Thermite reaction

[AJMagicman]

Originally Posted by chemic

does sulfur fuse is ok to ignite thermite???please help!!!
if sulfur fuse isnt right then what fuse i can use?(exept magnesium) :?

Hello Guys,
I might be able to help you on this one. Instead of having to go through all the fuse trouble, I rather use a small flame torch.
A simple small flame should do the job very well, for it is what we magicians use to ignite the bad boy.

Our purposes in using the Thermite Reaction, is to create an "exit" escape for escape artists and magicians like myself.
I happen to known a good friend of mine, who keeps this mixture insice a glass container, along with the small torch and a lighter.
There's no use for the lighter, but it's simply because it provides light for when you are inside the dark whole. (I know, a flashlight is better.)

Here's a small picture describing what we do:


[img=http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9164/thermitepicture4bh.jpg]

Well, I hope it helps. Good Luck! 8)

Best Regards,
AJ Magic Man
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[Tsen]

Hey, thought I'd note this.

The thread's a bit old, but whatever.

Iron oxide is more easily produced this way:

One tub of water, filled with about two to three inches of water. More if needed. Take a piece of steel woll and put it in the bottom of the water, holding it down with a magnet if necessary. Add five tablespoons bleach and five tablespoons vinegar. Leave it for a night or two, then drain the brown sludge you'll find through a white coffee filter. Let the sludgy stuff dry and you've got plenty of straight Fe2O3.

EDIT: Note that you shouldn't do this inside, or be around it while the reaction's occuring, since it puts of Cl2 gas as well. Not nice stuff to inhale.

[sciclops]

for the iron oxide if you or your parents know somebody in iron works then ask him as for the thermite no clue :idea:

[xyzzy]

the easiest way to ignite thermite is with a sparkler. now if someone can explain these electolysis theories to me, yes water doesn't conduct unless salt is dissolved in it but you would also be ectrolizing the salt, this would create chlorine gas and sodium, the sodium would react instanly with the water forming sodium hydroxide (lye) and hydrogen. as for the iron, i see nothing happening to it. now the way i understand it is you have a salt water solution with iron powder in the bottom and two electrodes in the water, is this correct? If not please outline the process more clearly because i would like to use it as well.

I think it should be noted that there are significant hazards associated with finely powdered aluminum. For starters, aluminum dust is explosive, and will spontaneously catch fire when damp. Furthermore, if you're going to use a grindstone to make your aluminum dust, CLEAN IT OFF before you grind any iron. If you fail to do this, you can create an aersolized Fe3O4+Al mixture (thermite!) that can explode due to the temperatures involved.

Aluminum dust is also some pretty nasty stuff. It can cause skin irritation and numbness in the fingers. Wear gloves whenever you're handling the more finely powdered stuff, or you'll regret it later on.

[bxi47]

do you mean that powdered aluminium is pyrophoric?

[hwguy]

For aluminium i sometimes buy turnings from machine shops, its not really a powder but its a good start. Sometimes they shop will give you it for free. To make iron oxide i normally cram a metal gas pipe with wire wool and ignite it, by blowing air (or oxygen for the more daring) through it you can get really good yields. but it is harder to do. I normally use a sparkeler to ignite

[thickmudd]

Guys, you are overlooking a very simple method to obtain Aluminum Powder. Remember that famous childhood toy called Etch-A-Sketch? Yup, thats it. Etch-A-Sketch works by having ALUMINUM POWDER on the inside. The dials move a little needle that scrapes away the aluminum powder from the screen. Why am i telling you this? Simply open up an Etch-A-Sketch from Wal Mart and you have some fine aluminum powder manufactured from professionals.

If you do not believe me that Etch-A-Sketch's have aluminum powder in them, then look it up on wikipedia or google, I have used it in my own thermite mixtures.

I obtained the rust by using vinegar and bleach and steel wool. No water involved. Just let the stuff dissolve, filter the mixture with coffee filters, and let the mushy rust out in the sun to dry, and voala!

Sparklers ignite thermite. They have magnesium in the sparklers. Set one upright in a pile of thermite, light the tip of the sparkler, and it will slowly burn down.

[revelant]

Will these two reactions work? Why or why not?

3 ZnO + 2 Al ==> Al2O3 + 3 Zn

3 PtO2 + 4 Al ==> 2 Al2O3 + 3 Pt

Please do not say anything about iron oxide. I don't care.

[joecozart]

Both of them will work because the metals by themselves on the reactant side of both reactions are higher in the metal activity series than the metal they seek to replace. Google metal activity series to find the type of chart I am referencing. This is not to say that they happen quickly or easily, just that they can happen. The reverse reactions do not occur.