Effective thermite.

Hello, TSR.

Maybe this should go in the Chemistry board, but anyway.

I have some Aluminium powder, not scraped filings but quite pure I think, and some Iron Oxide, not rust and also quite pure.
Also I have some Magnesium ribbon.

My question is, what ratio of Al to Fe should I use for the most potent mixture, and also should I just mix it in a bowl or some other container (i.e. not use water or something else to mix the two, but just mix it by hand).
I have heard of ratios from 1:3 to 1:9.

Additionally, does anyone know of any spectacular ways in which to ignite thermite, and does anyone know if there is a better fuse to use other than magnesium ribbon?

Thank in advance :biggrin:

Reply 1

Carlo08

Guess it depends on what type of reagents you use:

Fe203 + 2Al -------------> Al203 + 2Fe Then by working out the moles needed it works out at 3:1 159.5g of fe2o3 : 54g of Al - but just cancel this down until you get a quantity you want to use

Never done this before either but i hear putting it inside a plantpot works well as the molton iron comes out of the bottom. And yes you just mixthem togeather without water, this isnt baking a cake :P When you add heat to the mixture (Alot of heat!) via the mg ribbon the reaction starts and Al displaces Fe in the oxide hense why you get molton iron. (This is actually used to fuse train tracks togeather)

You could use any fuse you know that is really hot but i guess mg ribbon is the easiest to get hold of. Potassium permanganate (Kmno4) + glycerin is also good

Reply 2

Carlo08

Or if you know any chemistry, just use the equation

Moles = Mass / Molar mass and then apply it to the equation above to work out exacly how much of one substance you need when you have a set amount of another

But the 3:1 canceling thing would work just aswell unless your planning a chemistry exp :P

Reply 3

Easy E

Thanks guys!
Worked like a charm!
Burnt right through the container, which was only tin so not that impressive!

I used 50g of Iron Oxide and about 17g of Aluminium, and it still worked great :smile: