TNT

TNT is a yellow, odorless powder at room temperature. TNT is highly explosive and has been used in the making of military weapons and industrial explosives.

TNT is often confused and used interchangeably with another explosive: dynamite. While TNT and dynamite are both explosive, they have little else in common. They have totally different chemical properties and are made from completely different ingredients.

Because it is highly explosive and highly dangerous, TNT is almost always regulated by government agencies, such as the United States’s Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. In the United States TNT can legally be made only by the U.S. military but can be legally purchased from other countries for approved industrial reasons.

Using TNT in explosives is frequently depicted in popular culture, such as the Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Example: Wile E. Coyote is often blown up by his own TNT when he fails to catch the Road Runner.

The first records of TNT come from around 1910. It is an abbreviation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene.

TNT is made by mixing toluene with nitric and sulfuric acids. It was discovered by German chemist Joseph Wilbrand in 1863, but people didn’t use it as an explosive until the 1890s. After the start of World War I in 1916, other countries saw how effective TNT was in war and began producing large amounts of TNT. It was so popular with the world’s militaries during this time that there were shortages of the ingredients needed to make it.

Today, TNT is still widely used for military and, less often, industrial purposes. It is used in a variety of weapons and explosives, such as grenades, bombs, and artillery shells. Industrially, TNT is used for underwater blasting and in the production of dyes and photographic chemicals.

What are some other forms related to TNT?

• T.N.T. (alternative spelling)
• 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (spelled-out form)

What are some words that often get used in discussing TNT?

• explosive
• war
• bomb
• mixtures
• pounds

What are some words TNT may be commonly confused with?

• dynamite

While TNT is still a common ingredient in military weapons and explosives, the term is used more often in popular culture.

Ukrainian military engineers regiment return home too. They deactivated 32 artillery projectiles, 64 grenades 20 kg of TNT.

— NSDC of Ukraine (@NSDC_ua) April 17, 2015

I laugh every time the Roadrunner gets blown up by TNT.

— Natasha (@NatashaMonique_) September 24, 2019

I feel like I just got blown up by TNT on Minecraft

— Cam (@CRuemler) August 22, 2015