[Tim_Lou]

just to share with you guys the thermite reaction!
gotta love the online video demostration : P

(i strongly suggest that you DO NOT perform the following observation, this is just for something cool)

1. simply have rusted iron powder and aluminium powder mixed in a pot. (the mixture is called thermite)
2. place a little piece of magnesium in it as a fuse...
3. light the fuse and run!!!!! away!
4. the reactions start with the bright white flame of the burning magnesium, the heat of the burning magnesium provide activation energy for this thermite reaction... producing molten iron as a result! wot!

thats the online video demo!
http://www.webct.com/service/ViewCon...7&sIndex=0

well... just found some info about thermite...
in 911, thermite reaction was the one that produced molten iron and caused great damage:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/thermite.htm
here is the website.

"A thermite reaction generates extraordinarily high temperatures (>2500° C) and it provides a credible explanation for the fires, hot spots and molten steel (a byproduct of the thermite reaction) found in the collapsed buildings - they were a result of thermite detonations in the buildings' basements on 9/11."

sad....

[edit: sry guys.... i typed termite instead of thermite... fixed it anyway]

[Tim_Lou]

come on!
lets get some "chemistry" going here!
comments? concerns?

[Tim_Lou]

hmm.... i specially like the part where the people in the demo smash the 2 metal balls together.

[Tormod]

LOL!

Well, I like part 3) the best. Good advice.

Did they really use this stuff in the 9/11 attacks? Does that mean that this is stuff which would be easy to bring on board a plane to make bombs? Sounds scary.

[Tim_Lou]

"Did they really use this stuff in the 9/11 attacks?"

Tormod, i think you misunderstood my meaning... : P
its not the stuff that terrorism used, its the rusted iron and aluminium reacted with each other in the twin towers in 911, the reactions started by the heat of the plane crashin into the building... the reaction produced molten iron! and melted everything.... therefore causing the towers to collapse.

[Tormod]

Aaaah. I see. Well, that' sort of changes it. So the towers were doomed to fail not because of the force of crash but because of the chemical reaction caused by the crash. Wow. I learned something about chemistry today!

[Tim_Lou]

yep, yep....hehe, gald that the chemistry group is doing "something".

[Tim_Lou]

what i like about thermite reaction is that the chemicals are so easy to get!
imagine you have some rusted iron dust combine with aluminium pieces which you got them from a pack of aluminium foil in a supermarket...you light the mixture and boom!!!!

.... but plz DO NOT perform the experience!!!! plz don't!

[IrishEyes]

Ok, tim, that's it. you have just guaranteed that my boys will never be allowed to read the chemistry thread.
I can hear it already...
"but Mom, tim_lou is ok, really he is. It really wasn't his idea for us to make that nail/tinfoil explosion. we could have read it in a hundred different places in the net that you let us visit besides Hypography...!"
Yep, Chemistry is not a good thing when you have young boys around. Just do me a favor, ok? Please don't post anything that deals with firecracker bombs!

[BlameTheEx]

I am a bit doubtful that thermite was seriously involved in 9/11. That reaction involves powdered aluminium. I can't truly believe there was much rust available ether.

Powdered metals in general are deadly. That is because the surface is highly reactive, and a powder has an awful lot of surface. Aluminium/iron oxide works well because the aluminium can nick the oxygen from the iron. Simple air is a good source too. Fine iron filings suspended in air, say due to a fan, or somebody opening a door on a windy day, makes a good explosion. Metal working machinery tends to create metal powders and filings, which just accumulate till somebody gets round to cleaning up. A case where uncleanliness is next to godliness. Leave them lying around and you could be strumming a harp pretty fast!

Note that this is a property of surfaces, not necessarily powders. I managed to temporally blind myself by shoving a large current through steel wool. Not exactly an explosion, because it wasn't contained, but a very good flash.

I would like to add to the warning of not trying out thermite at home. In general powdered metals are inferior to conventional explosives, but thermite is more dangerous than you might expect. The explosion is small but it does splatter lumps of molten iron good distances. One lump would easily disfigure or blind a person.