The long wind blew past Lake Texcoco, blowing over the people on Tianhuo Island, and also blowing the long white feathers in the young man's hands. Blue sky and white clouds, islands in the lake. The mist, the young man in black... everything is like a picture scroll.
Shulot was sitting on the grass, with the white paper flat between his legs and a wooden board underneath. The quill above him danced lightly, writing strange symbols from time to time. Since the paper was made, his writing tools have been improved again: white paper, quill pen with blue ink, which is much more refined than charcoal pen and wooden board.
Bertard swept over the crowd calmly, and the warriors relaxed their guard and waited patiently. When he saw the waiting female workers, the warrior commander thought for a moment, and his eyes suddenly lit up. Immediately, he smiled and waved, motioning for the potter girl to come over, then handed over the ink pot in his hand and took ten steps back.
Taking the pottery pot, Talea's eyebrows curved and she burst into a smile. Then, she held the blue ink pot in her white hands and sat down next to the boy with her legs crossed.
Schulot first wrote KNO3 soil nitrate, C charcoal, S sulfur on the left side of the white paper, and then wrote N2 nitrogen and CO2 carbon dioxide on the right side. Then, he sighed sadly and wrote K? S? ...Why didn't you study hard back then? ...
"Could K be K2O? Could S be SO2? What is the process of oxidation and reduction here..." Talaya listened carefully, but only heard His Highness's god-like murmur. She couldn't help but smile slightly. Get up and get closer.
After thinking deeply for a moment, Shulot decided to start from scratch and write out the periodic table of elements first. He picked up the pen and dipped it in the ink, not paying attention to Talea beside him. He just sniffed the faint fragrance... Well, this ink smelled very pleasant.
Immediately, the boy started writing an H. After being stuck for a while, he continued writing C, N, O, F, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, ?, K, Ca, followed by...forget it, let's leave some way for future chemists to survive.
Shulot looked at his masterpiece and smiled with satisfaction and confidence. This will be an epoch-making contribution and change the future of mankind in advance!
Beside him, Talea opened her mouth slightly and stared at His Highness completely, her heart moved by the confidence and arrogance of that moment.
After thinking for a moment, the boy began to formally deduce the complete process of the gunpowder combustion reaction. First of all, if there are no C and S, KNO3 will decompose by heating to generate K2O potassium oxide N2 nitrogen and O2 oxygen. The balance should be like this:
“4KNO3→2K2O+2N2↑+5O2↑”
Next, Shulot thought for a moment and wrote S and C in sequence under O2. There are S sulfur and C charcoal in gunpowder, but S sulfur is more active and should be burned and reacted first to generate SO2 or SO3. Subsequently, when the temperature rises to three to four hundred degrees, the C charcoal can undergo an oxidation reaction and continue to release heat.
"Hey, K2O plus H2O is KOH, so it is strongly alkaline. Since K2O is strongly alkaline... it will react with acidic oxides first, well, it should be SO2 or SO3..." Talaya's eyes widened. Big, ears slightly twitching. She looked at the mysterious symbols and stared at His Highness' profile, imagining the communication between God and the King.
Shulot thought carefully while writing down the equation.
"K2O+SO2→K2SO3... Then add O2 oxygen... No matter what, after complete oxidation, it should be K2SO4... Then what? Then what?" Talea heard the meaning in His Highness's words. Troubled, it seems that God’s communication is not going smoothly? She also became worried.
The young man fell into deep thought again. He held his forehead with his hand and thought carefully for a long time. The burning temperature at this time should be very high, enough for C elemental substance to undergo oxidation reaction, so the hexavalent S in K2SO4 should be reduced by C. Under the condition that C is sufficient, S should be reduced to negative bivalence, which can be combined with K exactly.
After careful consideration, Shulot continued writing.
“K2SO4+2C→K2S+2CO2↑”
At this point, all intermediate steps have been roughly connected. The young man thought deeply about it. First, the unstable KNO3 soil nitrate decomposed, then the low ignition point S sulfur was oxidized. After the temperature continued to rise, the high ignition point C oxidation released heat. The entire reaction produces a large amount of gas and releases a huge amount of heat. In combustion, SO2 is the early oxidation product, and in the optimal complete ratio, the final product is K2S!
There was no problem with the logic. Shulott smiled confidently again. He dipped his pen in the ink and took a deep breath of the fragrance.
“2KNO3+3C+S=K2S+N2↑+3CO2↑”
This is the best ratio for complete combustion reaction of black powder. The mass ratio of the reactants in the reaction formula is exactly the weight ratio of the three raw materials in black powder!
Then, the boy once again concentrated on calculating the molar mass. In KNO3, there are 14 nitrogen, 16 oxygen, and potassium... Potassium is slightly smaller than calcium, calcium is 40, and potassium should be 39, so 2KNO3 is 202, 3C is 52, and S is 32.
Therefore, according to the calculation results, the optimal proportion of black powder should be: 202% soil salt, 32% sulfur, and 52% charcoal, that is, 74.6%, 11.9%, and 13.5%. In actual explosions, charcoal often does not burn completely, so it should be slightly more, replacing sulfur, to 75:10:15, which is 15 parts of soil saltpeter, 2 parts of sulfur, and 3 parts of charcoal!
Xiulote looked back at the formula "One Nitrate, Two Sulphurs, and Three Charcoals". Only then did he realize that the "one" in saltpeter should refer to 1 catty, and it was 16 taels of the old catty, while the "two" in sulfur It is 2 taels, and the "three" of charcoal is 3 taels. Just in line with the calculated 15 servings, 2 servings, and 3 servings.
"That's it!" After finally deducing the ratio of gunpowder, a joyful smile appeared on Shulot's face. Immediately, the boy threw away the pen and paper and stood up from the ground excitedly, but his upper shoulder suddenly hit something soft.
Hearing a soft cry, the potter girl threw her head back and fell backwards, her long soft hair brushing the boy's face, causing a breeze to rise. In the moment of weightlessness, she stretched out her hands, hugged His Highness's arms in time, and pulled him down with her whole body weight.
Shulot turned his head when he heard the sound, but saw Talea exclaiming. He was startled and stopped his subconscious defensive movements. Immediately, he was pulled hard, his footing became unstable, his steps slipped, and his center of gravity quickly lost balance. In just two breaths, he became completely weightless, falling together with the potter girl, and heard another soft cry from beneath him.
Shulot leaned sideways on it, feeling the soft body, and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He turned his head, and in front of him was Talea's bright eyes, beautiful face, and long hair. He could hear the potter's girl's breath close at hand, and his nose could feel the light lingering body fragrance... The young man suddenly lost consciousness.
Talea opened her eyes wide, looked at His Highness's face, felt the young man's body, and slowly blushed. Then, she suddenly closed her eyes, like the waiting kapok, blooming in attractive colors.
Seeing this scene, there was silence in the workshop, and the warriors looked at each other. After a while, the female workers boldly started to cheer. Everyone had been waiting solemnly for the "divine revelation" for a long time, but it was such an exciting development. Not far away, the calmness on Bertard's face disappeared, and he smiled happily despite the vicissitudes of life. He spoke in a low voice and ordered everyone to retreat.
Shulot was stunned for a moment, shook his head vigorously, and then got up from the ground with difficulty. Then, he pulled Talaya up from the ground and patted the dust on her body carefully.
Then, the young man took a few deep breaths before speaking calmly.
"Each clay pot contains 15 parts of saltpeter, 2 parts of sulfur, and 3 parts of charcoal, and the gunpowder is re-mixed... No word of this is allowed!"
