October 18, 2009

Thermite Reaction, Hardcore Chemical Pyrotechnic

Science is a wonderful thing. Without science, we would not have fireworks at all.

Science occasionally throws something really cool at you. Here we have a video of Thermite in action.

Thermite is a pyrotechnic composition of aluminium powder and a metal oxide which produces an aluminothermic reaction known as a thermite reaction. It is not explosive but can create short bursts of extremely high temperatures focused on a very small target for a short period of time.

The aluminium reduces the oxide of another metal, most commonly iron oxide because aluminium is highly combustible:
Fe2O3 + 2Al = 2Fe + Al2O3 + Heat