Now, I am not going to tell you guys what thermite is, or what you can do with it. Just do a Google search and you'll find tons of sites telling you a bunch of uses for it. I will however, tell you how to make the stuff.
Obtaining the Aluminum
1) Go to a machine shop. They will usually give you aluminum powder for sweeping the floor or something.
2) Break open an Etch-A-Sketch, the stuff inside is pure aluminum powder.
3) Go to a paint store, they usually have powdered aluminum that people use to mix into paints to give it pigment.
4) Get a grinder, and something made of aluminum. Good ideas are soda cans, bike frames, and lacrosse sticks. Start grinding the aluminum and collect the sparks in a container.
5) Search eBay, they sell it for pretty cheap.
Obtaining the Iron Oxide (Rust)
1) Take some steel wool then put it in a jar and then cover it wool with water. Use a magnet to make sure the steel wool doesnt float during the reaction process. Next, put in 5 tablespoons of regular bleach into the water and 5 tablespoons of regular vinager. Wait a day or so and then filter the brown paste with a coffee filter. Leave it out to dry overnight.
2) Go to a paint store, they usually have powdered iron oxide that people use to mix into paints to give it pigment.
3) Connect wires to a direct current (9-volt battery), strip both ends and put them into a saltwater solution. Let them sit for five minutes. One of them will start bubbling more than the other. This is the POSITIVE(+) wire. Put a nail tied to the positive wire into the jar. Now put the negative wire in the other end. Now let it sit overnight and in the morning scrape the rust off of the nail & repeat until you have a bunch of rust on the bottom of the glass. Let it dry out, and crush it into a powder.
4) Search eBay, they sell it for pretty cheap.
Mixing the Stuff
Thermite is 8 grams of iron oxide to 3 grams of aluminum. The formula is by weight but because aluminum is very light, it will appear to be approximately a 50-50 mix. Put them together in a container and mix them until it is an even mixture. If you want, mix four parts thermite with one part clay or Play-Doh and knead thoroughly for moldable thermite.
Igniting
Thermite needs a lot of heat to light, that means magnesium. Find some magnesium ribbon, or a sparkler that contains magnesium and put it into a pile of thermite. Light it with a torch, and run!
References:
-- www.rotteneggs.com
-- The Anarchist's Cookbook
607 comments:
1 – 200 of 607 Newer› Newest»Awesome article! Thanks!
Cool. Do you have time to run after you light it?
just search "thermite" on video.google.com and watch other people experiment with it
Awesome. Time to carpet bomb those damn neighbors with my new homade thermite.
this is cool but man, i wish i knew how to make a sombrero or maybe a boat....
3) Connect wires to a direct current (9-volt battery), strip both ends and put them into a saltwater solution. Let them sit for five minutes. One of them will start bubbling more than the other. This is the POSITIVE(+) wire. Put a nail tied to the positive wire into the jar. Now put the negative wire in the other end.
DO NOT DO THIS. THIS IS WHAT RETARDS DO. SALT + ELECTICITY IN WATER = CHLORINE GAS. CHLORINE GAS is POISON. DO NOT do this at all.
"DO NOT DO THIS. THIS IS WHAT RETARDS DO. SALT + ELECTICITY IN WATER = CHLORINE GAS. CHLORINE GAS is POISON. DO NOT do this at all."
umm not really, the salt is there to just electrolyze the water and make it so that electrons can travel through the water easier. the only gas you're giving off is hydrogen. if you want to make Cl gas with salt, just get some salt, get it VERY hot and you will have CL gas in the air (dangerous) and molten Na in your container (still dangerous).
Yeah, I'm not sure who told you that running electricity through saltwater makes chlorine gas, but whoever did, was wrong.
The NA is positive, and will ionize with the electricty and come to the positive wire and the Chlorine is negative, once freed from the ionized Sodium will travel to the negative wires and make chlorine gas.
Yeah, but it won't make much chlorine gas. And given that there's only enough salt to ionize the water (i.e. regular water already has this much salt in it, but distilled water doesn't) it's probably not going to kill you any faster than sniffing bleach.
If you want to get a lot of chlorine gas, mix bleach and ammonia together. Now that's dangerous:
Household bleach has a chemical formula of NaOCl - that is, one atom each of sodium, oxygen, and chlorine. Its chemical name, for the curious, is sodium hypochlorite. Ammonia has a chemical formula of NH3, that is, one atom of nitrogen and three atoms of hydrogen. When these two compounds are combined, the following reaction takes place:
2(parts)NaOCl + 2NH3 --> 2NaONH3 + Cl2.
Baking soda can also be a snazzy electrolyte, though it won't corrode the steel as nicely as salt.
Since you brought up what is essentially Electrolysis (not the hair removal kind), I'll add something: You can De-Rust car parts (or any oxidized metal) using a car battery chager, plastic bucket, water, steel rod, baking soda & electrical leads. Works great! -Very little scrubbing involved.
One link is:
http://users.andara.com/~pspencer/nsaeta/electrolysis.html
Cheers!
Thermite burns rather slowly but produces a great deal of heat. Be careful as it will sink down through whatever you put it on. Use your imagination. Be careful not to get the aluminum too finely ground as al powder in thermite will cause an explosion (you can't outrun this). You can also mix magnesium slivers into your thermite to help it ignite quicker and make it easier to light.
If you get a clay planter pot you can use it as a time delay so you have time to run before you are covered in molten metal
basicly the reaction starts at the top then moves its way down and drains threw the hole in the bottom( untill it just melts the bottom out)
but either way it gives you a easy way to handel it and to get away with out melting your little toes off
WTF whit da CL gas issue? YOU ARE MAKING AN EXPLOSIVE!! Like it matters if is a bit more dangerous...
I agree...if you're too scared, just use a fan to blow the gas the other way.
hehe that's pretty much how our Hydrogen plant for our welding shop works we produce pure oxygen and compress it in one room and we have the Ionization room in another.. Pretty much a really really really big version of the Saltwater and Electricity thing!! LMAO!
I was thinking... hm... What if I contained thermite in a cylinder filled with water?! EXAMPLE: (0)-
The middle is filled with water (H20) or even hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)!!! The hollow sides are filled with thermite. Not just any thermite! The Iron oxide is Fe3O4!
Seporating hydrogen from oxygen and burning it is risky buisness... Or, I could just hose down a burning pile- what fun?
Firstly, thermite isn't explosive, it's just a very exothermic reaction. You can potentially use it to make an explosive device but that's not what's being discussed here.
On the subject of electrolysis with salt water, wouldn't the chlorine ions react with the water to produce either chloric (HClO) or hydrochloric (HCl) acid as opposed to bubbling out as chlorine gas (Cl2)?
Thermite won't seperate water into hydrogen and oxygen, it'll just make the water evaporate very quickly.
Hey,
Thermite, once burning actually has it's own fuel source. 2Al + Fe2O3 -> 2Fe + Al2O3. Once going, it doesn't need oxygen, it already has it. If going, it might burn under water and if doused, it would make steam.
1) Take some steel wool then put it in a jar and then cover it wool with water. Use a magnet to make sure the steel wool doesnt float during the reaction process. Next, put in 5 tablespoons of regular bleach into the water and 5 tablespoons of regular vinager. Wait a day or so and then filter the brown paste with a coffee filter. Leave it out to dry overnight.
Yes, this works, but much more slowly and inneffectively than just putting bleach in a jar with steel wool and adding vinegar in about a 2:1 bleach:vinegar ratio, then stir them up. This takes about an hour to fully break down the steel wool. This DOES release chlorine gas btw, but not enough to do any real damage.
