Eli5: What made Napalm so useful as a weapon of war and what were some of the drawbacks of its use in warfare?

Question

Eli5: What made Napalm so useful as a weapon of war and what were some of the drawbacks of its use in warfare?

In: 196

Answer 1

Everyone is pointing out napalm is sticky. Yes. But the real advantage of it’s stickiness is that it sticks to itself. This makes the spray less likely to turn into small droplets which get blown by the wind. Big clumps of napalm tend to go where you shoot it, not where the wind blows it.

Adding to that: big clumps of napalm burn longer than small droplets when it reaches its target. That does more damage/sucks up more oxygen.