Editing Dynamite (section)

===Trinitrotoluene (TNT)===
[[Trinitrotoluene]] (TNT) is often assumed to be the same as (or confused for) dynamite largely because of the ubiquity of both explosives during the 20th century. This incorrect connection between TNT and dynamite was enhanced by cartoons such as [[Bugs Bunny]], where animators labeled any kind of bomb (ranging from sticks of dynamite to kegs of [[black powder]]) as TNT, because the initialism was shorter and more memorable and did not require [[literacy]] to recognize that TNT meant "bomb".{{cn|date=August 2022}}

Aside from both being high explosives, TNT and dynamite have little in common. TNT is a second-generation [[Use forms of explosives#Castings|castable explosive]] adopted by the military, while dynamite, in contrast, has never been popular in warfare because it degenerates quickly under severe conditions and can be detonated by either fire or a wayward bullet. The German armed forces adopted TNT as a filling for artillery shells in 1902, some 40 years after the invention of dynamite, which is a first-generation [[phlegmatized explosive]] primarily intended for civilian earthmoving. TNT has never been popular or widespread in civilian earthmoving, as it is considerably more expensive and less powerful by weight than dynamite,<ref name=Meyer2008>J. Köhler, R. Meyer, A. Homburg: ''Explosivstoffe''. Zehnte, vollständig überarbeitete Auflage. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-527-32009-7}}.</ref> as well as being slower to mix and pack into boreholes. TNT's primary asset is its remarkable insensitivity and stability: it is waterproof and incapable of detonating without the extreme shock and heat provided by a [[blasting cap]] (or a [[sympathetic detonation]]); this stability also allows it to be melted at {{convert|178|F|C|order=flip}}, poured into [[shell (projectile)|high explosive shells]] and allowed to re-solidify, with no extra danger or change in the TNT's characteristics.<ref>Gibbs, T. R. & Popolato, A. ''LASL Explosive Property Data''. [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], New Mexico. [[United States Department of Energy]], 1980.</ref> Accordingly, more than 90% of the TNT produced in the United States was always for the military market, with most TNT used for filling shells, [[hand grenades]] and [[aerial bombs]], and the remainder being packaged in brown "bricks" (not red cylinders) for use as [[satchel charge|demolition charges]] by [[combat engineers]].