Actually you are all part corrent about the 9v battery in water. You will produce sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the solution, chlorine, and hydrogen gas. The chlorine is produced at the anoce (+ve) and hydrogen at the cathode (-ve). Having said that the volume of gas given off is very small and really quite harmless. The NaOH is a base (alkali) but again, pretty weak. In the industrial scale process you would need a porous membrane dividing the solution in half to prevent the chlorine from dissolving back into the solution. This is actually how chlorine gas is made on an industrial scale. As for thermite, to get back on subject, the masses of solid to use and the formula:
2Al + Fe2O3 -> Al2O3 + 2Fe
Al = 23 g/mol
Fe = 56 g/mol
O = 16 g/mol
So a mass ration of Al to Fe2O3 = 46g Al to 160g Fe2O3 which divides down to about a 1:4 ratio
i just ground up an aluminul can on a bench grinder. does it matter how coarse it is? and can i scrape rust off us rusty crap around the house
Cl comes from the electrolasis of molten NaCl, when using NaCl to ionize H2O, the NaCl is inconsequential, as the H2O will sererate long before the NaCl will. The real danger in making this stuff is the Al. Al is a neuro-toxin, handeling it in powdered form must be done with great care to prevent contamination/ingestion.
so if i was to grind down a coke can and some of it got in my lungs that is dangerous (like make you sick dangerous not sorta ichy dangerous)?
how then is it so safe to use around food and drinks and in our air conditioners
Aluminium in solid form (as in a soda can) is not very dangerous. Aluminium is extremely corrosive but has a neat trick up its sleeve: a passivisation layer. On the surface, aluminium forms aluminium oxide almost instantaneously when in contact with air. Aluminium oxide is really tough, and the corrosion stops since no more oxygen can penetrate this.
However, acids can easily eat through the oxide layer. You can test this with a can of coke. The inside of the can is covered with a really thin layer of plastic to shield the aluminium from the soda and vice versa. Open the can and scratch the inside of the can (with the cola still in it - use a screwdriver or similar). Press hard enough to make a dent on the outside to make sure the plastic cover is perforated. Then leave the can alone for a few hours. The acid cola will eat through the aluminium, and you will be able to twist the can in half without much force at all. Whatever you do, DONT DRINK any of the cola from the can... it will be full of dissolved aluminium, mmkay? :)
The danger with aluminium powder is that it is very easy to get it into your digestive and respiratory system. Once there, chemicals in the body will break down the passivisation layer, and your body will absorb the poisionus aluminium, which is believed to (amongst other things) give you ahlziemers over time. Ouch.
Is it better to pack it or leave it loose?
Should you pack it or leave it loose?
Pack it, but just enough to make a divot, don't grind it...
Pack it, but just enough to make a divot, don't grind it...
so is this stuff safe if i just folo the instructions?
The mixing of bleach and vineger is also very dangerous. It also produces chlorine gas. Your best bet is to buy it.
Actually a better recipe I did some research to make burns hotter and brighter than the thermite recipe posted here.
The use of magnetite in place of rust yields more oxagen to oxidize any remaining alluminum powder. so with nearly the same proportions you can create a thermite that burns about 200 degrees centigrade hotter.
You can get Magnetite by sweeping beaches with magnets of by the synthesis of magnetite in Household ammonia with a Solution of 20ml of .75 mol Fe(Cl)2 mixed with 20 ml of 1.5 mol Fe(Cl)3.
the mixture of these 2 solutions then pouring into the household ammonia will yield Fe3O4
actually ammonia plus bleach makes chloramine gas. NH2Cl if you want chlorine gas, mix sodium hydroxide with bleach.
Electrolysis of brine soln. produces sodium hydroxide at the anode and chlorine gas at the cathode, which quickly dissolves into the water until the water is saturated, then you will have a net production of chlorine gas.
light it with potassium permanganaete. Get 5 grams of it and add a couple drops of glycerin. You have about 20 seconds to get the heck away.
anyone know a good way to ignite it without magnesium ribbon but with somthing commonly found in a household?
do i need to heat the compunents (sp??) to make it or just mix them cold
thanks
email me a jffvogt@gmail.com
i say just try it and if you blow off your hand hope they can sow it back on at the hospital
hehe..goood shit!!=)
i'm gonna try this soon...
btw: anyone knows how to make that stuff on a piece of clothing in front of someones face to make ppl stunned or asleep?
(often seen in movies and so)
that would been cool=)
thats chloroform, and if you find it, be careful with it, its a general anesethic.
Yeah but chloroform can cause alot of adverse effects in, like, half the people you use it on.
on the topic of electrolosis making chlorine gas, dont worry about it, 9 volts isnt nearly enough power to electrolize the salt. it is only being used as an electrolite.
First, electrolosys of sodium chloride solution results in Sodium Hypochlorite solution if the anode and cathode aren't partitioned.
Second, the aluminum-alzheimers link is largely discredited (not that you want to absorb a bunch of aluminum anyway).
Third, cloroform is also a carcinogen, and generally not something to be played with.
Fourth, thanks for the article.
Fifth, thanks for the info about using magnetite.
you can light it with a sparkler made out of magnesium
hey geniuses.. electricty in salt water makes salty water. the bubbles are hydrogen gas.. if you don't believe me, capture the bubbles in a test tube/vial, and if it is hydrogen it will float like helium, so once collected leave test tube pointing down and put a match in the tube. it should make a small flame. that is HYDROGEN!!!! chlorine will explode only with particular compounds or elements with 1 valanced electron!!! so those that said that you will get poisionous chlorine gas... TAKE CHEMISTRY!!!!!
try taking a bunch of steel wool, hold it in the flame of a bunsen burner, and see it turn into rust
Fe + o -> FeO
at least, that's what my chemistry teacher taught me
Awesome. Time to carpet bomb those damn neighbors with my new homade thermite
Did anyone else realize that he just said Ho-made?
if you watch brainiac they use this stuff all the time
this is off the topic but u can stell things at wal mart and if you get cought and what you have is under $25 they dont fine you
*steel*
for the thermite, u can use a regular fireworks sparkler to ignite it.
can u use a lighter to ignite the thermite?????
Good grief.....
It's "Steel wool" and "Steal from Wal-Mart".
Burnt steel wool isn't rust. Just burnt steel wool.
And it's "caught", not "cought".
But if you don't steal steel wool, you won't get caught anyway.
Look at camping supplies, they sell a magnesium block with a flint stone attached. Just scrape enough magnesium into a pile at set it on top of the thermite and light with just about anything.
If the very finely powdered Al will explode in thermite, then I don't think I'd use the etch-a-sketch.
I also caught the "ho-made" thing. sad.
Oh yeah, cloroform is also addictive, and deadly. That's one reason doctors stopped using it.
Powdered Al is the stuff that Buddy Epson (Jed Clampett) used when he was the first person chosen to play the "Tin Man" in the Wizzard of Oz.
But he had very severe reactions to it, put him in the hospital for a long time.
He lost the part to somebody else, almost ruined his career.
If you use the Etch-A-Sketch, be VERY careful, like gloves and mask or respirator.
Get that shit in your lungs and you can die. Absorb it through your skin and you can die.
But ya'll knew that didn't ya???
would steel oxide work as a replacement for the iron oxide?
i seem to remember something somewhere about steel having some connection to iron
you can get the oxide by taking a powerful magnet and taking it to a beach i got like a pound of the iron or so in about 15 min at my beach
this is bout the sombreo boat.. can you explain what you ment in step #10 can you send me a pick. my e-mail is lil_dudet20@yahoo.com. by the way awsome flour grenades after 6th period i bombed my teacher while i was on the roof.
