{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}

[[File:Black Powder Close Up.jpg|thumb|right|Black powder for [[muzzleloader|muzzleloading]] rifles and pistols in FFFG granulation size. [[Quarter (United States coin)|Coin]] (diameter 24 mm) for comparison.]]

'''Gunpowder''', also known since the late 19th century as '''black powder''', was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid-1800s. It is a mixture of [[sulfur]], [[charcoal]], and [[potassium nitrate]] (saltpeter)—with the sulfur and charcoal acting as [[fuel]]s, while the saltpetre works as an [[oxidizer]].<ref name="Agrawal2010">{{cite book|author=Jai Prakash Agrawal|title=High Energy Materials: Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-VCH|isbn=978-3-527-32610-5|page=69}}</ref><ref>David Cressy, ''Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder'' (Oxford University Press, 2013)</ref> Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a [[propellant]] in [[firearm]]s and as a [[pyrotechnic composition]] in [[fireworks]].