Talk:Potassium nitrate
From Academic Kids
A popular 20th-century myth held that soldiers and sailors were secretly administered saltpetre in their rations,
- Popular in what culture, in what country(ies)? Mid 20th century? Early? Late? All through? Still popular? Gone forever? --Brion
- Every male who ever went to camp, prison, or the armed services has heard it. See urban legend at Snopes.com (http://198.64.129.160/military/saltpetr.htm) , also Straight Dope (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_221.html). The folk etymology is from my own data collecting, that is, the first time I ever heard it. Ortolan88
- This is all very vague. the Snopes article cites a sweeping array of myths in many countries across several centuries involving various different chemicals; both cite much wider locations than just the military, and neither indicate any special affinity to the 20th century nor to the claimed folk etymology for that particular chemical in English. --Brion
- It is a very common myth wherever there are more men than women. I have no idea how far it goes back, but I heard it in 1952 at Camp Dixie for Boys where a 13-year-old solemnly assured an amazed 12-year-old me that they put "soft peter" in the mashed potatoes "to make your peter soft". I have heard the saltpeter story many times since then and the "soft peter" explanation several times. I was never in the army or in prison, but I know people who were and they'd heard it too. If those other sources haven't come across it yet, shame on them. But wiki on and edit away everything you don't like. I'm just taking judicial notice of what's been put in front of me. Not all knowledge is in the books yet. I'm writing a book about words. How about this. I'll put the story in there and then when it is published we can cite my book. Ortolan88
Reasons for name change: got tired of seeing broken "potassium nitrate" links, nicely dodges British vs American English issue for title, saltpetre can also refer to a few other nitrate salts, esp. sodium nitrate. -- User:Shimmin
It would be nice to know if there has been any peer-reviewed or other scientific research on whether potassium nitrate actually does result in impotence or lack of sexual desire. Ellsworth 18:32, 5 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Yes, I know nitrites are used, but look in old recipe books (19C, early 20C) and you'll find saltpeter also used. Or Google for it (http://www.google.com/search?q=saltpeter+meat), as I did to confirm that I remembered correctly.
- One of the first scientifically formulated curing salts was a mixture of sodium chloride, nitrite, and nitrate. See Lloyd Hall. On the other hand, most older references to saltpeter could be referring to sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, or a mixture of the two. Shimmin 11:42, Sep 18, 2004 (UTC)
"When potassium nitrate is mixed with fine sugar and ignited, they generate 600 times their own mass in smoke." Is this right? If it is, then the other 599 times the mixture's mass would have to come from the ambient air. Should this say "600 times their own volume" instead? --Arteitle 12:00, Oct 25, 2004 (UTC)
- That should read volume. The point of using a solid oxidizer like nitrate is that you don't need the ambient air. Shimmin 12:54, Oct 25, 2004 (UTC)
The supposed sexual effects aren't even mentioned in this article, I was hoping it could clear it up for me since I really have no idea what either the truth or the claim are.
I think that more flagrant than the absence of the sexual effects is the lack of information about the use of Potassium nitrate as a food preserver.
