Editing Tritonal (section)

{{Short description|High explosive mixture}}
{{About||the musical group|Tritonal (group)|the musical interval|Tritone}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2023}}
[[File:RAF Bomber Command HU95286.jpg|thumb|right|A {{convert|4,000|lb|t|abbr=on}} [[blockbuster bomb]] being loaded onto a [[De Havilland Mosquito]] of the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]], circa 1944. The explosive filling of tritonal 80/20 is stencilled on the side, inside the chalked "O" of "[[Adolf Hitler|Adolf]]"]]
[[File:M117_bomb.jpg|thumb|right|A {{convert|750|lb|kg|abbr=on}} [[M117 bomb]]. The explosive filling of tritonal is stencilled on the nose]]
'''Tritonal''' is a mixture of 80% [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]] and 20% [[aluminium]] [[powder (substance)|powder]], used in several types of [[Aircraft ordnance|ordnance]] such as [[air-dropped bomb]]s. The aluminium increases the total heat output and hence [[Impulse (physics)|impulse]] of the TNT&nbsp;– the length of time during which the blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone.<ref name="llnl.gov">{{cite web |last=Maienschein |first=J. L. |date=July 8, 2002 |title=Estimating Equivalency of Explosives Through A Thermochemical Approach |url=https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/241114.pdf}}</ref>

The 87&nbsp;[[kilogram|kg]] of tritonal in a [[Mark 82 bomb]] has the potential to produce approximately 863&nbsp;[[joule#Megajoule|MJ]] of energy when detonated.<ref name="llnl.gov"/> This implies a [[specific energy]] of approximately 9&nbsp;MJ/kg, compared to ~4&nbsp;MJ/kg for TNT.