NapalmB can burn up to 10 minutes while the old one only burned for 15 to 30 seconds. In order to increase the deadliness of its predecessors Americans and Allied forces used Napalm This substance is supposed to adhere to surfaces and is created by mixing NapalmB with gasoline in various proportions. Aside from the heat and flames, Napalm also deoxygenates the available air very quickly while also producing large amounts of carbon monoxide. Greek fire which is similar to napalm was one of the first known uses of fire in warfare.
Previous devices used latex; however, since natural rubber was almost impossible to obtain during the second World War a different product had to be developed. This need forced the development of synthetic rubber and lead to Louis Fieser creating synthetic napalm in However, they did continue to produce it and eventually it became a symbol against the Vietnam War.
This is all made effective since Napalm sticks to naked skin and is hard to remove. One firebomb released from a plane can cause damage over an area of 2, square yards. It was used in flamethrowers before it became prevalent in firebombs. The first of the napalm bombs was dropped on July 17, , by 14 American P lightning aircraft. Napalm can generate temperatures of 1, to 2, degrees Fahrenheit. Water boils at degrees Fahrenheit. However, South Vietnamese and American doctors performed 17 operations and eventually he was returned to health.
Browse Categories. Today, America's sole incendiary bomb is the MK , or Mark 77 bomb. This "dumb" bomb -- as opposed to a precision-guided or " smart" bomb -- is a mix of 63 gallons liters of jet fuel mostly kerosene and 44 pounds 20 kilograms of a polystyrene-type gel [source: Buncombe ].
Although technically an incendiary bomb, the MK is often referred to colloquially by soldiers and experts, and even in some military documents, as napalm. Remember the previous discussion of napalm as a catchall term? During the Persian Gulf War, U. These bombs were used on trenches that Iraqi forces had dug and filled with oil. Iraqi soldiers were going to light these oil-filled trenches on fire when U.
At the end of that conflict, Iraqi Kurds led a revolt against Saddam Hussein's government. In its reprisal attacks, Hussein's forces also used napalm to brutally crush the rebellious Kurds. Although the U. They contend that while the old form of napalm isn't used, a similar, reformulated compound, also a jelled incendiary substance, has been used, most notably in the form of the MK bomb.
In , U. One American commander told The Independent newspaper that commanders like napalm for its "psychological effect" [source: Buncombe ].
In the same article, a Marine spokesman said that Mark 77 bombs -- specifically the MK Mod 5 used in Iraq -- were "remarkably similar" to napalm bombs although less environmentally harmful , but referred to them as "firebombs" [source: Crawley ]. There have been allegations that napalm was used when American forces assaulted Fallujah in November [source: Iraq Analysis Group ]. But there has been considerable debate about whether this is true. The use of napalm or napalmlike weapons has drawn some controversy for countries working with U.
Protocol III but were working with or under the command of U. The eventual revelation that U. Whatever the final verdict, napalm, like Agent Orange , has become a loaded word, symbolizing for many the carnage and brutality of war. But despite the ghastly images we've seen, some experts on the subject point out that while napalm produces horrific results, it's used as part of waging war, which itself contains numerous images and symbols of horror, death and destruction.
Yet even if napalm is a weapon like many others, something in particular about the substance and the images that have chronicled it, have lent it a special symbolism, unlikely to fade. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe.
How Napalm Works. He loves the smell of napalm in the morning -- Robert Duvall as Lt. Kilgore on the set of "Apocalypse Now. Napalm's Effects on Health and the Environment " ". What Were They Thinking? Napalm in Vietnam " ". Kim Phuc, seen here with then-Sen. Joe Biden, stands in front of the famous photograph of herself as a child, being burned by napalm. Scott J. The MK and Napalm in Iraq " ".
Images like this one, of napalm exploding in an area south of Saigon, became well known during the Vietnam War, but napalm hasn't exactly died out since then. Napalm was used in Vietnam by American flamethrowers to burn down bushes and forests, neutralizing guerrilla fighters. How do you treat napalm burns?
It's difficult to treat napalm wounds, as the chemical burns extremely hot. Doctors remove contaminated clothing to stop the continued burning. What is napalm? Napalm is a substance that can be used to create a bomb, also known as a firebomb fuel gel mixture. It has a gel-like consistency that allows the attacker to stick it to a target. It is mostly used in combination with jet fuel or gasoline to produce a bomb that ignites easily. What does napalm do to humans? That is why it produces awful burns on the human body.
Even brief contact with napalm can cause second-degree burns, leading to keloids. By AD, the inhabitants of Constantinople had developed a fearsome substance that became known as Greek fire. Crude oil had been discovered long before that, and it was widely used as a source of naphtha, an ingredient in flaming projectiles. To their mixture, Byzantines added further refinements. Today, the ingredients are a lost secret, but it looks as if they used naphtha, pine resin and other chemicals including sulphur, projecting it long distances by forcing it through a nozzle under pressure, the original flamethrower.
High-boiling chemicals like pine resin would enable the mixture to burn for longer and reach higher temperatures than one purely based on petrol-like molecules. It would also cause the burning mixture to adhere to any surface - or person - unlucky enough to be in its way. This was used twice successfully to fight off the Muslim navy besieging Constantinople.
One of the less successful weapons was the gasoline flamethrower. The trouble with it was that it burned too fast. During World War II, American scientists re-investigated this weapon, in a team led by Louis Fieser who an older generation of chemists will associate with an organic chemistry textbook. Just like the Byzantines, they found that adding a thickening agent to the fuel created something that burned longer and also tended to stick to surfaces. Their thickening agent was a soap-like material based on aluminum naphthenate and aluminium palmitate.
The name napalm was derived from the first parts of the words naphthalene and palmitate.
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