Good god people, He gave you direction, and he even said the main term GOOGLE.. GOOGLE anythign u dont know how to get.. if u dont know how to get steel wool... GOOGLE IT.. its much faster and ur results may be better...
Potassium or sodium and water.
what do you want to do with thermite i was just cheeking for a project you people are tryen to blow stuff up. any way is there a faster way
i put in steel wool 5 tbls of bleach and 5tbls of vinegar
i filtered it out with a coffe filter
and its all brown n0w
will it even come out of the coffe filter tmrw after its dryed
or should i have poured out the water(since it hovers above the brown liquid rust shit)and driend in a cookie sheet or a bottle of some sort????
Thanks man i really needed thermite!!!!!!!!
You did a great job explaining how to make thermite, it wasnt long, but it also had all of the instructions on how to do it, Now im going to mess up my hand with the stuff ,lol
Hey Dumasses, To get Iron oxide, Just get some Really thin steel wool, and Stick it to a 9-volt battery, and It becomes oxidized, thus, IRON OXIDE... It will look like its burning... Why did no one think of that..
an etch-A-Scetch contains al. dust and rubber pellets it says on the back, but the pellets dont interfer, this is an aweosme artical, tho awesome job
Burning steel wool does form rust. It is just magnetite rust Fe3O4. What you do to obtain it is buy triple fine grade steel wool and ignite it. It will burn on its own and because it can combie with the O2 in the atmosphere it has 4 oxygen molecules instead of the 3 obtained from rusting in H2O.
By the way steel is iron with other elements like carbon and chromium added.
me and my friend mixed steel wool (brillo pad with no soap) and vinegar and bleach in a plastic cup and it started rusting immediately. we used this the next day to try to make thermite. we used aluminum foil cut up into really tiny pieces also. we mixed magnesium, potassium nitrate, black powder, fuse pieces, and sparkler pieces with the aluminum to try to help ignite it. it didnt work :( were gonna just buy all the real stuff instead of trying to make it at home. we got a really cool flame tho...
Thermate, or Thermate-TH3, is an incendiary compound primarily used for military applications. Because of the similarity in names, thermate is sometimes confused with one of its components, thermite.
Thermate is a mixture of thermite and pyrotechnic additives which have been found to be superior to standard thermite for incendiary purposes. Its composition by weight is generally thermite 68.7%, barium nitrate 29.0%, sulphur 2.0% and binder 0.3%. Addition of barium nitrate to thermite increases its thermal effect, creates flame in burning and significantly reduces the ignition temperature.
Thermate is used in incendiary hand grenades.
Also if you want iron oxide - just buy one of those hand warmer packs, open it,and let it sit for a day. Then once it is done reacting cut it open and use the iron oxide.
i dont know if its such a good idea to tell you how to make chloroform but its very easy to make and it can be made from bleach and somthing that everyone has around the house ... i dont feel like being resposible for one or u idiots deaths .. but you can look it up on google and its on wikepdia .. ive done it before and holy shit as soon as i realized what had happened i took the shit out of the bathroom and threw it out side .. lucky it was a small amout of chloroform but everyone in the house was light headed and head a horrible head ache for like an hour ... actually i have a bottle of it in the garge ha LOL
dude i have been buring stuff from day one. my first words was lighter! I'm just a 8th grader that want to burn thing that i can get my hands on to.{so i don't have to go to africa to get it! do you have some ideas? beside thermite!?
@ ANSER THIS GUY'S QUESTION ABOVE THIS ONE!! POST IT HERE!! POST THE ANSER!! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@0000000000000000000@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
gasoline
u can burn urself you crazy bastard
what can i use to ignite the thermite if i cant get a hold of magnesium, or a sparkeler?
also, this is off topic but, you can put patassium chlorate into a large test tube. then evenly heat it with a torch or somthing until it is a liquid, then drop in a gummy bear and watch the light show. this happens when the liquid patassium chlorate reacts with the glucose in the gummy bear. it's by products are carbon dioxide. it produces thermal energy and light energy.
"DO NOT DO THIS. THIS IS WHAT RETARDS DO. SALT + ELECTICITY IN WATER = CHLORINE GAS. CHLORINE GAS is POISON. DO NOT do this at all."
"The NA is positive, and will ionize with the electricty and come to the positive wire and the Chlorine is negative, once freed from the ionized Sodium will travel to the negative wires and make chlorine gas."
I take it retards know how to eectroplate. Your argument has too many flaws.
I want to make some of this stuff and put it on a huge, irritating pile of fire-ants in my backyard. But I don't want to get this stuff on myself. Does it really explode like people keep saying? I've seen videos on google and youtube and it appears to just burn.
WTF. Come on guys we want to make shit burn FULL STOP. if you want to go into all that shit about chemicals and gases then get a job as a scientest. And why would anyone risk inhaling chemical gases or what ever to melt something just get an egg white and mix it with petrol or Meths that can get sticky and it burns to and it only burns. i hope reading this that everyone here is now able to make something melt to the shithouse.
ok, there are some seriously stupid people here, let me get some things straight.
A) the bubbles in saltwater are hydrogen and oxygen (the components of water just in case you're REALLY stupid) the salt just makes electricity able to go through the water.
B) you mix bleach and ammonia, not vinegar, to make mustard gas
C) the Fe3O4 is called "blue rust" and is only more reactive by molecule. Fe2O3 is more reactive by weight, thus produces more energy overall.
D)If you put thermite underwater, you either have a death wish, or are just plain ignorant. If it is placed in water, yes, it will burn, but the steam will expand so fast it will create a phreatomagmatic explosion. In other words, the steam expands so fast, it makes an explosion that sends liquid iron and other debris into the air.
B) you mix bleach and ammonia, not vinegar, to make mustard gas
Ummm, as an experienced organic chemist I can assure you that you are INCORRECT.
That reaction will yield CHLORINE GAS,
NOT "mustard gas", aka Bis (2-chloroethyl) sulfide.
Before calling anybody retarded, get your facts straight.
[/owned]
I made a crap load of this shit....
this stuff burns though fucking everything!!
im gonna go use it on my neighbors car...
yea u could do all that stuff or u could just order some iron oxide from ebay aswell as the powered aluminum and magnesium. thats what i did its really easy all for about £20 and u get 1kg of thermite and 25 meters of magnesium.
whats all the slug, can that be used?
I brought it too school and during lunch light it on my teachers computer and guess wut its gone now hehehe
Hey, I got my Al powder, And my iron oxide( Does it matter if it is black or red?). Can i mix them as they are? or do i have to heat up the iron in a pot until glowing red and then mix?... E-mail, Boy1er1990@yahoo.com
Will this stuff melt through asphalt? Like in a parking lot?
Yes thermite will burn through asphalt.. Basically anything you'll have around won't stand a chance againt that much heat at ~2500 C.. It is waaaay more dangerous than the miniscule amount of Cl gas produced by 9V+Salt..:) Even if you understand the safest ways/conditions for igniting it, it could explode on ignition throwing lava at you (might as well be).. Should you be stupid enough to play with thermite near a barbeque then I'll just say good bye now..
To note above comments:
Thermite burns at about 4500ºF and combining chlorine and ammonia DOES NOT produce chlorine gas, it produces PHOSGENE gas.
