Draft:Yellow powder

Yellow powder is a fast-burning, pyrotechnic mixture of potassium nitrate, potassium carbonate and sulfur. Early records indicate an alchemic use back in the mid-1600. , making it co-existant to the much slower burning, but centuries-older gunpowder. Judging by the apparent detonation velocity of "Yellow Powder" and the first records of it, it appears to be the second high explosive substance known to mankind; only being pre-dated by fulminating gold. Despite this centuries-old knowledge of the mixture, the exact mechanism of it's explosive properties are still unknown

Though different mixtures also seem to explode, a popular composition seems to be 55% KNO3, 27% K2CO3 and 18% S (by mass). Research suggests that the exact composition rate is not as important, as different mixtures around a composition of 3/2/1 show comparable explosive properties. Even a mixture of 1/1/1 showed a reasonable detonation time compared to a 3/2/1 mixture.

Currently, there are three main theories regarding the mechanism of action: the formation and ignition of polysulfides, a reduction of nitrate to nitrite and/or the formation of sulfur nitride. Another possible theory would be catastrophic nitrate reduction.