Words similar to saltpeter
Example sentences for: saltpeter
How can you use “saltpeter” in a sentence? Here are some example sentences to help you improve your vocabulary:
Other common sodium compounds are NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, mentioned above), NaCl (sodium chloride, or common table salt; chlorine is so called because in its gaseous form it is green— Greek chlor- , as in chlorophyl , which, a vulgar euphemism for manure notwithstanding, is what really makes the grass grow green), NaOH (sodium hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda or lye) and NaNO3 (sodium nitrate, sometimes called Chile saltpeter).
Homer's eyes aren't fixed on the Spielbergian heavens but on earthly means of getting off the ground: the mix of saltpeter and sugar that causes a rocket to soar without exploding, the shape that keeps it from spiraling into populated areas, the thickness of steel that prevents its nose cone from melting, the trigonometry that's employed to track its trajectory.
There is also a compound called wall saltpeter because it can leach out of the mortar between the bricks of damp walls: calcium nitrate (CaNO3).
Potassium chloride (KCl), on the other hand, can be made to react with Chile saltpeter (see above) to produce true saltpeter: potassium nitrate (KNO3), an essential ingredient of gunpowder, whose other two components are sulfur and carbon; the three can be combined to explosive effect in as simple proportions by weight as 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
It makes one nostalgic for the fear of LSD in the water, fluoride in the water, and saltpeter in the cafeteria food, presumably to create a docile population of human slaves with excellent teeth who keep hallucinating that they're uninterested in sex.
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