Ionizing salt water produces hydrogen, oxygen, and hydrochloric acid, not chlorine gas.
i love this. awesome! i laughed my ass off when you guys said shit like ho-made. ah classic 50 cent screw up. and spelling aluminum wrong. now if you guys are making thermite you shouldnt worry about a little chlorine gas but maybe you should be worrying about the prison/ jail you want to attend. but i am also going to make this too, so im in the same boat. now for the funny little 8th grader you should inhale the aluminum dust and tell us what happens or tell us if thermite can burn through your hand or your entire arm. if you want to make an explosive then get a blackcat. this is thermite folks, in case you have not noticed were talking about burning shit up in this heazy. haha.to the man who set the steel steal thing out im not gay but i love you you had me at "just burnt steel wool." yes i know hipocracy runs deep but to all my homies speaking ebonics out in the west side peace. oh yeah im white by the way
I have been using a 50V DC convertor at 2 amps (I had been using this to power my tesla coil) THis with a copper and tin wire and a rod of iorn produced 1/2" of iorn oxide in 10 min.
This method is dangerous but it works use distilled water and pure NaCl.
what ingredients are in it
I made a thermite candel with the thermite play-doh and some string. It looks cool and it gives you more time to get away before it goes off.
haha i melted through the sewer cover with it
haha i melted through the sewer cover with it
if you add white phosphorus it will burn at about 2800 degrees celcius
don't mix naplam and thermite
There's a difference between weight and mass, you know.
you can get magnesim from old unused flashbulbs. your parents probably have some. break the glass and that wooly stuff inside is thin magnesium that 'flashes' with a small current. roll material between your fingers and you now have a nice fuse. one bulb makes about one centimeter
is it true that if u mix the aluminum powder that is to fine, with the iron oxide that the mixture could explode?
That is so cool, you can use thermite in a metal pipe to make a roket engine with tons of thrust, that is why they use it in real rokets.
Thermite produces lots of heat, not lots of pressure. If you used it in a rocket you would end up with something technically known as a 'puddle'.
or just some nitrocellulose
why not just make some C3H6N6O6?
makeing the thermite is very simple, but i have found that producing the components at home instead of buying them can be a bit tricky, so ive come up with a simple method on producing the necessary items.
Aluminum- taking an aluminum can to a bench grinder is ok but it doesnt give you alot of aluminum, so a better method is to take aluminum foil and put it in a blender. one box of foil will give you a good amount of aluminum. blend on its highest setting and keep blending till it is a fine pouter (this could take up to an hr, or sometimes more depending on how much you are making). DO NOT IN HAIL DUST AFTER TAKING OFF THE LID, sometimes i just want to take the warning signs off all things and let natural selection do the rest.
Iron Oxide- now ive tried many methods for this. that thing about mixing bleach and viniger with steel wool SUCKS. it takes forever to make a supper small amount. i found the best way to get iron oxide is to just use magnetite (F3O4). the eaysest way to do this is go to the beach with a strong magnet and drag it in the sand. you can get about a pound in a couple of hrs (you have to blend the magnetite to before use). if you live to far from the beach just go to the nearest playground and drag the magnet through the sand, you just wont get as much.
make surer that both the aluminum and the magnetite are blended as fine as you can get them. mix them together at a ratio of about 3 iron oxide to 1 aluminum. after mixing blend them again for a third time so they stay together and use a sparkler or something to light it
Or U can just buy the stuff legally for next to nothing
the negative is actually the one that bubbles......
realising electrons into the water... and the nail is on the positive and that makes the electrons attracted to it.. causing the rust..
as far as i no...
will aluminum oxide work?
u are basicly using aluminum oxide, seeing as once aluminum hits the air it makes aluminum oxide...
thus; all surfaces of aluminum that is exposed to the air is aluminum oxide...
btw i strongly suggest you lern atleast sum basic chemistry if you plan to make thermite...
tip- the fastest and cheapest way to get iron oxide is to go buy some steel wool size 0000 (the thinest it comes) and light it on fire and let it smolder (blowing on it will produce a larger amount of iron oxide). after its done smoldering put it an a bowl and smash and stir it around. 70-90% of the steel wool will turn into iron oxide, throw the remaining wool that did not turn to powder away. this produces iron oxide in the form F3O4, its allot cheaper than buying it.
for the aluminum powder if you just going to make a batch to play with than the best way to go is just buy it, you can get it on ebay for about $12 per pound, the finer the better. if you are going to be makenig large amounts quite frequently the best way to go is to buy a ball mill to produce a fine powder, (rock tumblers are the same thing just allot cheaper, about $30 for a small one). the blender method works to but it doesn't produce a fine enough powder, the termites will light but it will be purity weak. using the blender method to produce small partials then putting the partials in a ball mill/rock tumbler is recommended for best results.
unless your going to be making ALLOT of this stuff its better to just buy the aluminum powder.
WARNING: this stuff will burn through just about anything, i have yet to find something that it cant go through, that includes concrete.
Aluminum is probably poisonous. I've heard that when your water company puts aluminum in the water (or you have aluminum cookware) along with the fluoride (which is poisonous enough as it is) it makes aluminum fluoride which goes right through the blood brain barrier and stays in your brain.
THERMITE! The stuff that took down the World Trade Centers !!! AT least we get to make some :)
Shouldn't you use a belt sander instead of a grinder to make the aluminum? It plugs up the grinding wheel. A lot eaiser to replace the sanding belt than the whole grinding wheel :)
i killed some black guy by putting this shit on his chest while he was sleeping
i killed some black guy by putting this shit on his chest while he was sleeping it was cool
Thats halarious...Chlorine gas? I'm taking university chemistry and has never heard that before. If you can make poison chlorine gas that easily, then people would want to use it in terrorist attacks. Add salt, NaCl to water, only causes it to ionize into Na+ ions and Cl- ions. They don't bubble or nothing. The bubbles on the electrode is from the water, which is hydrogen and oxygen. If you want chlorine gas, use hydrochloric acid HCl instead of water.
OMFG, this is for the guy that said that termite was what burned down the world trade centers. i pray to god that you make this stuff and it kills you in the most painfully way possible for being such a fucking moron, and hopefully the rest of you brainless buddies will follow you to hell as well
U are all idiots. thermite is not a damn explosive. and the chlorine gas is VERY thin, just thing of 1 spoon of salt. How much chlorine do think there is in that little pile of salt?
Thermite cannot burn through Titanium(think: a tank) so there's one thing you fuckheads cant destroy.
you can ignite it easier than with magnesium
just run a bunch of dc current through a resistor or something buried in the thermite powedr
make it by hooking up a few 9 volts or something
should get hot enough to ingnite it..............
if you order too many of these things off the net the feds will start a file on you
You can get iorn oxide for cement colouring, its cheap and is every where stuff "makeing" iorn oxide thats for losers :)
WHOVER SAID THAT ALUMINUM OXIDE WILL WORK IS A RETARD. THE ENTIRE REACTION IS THE ALUMINUM TURNING INTO ALUMINUM TURNING INTO ALUMINUM OXIDE. HOW IS THAT GOING TO HAPPEN IF IT ALREADY IS ALUMINUM OXIDE. HE IS THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO LEARN BASIC CHEMISTRY
1) Electolysising aqueous sodium chloride (salt water) produces chlorine, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide.
2) Easiest way to get iron oxide its with a magnet on a beach, or to buy those little handwarmers after they've reacted.
3) you can buy aluminium powder cheaply from paint shops.
4) just light it with a goddam sparkler and ruuunnn.
Hmm what do i have to say...
