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This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'mSteve Mirsky.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

"In the early years of the development of gunpowder¹, it was known as the devil's distillate because of itsseemingly sinister² properties. So where do thoseproperties come from? Well, they come from thethree principal ingredients of gunpowder, which aresulfur, charcoal⁴ and saltpeter: three naturally occurring materials, which, when combined, produce something much greater than the sum of their parts."

“在火药发展早期，它被认为是魔鬼的馏出物，因为它似乎具有可怕的特性。这些特性从何而来？它们来自火药的三种主要成分：硫磺、木炭和硝石，这是三种自然存在的物质，当它们结合在一起时，会产生比三者之和大得多的物质。”

Stephen Ressler. He served 34 years in the U.S. Army Corps⁵ of Engineers and retired⁶ as abrigadier general. He spoke⁷ at sea onboard a Scientific American cruise August 17, off thecoast of Scotland. His subject was how fortifications had to evolve once gunpowder was widelyin use. Ressler revealed a little basic chemistry about the constituents⁸ of gunpowder and howthey are represented in a familiar uniform.

这是斯蒂芬·雷斯勒所说。他在美国陆军工兵部队服役34年，以准将身份退役。8月17日，他在苏格兰海岸的科学美国人游轮上发表了讲话。他的演讲主题是：一旦火药被广泛使用，防御工事应如何发展。雷斯勒揭示了火药成分的一点基本化学知识，并说明了它们如何在人们熟悉的制服中体现出来。

"Sulfur³, a mineral found in nature, yellowish or golden color, burns at a relatively⁹ lowtemperature. And that made it a material of intense interest in the Middle Ages, wherealchemists were constantly looking for magical properties of materials. Sulfur seemed to beone of those materials that had magical properties because it was a stone that burned, and itburned at relatively low temperature."

“硫磺是在自然界发现的一种矿物质，呈黄色或金色，可在相对较低的温度下燃烧。这些特点使硫磺这种材料在中世纪引起了人们的强烈兴趣，炼金术士一直在寻找各种材料的魔法性质。硫磺似乎是其中一种拥有魔法性质的材料，因为它是燃烧的石头，而且燃点相对较低。”

"Charcoal, the product of the combustion¹⁰ of wood, typically hardwood, in an oxygen-starvedenvironment produces pure carbon. But not just any old pure carbon, pure carbon with a veryfine microscopic¹¹, latticelike structure that actually turns out to be absolutely essential tothe functioning of gunpowder."

“木炭是木材——通常是硬木——燃烧产生的产物，是木材在缺氧环境下经燃烧产生的纯碳。但不仅仅是任何古老的纯碳，具有非常精密的网格结构的纯碳对火药作用来说是绝对必要的。”

"And then, finally, the third and, really, in many ways, the most important ingredient ingunpowder—and that's saltpeter. The chemical composition is actually potassium nitrate. Andit's a waste product of decomposing¹² organic matter. That's all it is. It's a white material thatappears on the surface of fermenting¹³ organic material—and turns out to be the absolutelyessential ingredient in gunpowder."

“最后，第三个成分，也是从许多方面来说火药中最重要的成分——硝石。化学成分实际上是硝酸钾。它是分解有机物的废物。就是这样。硝酸钾是发酵有机物表面出现的一种白色物质，事实证明，它是火药中绝对必要的成分。”

"Okay, I have to pause for a totally unrelated diversion, because sulfur, charcoal and saltpeterhave great personal significance to me above and beyond the fact that they are constituentmaterials of gunpowder. And that is they form the basis for the school colors of my alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Black, gray and gold, the school colors, are explicitlydefined as the three materials of gunpowder. Black charcoal, gray is saltpeter and gold is thesulfur. So the next time you see that inevitable¹⁴ video on the evening news of the graduation atWest Point and all the cadets throwing their hats up in the air, think about gunpowder. Becausethat's what the black, gray and the gold are meant to signify."

“好，我得暂停一下，说个完全不相关的话题，因为硫磺、木炭和硝石对我个人来说具有非常重要的意义，不仅仅是火药的成分。这种物质构成了我的母校西点军校校色的基础。黑色、灰色和金色组成的校色，被明确定义为火药三种成分的颜色。黑色是木炭，灰色是硝石，金色是硫磺。因此，下次你在晚间新闻看到西点军校毕业典礼上不可避免的视频画面时，即所有学员将帽子扔向空中，想想火药吧。因为那就是黑色、灰色和金色要表达的东西。”

For Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。