Molecular structures
Posted on 18/05/2014
Contributed by
Helen Maynard-Casely
![](https://www.iycr2014.org/__data/assets/image/0018/106191/helen-maynard-casely.jpg)
Helen Maynard-Casely
This is rocket science – ammonium perchlorate
What does it look like?
What is it?
Though, when solid, this material is just a while powder, it is powerful enough to fuel rockets. Ammonia perchlorate forms the basis of a whole class of solid rocket fuels, known as ammonia perchlorate composite propellant (APCP). It can be molded and tightly packed into boosters and when ignited is a very powerful oxidiser, which is why it is so successful in this application. As a crystal structure it's actually a salt, as it is made up of tetragonal ClO4- anions balancing with NH4+ cations.
Where did the structure come from?
The structure of ammonium perchlorate was determined by Peyronel and Pignedoli in 1975.
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