The person who said the salt + electricity will create chlorine gas you fucking retard its called electrolisys it just speeds up rusting basically.
ok its as simple as getting aluminium cans burning them to get the paint off and their coating of crap then getting a file i say a file as grinders sometimes make it to fine.
another thing is do not have this under something really cold like ice trust me throw ice on burning thermite you will hate yourself for it.
Nice... Play-Doh, huh? This could become useful. My friend has some stuff he needs burned in his backyard and I'm too lazy to help him the hard way.
Don't suppose its occured to anyone you could make a cheap thermite detonator and use it to spark the real stuff or if your local DIY shop wont let u walk out with a couple of kilos of alu powder in one hand and iron ox in the other you could detonate a small tub of thermite dipped in bleach with a car spark plug for the same effect
hiya g8 site can u lite thermite with a fuse much safer ???
Electrolysis of molten salt produces chlorine gas and sodium (difficult to do). Electrolysis of a water and salt solution produces hydrogen and oxygen gas. In the end, you will have salt in the bottom of the container. The purpose of the salt is to allow an electrical current to flow in the water. Get a clue guys, and stop calling people stupid.
dude you rock seriously home made thermite in the hands of a teenager is the equation for fun...
and mayhem =)
seriously, you make it so complicated to put together. I can make enough to blast open any safe, cut through the engine block of a car, blow the hinges off a fire door or through any floor in any building in less than four minutes. Lighting it is even easier if you know where the local hobby store is that sells D engines for rocketry. Remember, what exactly is in those little cylinders that make those little kit rockets fly... Hmmmmmm.
wow that is freakin awsome! i want to make a mini rocket and i think i finaly found the mixture for my fuel ^_^
but what kind of enery is needed to ignight the thermight? could i use a grill lighter or a rocket ignightor (model rockets)? or do i need a fuse?
wow that is freakin awsome! i want to make a mini rocket and i think i finaly found the mixture for my fuel ^_^
but what kind of enery is needed to ignight the thermight? could i use a grill lighter or a rocket ignightor (model rockets)? or do i need a fuse?
C'mon man, jus' remember that the rocket engine produces enough heat to ignite magnesium, do the math, remember to backwind off about fifty feet of telephone line, 4-pair should do it, and use a decent battery with at least two to three amps when shorted. Remember the cells will get hot when shorted, make sure you have a good connection. You can use a road flare too... which is rather easier... or mix them together... play around a bit. When thermite ignites, you'll freakin know it... and it won't stop burning either.
This Is One Of Those Times I Wish I Had Stolen Magnesium Ribbon From Chemistry Class
isn't it true that you can use metal powders other than iron oxide?
things like copper or chromium to give the solid ores color?
FYI: anyone who says they are going to light it directly with a grill lighter will be in some serious trouble.
okay...that didn't answer my question, can i use a model rocet ignightor? and wht were u talking about with the telephone polls thing?
p.s.-this is zeig i just forgot my pass lol
ahahahahahha nice! thnx to all the people who posted usefull comments and not just posted something pointlessly flaming someone, if they made a mistake correct them but dont b a jerk about i really... I'm going to try and make this tomorrow, problem is I dont have anything to light it with yet but I'll get ahold of something sooner or later lol
With no natural predators the last hope for humanity is pinned on the Internet giving idiots just enough information to cleanse themselves from our gene-pool
MYTHBUSTERS HINDENBURG EPISODE HAS THERMITE ON IT! WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!!!
hah, thats where i got the idea to figure out how to make it... not that i will but it's interesting to know :)
his name was buddy EBSEN you fucking faggot.
Darwin Awards, here we come....
MUAHAHAHAetc....
I made Thermite before that shit is crazy. the mythbusters use it on the hindinburg experiment. i think this is a good site do a google search on Anarchy cookbook
Yea if you buy any basic rocket kit, it comes with an elecrical ignitor. If you hook the ignition sysetm up to the fuse and burry the fuse in the Thermite you shoudld have no problem igniting it. the only problem is that the Thermite will melt the clamps off the end, but it's well worth it.
If I use iron nails on both the anode and cathode in the electrolysis of salt, will I get pure iron oxide, or a mixture of iron oxide and iron hydroxide (I have tried, and the cathode gives off bubbles, presumably hydrogen gas, while the anode gives off some ugly brown stuff)? The resulting solution is clear, but opaque with brown and black near the bottom.
**TESTED** Ok I got half way through the posts and decided to give my advice as a thermite experienced tester. Im currently taking college chem classes and know the basis. We have done this reaction in class as an assignment under the fume hood. now the ingrediants shall we? (I excell in Math and Science NOT ENGLISH I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT MY GRAMMER, thats to all the grammer correcting freeks! if you dont like it skip my post)
Iron oxide. Use a magnet in dirt! OMG IT's THAT SIMPLE! using water methods and such.... are a waste.... of.... time...
Aluminum powder = etch-n-sketch (prefered only with 600 hash iron oxide, which means you bought it basicly or have your own lab. the reason being iron oxide from magnets and dirt are morexxxx course.) Using the magnet method i suggest a simple coffe grinder and aluminum foil or even small pieces of alluminum! Or another way would be to get a chunk and file it down, or grind it. time consuming yes.
After you've made your 2 ingredients, mix them at the given ratio's (NOT GIVING RATIOS OUT DO TO THE FACT IM HELPING EXPLAIN WHAT WAS ALREADY EXPLAINED, THATS THE EASY PART GOOGLE IT) after mixing simply mash and smash, run through coffe grinder. blender. what ever (USE NOTHING THAT PRODUCES EXTREME AMMOUNTS OF HEAT AS YOU MIGHT SET OFF THE REACTION, GRINDING IT MIXED, SANDING IT MIXED ARE NONONO'S) also grinding it with a grinding wheel please make sure the wheel is clean, for the most part pieces of granite or wood or what ever being in the mixture doesnt ruin it but wood can make it easier to light. If your worried about grinding the mixture or mashing it or what ever WITCH YOU SHOULD BE EVEN THOUGH THERES NOT MUCH TO WORRY ABOUT BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS THERE HAND GONE DO WE? grind them as much seperate! just make sure you grind each substance with matching tools. (dont grind aluminum with a grinding stone and then iron oxide with a blender and call it good)
after you got them mixed and as powdery as possible throw them in a container prefeably a pot that can stand the heat (if you googled like you were suppose to by now youll see you need 2 pots normally) suspend the pots and mats in air with a holder of somesort(please don't tell me you need walk throughs or ideas for one of these) light your butane lighter hold it horizontaly to the ingredients when reaction starts back up and walla! LOOK UP SAFETY PRECAUTIONS! do this outside in the middle of a dirt field as sparks will fly. or in a fume hood.
I have to post another comment just to give all you fuse looking people a relief. YOU CAN LIGHT IT WITH A FLAME! butane lighter works just dandy. im not saying the ones you use to light smokes the ones that have the long nose. also the reaction is 2500+- C but the flame itself is much cooler so unless your inside the reaction the butane lighter wont eplode or anything.
can anyone tell me the observation when a rusty iron nail is put into hydrochloric acid?Are there hydrogen bubbles, and how does the chlorine breakdown the iron oxides to remove the rust??Thx
just to make it definitive, electrolysing water with NaCl as the electrolyte will produce 3.3 times less chlorine gas than oxygen, and 6.6 times less hydrogen. Energetically, the E values of the redox reactions are as follows (ignore the stoichiometry):
water --> O2 and H2: E=-1.23
NaCl --> Na + Cl2: E=-4.07
so clearly, with an applied voltage of 9v, the first redox reaction will occur preferentially; since the second redox reaction will proceed as well, you should expect to see some chlorine gas formed. However I'm sure that all these things aren't directly correllated, since the production of chlorine gas depends on the concentration of brine; also the procession of the first reaction will also hinder the second.
in short, dont worry about chlorine gas. at these concentrations, and with such diluted brine solutions, you'd be hard-pressed to poison yourself.
