Cheddite is a class of

explosive material An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

s invented in 1897 by E. A. G. Street of the firm of Berges, Corbin et Cie and originally manufactured in the town of Chedde in Haute-Savoie,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the early twentieth century. Closely related to

Sprengel explosive Sprengel explosives are a generic class of materials invented by Hermann Sprengel in the 1870s. They consist of stoichiometric mixtures of strong oxidisers and reactive fuels, mixed just prior to use in order to enhance safety. Either the oxidiser ...

s, cheddites consisted of a high proportion of inorganic

chlorate The chlorate anion has the formula ClO3-. In this case, the chlorine atom is in the +5 oxidation state. "Chlorate" can also refer to chemical compounds containing this anion; chlorates are the salts of chloric acid. "Chlorate", when followed by ...

s mixed with nitroaromatics (e.g.

nitrobenzene Nitrobenzene is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5 NO2. It is a water-insoluble pale yellow oil with an almond-like odor. It freezes to give greenish-yellow crystals. It is produced on a large scale from benzene as a precursor t ...

dinitrotoluene Dinitrotoluenes could refer to one of the following compounds: * 2,3-Dinitrotoluene * 2,4-Dinitrotoluene * 2,5-Dinitrotoluene * 2,6-Dinitrotoluene * 3,4-Dinitrotoluene * 3,5-Dinitrotoluene External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinitrotoluene ...

) plus a little paraffin or castor oil as a moderant for the chlorate. Several different types were made, and they were principally used in quarrying. Due to availability of ingredients and easy production process it was also the most common explosive material manufactured by the

Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...

in occupied

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; it was used for production of the

R wz. 42 R, or r, is the eighteenth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...

and

Filipinka {{Infobox weapon, is_explosive=yes, name=ET wz. 40 , image=Granat Filipinka.jpg , caption=Filipinka in the Museum of the Warsaw Rising , origin=Poland , design_date=1942 , service=1942-1947 , type= Offensive fragmentation , filling=ca. 250g of c ...

hand grenades. Since the 1970s, Cheddite is the commercial name for primers CX series (CX 50, CX 1000 and CX 2000) for

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

cartridges.

References

{{reflist Explosives

See also

References