Nitroglycerin (
NG), also known as
nitroglycerine,
trinitroglycerin (TNG),
trinitroglycerine,
nitro,
glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or
1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a heavy, colorless, oily,
explosive liquid most commonly produced by
nitrating glycerol with
white fuming nitric acid under conditions appropriate to the formation of the nitric acid ester. Chemically, the substance is an organic
nitrate compound rather than a
nitro compound, yet the traditional name is often retained. Invented in 1847, nitroglycerin has been used as an active ingredient in the manufacture of
explosives, mostly
dynamite, and as such it is employed in the
construction,
demolition, and
mining industries. Since the 1880s, it has been used by the military as an active ingredient, and a gelatinizer for
nitrocellulose, in some solid
propellants, such as
cordite and
ballistite.