Thermite can burn through titanium. the melting point of Ti is 1661.84 degrees Celsius... the temp of burning thermite is around 2500 degrees Celsius.... you have about a 900 degree difference between the temp of ignited thermite and the melting point of Ti. Also, thermite was/is used to melt various artillery.
Running a current through salt water will produce chlorine gas.
I did it the other day in Chem(with 12v), and I know from experience hydrogen doesn't feel like it's burning the inside of your nose. It also smelled like a highly concentrated swimming pool.
I'd say that's chlorine.
Awesome article BTW.
is it dangerous to eat thermite??? (it dosen`t taste good)
please contact me regarding a thermite or thermite art project
http://911truthburn.blogspot.com
5/8/2007
http://911truthburn.blogspot.com
Shouldn't that be www.911DellusionCult.Com Ha Ha.
That angle cut in your pictures is from a torch moron. $60 million dollars, you guys in the so called "Truth" movement are making a lot of money from the "truth".
Back on subject. Interesting chemistry class. So many "experts" so many different opinions...just like the 911 forums on ATS.
This could be dangerous knowledge in the hands of morons. I have visions of someone trying to set it off by rubbing two sticks together. LOL. Still natural selection is good...
The world moron ratio should reduce thats good. A guy I worked with, had a son who totally wrecked a leg and caused internal injuries when he made acetone peroxide from a formula he got from the internet. He said he heard a bang, then a scream and found his son on the other side of his bedroom with the remains of a desk inserted painfully in his gut and leg...... Knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I know that that was with a primary explosive, but even thermite needs respect people.
I know a really easy way to get rust, try...
FINDING SOMETHING RUSTY YOU IDIOTS!
"Anonymous said...
can u use a lighter to ignite the thermite?????"
Are you fucking brain-dead?
ok...where to start.
first-"WHOVER SAID THAT ALUMINUM OXIDE WILL WORK IS A RETARD. THE ENTIRE REACTION IS THE ALUMINUM TURNING INTO ALUMINUM TURNING INTO ALUMINUM OXIDE. HOW IS THAT GOING TO HAPPEN IF IT ALREADY IS ALUMINUM OXIDE. HE IS THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO LEARN BASIC CHEMISTRY"...the person who wrote this needs to take basic chemistry. when Al is exposed to oxygen (which is in air) it almost instantly reacts with O2 turning it into aluminum oxide. so you are actually using aluminum oxide in the reaction not aluminum unless you are in an environment where their is no oxygen. apparently the person who wrote this isn't getting allot of oxigen to the brain since you learn this in middle school
[owned]
second- NO, you cant light thurumite with a lighter or a rocket igniter, though you mite be able to light it with a rocket engine... maby, never tried it. using a sparkler or magnesium is a way to light it but the best way is to use thurmite ignishen mixture which can be bough at "unitednuclear.com", also a great place to get other crazy chemicals.
third- now all you high school students that think you know what you talking about listen up. ELECTROLYSIS DOES NOT CREATE CHLORINE GAS, NOT EVEN A LITTLE. i am a chemistry major and i have done this experiment countless times and have even brought this matter to my professor. the sodium chloride acts only as a conductant and the process will still work without it, just not as fast. if you don't believe me just look closer at the reaction if it did create chlorine gas. IF the sodium chloride would produce chlorine gas then it would also produce sodium as well (which is classified as a high explosive and explodes when in watter). if this was true the eletrolisis process would look like boiling watter instead of like watching paint dry. so no more of this shit about how it produces chlorene gas BECAUSE IT DOESNT.
ALSO WARNING- the finer the materials being used to make the thermite the faster the reaction. thermite is not an explocive but if the materials are fine enough it will act like one.
what if i put it in a container and put it into the heart of a very hot bonfire.
"third- now all you high school students that think you know what you talking about listen up. ELECTROLYSIS DOES NOT CREATE CHLORINE GAS, NOT EVEN A LITTLE. i am a chemistry major and i have done this experiment countless times and have even brought this matter to my professor."
well you my friend are going to fail chemistry, have you ever tried this experiment, try it use two graphite electrodes (get pencils or something) then get two plastic bottles cut them in half, put a hole in the bottoms of the bottom halves, them put the graphite through the holes and seal them with silicon (so you capture the air) place them in a salt-water solution make sure no air is in the bottle halves and connect them to a voltage. when enough gases have collected in the half bottles take them out and SMELL THEM!!!! what do you know a distinct pool smell can be noticed at the + ve electrode
TRY IT!!!!!!! before you write stupid Sh*t but the cl is in low quantities and even if you leave it on all night in a closed room it's unlikely to kill you.
if you still don't believe me light a match blow it out and put the glowing ember into the +ve bottle if it was purely oxygen it will relight and burn with a brighter flame BUT IT WON"T!!!!! because it's not pure, get your professor to try this test then tell your uni to FIRE HIS ASS for teaching stupid Sh*t
By the way the solution thats left in the container in NaOH a weak alkali thats where the sodium goes it takes very high energies to split sodium from chloride to get just sodium by itself. the NaCl would have to be molten for it to happen (and if you haven't guessed it but now hydrogen is produced at the -ve electrode)
MAN, EVER UNDERESTIMATE STUPIDITY i can't believe how long this has been going for
in the saltwater solution experiment not the molten NaCl by the way if you got confused at my last post
by the way predicting that there still would be some resistance the full equation is
Anode reaction:
2Cl– → Cl2 + 2e–
Cathode reactions:
2Na+ + 2e– → 2Na
2Na + 2H2O → 2Na+ + 2OH– + H2
for all you chemistry majors and professors
Well Rust is easy but as for the other ingredient heres a few ways i obtain it
1.break open an ech-a-scetch
(drawback) little and its dust
2.Get a coffe grinder and grind
aluminum foil
(drawback)None its the best way to do it
these are 2 unmentioned good methods
O i fergot you can also uses aluminum power-dust to make a cool explosive
50-50 mix
aluminum shaveings-powder
Potassium Perchlorate
you can subsitute Potassium Perchlorate for Sodium Chlorate,Potassium Chlorate
4 ounces of this mixture will
produce an explosion equal to one stick
of dynamite! WOOT'S
steps
1.Get a coffe grinder and grind
aluminum foil
2.get Potassium Perchlorate
its not to hard to get
mix whith wooden spoon in a non matalic bowl if you dont its gona blow up in your face stadic and shock set it off much like the toy cap gun's ammo
-"well you my friend are going to fail chemistry, have you ever tried this experiment, try it use two graphite electrodes (get pencils or something) then get two plastic bottles cut them in half, put a hole in the bottoms of the bottom halves, them put the graphite through the holes and seal them with silicon (so you capture the air) place them in a salt-water solution make sure no air is in the bottle halves and connect them to a voltage. when enough gases have collected in the half bottles take them out and SMELL THEM!!!! what do you know a distinct pool smell can be noticed at the + ve electrode
TRY IT!!!!!!! before you write stupid Sh*t but the cl is in low quantities and even if you leave it on all night in a closed room it's unlikely to kill you.
if you still don't believe me light a match blow it out and put the glowing ember into the +ve bottle if it was purely oxygen it will relight and burn with a brighter flame BUT IT WON"T!!!!! because it's not pure, get your professor to try this test then tell your uni to FIRE HIS ASS for teaching stupid Sh*t"
-hay buddy, looks like the other guy was right and you were wrong. i used the sprtrograph at my university, which measures the amount of different chemicals in a sample, to analyze the gas produced through electrolysis. the spectrograph showed that the gas produced through electrolysis contains 0%, yes listen up everyone, 0% Cl gas.
