Thermite

[Queso]

:P

I didn't hear anyone say anything about a fuse.

 

Anyway,

I still think the best bet

is to just shove some magnesium ribbon stuffed into the thermite,

light the ribbon with a torch

and observe from a distance.

[Queso]

Well, I am planning to use a magnesium ribbon as a fuse.

 

Bomb style!!

 

Am I inviting death?

 

nah,

I didn't see you posted this.

Have a blast.

burn thru a car,

or a safe,

or something cool like that.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I tried a thermite reaction about a year ago...

muahahhahaa... that was fun. :)

 

Anyway, at that time, I had access to some potassium permanganate (which i cannot seem to find anymore....?:))

What I did was:

-Set the thermite mixture in a little pile on a dry creekbed.

-Made a little depression in the pile, into which I put a wee-bit of KMnO4/

-Poured a tiny bit of glycerin on the KMnO4....

-..and ran the hell away!!!

 

The reaction between potassium permanganate and glycerin creates sufficient heat to ignite the thermite mixture.... it's also hot enough to melt glass... if you desire to do so. haha.

[IDMclean]

[math] Fe_2 O_3[/math] is also known as red rust, ferric oxide, Iron (III) Oxide.

 

The hydroxide ions react with the iron(II) ions and more dissolved oxygen to form iron oxide. The hydration is variable, however in its most general form:

 

[math]Fe^2^+ + 2OH^- \rightarrow Fe(OH)2[/math]

[math]4Fe(OH)_2 + O_2 \rightarrow 2(Fe_2 O_3 .xH2O) + 2H_2O[/math]

 

Hence, rust is hydrated iron(III) oxide. Corrosion tends to progress faster in seawater than fresh water due to higher concentration of sodium chloride ions, making the solution more conductive. Rusting is also accelerated in the presence of acids, but inhibited by alkalis. Rust can often be removed through electrolysis, however the base metal object can not be restored through this method

[Mercedes Benzene]

I have a new idea that might get thermite started. Tell me what you all think:

Okay. So first you make your little pile of thermite mixture. Then you stick an inverted match into the pile of the thermite mix. Then you light the stick of the match on fire. As the flame travels down the match, it will eventually meet the head, which is coated in chemical.

Do you think that the brief "explosion" (upon the ignition of the match head) would create enough heat to get the reaction started?

[IDMclean]

Nope. It (the heat) has to be sufficent to melt Aluminum.

[Jay-qu]

magnesium strip and a jet lighter :shrug:

[Mercedes Benzene]

I don't have any magnesium ribbon though.

And I cannot find potassium permanganate anymore

:shrug:

[IDMclean]

Road flares should work and there like $5 a piece, I think. You just pull out the Magnesium ribbon in them.

[Mercedes Benzene]

Hmmm.... perhpas steel wool will work.

Steel wool burns brilliantly, but I'm not so sure it would burn hot enough.

Anyone know?:)

[Jay-qu]

burning steel wool.. never heard or tried of doing that. Well if you want max burning temp from it then you want it to all burn really quick, so that means you want really fine steel wool.

[ronthepon]

Guys today I tried the thermite out again.

 

No matter what I do it won't start!

 

I tried 1 Mg ribbon. It extinguished the moment it touched any solid other than more magnesium!

 

I tried 10 ribbons and put the whole thing on a [math]KMnO_4[/math] bed just above the mixture. It violently blew up, but the thermite reaction did not happen.

 

HOW DO I DO IT!

 

Won't you please help?

[Jay-qu]

you dont want to blow it up, you need heat - alot of heat, KAK says it needs enough to melt the Aluminium, melting point is 660 degrees! but then Clay says 2000F.. are these one and the same?

[ronthepon]

you dont want to blow it up, you need heat - alot of heat, KAK says it needs enough to melt the Aluminium, melting point is 660 degrees! but then Clay says 2000F.. are these one and the same?

Nope. 2000F equals about 1000 celsius.

I guess KAC means we need molten aluminium for the deal, while reaction temp is ideal at 2000F.

[Mercedes Benzene]

Hmmmm... weird.

I'm not sure what exactly it takes to start a thermite reaction (as in the temperature needed), but I know that about a year ago when I tried it, I used potassium permangante....

As for:

I tried 10 ribbons and put the whole thing on a KMnO4 bed just above the mixture. It violently blew up, but the thermite reaction did not happen.

Don't use magnesium ribbon if you are going to KMnO4. Use a tiny smattering of glycerin --which you can buy at a grocery or drug store. This hyperbolic reaction worked brilliantly for me a while back.

By the way, where did you manage to get some Potassium Permanganate???

[GAHD]

mixing thermite is like mixing gunpowder: you do it so they mix together well!

 

How did you get your iron oxide? Iron fileings left in a jar of water would be best, mix in aluminum fileings after it's tuned into a thick redish-brown stew in the bottom of the jar, then put the whole shebang somewhere to dry (in the sun works) once it's dry scrape and re-poweder the cake on the bottom of the jar, this is your thermite mixture. Be careful when igniting.

[IDMclean]

Further, you stick the magnesium into the pile and light the top, like a wick and let it burn down. It's not like lighting a firework with a sparkler, where you hold the ribbon. It's like sticking the wick into the stick of dynamite and lighting the top to let it burn down into the mixture.