[Corvettaholic]

I was reading howstuffworks.com on landmines, and it gave the chemical composition of dynamite:

C₃H₅(ONO₂)₃

Now I understand the basics of explosives is that they should contain their own oxygen, and some nitrogen, and carbon. What I don't get is the second part of this compound. To me it looks like O-N-O-O. Why would it be written ONO₂ instead of NO₃? Obviously they're not the same thing, but why? Is it written like that to describe the physical shape of the molecule?

[jdurg]

Dynamite is simply nitroglycerin stabilized by some diatomaceous(sp?) earth.  The formula was written as C₃H₅(ONO₂)₃ because the oxygen atoms is connected to the carbon chain and not the nitrogen atom.  So it was written in order to explain the structure of the molecule.