-if the gas you produce at home through electrolysis smells funny its probably because something is reacting with the watter. most commonly if you are using electrodes with iron (or steel) in them or if their is iron (steel) contaminants in the watter you will be producing rustic acid, not Cl.
what do yall mean by a hand warmer, can u give stp by stp instructions on how 2 do it?
This is all very helpful, but is there any other way of igniting the reaction other than using magnesium strips?
Alright. To put the whole damned chlorine gas issue to rest:
Salt is just an electrolyte. In water, it will only act AS said electrolyte. Basically, it carries a charge via sodium (+) and chlorine (-). Now, if you were to melt the salt, then run a charge through it, you'd get sodium and chlorine, but that is only reached at temps of 800 C.
"hay buddy, looks like the other guy was right and you were wrong. i used the sprtrograph at my university, which measures the amount of different chemicals in a sample, to analyze the gas produced through electrolysis. the spectrograph showed that the gas produced through electrolysis contains 0%, yes listen up everyone, 0% Cl gas."
Jesus how is this still an issue, look the amount of Cl produced is proportional to the concentration of the salt water solution, with a higher concentration of salt producing more Cl at the anode and a lower concentration producing less. but even with a lower concentration of salt you'll still get some Cl produced (even if it's 1 part to a billion and is absorbed into the water)but I'm telling you it does! produce some, try the experiment again with a larger concentration of salt then come back to me
"if the gas you produce at home through electrolysis smells funny its probably because something is reacting with the watter. most commonly if you are using electrodes with iron (or steel) in them or if their is iron (steel) contaminants in the watter you will be producing rustic acid, not Cl."
mate if you read my post you would of notice i said to use inert graphite electrodes that won't react with anything in this experiment, i know this produces Cl because i did the same experiment in a lab using platinum electrodes where the aim was to produce chlorine gas and everyone in the prac room got the same results including the professor who designed the experiment to introduce us to electrolysis the only reason i suggest a method for doing it at home was so people can try it for themselves, then back me up because the average joe doesn't have access to full lab facilities and to suggest that someone could confuse chlorine gas with other impurities is really ridiculous, Cl has a really strong distinct smell. no one is about to confuse it with anything.
here are some sites i found if you still don't believe me i don't want to reference text books because no one will be able to check them to see if they're valid
http://chem.lapeer.org/Chem2Docs/chlorine.html
http://www.greener-industry.org/pages/chlorine/4chlorine_methods_summary.htm
i just did a quick search then so have no idea if the sources are valid or reputable but they back up what I've been saying. if you want to argue this further reference other sites and if someone has more time they can find sources that back up what I've been saying all along I'm sure a quick search will produce plenty.
wow this is a great reference here
http://www.open2.net/roughscience4/rocket_mikes_diary.html
it's the dairy of a chemist called Mike bullivant who is part of a team on this TV show. from what i can gather the show sends scientists somewhere and they have to survive with just their science knowledge, anyway this guy tries to produce hydrogen and oxygen for a rocket or something but used salt to make the water conductive and what do you know he found that the oxygen was contaminated with Chlorine!!!!!!!!!! yay!! he even used the same test i suggested to check the purity of the oxygen. now FOR THE LOVE OF GOD put this issue to rest and accept that you have all been wrong, there's no shame in it even this chemistry professor got it wrong initially (probably belonged to the same uni as the two fools trying to debate this) but then found that he was indeed incorrect
it's quoted here.
"It’s a strange place the 'reality'-TV world. Keen to demonstrate the process of electrolysis, I mistakenly add table salt (sodium chloride) to the water in my electrolysis cell. The conductivity of water is so low that some ionic compound like this has to be added to allow current to pass through the cell and produce hydrogen and oxygen. As a result of my mistake, the oxygen formed at the cell’s anode is contaminated with chlorine gas – it smelt like a swimming pool! This would account for the fact that the oxygen wouldn’t re-light a glowing splint (a standard test for the gas)." - Mike Bullivant
if people still don't believe me then your probably American and have an IQ of 3 because i can't see a better way of proving i'm correct in this matter then an in field test by a Chemistry professor.
now you guys can bring this to your chem professors and tell them they're stupid.
come on people, stay focused here, its like listing to a lecturer with a bunch of ADD kids. this site is meant to help 6 year old kids make a highly dangerous incendiary compound (thurmite), not listen to this bickering. if it does produce cl gas apparently its an erelivent amount for the experiment, so no one should care. if it doesnt produce cl gas, then no one should care... once again erelivent to the experiment. enough of this going around in circles and back to the task at hand.
honestly who spells irrelevant with an "e"
Does anyone here know if baking soda breaks down in a solution with water during electrolysis? I would perfer an answer for someone supporting the chlorine from saltwater argument, as I know that they know what they are talking about.
For the record, my experiment (using graphite electrodes) created chlorine (a very small amount), and a sodium compound (in the form of a deposit on the hydrogen terminal, it was probably sodium oxide). A positive side effect was the production of more hydrogen (the sodium reacts with the water, and oxidizes, and the hydrogen is free and joins the rest of the hydrogen coming from that terminal). As I did not want any build up on either terminal I tried baking soda. It appears to be inert during electrolysis, but if it is not, I would really like to know.
Also, a rather more constructive use of thermite is for making iron castings from clay molds. You can put the thermite in a graphite crucible with a hole in the bottom, use a small piece of foil to cover the hole. Fill it with thermite, then suspend the crucible over the mold (so the hole is above the filling point), and light the thermite. The foil will melt, and allow the molten reaction to pour through the hole into the mold. If you had enough thermite the mold will be filled with iron, and there will be aluminum oxide slag that floated on top of the iron, and hopefully spilled out. You will still have to clean and dress the casting as with normal casting, but you don't have to wait for the iron to get hot enough to pour (this usually takes several hours with good equipment).
As a side note, I have been told that a road flare can be used to ignite thermite. Actually, the military uses road flares when other ignition methods are not available. (This may not be a good idea with pure powdered thermite, as the flare will probably blow away most of the powder, it is better used with the clay mixture.)
Oh, for those who tried the electrolysis with saltwater and failed to get chlorine: What voltage did you use? I used 12 volts. It is possible that 9 volts does not provide enough energy to split up the salt molecules, while 12 volts does.
And for the author: Thank you for providing this page. While I already know how thermite is made, I think that we aught to exercise our rights to give and receive information freely. This kind of knowledge in the hands of normal people allows us to control our governments, rather than be controlled by our governments. Besides that, even thermite has uses that are not purely destructive (the iron casting I just mentioned).
Rybec Thalin Arethdar
To the Aurthor: Thanks for the info
To the Bickering addicts: Thanks for the entertainment!
I've been searching on ebay for the ingredients and I don't know what mesh I should buy for the aluminum and rust. Can anyone help?
A fairly decent way to light things that require large amounts of heat, and also conveniently happens to be one of the ingredients listed here is to take steel wool and place an electrical charge through it, which can be done safely from a long distance.
I use it to start fires because it works a lot better than matches when you don't have any lighter fluid or such, take a 9 volt and stick it to a piece of steel wool.
But for the thermite you could use wires so you could be safely away.
you use it to start fires do you?
