napalm

napalm (nā`päm), incendiary material developed during World War II by Harvard scientists cooperating with the U.S. army and used in bombs and flame throwers. Napalm is based on a mixture of gasoline, sometimes mixed with other petroleum fuels, and a thickening agent. The thickener, to which the term napalm was originally applied, turns the mixture into a thick jelly that flows under pressure, as when shot from a flame thrower, and sticks to a target as it burns. One of the first thickeners used was an aluminum soap (a salt of aluminum and certain fatty acids). Later thickeners have been based on polystyrene and similar polymers.

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napalm

Organic compound, the aluminum soap or salt of a mixture of fatty acids, used to thicken gasoline for use as an incendiary in flamethrowers and firebombs. The thickened mixture, itself also called napalm, burns more slowly and can be propelled more accurately and over greater distances than gasoline. When it comes in contact with surfaces, including the human body, it sticks tenaciously and continues to burn. It was developed and first used by the U.S. in World War II. Its use in the Vietnam War became highly controversial.