NAftenato + PALMitato (ácido palmítico)
Es decir, se formó combinando las primeras sílabas de dos ácidos grasos usados en su fórmula original (ácido naftênico y ácido palmítico), que se mezclaban con gasolina para crear un gel espeso e inflamable.
Napalm converts liquid fuel in a pegagoso gel that adheres to surfaces and burns to very high temperatures (between 800 to 1200 ºC approximately) and during much more time.
It was invented by Harvard scientists in 1942 during the Second World War.
It was used extensively, during night bombings over Tokio (only one night caused more deaths that Hiroshima as japanese buildings were based on wood), then in Corea War, and afterwards in Vietnam.
Su uso contra población civil es hoy ampliamente considerado como una de las armas más crueles empleadas en conflictos del siglo XX, precisamente por el tipo de quemaduras y sufrimiento prolongado que causa.