Anyone sell me some 400mesh aluminuim powder and iron oxide?
i used to get it from the paint shops but now they buy it mixed in with the paint...
those skater bois will pay with 1000 different holes in there stupid sk8te park.
A word to the wise: Be very careful with thermite. Aluminum is very dangerous once powdered. The finer it is, the worse it gets. Aluminum powder is an explosive by itself. Avoid contact with heat, flame, OR WATER! Water will cause it to explode as well. They make special fire extinguishers for dealing with aluminum powder. Also, never extinguish an aluminum powder fire directly, the pressure from the extinguisher will make the aluminum powder go airborn which makes it a much worse explosive risk. Instead, extinguish (apply a suppressant) around the fire to prevent its spread and allow it to burn itself out.
How do I know? I'm a safety director/instructor working in a refractory where we use aluminum powder every day.
Some aluminum collection advice: after doing a bit of research, don't use a grinder. The powder will gum it up and the finer the powder, the more dangerous. Fine
aluminium dust is pyrophoric - this means it can spontaneously
ignite in air. For this reason aluminium powder with a large
particle size is recommended. Many sites say DO Not use the grinder, especially if you use something that can react with the powder. The next time you go to use it, BOOM. Small shavings of aluminum are too big, try to get a course powder. Also, as these sites say, keep it dry at all times, otherwise when it reacts it will make a "steam bomb" and fling molten iron, which is a byproduct of this reaction, straight at your face. For those who dont want to read those links, don't look directly into the reaction, it creates a lot of UV rays. This is a physical reaction, and thus it is very dangerous. There are a lot of hidden dangers that don't happen all the time, especially if you are careful, but every now and then you hear of some unlucky kid. The topic of electrolysis has been discussed extensivly here, so I will just put a link to a good reference. These links are my sources, and should provide a lot of info, the first one is the MSDS sheet for Aluminum Powder. Hope this clears up a lot of issues.
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/A2712.htm
http://stason.org/TULARC/entertainment/pyrotechnics/7b-Thermite-Pyrotechnics.html
http://users.andara.com/~pspencer/nsaeta/electrolysis.html
Sorry thats the last link I forgot.
Or you all could stop being pussy bitches and buy it at ace hardware
wow yah this can be kinda dangerous i tryed to must the rust using the batterie thing and the batterie just blew up in my face! luckly i had tape covering the spot where it exploded so i didnt get hit with too much acid. just be careful guys
I got a good idea! make the thermite powder, then make a cake! mix the thermite into the icing, dust some magnesium on it, and then put sparklers on it and light it. then you can watch the cake, plate and table melt away!
only 2 points to make
1. Yes, steel is related to iron, its sorta made from the shit genius. Go a little easier on the pot man.
2. The difference in weight and mass really means nothing as long as we're on Earth, right?
another safe way to get rust is to put some metal in bleach and let it soak over night.
When Getting Aluminum, if using cans only use the opener tab, it is the only part that is pure Aluminum
Just for the record --
If you buy a small amount of powdered aluminum online, once or maybe twice -- no problem. If you buy a small amount of powdered ferrous oxide online, once or maybe twice -- no problem. Make a pattern of it, or buy large amounts, and nothing will happen ... nothing obvious at any rate.
But when the police become interested in local burning incidents that bear the chemical traces of thermite, you'll see that SOMEHOW they will know to come straight round to your door and start asking you very hard questions, just for a start.
If you really want to play with this stuff, either restrict yourself to backyard experiments that don't cause actual property damage or do the work and harvest the materials yourself. A word to the wise ... Big Brother is watching.
As for the issue of whether thermite can burn through titanium: The relevant consideration is not the temperature of burning thermite and the temperature at which titanium melts, but the amount of energy supplied by a particular charge of burning thermite and the mass and dimensions of the titanium to be burned through. A charge of thermite that can melt (or possibly even vaporise) a 20cm x 20cm by 1 cm sheet of pure Ti may do no more to a 2m x 2m x 10cm sheet of titanium plating than blemish its surface and warp or retemper the metal; the Ti's thermal conductivity will redistribute the energy supplied by the thermite and drastically reduce the amount of metal that is actually heated to its melting temperature. This is also assuming that the Ti plating doesn't contain alloying materials that increase its thermal resistance.
Someone said that the stuff would just explode if it is too finely ground. Why is this and how do you know if it is too finely ground?
i read in the anarchist cookbook that you were required to heat up the iron oxide before mixing the aluminium in for some reason...
is this neccessary?
Warning!
Nothing -- and I mean nothing -- you read in any "Anarchist Cookbook" (or any online source) should be taken at face value. Many AC "recipes" contain misinformation, some of which may lead to lethal consequences.
If you don't have the wisdom and the knowledge to confirm everything in an AC recipe with outside sources or sound chemistry before you try it, you may well remove yourself from the genepool in a very messy and probably not painless manner.
And if you're playing dangerous games without that basic knowledge and wisdom ... well, I suppose it's all for the best in an overpopulated world.
By the way....if you just burn steel wool that will give you the iron oxide that you need.
To the people that want to ignite thermite with a rocket launcher thingy:
I've personally done a lot with actual model rockets, so I think that you should go to your nearest RadioShack and buy a roll of hookup wire of a similar gauge as the rocket launcher wire. Cut a couple of 2-foot (roughly) sections of hookup wire and clamp the alligator clamps on to a stripped end of the hookup wire. Then just take the other ends of the hookup wire and wrap them around the little white "ignitor" and then light the thing as normal. If the wire melts, so be it. That stuff is so stinkin' cheap and is easy to replace. You usually get like 100 feet or so for probably $10 or so.
Have fun melting through to the core of the earth and helping global warming destroy our poor planet.
ur all a bunch of dumb asses for even tring it
U GOT 2 fite 4 YOUR RITE 2 PARDY mmk :) :} :} :} :} :}
Ur all Fukin Idiots
NaCl + H20 --> Na+ion + Cl-ion
Na+ion + Cl-ion +H2O -electricity->
NaOH + HCl
the NaOH stays in the water An the HCL gas hydrolyses to become H+ions and Cl- ions in solution so there is no release of gas
If you want use thermite as rocket fuel, you can make a water-jacket cooled rocket engine. the super heated steam is used as coolant then
used as propellant.
get a gallon milk-jug, drill, file, aluminum cans, long ass bolt and nut.
cut the bottom off the jug and put two slits on the sides for the file
cut the crown off the bolt, drill some holes in the bottoms the cans
the same diameter as the bolt. bolt the can to threaded end of said bolt,
put the thing inside milk jug, pull
bolt through the top and attach to drill. put bottom back on jug and
grind away. just the basic idea.
make sure the drill is spinning
the right way on the file too.
if your too pussy to light it with
oxyacetylene, stab a cigarette with a sparkler and light it.
Thermite is some fun shit, I just finished grinding a compressed ball of aluminum foil for my Al powder, and I just scraped off a couple grams of Fe2o3 from the rusted over 55 gallon drum outside.
Aluminum is not a neurotoxin. Its not even poisonous. Although some do beleive it to be the cause of Alzheimer's, because people who died who had it always seemed to have alot of aluminum in their brain when they were cut open. Also, once aluminum gets into your digestive system it will form aluminum chloride, which definitely isn't very good for you.
Actualy, it will kill you.
For the iron oxide, go to a junkyard, and get a few old brake rotors. Ideally, find a "you pick" yard so you can scrounge.
The insides of the rotor fins will be packed with tons of rust flakes.
Enjoy...
not sure if this was mentioned, but thermite was used by the railroads to weld track together
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