The detonation pressure (P_det) of high explosives is often described by using the non-S.I. metric unit called a “bar” which is roughly equivalent to one atmosphere of pressure (a standard sea level atmosphere is 1.013 bars) and is equal to 100,000 Nt (newtons) per square meter, which is an S.I. read more
TNT was discovered in Germany in 1863 by Joseph Wilbrand. Although not quite as powerful as dynamite (and harder to detonate), the main benefit of TNT is that it's even more stable than dynamite (Wilbrand, for instance, never lost a single brother to an explosion). Also, TNT can be melted down and poured into shell casings. read more
You can mold it into different shapes to change the direction of the explosion. The explosive material in C-4 is cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine (C3H6N6O6), commonly called RDX (which stands for "royal demolition explosive" or "research development explosive"). read more