Celsius, as hot as the surface of the sun. An estimated 1500 Chinese workers die in explosions and rock slides.
How long did it take the workers to blast through the tunnel?
The whole process took six weeks. With the shaft completed, two teams of Chinese workers descended to the middle of the rock and began blasting the tunnel from the inside out.
What were some of the supplies needed to build the railroad?
They used 25,800 ties, 3,520 rails, 55,000 spikes and 7,040 fishplates. The Irish and Chinese crews worked together and completed the ten mile stretch in 12 hours. This feat has never duplicated by human beings in railroad construction since.
Are nitroglycerin pills explosive?
Instability and desensitization. In its undiluted form, nitroglycerin is a contact explosive, with physical shock causing it to explode. If it has not been adequately purified during manufacture it can degrade over time to even more unstable forms. This makes nitroglycerin highly dangerous to transport or use.
Did Irish immigrants help build the transcontinental railroad?
The labor required to build the first transcontinental railroad was extensive. The main laborers, the ones who laid the track, did back-straining work for days on end, for not necessarily high wages, in sometimes brutal conditions. Irish immigrants were the primary early builders of the Central Pacific Railroad.
How many Chinese workers died building the transcontinental railroad?
Between 1865-1869, 10,000 -12,000 Chinese were involved in the building of the western leg of the Central Pacific Railroad. The work was backbreaking and highly dangerous. Approximately 1,200 died while building the Transcontinental Railroad. Over a thousand Chinese had their bones shipped back to China to be buried.
What happens if you drop nitroglycerin?
Although rare, withdrawal can be fatal. Withdrawal symptoms include chest pain and other heart problems. These symptoms may be relieved with re-exposure to nitroglycerin or other suitable organic nitrates.
Why did engineers have to build cuts for parts of the transcontinental railroad?
Why did engineers have to build “cuts” for parts of the Transcontinental Railroad? Because in certain areas, the grade was too steep to lay track. At times, about how many kegs of gunpowder were needed per day by the Central Pacific to build their railroad line? It would shorten the track by 40 miles.