R. Meyer J. Köhler A. Homburg Explosives

Lead Dioxide
The empty space above the test sample is filled with dried, screened
quartz sand (grain size 0.5 mm), as in the original method.
The volume of the excavation is determined by filling it with water; after
61 ml have been deducted from the result, the net bulge corresponding
to the weight of the compressed sample is obtained. In accordance
with the international convention, this magnitude is recalculated to a
10-g sample.
The European Commission for the Standardization of Testing of Explosive
Materials*) recalculated the results for a 10-ml test sample,
using a calibration curve established by Kurbalinga and Kondrikov, as
modified by Ahrens; the reported value refers to the mixture of PETN
with potassium chloride which gives the same result as the test
sample under identical experimental conditions.
Since this regulation is still recent, the values given in the following
table, as well as the values given under the appropriate headings of
the individual explosive materials, are still based on the older method,
in which a 10-g sample is employed. Other conventional methods for
the determination of the explosive strength are the ballistic mortar test
and the sand test.
For further details, including descriptions of other tests, W Strength.
Lead Dioxide
Bleidioxid; dioxide de plomb
O=Pb=O
dark brown powder
empirical formula: PbO2
molecular weight: 239.2
energy of formation: –274.7 kcal/kg = –1149.4 kJ/kg
enthalpy of formation: –277.2 kcal/kg = –1159.8 kJ/kg
oxygen balance: +6.7%
density: 9.38 g/cm 3
198
Lead dioxide serves as an oxidizer in primer and pyrotechnic compositions,
and in crackling stars.
* Now: International Study Group for the Standardization of the Methods of
Testing Explosives. Secretary: Dr. Per-Anders Persson, Swedish Detonic Research
Foundation, Box 32058, S 12611 Stockholm, Sweden.