Fulminating silver is a historic name which may apply to a number of silver based
explosive
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 ex ...
s which "fulminate" or detonate easily and violently. It has no exact
chemical
A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...
or
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
definition, but may refer to:
*
silver fulminate
Silver fulminate (AgCNO) is the highly explosive silver salt of fulminic acid.
Silver fulminate is a primary explosive, but has limited use as such due to its extreme sensitivity to impact, heat, pressure, and electricity. The compound becomes p ...
(which, confusingly, is the only "fulminating silver" to be a silver compound with the
fulminate anion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...
)
*
silver azide
Silver azide is the chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula . It is a silver(I) salt of hydrazoic acid. It forms a colorless crystals. Like most azides, it is a primary explosive.
Structure and chemistry
Silver azide can be prepared ...
, AgN
3
* a
mixture
In chemistry, a mixture is a material made up of two or more different chemical substances which can be separated by physical method. It is an impure substance made up of 2 or more elements or compounds mechanically mixed together in any proporti ...
, a decomposition product of
Tollens' reagent
Tollens' reagent (chemical formula Ag(NH3)2OH) is a chemical reagent used to distinguish between aldehydes and ketones along with some alpha-hydroxy ketones which can tautomerize into aldehydes. The reagent consists of a solution of silver n ...
*
silver nitride
Silver nitride is an explosive chemical compound with symbol Ag3N. It is a black, metallic-looking solid which is formed when silver oxide or silver nitrate is dissolved in concentrated solutions of ammonia, causing formation of the diammine silve ...
, Ag
3N - one of the earliest silver based explosives
* the
alchemical substance "Argentum Fulminans"
The stability of many of these compounds can vary depending on how they are stored or handled, with levels of hydration often being a major factor.
References
{{Chemistry index
Fulminates
Silver compounds