Alfred Nobel

Introduction

Alfred Nobel was an engineer and a scientist. He was well known for his invention of dynamite and some other explosives such as Gelignite and ballistics. In his will he funded most of his fortune to the Nobel foundation which is the economic base of the Nobel prize. Nobel prizes are given for five different fields such as medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.

Personal Life

• He was born in Stockholm on 21st October 1833 which is located in sweden. He was born as a third child for Immanuel Nobel and Karolina Andriette Nobel. His father is also an engineer and inventor.

• He belongs to the same family of a sweden scientist named Olaus Rudbeck. He was single.

• As he was interested in engineering and particularly explosives he studied the basics of engineering from his father.

• He also has a skill in writing poetry in English. The prose tragedy named Nemesis was published after his death in 2003 in Sweden. It is also reworded in languages such as French, Spanish, Italian and Slovanian. He is proficient in many languages such as English, German, Italian, Swedish, French and Russian.

• He comes under Lutheranism. Later he converted to agnostic and to atheist.

• He stayed in Krummel in Hamburg during 1865-1873 and then he shifted to paris. In 1894 he resided in a manor house in sweden. He sold Ballistic to Italy illegally against france. In 1891 he was shifted from Paris to Italy, as he was accused of his crime.

Scientific Career

• Nobel studied with Nikolai Zinin during his younger age and he shifted to Paris for his higher studies. There he tied with Ascanio Sobrero (inventor of nitroglycerin). As there is a risk of controlling nitroglycerine under pressure and temperature, he opposed using it.

• But Alfred tried to control it as it is more powerful than gunpowder. He received his first Swedish patent in 1863 for “ways to prepare gunpowder”. As he devoted his study on explosives, he designed a detonator in 1863 and a blasting cap in 1865.

• After the explosion of nitroglycerine in his factory located in Heleneborg which killed five people he started his nitroglycerine preparation in Vinterviken which is a very isolated area.

• Dynamite, which is safer and easier to handle than nitroglycerine, was invented in 1867 by him. And then the invention of gelignite which is more stable than dynamite was invented in 1875.

• In 1884 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1893 Uppsala University granted him an honorary doctorate.

Inventions

• After his huge work to control the explosion of nitroglycerine under pressure and temperature, he blended the nitroglycerin with kieselguhr to stabilize it. He thought to name it as “Nobel’s Safety Powder” to withstand his name. But he named it Dynamite which means power in Greek.

• He still worked on the blending of nitroglycerin with some other nitrocellulose compounds. As a result he found a transparent substance which looks like a jelly. It was more explosive than dynamite and he named it Gelignite. It is more stable, convenient and easily portable, it gives him great financial health.

• Then he found Ballistite which is used as a propellant in rockets even now.

Nobel Prize

• In his last will he donated most of his wealth to the Nobel prize.

• There are five branches of distribution of Nobel prizes. They are physical science, chemical science, medical science, literacy and finally for peace.

• In 1968 Sweden central bank donated a fund to the Nobel prize for the sixth branch in economics to honor him.

Figure 2: The front side of Nobel Prize Medal

Death

• He had a heart attack in 1896 and died.

• After his death he had given most of his property to Nobel prize awards.

• His funeral was done at begravningsplatsen located in Stockholm.

Monument and Legacy

• To mark the 90th anniversary of first nobel prize presentation a monument to Alfred Nobel was dedicated in Saint Petersburg which is located near the Bolshaya Nevka River. It looks like branches of a tree.

• It is located in Petrogradskaya Embankment where his family lived earlier.

• The initiators for this monument are Thomas Bertelman and Arkady Melua. The initiation started in 1989 and it was held in 1991. The fund for this establishment was given by Melua.

Figure 3: Monument to Alfred Nobel at Saint Petersburg, Russia

Conclusion

Alfred Nobel Lived for the period between 1833 - 1896. He was the inventor of explosives such as dynamite, Gelignite and Ballistics. The Nobel prize was given by his name. He had given most of wealth to the Nobel prize.

FAQs

Q1. Write some facts about dynamite.

Ans.

• Dynamite is the first stable explosive substance invented by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist.

• The power of dynamite is 1000 times greater than the black powder. Dynamite is the combination of nitroglycerin, sorbents and stabilizers.

• If water is added into dynamite, nitroglycerine gets leaked out from it and leads to an unexpected explosion.

Q2. What is known as Detonator?

Ans. Denominator is a device used to trigger the explosive substances. The initiation of the detonator is done mechanically, chemically or electrically, Generally blasting cap is used as a detonator. The explosion in a safer manner is the base for the development of the detonator.

Q3. How are ballistics used as propellant?

Ans. Ballistics is the combination of explosives called nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin and it is a smokeless powder that is used in rockets as solid fuel propellant.