What is the chemical formula for napalm?

Answer 1

Napalm is the name given to any of a number of flammable liquidLiquid

Liquid is one of the principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material....

s used in warWar

...

fare, often jellied gasolineGasoline

File:GasCan.jpgGasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines.It consists mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons, enhanced with iso-octane or the aromatic hydrocarbons toluene and benzene to increase its octane rating....

. Napalm is actually the thickener in such liquids, which when mixed with gasoline makes a sticky incendiary gel. Developed by the U.S. in World War IIWorld War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....

by a team of Harvard chemists led by Louis FieserLouis Fieser

Louis F. Fieser was an organic chemist, professor, and in 1968, professor emeritus at Harvard University. He was renowned as the inventor, in 1943, of a militarily effective form of napalm....

, its name is a portmanteau of the names of its original ingredients, coprecipitated aluminiumAluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....

salts of naphthenicNaphthenic acid

Naphthenic acid is the name for an unspecific mixture of several cyclopentane and cyclohexane carboxylic acids with molecular weight of 120 to well over 700 au....

and palmiticPalmitic acid

Palmitic acid,CH314COOH or hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature, is one of the most common saturated fatty acids found in animals and plants....

acids. These were added to the flammable substance to cause it to gel.

Modern napalm is composed primarily of benzeneBenzene

Benzene, or benzol, is an organic compound chemical compound and a known carcinogen with the molecular formula Carbon6Hydrogen6....

and polystyrenePolystyrene

Polystyrene , sometimes abbreviated PS, is an Aromaticity polymer made from the aromatic monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry....

, and is known as napalm-B.

so a combination of different compounds and sometimes not even regulated. CH314COOH and the benzine ring formula c6h6 together would probably be the closet thing to a definite formula

Answer 2

The chemical formula for napalm can vary, but a common composition includes naphthenic acids, palmitates, and other long-chain fatty acids with a gel-forming agent like aluminum soap. It is typically represented as CnH2n+1COOH for the fatty acids and Al(C17H35COO)3 for the gel component.