What does the word napalm mean?
1 : a thickener consisting of a mixture of aluminum soaps used in jelling gasoline (as for incendiary bombs) 2 : fuel jelled with napalm. napalm. verb.
What was napalm in Vietnam?
In 1965, The Dow Company — best known at that time for making Saran Wrap — began making Napalm, a jellied gas used in warfare in Vietnam. Mark Greenside explains “Napalm was this hideous, jellied gas burning at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It didn’t just kill you; it tortured you.
What is napalm and what was its purpose?
napalm, the aluminum salt or soap of a mixture of naphthenic and aliphatic carboxylic acids (organic acids of which the molecular structures contain rings and chains, respectively, of carbon atoms), used to thicken gasoline for use as an incendiary in flamethrowers and fire bombs.
What is another word for napalm?
Napalm Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus….What is another word for napalm?
| bomb | bombard |
|---|---|
| cannonade | torpedo |
| attack | strafe |
| batter | assault |
| blast | pound |
How do you use napalm in a sentence?
Napalm sentence example A platform which stands a few feet above napalm , torture, exploitation, poison gas, nuclear bombs, the works. The US is the only country in the world still using napalm . The Mirages were joined by Mystère fighters, which dropped napalm on the bridge and deck and repeatedly strafed the ship.
Why did US use napalm in Vietnam?
Reports exist which state that the flamethrowers were often used to clear out or destroy “enemy villages”, which implies that they may have been used against civilians as well. Napalm became a psychological weapon, as the enemy was terrified of the hell on earth caused by its use.
How was napalm discovered?
Napalm was invented on Valentine’s Day 1942 in a top-secret Harvard University weapons research laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Professor Louis Fieser tested the first napalm bomb on the Harvard College soccer field that Independence Day. Greek bombers used U.S. napalm to annihilate civil war enemies in 1948.
Is napalm a war crime?
Napalm is legal to use on the battlefield under international law. Its use against “concentrations of civilians” is a war crime.
Is napalm still used today?
It has been reformulated in the sense that they now use a different petroleum distillate, but that is it. The US is the only country that has used napalm for a long time.
What is napalm consist of?
Napalm, invented by Fieser in 1942, is an incendiary substance made by the simple procedure of adding a “gelling” powder, composed of naphthalene and palmitate (hence “napalm”), to gasoline in varying concentrations to form a sticky, combustible substance.
What is the opposite of napalm?
Antonyms. understate unleaded gasoline leaded gasoline defend. gas gasolene.