Carbonite has several meanings:
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Explosive
Carbonite was one of the earliest and most successful coal-mining explosives[1]. It is made from such ingredients as nitroglycerin, wood meal, and some nitrate as that of sodium; also nitrobenzene, saltpeter, sulfur, and diatomaceous earth. Carbonite was invented by Bichel of Schmidt and Bichel[2].
The term Carbonite can refer, confusingly, to three different things:
- least commonly, an early explosive from Schmidt and Bichel made of sulphuretted tar oil, nitrocumene, and sodium nitrate,[3]
- dynamite made to the specific Carbonite recipe and sold by Schmidt and Bichel under that name, or
- an entire class of spin-offs of the original recipe (Arctic Carbonite, Ammonkarbonit, etc.); their common feature is that the percentage of combustible materials (wood meal or flour starch) is so high that most of the carbon in the reaction is bound into carbon monoxide and the temperature of combustion is relatively low. Some of the safety dynamites are carbonites.
Polyatomic Ion
In chemistry, carbonite (chemical symbol: CO22-) would be a diradical polyatomic anion, with the IUPAC name: dioxidomethylidene. Due to it being a diradical, it's unlikely to be exist in solution as it will be oxidised on contact with water to carbonic acid. The heat from the reaction will likely decompose the carbonic acid to water and carbon dioxide.
If this anion does exist, it is likely to be in a dimerised form with the IUPAC name: ethenetetrakis(olate), the corresponding acid being ethenetetrol, which is a tautomer of dihydroxyacetic acid, which is also known as oxoacetic acid monohydrate.
In Star Wars
Carbonite is also a fictional ionic compound in the Star Wars galaxy, the full properties of which have never been satisfactorily defined.[4] By the rules of chemical nomenclature, the formula for a "carbonite anion" would be CO22-, which is thought to be an impossible formation (methanoate being preferentially formed instead). By the same rules, carbonite would also technically be an "alloy" made of frozen carbon dioxide. Another more likely possibility is that carbonite is a mineral, which are usually named with the suffix "-ite" (see List of minerals). Carbon freezing was originally a way for Bespin to transport their Tibanna gas. In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo is frozen in carbonite. The procedure leaves him in suspended animation. After this, it was used for imprisoning criminals. A side-effect of being frozen in carbonite in Star Wars is temporary blindness, when the eyes have been left open upon being frozen.
In EverQuest II
In video game EverQuest II, carbonite is an ore that can be harvested on any Tier 3 zone and can be used to craft metal armor and weapons usable by characters of at least level 20. Carbonite recipes for these items range from level 20 to 29 in tradeskill levels.[5]
Sources
- ^ Dictionary of Explosives, Arthur Marshall, p. 18
- ^ A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, Thomas Edward Thorpe, p. 468
- ^ The Manufacture of Explosives, Oscar Guttman, p. 231
- ^ StarWars.com
- ^ eq2.stratics.com
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