Detonator

A device that initiates the detonation of an explosive charge, typically by generating a shock wave or intense heat. It links a triggering event to the rapid chemical reaction of the main charge.

Explosive train: A sequence of energetic materials that transfers initiation from a trigger to a main explosive charge. A detonator is the initiating element in this chain of increasingly powerful reactions.
Detonation: A supersonic reaction front sustained by the shock wave produced by an energetic chemical reaction. The detonator initiates this self-sustaining reaction in the main explosive.
Blasting: The controlled use of explosives to fragment or move rock, concrete, or other material. Detonators initiate charges used in mining, quarrying, and construction blasting.
Alfred Nobel: A Swedish chemist and inventor who developed dynamite and held numerous patents related to explosives. Nobel's work on reliable initiation helped make high-explosive blasting more practical.
Primary explosive: A highly sensitive explosive that readily reacts to heat, impact, or friction and can initiate less sensitive explosives. Many detonators use a primary explosive to convert a small input into a strong initiating reaction.
Deflagration: Combustion that propagates through a material by heat transfer at a speed below the speed of sound in that material. It contrasts with the detonation a properly initiated high explosive is designed to sustain.
Mining: The extraction of geological materials from the Earth. Mine blasting relies on initiation systems suited to its excavation and safety requirements.
Dynamite: An explosive material invented by Alfred Nobel that uses nitroglycerin absorbed in a porous material. Dynamite's practical use depended on an initiating device capable of setting it off reliably.
Secondary explosive: An explosive that is comparatively insensitive to ordinary stimuli but can detonate when initiated by a sufficiently strong shock. The detonator's output must be strong enough to initiate the main charge, often a secondary explosive.
High explosive: An energetic material capable of reacting by detonation under suitable conditions. Detonators are designed to initiate charges made from these comparatively powerful materials.

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