How is the powder factor calculated?

How is the powder factor calculated?

• A. Divide the fly rock by the pounds of explosives
• B. Divide the pounds of explosives by the amount of fly rock produced
• C. Multiply pounds of explosives by fly rock
• D. Sum of pounds of explosives and fly rock

Answer: (B)

Powder factor is the amount of explosive used per unit of rock that is blasted. To get this, you divide the pounds of explosive by the amount of rock produced (often expressed as cubic yards or tons). That ratio gives pounds of explosive per cubic yard (or per ton) of rock, which is exactly what the powder factor measures. The other ways of combining the quantities—dividing in the opposite order, multiplying, or summing—don’t yield a quantity that expresses explosive per unit rock, so they don’t represent the powder factor.

Powder factor is the amount of explosive used per unit of rock that is blasted. To get this, you divide the pounds of explosive by the amount of rock produced (often expressed as cubic yards or tons). That ratio gives pounds of explosive per cubic yard (or per ton) of rock, which is exactly what the powder factor measures. The other ways of combining the quantities—dividing in the opposite order, multiplying, or summing—don’t yield a quantity that expresses explosive per unit rock, so they don’t represent the powder factor.