Question

A salt of cellulose used in propellant explosives is
A) Cellulose acetate
B) Cellulose nitrate
C) Cellulose superphosphate
D) Cellulose hypoxanthine

Answer 1

Cellulose is a molecule that is a combination of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen atoms. It is an important component of the cell wall that helps a plant to stay stiff. Cellulose is a composition of a long polysaccharide chain of β(1,4) D glucose units.

Complete answer:
A) Cellulose acetate:it is basically a wood pulp which is treated with acetic anhydride and acetic acid in the presence of sulphuric acid and results in cellulose triacetate.it is then hydrolysed partially to form cellulose acetate. It is used as a coating material, film base and also used to make frames for spectacles.
B) Cellulose nitrate: it is also called nitrocellulose, guncotton, flash pepper etc. it is a highly inflammable compound. It is formed by treating nitrating cellulose with nitric acid or nitric acid with sulphuric acid or Hydrochloric acid. It is used as an explosive material.
C) Cellulose superphosphate : it is formed by treating the insoluble phosphate rock with sulphuric acid which forms a soluble monocalcium phosphate or calcium sulphate. It is used as a fertilizer for plants .
D) Cellulose hypoxanthine: hypoxanthine is a derivative of purine. It is occasionally observed in the nucleic acids. It acts as a nitrogen source and cultures as a substrate in certain cells.

Therefore the correct answer is (B) Cellulose nitrate.

Note: Guncotton or nitrocellulose is one of the major replacements for gunpowder as a propellant. It is used in mining and other activities as a low order explosive.